Well my top albums list doesn’t resemble my top artists of the year, so I thought I should add a little thanks list for my preferred musicians this year.

no.1 is Deerhoof : I can’t tell you how much I love Deerhoof, I didn’t add their album to the list, not that it wasn’t good but it wasn’t all good.. but I should have added it to runners up at least, my bad.. so here is where I pay my dues.. Deerhoof is the best band in the world right now!. Ok there I said it !

(mov) - My pal foot foot - Panda Panda Panda Live - Flower

no.2 is Madlib : Madlib has taken production to another level; he has this magic chemical material (THC? :) ) that he adds to every song he does, whether he’s Quasimoto or one half of Madvillain, or Yesterday’s New Quintet or Beat Konducta.. He’s making these short caricatures of moments and God bless him, he’s great!. Just watch the video to see how much love this brother gives/deserves.

(mov) - The Payback

no.3 is MF Doom : MF Doom is Madlib’s kooky partner in crime. He might be obsessed with cartoons, but who isn’t. He’s a terrific MC and although I might be late to discover him, I think I’ve been a worthy fan this year.

(mov)

no.4 is Devendra Banhart : I didn’t like Devendra’s 2005 album that much, It has some lovely songs yeah, but it isn’t top notch as an album. However I think he’s a terrific artist with an unbelievable songwriting ability and some of the best songs I listened to in 2005 belong to him.

A sight to behold - At the hop

no.5 is John Zorn : Uncle John is here not because of his musicianship, but because of Tzadik. He still has the best vision and he’s released lots of diverse stuff this year and helped me find tons of nice stuff. Hope you never get old, man!

So the overall keyword of this year is “attitude“. I’m terribly bored of musicians / djs who see their productions as sacred, labels / image makers who think image is everything, artists who spend millions on their homes and clothes, and generally people who believe in the lie that they’re going to be the next big thing and act like that. Wake up guys. Rock stars are so 90s.

Thanks to all artists who release stuff on independent labels, who put free mp3s on their sites, who drink a beer or smoke a joint after the show with their fans, who reply emails personally and who are in this biz not to make money but to have fun and make life bearable.

Next year will be much much better!