The Arcade Fire - Funeral
Before reading Questionable Content, I had never heard of The Arcade Fire. (I had also never heard of the Futureheads or Broken Social Scene, but that's another story.) A while ago, I snagged myself a copy of Funeral, their album from 2004, and it sat around for a while while I got to it.
That (the getting to it) happened not too long ago, but it was this week that this album finally sank in, like a runner who intended to take a shortcut through a muddy bog. I didn't intend to like this album as much as I do, but it just kind of opened up and I fell in.

Simply put, this album is beautiful. It has a very mellow, almost understated tone to it that just makes you want to sit and appreciate it for what it is. The tracks are all relatively different, each with their own individual sound, largely thanks to the wide variety of instruments and objects used in them. (One track opens with an accordion, evoking memories of the theme from Amelie, while another is complemented by a kettle whistling in the background.)

John Allison picked this album to be at the top of his Best of 2004 list (as annotated by Shelley), and I couldn't agree more. I may not be one of the first to proclaim how great this CD is, but I probably won't be the last, and when the dust settles, Funeral remains the first truly great album I have listened to in 2005.
  ¶ 6:17 p.m.