Albums of the Year

1. Bloc Party / Silent Alarm
I can't say it was really that close. My favorite song of 2004 was "Banquet" and the best EP of 2004 was also theirs, so it figures Bloc Party had the best album of 2005 up their sleeve. Track after track it just keeps the indie-dance-punk coming in waves, and then manages to drop the atmospheric epic "Compliments" right at the end, just for good measure. The remix album wasn't horrible, but the people who somehow believe that it's somehow comparable to the original shock and disgust me.
Best Song: "Banquet"

2. Broken Social Scene / Broken Social Scene
Along with everyone else who claims to have good taste in music I really liked 2003's You Forgot It In People, and while this wasn't quite as well-received I (obviously) saw it as a more than worthy follow-up. Emily Haines ("Swimmers") and Leslie Feist ("7/4") provide the album's highlights, while Kevin Drew and the guys more than hold their own on the rest of the album. Plus they have a song titled "Handjobs for the Holidays" that you could play for your relatives without anyone noticing. People most notably seemed to bitch about the album's overproduction, but when you have a rotating cast of about 20 band members you're gonna have some extraneous shit.
Best Song: "7/4 (Shoreline)"

3. Cut Copy / Bright Like Neon Love
Alright, so this totally didn't come out in 2005, but I definitely bought it this year. And did anyone notice when it did come out in 2004? Judging by the complete lack of reviews stateside, it appears not. Which is pathetic, given this album is a perfect mixture of Daft Punk beats and contorting electronica and New Order bass and rock. Makes you dance like dance music but has the soul of a rock band. Seeing their brief opening set for Franz Ferdinand was absolutely one of the highlights of the concert-going year for me.
Best Song: "That Was Just A Dream / Zap Zap"


4. Doves / Some Cities
I admit to totally forgetting about this album the past few months but then I listened to it again last week and thought this is really fucking enjoyable to listen to. I feel this is a good standard for judging music, and thus it stands here in my top ten. The first six songs are just great British alternative rock music, the kind of stuff you might have expected from Coldplay four years ago, though it gets a little thin after that.
Best Song: "Walk in Fire"

5. BRMC / Howl
The first BRMC album not to have at least three ass-kicking rock songs has none. And it goes way overboard on the Jesus-referencing blues stuff. But the dudes have got some soul, and as an album it just feels right. I was prepared to hate this album but really came around on it.
Best Song: "Weight of the World"

6. Vitalic / OK Cowboy
I think I'm the only person who loves this album but doesn't every really listen to "My Friend Dario." Don't get me wrong, it's a really cool song and actually the thing which first got me into Vitalic, but I think the less-frenetic tracks are what make the album stand out (see my songs of the year picks).
Best Song: "Trahison"

7. Spoon / Gimme Fiction
Just a great album. Despite "Everything Hits At Once" being one of my top five favorite songs of all time I've always kind of slept on Spoon, so this album definitely woke me up. There's nothing ground-breaking to Spoon's sound, but somehow they always manage to come off sounding like a great band.
Best Song: "I Summon You"

8. Dungen / Ta Det Lugnt
Nina was definitely all over this and it took me a while, but I finally caught on. If '60s psychedelia had been done correctly it would have sounded more like this. The first five songs are fantastic, then it gets a little trippy, then it ends with a bang. This is probably a better album than Mew's, but I just happened to get into ATGHK more than TDL.
Best Song: "Panda"


9. Mew / And the Glass Handed Kites
It took me a while to figure out if Mew were bad at English or just weird, but I'm fairly certain they're just kind of weird. So in spite of a song called "Saviours of Jazz Ballet" I'll still these Danes the benefit of the doubt. The album flows like a concept album should, with most songs bleeding into each other, for a cool effect as you listen to the whole thing. Unfortunately it doesn't finish nearly as strongly as their previous album Frengers does, but a strong start will take you pretty far.
Best Song: "Special"


10. The Rosebuds / Birds Make Good Neighbords
Another last minute entry, this is just a great indie pop album. The Rosebuds aren't as sonically complex as the Arcade Fire, but they have some similar qualities. There's plenty of acoustic and electric slide to go around, not to mention the best harmonies not done by the Magic Numbers. Beautiful, effortless rock music.
Best Song: "Boxcar"

EPs of the Year

Okkervil River / Black Sheep Boy Appendix
I bought Black Sheep Boy and this follow-up EP together, and given I liked a lot of both figured I would put the album in my top ten. But then I realized I liked the EP a lot more than the album. Out of seven tracks you've got three amazing ones, one really good one, two instrumental filler tracks and one I don't have an opinion on. Pretty efficient listening. It's a fantastic combination of Americana, alt-country and straight-up rock, the best "American" band this side of Wilco. If they had compiled the best of both records into one 10-song album you'd have something that would compete for best album of the year. As it stands, it's still one of the best discs I bought all year.
Best Song: "Another Radio Song"

Interpol / Evil
You really can't compare this EP to Okkervil River's because while the latter is a complete mini-album, Evil is a glorified single. But it also wound up spending months in my car stereo rotation, because it's got a pretty great combination: take one pretty good single ("Evil"), add in a fantastic new version of an old B-side ("Song Seven") and then cram on live versions of two of my favorite Interpol tracks ("Leif Erikson" and "Narc"). They also throw in a live version of "Evil" but to be honest the version of "Evil" which bookend the EP are the weakest songs on the disc. In any case I'm the only person who held this EP/single in such high regard, but that's why I'm mentioning it here.
Best Song: "Song Seven"

Other Worthy Efforts in No Particular Order:
Beck / Guero
The Chemical Brothers / Push the Button
Death From Above 1979 / Romance Bloody Romance
Gorillaz / Demon Days
Hard-Fi / Stars of CCTV
The Kills / No Wow
New Order / Waiting for the Sirens' Call
Okkervil River / Black Sheep Boy
The Magic Numbers / The Magic Numbers
Mahjongg / Raydoncong 2005
Royksopp / The Understanding
Tom Vek / We Have Sound
Wilco / Kicking Television