[Rick and Roll]

I know we should be looking forward, but I'll impede progress by looking back at 2005. Just another freaking retrospective.....

Going to mix things up a bit. I'm loath to do a top whatever list, mainly because there's inevitably a disc I'll hear a few years later and go "damn that was top 10"...I can only go by what I know. So unless indicated below, this is not to be proof of any ranking, just a show highlighting the great music of 2005.

Porcupine Tree - Deadwing (Deadwing)

An extremely popular record, the title cuts grabs you in the right places. "Arriving Somewhere But Not Here" might be song of the year if they gave prog grammys (yeah right).

Frogg Cafe - Eternal Optimist (Fortunate Observer of Time)

Took me until I was halfway sober to appreciate them, seeing them up close helps too. Great record.

Eyestrings - Valid For A Week (Consumption)

I wasn't expecting darker and quirkier on their second record, but that's what we got. Raw with a lot of power.

Machine and the Synergetic Nuts - M-B (Leap Second Neutral)

Fusion is not dead! Jumpy little sucker.

Opeth - Ghost of Perdition (Ghost Reveries)

This is one of my favorite songs of the year.

Jack Foster III - Ebb And Flow (Raptorgnosis)

What a clean record! I like it a lot better than his debut, and I like that one a lot. Could have played a lot more from this one.

Echolyn - Heavy Blue Miles (The End Is Beautiful)

They've changed their sound a lot from the early days. It's hard for me to get a grasp on this record, but it's high quality.

Kurgan's Bane - I'm Alive, Time Has Come (Camoflauged In Static)

Baltimore based, this is Lisa, Luis, and Jeff from Sonus Umbra, with Jeff's brother Pete supplying the bulk of the music and the guitar chops. Their third record, I think, and easily their best. Good prog rock/metal.

Hidria Spacefolk - Kaikados (Live Eleven AM)

One of the great live Nearfest releases, the Finns playing in the famous Sunday Day 2 Nearfest opening slot.

King's X - Bebop (Ogre Tones)

Because I wanted to play a Little Richard lyric on a prog station!

Djam Karet - The Packing House (Recollection Harvest)

One of my favorite bands, this record employs both the crunchy and ambient side of the band.

Chaos Code - Propaganda (the whole record)

The Chameleon
Calling To Shadows
A New Domination
The Last Assignment
Failure System One -
Revising History
Saturated
Bacon For Swine
Fortune Cookie Leaflet
In The Revealing Light of Betrayal
Emergence

I just got this at the CD release party last week, and wanted to debut it here. Cliff Phelps pens all of the songs, and the addition of a full-time sax player gives it a Van der Graaf feel. We should have this on the station soon. The third release, it's more direct than the other two. I'm a big fan of the second one (Tragedy of Leaps and Bounds), but this one is close. The first song's theme reminds me of Sabbath's "Lord of This World", and the arrangements are excellent. There's a good mix of softer passages mixed in with heavier sections. As you may have guessed "Swine" is an instrumental. And true to Cliff's propensity for darker images, we have "In The Revealing Light of Betrayal". I can't imagine that making it's way onto "Tales"!

Little Atlas - The Ballad of Eddie Wanderlust (Wanderlust)

If not for Salem Hill, this would get my vote for record of the year. I played this in full over the summer, so I'll leave the superlatives there. A must in your CD collection, mixes old-style prog with new-style songwriting.

Salem Hill - The Future Me (Mimi's Magic Moment)

This record sealed the deal for me. "Mimi" and "Be" have jumped into my top 10 CD's, making space on the shelf with "Unfolded Like Staircase", "As The World", "Discipline", etc. A powerful song to close out the show...and year.

Some other nice ones I didn't have time to play - Kaipa, Tomas Bodin, Magic Pie. Scandanavian artists...no connection there I swear!

Also, I'll be purchasing the Neal Morse and the Kate Bush soon, but have not heard them to comment....