Hurrah, it's another Best of 2005 list for you to plow through. Because we've all not wasted enough of our lives reading them over the past month. Well never fear readers for this is the definitive poll around, the only one you'll ever need. Unless of course you count our Reader's Poll which you can enter here. But for now here's what Eyeballkid's Esteemed Writers consider to be the past year's finest moments.

Best Album

1. Sufjan Stevens – Come On Feel the Illinois
Sufjan Stevens is clearly a man of ambition. Illinois is the second in a series of albums each one dedicated to and inspired by a state in the US. It features a host of characters from former Presidents to serial killers by way of UFO’s and bone cancer. Come on Feel the Illinois is by turns joyous and tragic veering between the sparse pared down sound of the folk singer to the lush instrumentation on the title track.
The lyrics alternate between obscure references to Illinoisan folklore to heartfelt tales of love and loss, with songs often changing in a beat from heart warming to heartbreaking, which only seems to increase their impact.
A unique, inspired and inspiring artist the only thing that makes me happier than owing this album is knowing that someday I might have another fifty.

2. Arcade Fire – Funeral
What a year the Arcade Fire have had. 2005 has seen them rise from a being a well liked group of indie wannabes to playing to packed stadiums as support to U2 to critical and commercial success. The catalyst for such a meteoric change in fortunes was the release of their stunning debut. Anthemic in all the right ways their rowdy, ebullient musicality often overshadowing the darker lyrical paths the songs frequent.
The highlight of this reviewer’s festival season came in September with their near legendary appearance at the Electric Picnic which put to an end any lingering doubts they were the real deal for once and for all.

3 . The Magic Numbers – The Magic Numbers
The Magic Numbers were the soundtrack of Eyeballkid’s summer. A highlight of which was their spine tingling Glastonbury debut that made the muddy carnage worthwhile. Whilst cynics would argue that the Numbers have brought nothing new to the table in terms of musical innovation its impossible not to be won over by the sheer exuberance of this debut.
Simple tales of love lost and found are backed up with exquisite guitar and bass playing and three of the finest vocalists around. Heavily influenced by classic songwriters, cynics would argue that the Numbers have brought little by way of musical innovation to the table but its difficult not to be won over by the sheer quality of the songwriting and playing. Resolutely uncool but uniformly ace.

4. Clap your hands say yeah – Clap your hands say yeah
OK so we are breaking the rules a little on this one as the album in question hasn’t been released on these shores yet but its been knocking around Eyeballkid central for the past few months and has been on constant rotation ever since.
Sounding like the bastard lovechild of Talking Heads and late Velvet Underground these songs bristle with confidence and excellent musicianship, so much so, that it’s difficult to believe that this is a debut album. Singer Alex Ounsworth’s vocal style initially sounds like a tramp fishing in a bucket but as your ears become accustomed to it you come to realise they are the perfect finishing touch to a superlative album.

5. LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem
James Murphy is the brains, brawn and musical talent behind LCD Soundsystem. Having created quite a stir with a triumvirate of singles "Losing My Edge", "Give It Up", and "Yeah" his debut album delivered on this initial promise in spades. This record manages to join the dots between punk, disco, electro and is as much inspired by the demented ramblings of Mark E Smith as the dancefloor grooves of Daft Punk. Music that delivers kicks of the booty shaking and cerebral kind.

Honorable Mentions
The Fall – Fall Heads Roll
The White Stripes – Get Behind Me Satan
Franz Ferdinand – You could have it so much better…
Bloc Party – Silent Alarm
Bell X1 - Flock
MIA – Arular
Ray La Montagne – Trouble
The National – Kicking the National Habit
These were the Earlies – The Earlies
Anthony and the Johnsons – I am a bird now
Isolée - We Are Monster



Best Single

Arcade Fire – Wake Up
The stand out track from Funeral features the Arcade Fire at their very best. Loud, anthemic music that makes you want to holler along until your lungs ache.

Bloc Party – So here we are
We where left a little underwhelmed by the whole Bloc Party thingy this year. But this alone justifies their existence.

Artic Monkeys – Fake Tales of San Francisco
Sneering youthful arrogance is in abundance on this one. Advance word on their forthcoming album Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not' is that it's a cracker so you will no doubt be hearing a lot more of this and the Monkeys in 2005

Gwen Stefani – Hollaback Girl
Ok so she has annoyed the crap out of us with every other song from her debut. But Hollaback girl is a classy slice of future pop. Her shit is indeed bananas.

The White Stripes – My Doorbell
The stand out track from 'Get behind me Satan' is propelled along with a great piano riff and seems to relate the tale of someone who isn't getting any. It doesn't match the visceral power of 'Seven Nation Army' but to be fair nothing else has matched it either.

The Futureheads - Hounds of Love
Kate Bush returned with a beguiling double album that veered sharply from the ridiculous to the sublime but it's a bunch of rockers from the North East reworking an old Bush favourite that makes our list.

LCD Soundsystem – Tribulations
The stand out track from an excellent debut.

Gorillaz – Dare
Life after Blur has been good to Damon Albarn.

Kanye West – Golddigger
West has had a blinder of a year delivering a hip hop masterpiece in Late Registration. Golddigger features Jamie Foxxs' Ray Charles impression and is a classy slice of superior R'nB.

The Magic Numbers - Forever Lost
Handclaps, glorious backing vocals, expert musicianship and some deft key changes are all present and correct. This encapsulate everything thats good about the Magic Numbers.

The Descent –
Brought to you by the people behind the Brit werewolf flick Dog Soldiers this is one of the best horror movies in years. Piling on the tension from its opening sequence to a gory and resolutely dark ending. Ostensibly the tale of a group of girls whose caving trip has gone a bit Pete Tong. Beautifully shot in semi darkness this serves to heighten the tension and compound the feeling of claustrophobia. The Descent manages to pack in so many thrills and scares that somehow even manages to leave the viewer genuinely shocked or scared on a least three occasions before the villain(s) of the piece have been introduced.

The Constant Gardener –
Fernando Meirelles director of City of God returned with a tale of deceipt and corruption which focused on the shady dealings of multinational drugs companies. In the midst of this lies the recently bereaved gardener of the title who is determined to find out the reasons for his wife’s murder. Poignant, beautifully shot and with two really strong central performances this merits a place

Wallace and Gromit – Curse of the Wererabbit
5 years in the making, the return of Wallace and Gromit was worth the wait. Some fans complained that the sly wit of The Wrong Trousers et al was conspicuous by its absence but this tale of moonlight metamorphosis and prize vegetables had more laughs per minute than any film of the year.

Oldboy – The renaissance of Asian cinema continued apace this year. Oldboy is a gripping stylish and bleakly comic tale of man who is imprisoned against his will for 15 years and on his release decides to seek revenge on his captor. Check it out before the American remake ruins it for everybody.

King Kong –
The mighty Kong left no swash unbuckled and no flabber unghasted. Peter Jackson proved there is life in the Hollywood blockbuster yet with a faithful retelling of the ape tale. Although it lulls on occasion the verve with which Jackson delivers on the big set pieces made it more than worth the price of admission.


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