Personal favourites of 2005

The dawn of a new year usually coincides with the nostalgic summary of the old, whether just a mental rehash or - like I'm about to - a more lasting summary in the form of a Best of list. After having spent the first week of 2006 going through my purchases of last year, checking with my old notes to see how I felt about the different albums when new, I've come up with a 1-10 rating system and have compiled a list of all albums with a score of 8 or higher.

Albums with score 10/10

1. Röyksopp: The understanding
2. Depeche Mode: Playing the angel
3. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: Clap your hands say yeah
4. Queens of the Stone Age: Lullabies to paralyze
5. Kraftwerk: Minimum-maximum

Albums with score 9/10

6. Ljungblut: The other side of all things
7. Elbow: Leaders of the free world
8. Editors: The back room
9. ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead: World's apart
10. Serena Maneesh: Serena maneesh
11. Ladytron: Witching hour
    

Albums with score 8/10

12. LCD Soundsystem: LCD Soundsystem
13. Bloc Party: Silent alarm
14. Nine Inch Nails: With teeth
15. Maxïmo Park: A certain trigger
16. Malcolm Middleton: Into the woods
17. The Mars Volta: Frances the mute
18. The Black Rebel Motorcyce Club: Howl
    
19. Out Hud: Let us never speak of it again
20. Arab Strap: The last romance
21. Wolf Parade: Apologies to the Queen Mary
22. Pajo: Pajo
23. Gorillaz: Demon days
24. Coldplay: X&Y
25. Antony and the Johnsons: I am a bird now
26. Datarock: Datarock
27. Lightning Bolt: Hypermagic mountain

Non-2005 releases (late discoveries):

• The Knife: Deep cuts
• Arcade Fire: Funeral
• TV On The Radio: Desperate youth, blood thirsty babes
• Silverbullit: Arclight
• Mental Overdrive: 083

That's all folks, now I'm ready for what 2006 has to offer...