beST music of 2005

The best album I stumbled across in 2005 was John Cale's "Hobo Sapiens". I found it in the discount section at Boo Boo records (San Luis Obispo) and I wondered why I hadn't seen it before. I'm a huge fan of his 1995 release "Walking On Locusts", which is one of those records I can play over and over again and never get tired of. "Walking On Locusts" would have been a fabulous way for Cale to end a long and glorious career. So it was an unexpected pleasure to find that "Hobo" is also a great album, in a very different way. "Locusts" is for the most part smooth and even; "Hobo" is an eclectic set of tracks brimming with noise and complexity. A least half the dozen or so tracks are memorable, the best being "Look Horizon", "Magritte", "Bicycle" and "Over Her Head". Compared to Eno's recent collection of Christmas caroles and Hawaian folk songs, this album packs a wallop. (Interestingly "Bicycle" includes clips of Eno's daughters laughing).