Best Records of 2005: #4 Over The Rhine - 'Drunkard's Prayer'

This year undisputed who-the-hell-is-this-band (well, from my perspective), Over The Rhine deliver a deeply heartfelt meditation on love and the near loss of it (based on Linford Detweiler and Karin Botquist’s own recovering marriage). I can’t believe I went this long not knowing who they were, but I had the pleasure of visiting their extensive back catalog. Laid back and reminiscent of Neil Young’s acoustic stuff, Drunkard’s Prayer ranks among their best.

(Also worth checking out is their double-album masterpiece Ohio.)