Hangin' Out In 100b

•   15. Beck, Guero
•   14. Maximo Park, A Certain Trigger
•   13. Franz Ferdinand, You Could Have It So Much Better
•   12. Ryan Adams, 29
•   11. Black Wire, Black Wire
•   10. Brakes, Give Blood
•   9. The Magic Numbers, The Magic Numbers
•   8. Bright Eyes, I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
•   7. Bloc Party, Silent Alarm
•   6. Arcade Fire, Funeral
•   5. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
•   4. The Cribs, The New Fellas
•   3. Bright Eyes, Digital Ash In A Digital Urn
•   2. The Rakes, Capture/Release
•   1. The White Stripes, Get Behind Me Satan

You know, I tried to write a little bit about each of these albums – I suppose I was trying to describe them for people who haven’t heard them – but no matter what I wrote, it just didn’t sound like me. The thing is, you don’t really need me to describe them for you. That’s what album reviews are for, and you can find those anywhere.

I picked these albums as my Best Of 2005 because I love them, because they surprised me, because – after other albums have been released and I’ve checked those out – these are the albums I kept coming back to. I chose The White Stripes because their creativity knows no bounds; because everything they do is fresh and new and different from what came before. I picked The Rakes because they’re spokesmen for the everyday goings-on of our generation. Bright Eyes deserves two spots because these albums contain some of the most beautiful poetry I’ve ever heard; no matter how often I listen to them, they give me goosebumps every time. I love the Cribs because they feel like a sloppy, chaotic Friday night out and they play from their guts. I chose Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Arcade Fire, and Bloc Party because they don’t sound like anyone else and they all deserve even more hype than they’ve already gotten. The Magic Numbers sing from the rooftops; Brakes mix up just about every genre there is in under 40 minutes; Black Wire makes pop music for the apocalypse. Ryan Adams’ 29 is his most breathtaking album since Heartbreaker. I picked Franz Ferdinand because they dared to do mix things up on their second album and Maximo Park because A Certain Trigger gets better with every listen. And Beck because he’s just so damn funky. These are the albums that were the soundtrack to my year and the albums I will continue to listen to for a very, very long time.

(Pretty please go to amazon.co.uk, amazon.com, HMV, insound, Rough Trade or somewhere else that you like to shop and buy these albums.)