Top Ten Albums of 2005

When it comes to making best-of lists for music I inevitably feel like I'm leaving something out, probably because I haven't heard it yet. But one of the best things about yearly top ten album lists is I discover a lot of new music to listen to.

So with that in mind, a brief acknowledgment of 2004 releases that I first discovered and/or came to love in 2005: The Arcade Fire's Funeral, Bebel Gilberto's Bebel Gilberto, A.C. Newman's The Slow Wonder, Tegan & Sara's So Jealous and Spalding Rockwell's Kate.

No doubt there were some great albums that I would really love released in 2005 that I simply haven't heard yet, but among those that I did listen to and love over the past year were: Ben Folds' Songs for Silverman, Spoon's Gimme Fiction, Martha Wainwright's Martha Wainwright, The Go-Betweens' Oceans Apart, Queens of the Stone Age's Lullabies to Paralyze, Madonna's Confessions on a Dance Floor, The Like's Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking?, Death Cab For Cutie's Plans, Coldplay's X&Y, Carla Bruni's Quelqu'un M'a Dit, Doves' Some Cities, Common's Be and Garbage's Bleed Like Me.

But the following were my ten (plus) favorites:

10. Employment (Kaiser Chiefs)/You Could Have It So Much Better (Franz Ferdinand)

A tie between Franz Ferdinand's follow-up album that delivers on the promise of a fantastic debut and Kaiser Chiefs' fantastic debut. Although Franz's album isn't as immediately catchy as their first it's more varied (nice ballads guys!), grows with each listen and includes the best single of the year in "Do You Want To." And the Chiefs delivered what Franz did last year: a solid, fun debut album that never wears out its welcome.

Employment key tracks: I Predict a Riot; Oh My God; Saturday Night; Caroline, Yes
You Could... key tracks: The Fallen; Do You Want To; Eleanor Put Your Boots On; Fade Together

9. Illinois (Sufjan Stevens)

If the absurdly long (often exclamatory) song titles and the lyrics built around the history of Illinois (there's even a song devoted to serial killer John Wayne Gacy) make this sound overly precious, well... it is. Yet somehow it works.

Key tracks: Come On! Feel the Illinoise!; Decatur, or, Round of Applause For Your Stepmother!; Chicago; The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts

8. Get Lifted (John Legend)/Late Registration (Kanye West)

There's no stopping Kanye West right now, the pre-eminent force in hip hop released a second album that was a worthy successor to last year's debut and produced a fantastic neo-soul album for protege John Legend (and a solid effort for rapper Common). You hate to feed the guy's already corpulent ego but who can resist music this good? Especially Legend's knock-out punch, the stirring ballad "Ordinary People."

Lifted key tracks: Let's Get Lifted; Number One; Ordinary People; So High
Registration key tracks: Touch the Sky; Gold Digger; Gone; Diamonds From Sierra Leone

7. Brandi Carlile (Brandi Carlile)

This debut album is as assured as it is unheralded. Carlile's voice and style have garnered comparisons to Jeff Buckley but with these ten remarkable songs she's already well on her way to carving out her own musical identity.

Key tracks: Follow; Closer to You; Fall Apart Again; Gone

6. Z (My Morning Jacket)

Although it's their fourth album, this was my proper introduction to My Morning Jacket. I've been told it's a more focused effort that has provided them with more attention then they've ever received. It's not hard to understand why.

Key tracks: Wordless Chorus; Gideon; What a Wonderful Man; Off the Record

5. Silent Alarm (Bloc Party)

Their lyrics are like deep man, but chances are you'll be too busy rocking out to the music to notice. No question, the rock debut of the year.

Key tracks: Like Eating Glass; Banquet; Blue Light; This Modern Love

4. Thunder, Lightning, Strike (The Go! Team)

Hip-hop, electronica and indie rock collide, with cheerleader chants thrown in for good measure, in the most weirdly addictive album of the year. This indie dance mish-mash borrows from the most unexpected sources and has an energy that's impossible to resist.

Key tracks: Feel Good By Numbers; Friendship Update; Hold Yr Terror Close; Huddle Formation

3. Get Behind Me Satan (The White Stripes)

The best contemporary rock band got even stronger with the summer release of this staggeringly diverse collection of songs. I'm not sure there's a musician alive today whose love of music, in all its forms, is more instantly apparent than Jack White.

Key tracks: Blue Orchid; My Doorbell; Forever For Her (Is Over For Me); Little Ghost

2. Twin Cinema (The New Pornographers)

After three albums the Pornographers seem to be reaching wider audiences and greater acclaim, but still not at the level they deserve. An unusual indie "supergroup" (of sorts) the group's main members (A.C. Newman, Neko Case and Dan Bejar) have all recorded on their own but their joint efforts are pure magic: power pop that is never overcooked. Twin Cinema is their most restrained effort yet but give the album at least two listens and the hooks won't leave your mind anytime soon.

Key tracks: Use It; The Bleeding Heart Show; These Are the Fables; Sing Me Spanish Techno

1. Extraordinary Machine (Fiona Apple)

For awhile I thought this project might be lost forever. Then came the news that the original recordings, produced by frequent Apple collaborator Jon Brion, had been leaked online. The Brion tracks were excellent (and remain worth seeking out) but it's the Michael Elizondo-produced form in which the album finally reached shelves that finds Fiona moving beyond the lofty musical and lyrical heights she had already reached. It's everything a serious fan, like myself, could ask for. Track for track, it's the album of the year.

Key tracks: Extraordinary Machine; Tymps (The Sick in the Head Song); Not About Love; Waltz (Better Than Fine); Jon Brion version: Better Version of Me