2005 Year-End Survey

artist of the year

Ryan Adams
ten favorite records of the year
Babyshambles Down in Albion
Living Things Ahead of the Lions
Bloc Party Silent Alarm
Bright Eyes I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
Idlewild Warnings / Promises
Kaiser Chiefs Employment
Rilo Kiley More Adventurous
The Cloud Room s/t

Ryan Adams 29

Editors The Back Room

five honorable mentions

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Howl
Franz Ferdinand You Could Have It So Much Better
Art Brut Bang Bang Rock N’ Roll
British Sea Power Open Season

Serena Maneesh s/t
ten favorite songs of the year

Love Steals Us From Loneliness by Idlewild
Fallen by Franz Ferdinand
When the Sun Goes Down by Arctic Monkeys
Na Na Na Na Na by Kaiser Chiefs
You Only Live Once by The Strokes
Part of the Queue by Oasis
Albion by Babyshambles

Always Love by Nada Surf
Modern Art by Art Brut

Inaction by We Are Scientists
five favorite live shows of the year

...Trail of Dead, April 7 at Black Cat
Ted Leo + Pharmacists, November 23 at Ottobar

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, September 28 at 9:30

Idlewild, September 10 at 8x10

Rilo Kiley, September 8 at Sonar

favorite songwriter(s) of the year

Conor Oberst for I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
Ryan Adams for 29, Jacksonville City Nights & Cold Roses

favorite e.p's or mini-albums of the year

Artic Monkeys Five Minutes With Arctic Monkeys

favorite reissue of the year

At the Drive-In – relationship on Command
favorite album art

Kaiser Chiefs – Employments luxury liner brochure
favorite video of the year

Idlewild Love Steals Us From Lonliness

Jamie Thraves, director

biggest disappointmetn of the year

The leaked Weezer demos being better than the entirely

new, different and boring album they released

favorite music discoveries of the year

Old Gang of Four, The Posies

New Voxtrot, Rotary Ten, Departure
the next big thing

Rotary Ten will be huge when the Arctic Monkey’s

get spanked with an NME backlash

The biggest loss to music this year

The end of C.B.G.B.
That NYC doesn’t accept it’s place in cultural history and preserve

the club is atrocious. The club and what it represents has never

been more needed than now, during the reign of "mall punk."
most underrated artist of the year

Idlewild have now released three of the year’s finest rock records

consecutively and no one knows (with the exception of Details,

who named Warnings/ Promises album of the year)
most overrated artist of the year

The Babyshambles record was good, but Pete Doherty’s shit live

performances and erratic behavior make Mick Jones’ production

prowess seem necessary to make him even appear coherent