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Saturday, 31 December 2005 13:45

1. Augustana: All the Stars and Boulevards (Epic)

2. Madonna: Confessions on a Dance Floor (Warner)

3. Depeche Mode: Playing the Angel (Sire)

4. Sinéad O’Connor: Throw Down Your Arms (Rocket Science)

5. Eurythmics: Ultimate Collection (Arista)

6. 30 Seconds to Mars: A Beautiful Lie (Virgin)

7. Wynonna: Her Story: Scenes From a Lifetime (Curb)

8. Flyleaf: Flyleaf (Octone)

9. Various Artists: Six Feet Under, Vol. 2: Everything Ends (Astralwerks)

10. Bon Jovi: Have a Nice Day (Island)

| Jim Campbell

1. Sufjan Stevens: Illinios (Asthmatic Kitty)

2. The New Pornographers: Twin Cinema (Matador Records)

3. Bloc Party: Silent Alarm (Vice Records)

4. Sleater-Kinney: The Woods (Sub Pop)

5. The Go-Betweens: Oceans Apart (Yep Roc)

6. Editors: Back Room (Kitchenware)

7. The Hold Steady: Separation Sunday (French Kiss)

8. Sigur Ros: Takk... (Geffen)

9. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: Howl (Red Int/Red Ink)

10. Spoon: Gimme Fiction (Merge)

| Shandy Casteel

1. Fiona Apple: Extraordinary Machine (Sony)

2. The Arcade Fire: Funeral (Merge)

3. Brandi Carlile: Brandi Carlile (Red Int/ Red Ink)

4. Tracy Bonham: Blink the Brightest (Zoe)

5. Bloc Party: Silent Alarm (Vice)

6. LCD Soundsystem: LCD Soundsystem (Capitol)

7. Gorrilaz: Demon Days (Virgin)

8. Nine Inch Nails: With Teeth (Interscope)

9. Franz Ferdinand: You Could Have it So Much Better (Sony)

10. Garbage: Bleed Like Me (Geffen)

| Laura Ann Checkett

1. The Fall: Fall Heads Roll (Narnack)

2. Elbow: Leaders of the Free World (V2)

3. Bloc Party: Silent Alarm (Vice)

4. Kaiser Chiefs: Employment (Universal)

5. The Hold Steady: Separation Sunday (French Kiss)

6. Matt Pond PA: Several Arrows Later (Altitude)

7. Sleater-Kinney: The Woods (Sub Pop)

8. Kasabian: Kasabian (RCA)

9. The Cribs: The New Fellas (Wichita Recordings)

10. OK Go: Oh No (Capitol)

| Jim Dunn

 

1. Bloc Party: Silent Alarm (Vice)

2. Bright Eyes: I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning (Saddle Creek)

3. Iron & Wine: Woman King EP

4. The Decemberists Picaresque

5. Sufjan Stevens: Illinois (Asthmatic Kitty)

6. Annie: Anniemal

7. Maximo Park: A Certain Trigger

8. Sigur Ros: Takk

9. Franz Ferdinand: You Could Have It So Much Better (Domino)

10. M83: Before the Dawn Heals Us

Honorable Mention: Patrick Wolf: Wind in the Wires, Babyshambles: Down in Albion, Antony and the Johnsons: I Am a Bird Now

| Cindy Gao

 

1. Matthew Good: In a Coma (Universal)

2. The Frames: Burn the Maps (Anti-)

3. Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s: The Dust of Retreat (Standard)

4. a-ha: Analogue (Universal)

5. OK Go: Oh No (Capitol)

6. Big Bad Zero: Imagination America (self-released)

7. Hard-Fi: Stars of CCTV (Atlantic)

8. Art Brut: Bang Bang Rock and Roll (Fierce Panda)

9. Bloc Party: Silent Alarm (Vice)

10. The Shout Out Louds: Howl Howl Gaff Gaff (Capitol)

| Laura Hamlett

 

1. LCD Soundsystem: LCD Soundsystem (DFA)

2. Roisin Murphy: Ruby Blue (Echo UK)

3. Saint Etienne: Tales From the Turnpike House (Sanctuary UK)

4. Antony and the Johnsons: I Am a Bird Now (Secretly Canadian)

5. Madonna: Confessions on a Dancefloor” (Warner Brothers)

6. Franz Ferdinand: You Could Have It so Much Better (Sony/Domino)

7. Bananarama: Drama (Universal/A&G Productions UK)

8. Andy Bell: Electric Blue (Sanctuary)

9. Death From Above 1979: Romance Bloody Romance: Remixes and B-Sides (Vice)

10. Erasure: Nightbird” (Mute U.S.)

| Cory Hoehn

 

1. Greg Trooper: Make It Through This World (Sugarhill)

2. Serena Ryder: Unlikely Emergency (Rockoandme)

3. Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash: Mile Markers (Emergent)

4. The Believers: Crashyertown (Bonafide Recordings)

5. Paul Kelly and the Stormwater Boys: Foggy Highway (Cooking Vinyl)

6. Domino Kings: Some Kind of Sign (Hightone)

7. The Redwalls: De Nova (Capitol)

8. Reckless Kelly: Wicked Twisted Road (Sugarhill)

9. John Prine: Fair & Square (Oh Boy)

10. Joy Lynn White: One More Time (Thortch Recordings)

| Al Kunz

 

1. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (self-released)

2. Bravo Silva: Bravo Silva (Streak Music)

3. Chad Van Gaalen: Infiniheart (Flemish Eye)

4. And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead: Worlds Apart (Interscope)

5. The Ponys: Celebration Castle (In the Red)

6. John Frusciante: Curtains (Record Collection)

7. Bloc Party: Silent Alarm (Vice)

8. M83: Before the Dawn Heals Us (Mute U.S.)

9. Stars: Set Yourself on Fire (Arts and Crafts)

10. Spoon: Gimme Fiction (Merge)

| Joel Lapp

 

1.Okkervil River: Black Sheep Boy (Jagjaguwar)

2. Kanye West: Late Registration (Roc-a-Fella)

3. Sufjan Stevens: Illinoise (Asthmatic Kitty)

4. Cass McCombs: PREfection (Monitor)

5. Shout Out Louds: Howl Howl Gaff Gaff (Capitol)

6. Antony and the Johnsons: I Am a Bird (Secretly Canadian)

7. The Hold Steady: Separation Sunday (French Kiss)

8. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (self-released)

9. John Vanderslice: Pixel Revolt (Barsuk)

10. Neil Diamond: 12 Songs (American)

11. Devin Davis: Lonely People of the World, Unite! (Mousse)

12. Hella: Church Gone Wild/Chirpin Hard (Suicide Squeeze)

13. Fruit Bats: Spelled Out in Bones (Sub Pop)

| Sean Moeller

 

1. Antony and the Johnsons: I Am a Bird Now (Secretly Canadian)

2. Kathleen Edwards: Back to Me (Rounder/Zoe)

3. Kanye West: Late Registration (Roc-a-Fella)

4. Coldplay: X&Y (Capitol)

5. The Decemberists: Picaresque (Kill Rock Stars)

6. Fiona Apple: Extraordinary Machine (Epic)

7. The Fiery Furnaces: Rehearsing My Choir (Rough Trade)

8. Ben Folds: Songs for Silverman (Epic)

9. Kaiser Chiefs: Employment (Capitol)

10. My Morning Jacket: Z (ATO/RCA)

| Preston Jones

 

Top 25 Records of 2005

1. The Hold Steady: Separation Sunday (French Kiss)
2. Pelican: The Fire In Our Throats… (Hydrahead)
3. A Frames: Black Forest (Sub Pop)
4. Shipping News: Flies The Fields (Quarterstick)
5. Love As Laughter: Laughter’s Fifth (Sub Pop)
6. Kinski: Alpine Static (Sub Pop)
7. Oneida: The Wedding (Jagjaguwar)
8. Deerhoof: The Runners Four (Kill Rock Stars)
9. The Life and Times: Suburban Hymns (DeSoto)
10. Lightning Bolt: Hypermagic Mountain (Load)
11. Big Business: Head For The Shallow (Hydrahead)
12. ZZZ: Sound of ZZZ (Howler)
13. By The End Of Tonight: A Tribute To Tigers (Temporary Residence)
14. Constantines: Tournament Of Hearts (Sub Pop)
15. The Evens: Self Titled (Dischord)
16. Oxes EP: Oxes (Monitor)
17. The Plot To Blow Up The Eiffel Tower: Love In The Fascist Brothel (Revelation)
18. The Narrator: Such Triumph (Flameshovel)
19. Kings of Leon: Aha Shake Heartbreak (RCA)
20. Melt-Banana: 13 Hedgehogs (A-Zap)
21. William Elliott Whitmore: Ashes To Dust (Sub Pop)
22. Cursive: The Difference Between Houses and Homes (Saddle Creek)
23. Bloc Party: Silent Alarm (Vice/Dim Mak)
24. Franz Ferdinand: You Could Have It So Much Better (Domino)
25. Dropkick Murphys: The Warriors Code (Hellcat)

| David Lichius

 

 

1. Acid House Kings: Sing Along With Acid House Kings (Twentyseven)

2. Better Than Ezra: Before The Robots (Artemis Records)

3. Bettye Lavette: I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise (Anti)

4. Brazilian Girls: Brazilian Girls (Verve Forecast)

5. Brendan Benson: The Alternative to Love (V2)

6. Coheed & Cambria: Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Volume 1: From Fear Through the Eyes of Mad (Sony)

7. The Dandy Warhols: Odditorium or Warlords of Mars (Capitol)

8. Dungen: Ta Det Lugnt (Kemado)

9. Eisley: Room Noises (Reprise)

10. Fischerspooner: Odyssey (Capitol)

11. Hanna-McEuen: Hanna-McEuen (DreamWorks Nashville)

12. The Hellacopters: Rock & Roll Is Dead (Universal Int’l Import)

13. Hot Hot Heat: Elevator (Sire)

14. Johnathan Rice: Trouble Is Real (Reprise)

15. Josh Ritter: 4 Songs Live EP (V2)

16. Judd & Maggie: Subjects (RCA)

17. Keren Ann: Nolita (Blue Note)

18. Lapush: Someplace Closer to Here (456 Entertainment)

19. Living Things: Ahead of the Lions (Jive/BMG)

20. Louis XIV: The Best Little Secrets Are Kept (Atlantic)

21. M.I.A.: Arular (Interscope)

22. Mugison: Mugimama Is This Monkey Music? (Ipecac)

23. Neptune Crush: Salisbury: The Acoustic Demos (Promotional Demo)

24. Nikka Costa: Can’tneverdidnothin’ (Virgin)

25. One Lone Car: Variety Half Hour (self-released)

26. Spoon: Gimme Fiction (Merge)

27. Stina Nordenstam: The World Is Saved (V2)

28. The Subways: Young for Eternity (WEA – Import)

29. West of Eden: Five-track demo (Promotional Demo)

30. World Leader Pretend: Punches (Warner Bros)

| Jesse Raya (The Pageant)

1. Sufjan Stevens: Illinois (Asthmatic Kitty)

2. Bol: Silver Sun (Curling Legs)

3. The Real Tuesday Weld: The Return of the Clerkenwell Kid (Six Degrees)

4. Hanne Hukkelberg: Little Things (The Leaf Label)

5. Ephemera: Monolove (Ephemera)

6. Pilotdrift: Water Sphere (Good)

7. Luke Temple: Hold a Match for a Gasoline World (Millpond)

8. Aluminum Babe: Vi Tri Fied (Lucero)

9. The State of Floral Beings: We Know You Love Us and That’s Why We Do This (Trewetha)

10. Eels: Blinking Lights (Vagrant)

| Kevin Renick

1. Mahjongg: RaYDONcoNG 2005 (Cold Crush)

2. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (self-released)

3. Sufjan Stevens: Illinois (Asthmatic Kitty)

4. Doveman: The Acrobat (Swim Slowly)

5. Broken Social Scene: Broken Social Scene (Arts & Crafts)

6. Akron/Family & Angels of Light: Akron/Family & Angels of Light (Young God)

7. Isolée: We Are Monster (Playhouse)

8. Deerhoof: The Runners Four (Kill Rock Stars)

9. Mugison: Mugimama, Is This Monkey Music? (Ipecac)

10. Art Brut: Bang Bang Rock & Roll (Fierce Panda)

| Aaron Richter

1. My Morning Jacket: Z (ATO)

2. Spoon: Gimme Fiction (Merge)

3. Kings of Leon: Aha Shake Heartbreak (RCA)

4. Marah: If You Didn’t Laugh You’d Cry (Yep Roc)

5. The Raveonettes: Pretty in Black (Sony)

6. Bloc Party: Silent Alarm (Vice)

7. New Pornographers: Twin Cinema (Matador)

8. The Hold Steady: Separation Sunday (French Kiss)

9. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (self-released)

10. Lucero: Nobody’s Darlings (Liberty and Lament)

Honorable Mention: Eels: Blinking Lights and Other Revelations (Vagrant); Death Cab for Cutie: Plans (Interscope); System of a Down: Hypnotize (Columbia); Sigur Ros: Takk (Geffen); Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: Howl (RCA); White Stripes: Get Behind Me Satan (V2)

| Andrew Scavotto

1. Dirty Three: Live! at Meredith (tour-only) (Anchor & Hope)

2. Various Artists: Broken Flowers (Original Soundtrack Recording) (Decca Records)

3. Devendra Banhart: Cripple Crow (XL Recordings)

4. The Fiery Furnaces: EP (Rough Trade)

5. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (self-released)

6. Spoon: Gimme Fiction (Merge)

7. Dirty Three: Cinder (Touch and Go)

8. Sigur Ros: Takk… (Geffen)

9. The Decemberists: Picaresque (Kill Rock Stars)

10. Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Matt Sweeney: Superwolf (Drag City)

| Pete Timmermann

Kings of Leon: Aha Shake Heartbreak (RCA)

The White Stripes: Get Behind Me Satan (V2)

Death Cab for Cutie: Plans (Atlantic)

Ryan Adams: Cold Roses (Columbia)

The Frames: Burn the Maps (Anti-)

King Elementary: Kudzu (Terminus)

Minus the Bear: Menos El Oso (Suicide Squeeze)

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: Howl (RCA)

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (self-released)

Sleater-Kinney: The Woods (Sub Pop)

| Mike Wachsnicht

Reissues
1.    Billie Holiday: The Ultimate Collection (Hip-O)

2.    The Fall: Hex Enduction Hour [Expanded Deluxe Edition] (Sanctuary)/The Complete Peel Sessions 1978–2004 (Castle Us/Ryko)

3.    Bruce Springsteen: Born to Run [30th Anniversary Edition] (Columbia)

4.    The Stooges: Fun House [Deluxe Edition] (Rhino)

5.    DJ Shadow: Endtroducing... [Deluxe Edition] (Island)

6.    Belle and Sebastian: Push Barman to Open Old Wounds (Matador)

7.    Manic Street Preachers: The Holy Bible (Epic)

8.    The Cure: Pornography [Deluxe Edition] (Elektra/WEA)

9.    Dinosaur Jr.: You’re Living All Over Me (Mergebinoa)

10.    Neutral Milk Hotel: On Avery Island and in the Aeroplane Over the Sea (Domino)
| Shandy Casteel

2005 Albums I Might Have Liked, but Am Compelled to Avoid Because of Their Ubiquitousness on NPR

1. Sufjan Stevens: Illinois (Asthmatic Kitty)

2. Broken Social Scene: Broken Social Scene (Arts & Crafts)

3. Antony and the Johnsons: I Am a Bird Now (Secretly Canadian)

4. Animal Collective: Feels (Fat Cat)

5. Wolf Parade: Apologies to the Queen Mary (Sub Pop)

6. Bright Eyes, Digital Ash in a Digital Urn (Saddle Creek) (Truth? I never would have liked this)

7. British Sea Power: Open Season (Rough Trade)

8. Either Azure Ray member’s solo album (Saddle Creek)

9. M. Ward: Transistor Radio (Merge)

10. Matt Pond PA: Several Arrows Later (Altitude)

 | Kimberly Faulhaber