Counting Down The '00s: The Best Of 2005

As we come closer to the end of the year, the frequency of our posts dedicated to the best music of this decade will be increasing. Our list of the top albums of the '00s is currently under construction and the plan is to unveil the Top 20 between the 1st and 20th December in synch with over 70 Greek bloggers who’ll be voting for their favorites at the same time. The poll is organized by the All Gone blog and you’ll be able to see the aggregated results here. Of course, this Top 20 will just be a prequel of our full list which will appear in Cool Music Database sometime in 2010, after we had the chance to better evaluate this year's releases.

Meanwhile, we continue our "Counting Down The '00s" series of posts where we present our 30 favorite albums and singles from each year of the decade and this time the focus is on 2005, a very productive year for the rising British rock scene.

A year after the excellent Franz Ferdinand debut (inexplicably absent from the recently posted NME list), it was time for Bloc Party to steal the limelight with their equally amazing first full-length "Silent Alarm". Here’s how we presented our choice for Album of the Year at the time: "The most prominent debut of the year belongs to Bloc Party, one of the best new bands to come out of the booming British guitar scene of the last couple of years. Again the inspiration came from the past, particularly the late 70s - early 80s post-punk sound, when bands like Gang Of Four mixed angsty punk riffs with dance bass-lines to deliver socio-political commentary while making you dance. Bloc Party took that sound and attitude and updated it for a 21st century world, where the issues might be different but the existential angst remains the same".

With the release of their sophomore album, Franz Ferdinand consolidated their position as one of UK’s top new acts, while another example of the strengthening of the British indie rock scene was "Cuts Across The Land", the promising full-length debut of The Duke Spirit. Our all-time favorite band, The Fall, was also in top form in 2005 as they released one of their best records for this decade, "Fall Heads Roll". Further proof of the continuing influence of Mark E Smith on today's music came from the stunning debut of New York's LCD Soundsystem. DFA's finest act masterfully combined dance beats and punk attitude, while James Murphy's "singing" brought to mind the unique talk-sing style of Mr. M. E. Smith. As an added bonus, the album came packed with a second cd containing the amazing first singles of the band, including one of the top tracks of the '00s, the underground electro anthem "Losing My Edge" that name-checks some of the finest artists in the history of modern music.

Other great releases of the year included career highlights for both Spoon and The Decemberists with "Gimme Fiction" and "Picaresque" respectively, the fiery punk of "Golden Ocean" from Kristin Hersh’s 50 Foot Wave (basically a slightly modified version of Throwing Muses), the blues-punk explosion of The Kills second LP "No Wow", the two very different but equally inspired albums of Conor Oberst’s Bright Eyes and Sufjan Stevens' stunning tribute to Illinois.

Top 30 Albums of 2005

1. Silent alarm - BLOC PARTY
2. LCD Soundsystem - LCD SOUNDSYSTEM
3. Gimme fiction - SPOON
4. Picaresque - THE DECEMBERISTS
5. Fall heads roll - THE FALL
6. Golden ocean - 50 FOOT WAVE
7. No wow - THE KILLS
8. You could have it so much better - FRANZ FERDINAND
9. I'm wide awake, it's morning / Digital ash in a digital urn - BRIGHT EYES
10. Illinois - SUFJAN STEVENS
11. Cuts across the land - THE DUKE SPIRIT
12. Lullabies to paralyze - QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE
13. The great destroyer - LOW
14. Broken Social Scene - BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE
15. Everything ecstatic - FOUR TET
16. Let us never speak of it again - OUT HUD
17. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH
18. The woods - SLEATER-KINNEY
19. Witching hour - LADYTRON
20. Set yourself on fire - STARS
21. Pretty in black - THE RAVEONETTES
22. Twin cinema - THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS
23. The secret migration - MERCURY REV
24. Plans - DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE
25. Ex hex - MARY TIMONY
26. Face the truth - STEPHEN MALKMUS
27. Late registration - KANYE WEST
28. Get behind me Satan - THE WHITE STRIPES
29. Cripple crow - DEVENDRA BANHART
30. The mouse and the mask - DANGER DOOM

Top 30 Singles of 2005

1. Neighborhood # 2 (Laika) - ARCADE FIRE
2. Here comes a city - THE GO-BETWEENS
3. The good ones - THE KILLS
4. Juicebox - THE STROKES
5. Sister Jack - SPOON
6. Soul meets body - DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE
7. Daft Punk is playing at my house - LCD SOUNDSYSTEM
8. Ageless beauty - STARS
9. Love in a trashcan - THE RAVEONETTES
10. Portions for foxes - RILO KILEY
11. Love is an unfamiliar name - THE DUKE SPIRIT
12. Hey scenesters! - THE CRIBS
13. I bet you look good on the dancefloor - ARCTIC MONKEYS
14. Little sister - QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE
15. Blue orchid - THE WHITE STRIPES
16. Jumpers - SLEATER-KINNEY
17. C’mere - INTERPOL
18. Munich - EDITORS
19. Two more years - BLOC PARTY
20. Walk away - FRANZ FERDINAND
21. I feel just like a child - DEVENDRA BANHART
22. California - LOW
23. Black and white town - DOVES
24. Get ready for love - NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS
25. I can hear the grass grow / Clasp hands - THE FALL
26. Blood on our hands - DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979
27. Apply some pressure - MAXIMO PARK
28. Goodnight goodnight - HOT HOT HEAT
29. Tied up too tight - HARD-FI
30. Just let go - FISCHERSPOONER