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[ramenXnoodles]

In no order:

VNV Nation - Matter + Form
Beck - Guero
Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
Against Me! - Searching for a Former Clarity
BANE - The Note
Broken Social Scene - S/T
System of a Down - Mesmerize (I haven't heard any of Hypnotize yet)
Decemberists - Picaresque
At the Drive-In - Anthology: This Station is Non-Operational (hey, it came out this year even though everything is older. I'm still counting it.)
Death Cab for Cutie - Plans

[Catatonik]

Looking at my previous list, i realized how many albums I was impressed by this year.

Corb Lund, K'naan, Opeth, Sigh, Arcturus, Nevermore, Nile, Strapping Young Lad, Blackalicious, Dangerdoom, Amadou et Miriam, Sigur Ros, Clutch, Solefald, Ulver, Peccatum, Ween, Bloodbath, Buck 65, Porcupine Tree, Hypocrisy, Killing Joke, Korpiklaani, Sentenced, Shpongle, Gorillaz, Sufjan Stevens...

No wonder I'm living off of perogies, instant noodles and Kraft Dinner.

[zoidbergslo]

You Say Party! We Say Die! - Hit The Floor!
Shout Out Louds - Howl Howl Gaff Gaff
Broke Social Scene - Broken Social Scene

[sketchyjoe]

Picaresque is just about my favourite album of the year. I'm also really enjoying the new Gogol Bordello album too.

Smoke or Fire had a pretty good album as did A Wilhelm Scream. The Propagandhi album was good but dissapointing after Today's Empires, Tommorrow's Ashes and the Against Me! album was pretty average with a few good songs.

There's probably a good few Plan-It-X records which would be up there too but I can never remember what year they're released. I think the los Gatos Negros album was this year and that was great. I'm pretty sure Madeline - Kissing and Dancing was re-issued this year with extra songs. If it was then that's a clear winner for my favourite album of the year. It's fantastic. Everyone should check it out. She's a brilliant folk singer with catchy songs and a great voice.

[seaweed swimwear]

01.  Deerhoof - The Runners Four
One of only a handful of original, quality releases this year.  Probably is only in my #1 spot because seeing them live was the equivalent of an hour and a half orgasm.
Best Tracks:  Wrong Time Capsule, Spirit Ditties of No Tone, Siriustar
02.  Sleater-Kinney - The Woods
People find it hard to get past the feminist connotations associated with the name, but The Woods was obviously one of the greatest albums of this decade.  Corin really came into her own on this record with respect to her vocals.  
Best Tracks:  Wilderness, Night Light
03.  The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
A complete album with no tracks that wallow below the mediocrity line.  My first introduction to the band.  In the same echelon as my #1 and #2--the last of that particular tier for 2005.
Best Tracks:  The Jessica Numbers, Sing Me Spanish Techno
04.  The Decemberists - Picaresque
One of my favorite bands fulfills my expectations with their great (although, worst of their discography) 2005 release.  Turning away from the intimacy of Castaways and Cutouts and the theatrics of Her Majesty toward a more literary slant.  
Best Tracks:  We Both Go Down Together, On the Bus Mall
05.  Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
Complex music, neat concept, good (though, sometimes, way too pussy) vocals.  Not the critically-lauded juggernaut that it has become, but a solid release.  
Best Tracks: The Predatory Wasp, The Seer's Tower
06.  Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary
A quality album that the hype machine wasn't able to swallow up completely.  As a fan of Frog Eyes, I was automatically a fan of this release.  Some mediocre tracks, but perfect in length for what they set about to accomplish.  Doesn't drag at all.  
Best Tracks:  We Built Another World, I'll Believe In Anything
07.  The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday
Lyric-driven cock rock with unabashedly horrible vocals and music.  Not the type of thing that will be most-played in my CD player, but quite enjoyable.  
Best Tracks:  Cattle & The Creeping Things, Stevie Nix
08.  Akron/Family - Akron/Family
Mellow, somewhat dull, album used for background noise.
09.  Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
Fun britpoprock that's easy to dance to.
10.  Lightning Bolt - Hypermagic Mountain
Bullshit noise music that makes my head hurt.  I just love the drummer, Brian Chippendale.
11.  Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
12.  Spoon - Gimme Fiction
13.  Animal Collective - Feels
14.  Devendra Banhart - Cripple Crow
15.  Stephen Malkmus - Face the Truth

Honorable Mention:
Wilco - Kicking Television:  Live at Chicago
Honorable Mention because it's a live album, obviously.  Nels Cline.

Five Most Laughable Attempts at Music in 2005 (#1 being the worst)
5.  Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
There are really only five songs on this CD and none of them have any redeeming qualities.
4.  The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute
Hahahaha!
3.  Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene
I love what people try to pass off as music nowadays.
2.  Death Cab For Cutie - Plans
I really only listened to "Soul Meets Body".  That song was bad enough for me to stick it here.
1.  Metric - Live It Out
Seriously, what the fuck is this shit?

Thoughts on 2005:
Recycled bullshit, mostly.  Really horrible year for music.  I probably digested another 12-15 "important" albums from this year that were all trash.  They didn't deserve to go on my list just so that I could get it up to 20.  Granted, I still have a lot to listen to, but I really don't give a shit about any of the albums on my list that are below #6.  I used 2005 as the year to catch up on past albums.

[porkypine]

As a soon-to-be-ex-music critic, I make more than one list. This was for No Depression magazine.

I forgot to include the Rudds!

While I like Illinois, I find it hard to believe that so many people could listen to it all the way through more than a couple of times It's a hellaciously long album!

I listen to Smog, btw, but found this year's album a big disappointment.

Top 20 new releases

1 Okkervil River, Black Sheep Boy
2 Spoon, Gimme Fiction
3 Damien Jurado, On My Way to Absence
4 Ryan Adams & The Russians, Cold Roses (disc one)
5 Sarah Borges, Silver City
6 Magnolia Electric Co., What Comes After the Blues
7 Andrew Bird, The Mysterious Production of Eggs
8 Phosphorescent, Aw Come Aw Wry
9 the everybodyfields, The Plague of Dreams
10 The White Stripes, Get Behind Me Satan
11 Eliza Gilkyson, Paradise Hotel
12 James McMurtry, Childish Things
13 The Cloud Room, s/t
14 Michael Penn, Mr. Hollywood Jr. 1947
15 Winterpills, s/t
16 Hayes Carll, Little Rock
17 Eric Andersen, Waves
18 Sufjan Stevens, Illinois
19 Espers, The Weed Tree
20 Sleater-Kinney, The Woods

[Spartan Pho3nix]

I can't stand any Sufjan, really. It's way too boring.

Anyways - so, you guys all know how Death Cab kinda went pop with Plans, right? After the postal service album, everyone wanted plans.

Well, i've never been enamored with Death Cab's stuff to begin with, don't really like the postal service, so, consdering it went mainstream and I didn't even like it too much to begin with, I just never listened to it.

So, I was at a friends house yesturday, and out of my friends I guess i'm really the most into music. I know all the new bands, etc etc, always downloading music, always keeping up to date.

Well, one of my friends puts Plans onto his Stereo and like - everyone starts singing. One person even goes "hey! This is a song we can all sing along to"...and sure enough everyone knew it. I looked around and they ALL knew this song. And I just...didn't. They were shocked.

There fricken kids, who make fun of Pavement, Broken Social Scene, CYHSY whenever they get in my car are all singing along to an album by a band that none of them knew of a year ago, and making fun of me for never hearing it.

I love how, suddenly when Death Cab goes mainstream, i'm suddenly an outcast for not listening to it, when a year ago I would have been an outcast for listening to it (Cause it was Emo drabble before commercial radio adopted it). What crap. I hate commercial radio.


OOOOOHH! You know what else this applies to? The Arcade Fire. Funeral - an album i've been spinning for over a year now.  People heard it back in '04 and went "wtf is this trash." Then, all of a sudden, it appears on Commercial radio in teh form of a couple singles and everyone's going "LAIKA! ALEXANDER! WHAT?"

I want to slap them.

[porkypine]

OOOOOHH! You know what else this applies to? The Arcade Fire. Funeral - an album i've been spinning for over a year now.  People heard it back in '04 and went "wtf is this trash." Then, all of a sudden, it appears on Commercial radio in teh form of a couple singles and everyone's going "LAIKA! ALEXANDER! WHAT?"

I want to slap them.

Funny you should say this, because while I now like the Arcade Fire I didn't get them at all last autumn-- my specific response being, "Wait, I thought this was supposed to be deep? It's not deep! It's fun dance music!"

[Kai]

Oh, is someone upset because people are getting into music that you like (or in your case, liked) and you're angry because they don't know that you've been listening to them longer? Tough shit, kid.

[Merkava]

I can't stand any Sufjan, really. It's way too boring.

Anyways - so, you guys all know how Death Cab kinda went pop with Plans, right? After the postal service album, everyone wanted plans.

Well, i've never been enamored with Death Cab's stuff to begin with, don't really like the postal service, so, consdering it went mainstream and I didn't even like it too much to begin with, I just never listened to it.

So, I was at a friends house yesturday, and out of my friends I guess i'm really the most into music. I know all the new bands, etc etc, always downloading music, always keeping up to date.

Well, one of my friends puts Plans onto his Stereo and like - everyone starts singing. One person even goes "hey! This is a song we can all sing along to"...and sure enough everyone knew it. I looked around and they ALL knew this song. And I just...didn't. They were shocked.

There fricken kids, who make fun of Pavement, Broken Social Scene, CYHSY whenever they get in my car are all singing along to an album by a band that none of them knew of a year ago, and making fun of me for never hearing it.

I love how, suddenly when Death Cab goes mainstream, i'm suddenly an outcast for not listening to it, when a year ago I would have been an outcast for listening to it (Cause it was Emo drabble before commercial radio adopted it). What crap. I hate commercial radio.


OOOOOHH! You know what else this applies to? The Arcade Fire. Funeral - an album i've been spinning for over a year now.  People heard it back in '04 and went "wtf is this trash." Then, all of a sudden, it appears on Commercial radio in teh form of a couple singles and everyone's going "LAIKA! ALEXANDER! WHAT?"

I want to slap them.

Old Death Cab is SOOOO much better than new Death Cab. I miss the days of Airplanes, We Have the Facts, and The Photo Album. If they had stuck with what they had been doing on the Stability EP, I would still like them.

[Spartan Pho3nix]

Kai - that's not what I said.

A year ago, someone asked me to burn them Funeral. So I did. They listened to it, and they didn't like it - they didn't lose any time telling me they didn't like it either.

But then, months later, after it started rotating on commercial radio, I found it on their Ipod and they would voluntarily listen to it. Now - they only found that they liked it after the radio started playing it and other people started likeing it. Sounds like crap to me.

[pat101]

01.  Deerhoof - The Runners Four
One of only a handful of original, quality releases this year.  Probably is only in my #1 spot because seeing them live was the equivalent of an hour and a half orgasm.
Best Tracks:  Wrong Time Capsule, Spirit Ditties of No Tone, Siriustar
02.  Sleater-Kinney - The Woods
People find it hard to get past the feminist connotations associated with the name, but The Woods was obviously one of the greatest albums of this decade.  Corin really came into her own on this record with respect to her vocals.  
Best Tracks:  Wilderness, Night Light
03.  The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
A complete album with no tracks that wallow below the mediocrity line.  My first introduction to the band.  In the same echelon as my #1 and #2--the last of that particular tier for 2005.
Best Tracks:  The Jessica Numbers, Sing Me Spanish Techno
04.  The Decemberists - Picaresque
One of my favorite bands fulfills my expectations with their great (although, worst of their discography) 2005 release.  Turning away from the intimacy of Castaways and Cutouts and the theatrics of Her Majesty toward a more literary slant.  
Best Tracks:  We Both Go Down Together, On the Bus Mall
05.  Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
Complex music, neat concept, good (though, sometimes, way too pussy) vocals.  Not the critically-lauded juggernaut that it has become, but a solid release.  
Best Tracks: The Predatory Wasp, The Seer's Tower
06.  Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary
A quality album that the hype machine wasn't able to swallow up completely.  As a fan of Frog Eyes, I was automatically a fan of this release.  Some mediocre tracks, but perfect in length for what they set about to accomplish.  Doesn't drag at all.  
Best Tracks:  We Built Another World, I'll Believe In Anything
07.  The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday
Lyric-driven cock rock with unabashedly horrible vocals and music.  Not the type of thing that will be most-played in my CD player, but quite enjoyable.  
Best Tracks:  Cattle & The Creeping Things, Stevie Nix
08.  Akron/Family - Akron/Family
Mellow, somewhat dull, album used for background noise.
09.  Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
Fun britpoprock that's easy to dance to.
10.  Lightning Bolt - Hypermagic Mountain
Bullshit noise music that makes my head hurt.  I just love the drummer, Brian Chippendale.
11.  Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
12.  Spoon - Gimme Fiction
13.  Animal Collective - Feels
14.  Devendra Banhart - Cripple Crow
15.  Stephen Malkmus - Face the Truth

Honorable Mention:
Wilco - Kicking Television:  Live at Chicago
Honorable Mention because it's a live album, obviously.  Nels Cline.

Five Most Laughable Attempts at Music in 2005 (#1 being the worst)
5.  Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
There are really only five songs on this CD and none of them have any redeeming qualities.
4.  The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute
Hahahaha!
3.  Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene
I love what people try to pass off as music nowadays.
2.  Death Cab For Cutie - Plans
I really only listened to "Soul Meets Body".  That song was bad enough for me to stick it here.
1.  Metric - Live It Out
Seriously, what the fuck is this shit?

Thoughts on 2005:
Recycled bullshit, mostly.  Really horrible year for music.  I probably digested another 12-15 "important" albums from this year that were all trash.  They didn't deserve to go on my list just so that I could get it up to 20.  Granted, I still have a lot to listen to, but I really don't give a shit about any of the albums on my list that are below #6.  I used 2005 as the year to catch up on past albums.

You're not a happy person are you?

[lastclearchance]

Kai - that's not what I said.

A year ago, someone asked me to burn them Funeral. So I did. They listened to it, and they didn't like it - they didn't lose any time telling me they didn't like it either.

But then, months later, after it started rotating on commercial radio, I found it on their Ipod and they would voluntarily listen to it. Now - they only found that they liked it after the radio started playing it and other people started likeing it. Sounds like crap to me.

Sounds like somebody named Spartan Pho3nix believes in normative and ahistorical aesthetic criteria. I'll bet all the music you like now, you liked it the very first time you heard it, right? And you've never changed an opinion on music after hearing it more? And you've never heard something months later and found you had a different opinion?

I doubt this friend is only liking Arcade Fire to conform. It's more like if you played rap music for a stereotypical "old person". The old person wouldn't like it. But if you played stuff that was more and more similar to rap, and "taught" them rap, so to speak (aesthetic criteria, notable details), they would be able to apreciate and maybe even like it.

And to bring it back to 2005 music, Plans isn't a bad record. It's just that Death Cab's sound has evolved in an AAA-friendly direction.

[Inlander]

While I like Illinois, I find it hard to believe that so many people could listen to it all the way through more than a couple of times It's a hellaciously long album!

For me, one of the reasons that the album was so good was that I could happily sit and listen to it all the way through despite the length.  Most of my C.D.s go for 45 minutes or less; I'm not used to sitting still for over an hour listening to a recording - but with Illinois, for me anyway, it seems like a pleasure rather than a chore.

[Oerdin]

NPR's picks.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5054194

[Oerdin]

I think Sufjan is very talented but I'm still surprised they gave him best album of the year.  I like Illinios and I even love a few songs on the CD but over all it gets rather repetitive.  I saw him live in San Diego (during the ComicCon) and I honestly almost fell asleep during the concert.  It's just a bit to mellow and it becomes very repetative after a while without anything upbeat to break it up.

I'd vote for The Decemberists: Picaresque or Spoon: Gimme Fiction as the best album of the year.  Both are a bit over played but they stand apart from the pack due to their originality and because they really mix things up in order to keep the listener interested.  Damn fine albums.

[McTaggart]

Alphabetical order:
Arcade Fire - Funeral (It came out this year in Australia, so it fits in here)
Bright Eyes - Digital Ash In A Digital Urn
Boards of Canada - The Campfire Headphase
The Mountain Goats - The Sunset Tree
Sigur Ros - Takk

Album I didn't hear, but I wish I did (in the order they come to mind):
Four Tet, Sufjan Stevens, Lightning Bolt, John Vanderslice, Jens Lekman, Broken Social Scene, Feist, Kanye West, Iron + Wine/Calexico, Dangerdoom, Wolf Parade, Blackalicious, Eels, Caribou, City City City [edit] forgot Pivot

Is the John Vanderslice album even available in Australia?

[LibertinesFan]

No.1 : Maximo Park - A Certain Trigger
[Pure brilliance, definately my favourite album in my collection at the moment.  They deserve so much more praise than they get.  Songs such as Graffiti and Going Missing show off their talent]

No.2 : Babyshambles - Down in Albion
No.3 : Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
No.4 : Franz Ferdinand - You Could Have It So Much Better
No.5 : Kaiser Chiefs - Employment

[elcapitan]

Some random thoughts, not specific... Note that I don't generally listen to albums, so these are just some of the ones I can actually identify.

Roots Manuva - Awfully Deep
Blackalicious - The Craft
Deep Dish - George Is On (except Flashdance)
Epicure - The Goodbye Girl (ok, it was 2004, but I didn't hear it until 2005)
Wolfmother - EP

[normz]

Wolfmother - EP

seconded ..... oh man im soooo loving wolfmother atm *rocks out to Appletree*

[Psyks]

These are in regards to UK releases

1) Arcade fire - Funeral
2) Bright Eyes - I'm wide awake it's morning
3) Bloc Party - Silent alarm
4) LCD Soundsystem - LCD soundsystem
5) NiN - With Teeth

[nescience]

[image]http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c219/gamaradio/ratn.jpg[/image] #17: Riow Arai + Tujiko Noriko J
Of the two Tujiko Noriko collaborations this year, this is the more beat-heavy, song-oriented one.

THREE Tujiko Noriko collaborations this year.  Just picked this one up.

[Kai]

Alright, so I'm going to update my list (I think I made a list, anyways)

In no particular order at the moment:

1.Children of Bodom - Are You Dead Yet? - Fairly different from the rest of their work. Simpler guitar riffs (Due to Alexander Kuoppala leaving?), and overall...more industrial, I guess. Still pretty bitchin'.
2. Between the Buried and Me - Alaska.
3.The Residents - Animal Lover - Easily the best record I heard all year. Dark, atmospheric, creepy, and downright weird.
4. Eels - Blinking Lights and Other Revelations
5. General Patton Vs. The Ex-ecutioners - Joint Special Operations Task Force

I still have a good 4 records of this year to listen to, and a bunch of records that I've boughten and never even OPENED, so.

[GeekChicOhio]

Let me preface this by saying that I live in a pretty constant state of being pulled in two completely clashing musical directions at the same time.
Somehow, I listen to equal parts Nerdy Indie Rock and Emo/Pop-Punk.
And I've honestly got just as much respect, interest, and appreciation for both.

Here are my lists:

TOP...

Ten Albums
1. Apologies To The Queen Mary - Wolf Parade
2. LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem
3. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!
4. Commit This To Memory - Motion City Soundtrack
5. Picaresque - The Decemberists
6. Get Behind Me Satan - The White Stripes
7. Silent Alarm - Bloc Party
8. Plans - Death Cab For Cutie
9. Bayside - Bayside
10. If You Speak Any Faster - June

20 Songs Not On Albums Mentioned Above (in no specific order)
1. "The Phrase That Pays" - The Academy Is... (from Almost Here)
2. "Poor Little Rich Boy" - Regina Spektor (from Soviet Kitsch)
3. "Bob & Bonnie" - Houston Calls (from A Collection Of Short Stories)
4. "We Burn Houses" - Socratic (from Lunch For The Sky)
5. "Move Along" - The All-American Rejects (from Move Along)
6. "First Day Of My Life" - Bright Eyes (from I'm Wide Awake It's Morning)
7. "Act Appalled" - Circa Survive (from Juturna)
8. "Sofa King" - Danger Doom (from The Mouse & The Mask)
9. "Short Term" - The Express Local (from Six Hours In Jersey)
10. "Nobody Puts Baby In The Corner" - Fall Out Boy (from From Under The Cork Tree)
11. "Surprise, Surprise" - The Starting Line (from Based On A True Story)
12. "Under Pressure" - The Used & My Chemical Romance (Single)
13. "Diamonds From Sierra Leone (Remix) (feat. Jay-Z)" - Kanye West (from Late Registration)
14. "Finding Out True Love Is Blind" - Louis XIV (from The Best Little Secrets Are Kept)
15. "Middle of Nowhere" - Hot Hot Heat (from Elevator)
16. "Girl" - Beck (from Guero)
17. "Best Of You" - Foo Fighters (from In Your Honor)
18. "Feel Good, Inc." - Gorillaz (from Demon Days)
19. "Future Boys" - Electric Six (from Señor Smoke)
20. "Be Still My Heart" - The Postal Service (from We Will Become Silhouettes EP)

DQ'ed Due To Coming Out In 2004
1. "Since U Been Gone" - Kelly Clarkson (from Breakaway)
2. "Black History Month" - Death From Above 1979 (from You're A Woman, I'm A Machine)
3. "Neighborhood #2 (Laika)" - The Arcade Fire (from Funeral)
4. "Unrecorded" - M83 (from Dead Cities, Red Seas, and Lost Ghosts)
5. "Suspension" - Mae (from Destination: B-Sides) (re-issued in 2005 on The Everglow)

Five Reasons To Throw Away My Radio
1. "My Humps" - Black Eyed Peas
2. "Photograph" - Nickelback
3. "Wake Me Up When September Ends" - Green Day
4. "Hollaback Girl" - Gwen Stefani
5. "Sugar, We're Going Down" - Fall Out Boy

[surgerydrugsnrocknroll]

between the buried and me - alaska(this album is just amazing, in all ways)
black dahlia murder - miasma
aes dana - formors(exellent folk metal)
becoming the archetype - terminate damnnation
robert plant - the mighty rearranger
the red chord - clients
the number twelve looks like you - nuclear.sad.nuclear
the mars volta - frances the mute
harvey danger - little by little(this band gets huge props for releasing their album for free)
fall of troy - doppelganger

now for-
transplants
necro - the sexorcist (exteremly vulgar, yet compelling porn rap, i love it)
blackalicious
zion i

all in all, i think 2005 was a pretty good year.
2006 ill be seeing some new stuff which hopefully will be good.

[Kai]

2005 was so much better than 04 on so many levels. I had enough choices that I really could have expanded my list to ten, but I prefer five, for some odd reason.

[Outshined]

10.  Lightning Bolt - Hypermagic Mountain
Bullshit noise music that makes my head hurt.  I just love the drummer, Brian Chippendale.


Five Most Laughable Attempts at Music in 2005 (#1 being the worst)

4.  The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute
Hahahaha!
3.  Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene
I love what people try to pass off as music nowadays.

So wait, you put Lightning Bolt in your top ten for being "bullshit noise music" and then turn around and rag on The Mars Volta and Broken Social Scene?  Holy irrationality, batman!

[Octillus]

Aaand... I want to say Queens of the Stone Age - Lullabies to Paralyze, but that's just the fanboy in me. A decent album, but it's nowhere near as good as their previous releases.

Man I disagree. I think it's their BEST release. It's also my favorite album of the year (Nine Inch Nails, Dark Tranquillity, My Morning Jacket, Foo Fighters and Rammstein all put out great albums in my mind also) They take all that was right with Rated R in the atmospheric sense, and they inject it with the genre hopping capabilities of Songs for the Deaf. I like how they cut the fat of Nick Oliveri (I'm sorry, but anyone who beats his girlfriend does not deserve rock star status) and his lame "we're gutter punk trash" even though I enjoyed quick and to the pointless on Rated R. The album just keeps getting a bit darker until Someone's in the Wolf, which floored me the first time I heard it. So the bass isn't as apparent, and the drums aren't the hammer of the gods dropping by grohl, it doesn't matter when such calm and calculated controlled insanity exists in the songwriting.

[FutureLooksLike]

01.  Sleater-Kinney – The Woods
This has a different sound than their previous albums.  It’s a heavier record, and it has far less of a feminist theme.  This is far from my favorite album by them, but I still love it.
02.  Metric – Live it Out
This record has a different sound from their first record, and it is almost as good.  “The Police and the Private” is an amazing song.
03.  Gravy Train!!!! – Are You Wigglin?
I also don’t like this record as much as Hello Doctor, but it’s  still a fun record.
04.  Death Cab for Cutie – Plans
Nowhere near as good as Transatlantacism but still a good record.
05.  The Decemberists – Picaresque
06.  Bright Eyes- I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
07.  Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine 08.  Stars – Set Yourself on Fire
09.  Ani DiFranco – Knuckle Down
10.  Iron and Wine – Woman King
11.  Fall Out Boy – From Under the Cork Tree
My friend got my listening to more pop-punk type albums this year.  This album is very catchy and is much better than any of their previous releases.
12.  Sufjan Stevens – Illinois
13.  Bloc Party – Silent Alarm
14.  The New Pornographers – Twin Cinema
15.  Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene
This is my least favorite album by them.
16.  The Academy Is… - Almost Here
17.  Jimmy Eat World – Stay on My Side Tonight
18.  Motion City Soundtrack – Commit This To Memory
19.  Straylight Run – Prepare to Be Wrong
20.

I didn’t make it to twenty, but my list is probably going to change in a few days anyway.  I’m getting several CDs on Sunday.

[Joseph]

Well, now that I've listened to a bit more (though there's still tons I've missed so far this year), here's my current top 10.

1.  Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary
2.  Stars - Set Yourself on Fire
3.  The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
4.  Maxïmo Park - A Certain Trigger
5.  Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
6.  Bright Eyes - I'm Wise Awake It's Morning
7.  Bruce Springsteen - Devils and Dust
8.  Deerhoof - The Runners Four
9.  The Decemberists - Picaresque
10. LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem

  Of course, I didn't actually listen t omany more albums from 2005 this year.  There are certainly plenty I wish I'd listened to at this point, and plan on getting soon, such as those from Broken Social Scene, Lightning Bolt, Sufjan Stevens, The Hold Steady, Spoon, and Sleater-Kinney.

[Hector Gilbert]

I've heard twenty-seven albums so far from this year, and enjoyed ten of them:

10. Vashti Bunyan - Lookaftering
9. John Frusciante - Curtains
8. Six Organs Of Admittance - School Of The Flower
7. Van Der Graaf Generator - Present
6. Yourcodenameis:Milo - Ignoto
5. Dälek - Absence
4. Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy
3. The Thelonious Monk Quartet With John Coltrane - At Carnegie Hall
2. The National - Alligator
1. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois

The top three start getting real good, and number one is the only great album I've heard from this year so far.

[seaweed swimwear]

10.  Lightning Bolt - Hypermagic Mountain
Bullshit noise music that makes my head hurt.  I just love the drummer, Brian Chippendale.


Five Most Laughable Attempts at Music in 2005 (#1 being the worst)

4.  The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute
Hahahaha!
3.  Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene
I love what people try to pass off as music nowadays.

So wait, you put Lightning Bolt in your top ten for being "bullshit noise music" and then turn around and rag on The Mars Volta and Broken Social Scene?  Holy irrationality, batman!

I stuck Lightning Bolt in there because I love their drummer and nothing else.  I hate every single part of BSS and TMV with the fires of hell.

[KharBevNor]

I have ten.

http://mirkgard.blogspot.com/2005/12/top-10-of-2005.html

[kikanjuuneko]

9. Municipal Waste - Hazardous Mutation

Holy thrashtasticness, Kharman!

[ozphactor]

In no particular order (because it would take me until next year if I tried):

Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary
My pick for the catchiest, most hummable album of the year.
[Favorite tracks: "We Built Another World," "Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts"]

Stars - Set Yourself on Fire
Electronic-tinged indie pop. Seriously underrated.
[Favorite tracks: "Your Ex-Lover Is Dead," "Calendar Girl"]

Spoon - Gimme Fiction
As others have already noted, this isn't the greatest album ever, but damn, is it ever fun. I love it.
[Favorite tracks: "I Turn My Camera On," "I Summon You"]

The Decemberists - Picaresque
These guys just get better and better with each album. Also, pirates are awesome.
[Favorite tracks: "We Both Go Down Togerther," "The Mariner's Revenge Song"]

Antony and the Johnsons - I Am Bird Now
I'll admit it took me a while to adjust to the vocals (which can be off-putting for a lot of people), but once I did... pure bliss.
[Favorite tracks: "Hope There's Someone," "You Are My Sister"]


Songs I liked that were not from the above albums:

Death Cab for Cutie - Marching Bands of Manhattan [Album: Plans]
One of the best opening tracks for an album I've ever heard. Trouble is, the rest of the album was pretty much the same.

Iron & Wine / Calexico - He Lays in the Reins [Album: In the Reins EP]
I've always felt there was something missing in Iron & Wine's music; Calexico is that missing element. I love every bit of this track, for the soft clip-clopping of horse's hooves throughout, to the Spanish opera singer that interjects halfway through.

World Leader Pretend - Bang Theory [Album: Punches]
I had never even heard of this band when I first heard this track, and I haven't heard anything else by them since. All I know is, this track fucking rocks.

Sufjan Stevens - Chicago [Album: Illinois]
I would've listed the album, but to be honest, I don't think I can listen to it all the way through. Hence, my favorite track instead.

Imogen Heap - Hide and Seek [Album: Speak for Yourself]
Vocodor-ness. Don't ask me why I like this track. I just do.


All in all, my only complaint this year is that I didn't discover any new band that (in my eyes, or rather, ears) reached the mind-blowing intensity of the Arcade Fire. Tough act to follow, I guess.

[Johnny C]

"I Will Follow You Into The Dark" was CLEARLY the best song off of Plans.

Oh, p.s., I'm back from my tropical vacation. HAPPY NEW 2006.

[penpen17]

This is in no particular order.  You'll have to forgive me for the abundance of pop in this list.  I don't really believe in indie cred and I happen to enjoy dancing around like an idiot to overprocessed music

Stars - Set Yourself on Fire
Imogen Heap - Speak for Yourself
Death Cab for Cutie - Plans
Garbage - Bleed Like Me
Boa - Get There
Metric - Live it Out
American Analog Set - Set Free
Melanie C - Beautiful Intentions
Annie - Anniemal
Royksopp - The Understanding

[JLM]

The new Royksopp is quite good, for what it is.  

The American Analog Set album is just "Set Free" I believe.   And Otherwise, with the exception of Melanie C I don't really see what's so "poppy" about that list.

[penpen17]

I guess it isn't all that poppy, really.  However, I may have toned it down subconsciously for the audience, and you didn't see some of the runners-up

Oh, and I fixed the American Analog Set album title

[thesonglessbird]

Primordial - The Gathering Wilderness
Acid King - III
Cathedral - The Garden Of Unearthly Delights
Clutch - Robot Hive / Exodus
Brant Bjork - Saved By Magic
Sheavy - Republic?
Pelican - The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw
Witchcraft - Firewood
Khanate - Caputure And Release
Gorrilaz - Demon Days
QoTSA - Lullabies To Paralyze
Opeth - Ghost Reveries
High On Fire - Blessed Black Wings
Green Carnation - The Quiet Offspring

Great year methinks.

[Kai]

alright, I'm going to redo mine again, because I"ve since listened to a few more new records from this year that have taken some off the list.

1. The Residents - Animal Lover
2. Nile - Annihilation of the Wicked
3. John Petrucci - Suspended Animation
4. Demons and Wizards - Touched by the Crimson King
5. DragonForce - Inhuman Rampage
6. Between the Buried and Me - Alaska
7. The Aquabats - CHARGE!!
8. 1349 - Hellfire
9. Eels - Blinking Lights and Other Revelations
10. General Patton Vs. The Ex-ecutioners - Joints Special Operations Task Force
11. Fantomas - Suspended Animation


That's right, my list; It goes to eleven! Also, I have no idea why both Fantomas' and John Petrucci's records are both called Suspended Animation.

[Valrus]

My favorite albums this year were all the ones I bought, because I buy few enough CDs that I feel I should put the effort into finding what there is to love about the ones I do get.

The Fiery Furnaces - EP
The Furnaces' poppiest, but still very Furnace-y. The first side is absolutely the best 20 minutes of music I've heard on any CD this year, in my opinion. Top tracks: Single Again, Here Comes The Summer, Evergreen

The Fiery Furnaces - Rehearsing My Choir
The Furnaces' least poppy and most Furnace-y. I know, I know, everyone else hated it. I don't care. They're my new favorite band and I'm required to love everything they do. Ok, not really, but in spite of all its weird crap RMC had a prominent place in my playlist for a couple weeks, and I maintain that anyone who listens with an open mind might be able to find it pretty endearing. Maybe. Top tracks: A Candymaker's Knife In My Handbag, Seven Silver Curses, Though Let's Be Fair, although RMC is best enjoyed as an entire album

The Mars Volta - Frances The Mute
So fucking self-indulgent, deadly serious and morbid music that I still manage to find fun just because it's so over the top: fun to pick apart, fun to try to figure out the time signatures, fun to find motifs and enjoy the atmosphere that the lyrics provide while still being almost totally nonsensical. The minutes of downtime don't bother me because the music with which they're interspersed rocks so hard. The only album I've heard with a 30-minute song that I can listen to and listen to. Top tracks: L'Via L'Viaquez, although FtM is also best enjoyed as an entire album

Antony And The Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now
Like ozphactor, took me a while to warm up to his voice, but once I did, wow. Absolutely gorgeous in a way unlike anything else I listen to, earnest, emotional, genuine, stirring. Too bad the first track is the best on the album, and possibly one of the best songs ever. Top tracks: Hope There's Someone, For Today I'm A Boy, Bird Girl

Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary
Took a while for me to warm up to this and I'm still in the process, but it's beginning to seem like it will end up living up to the hype after all. Great lyrics, melodies that paradoxically only reveal themselves to be catchy after you let them percolate a while, and hell yes the Moog. It's a shame that I like one guy's voice so much more than the other, but I'll live. Also, probably the worst liner notes ever. Top tracks: You Are A Runner and I Am My Father's Son, Grounds For Divorce, Dear Sons And Daughters Of Hungry Ghosts

Iron and Wine - Woman King
After Our Endless Numbered Days, this was pretty exciting. The faster paced tracks just hit me in my happy place, and the slower ones are certainly up to scratch as well. And Sam Beam remains one of my favorite lyricists: evocative, poetic, but never deliberately obfuscatory. Top tracks: Woman King, Jezebel, Evening on the Ground

Also,

Albums and Bands I want to hear: Surfjan, Broken Social Scene (the album), Architecture In Helsinki

Albums I Hated: None.