Top 10 Albums 2005
The choices in these lists are in no particular order.


I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning
Bright Eyes
“Freakishly great songwriter. Possibly suffering from the same problem as Ryan Adams with an inability to self-censor. Nonetheless this album is completely focused.”

Nashville
Josh Rouse
“Josh Rouse has an innate ability to take you to a place where everything is fine.”

Oceans Apart
The Go-Betweens
“Brisbane's finest deliver their best album yet and finally receive some of the accolades that they have deserved for the last 25 years. Don't be surprised if this is the first in a purple patch of new albums from the GOB'S.”

Awake Is The New Sleep
Ben Lee
“Most songwriters tell how much easier it is to write a sad song than a happy song. Ben Lee has managed to share absolute joy without the cheese.”

Funeral
The Arcade Fire
“Totally ambitious debut album sets this band up for an incredibly exciting future.”

Foggy Highway
Paul Kelly & The Stormwater Boys
“PK's first foray into bluegrass was a few years ago with the Smoke album with Uncle Bill. That was brilliant and this is even better. True Roots music.”

Addicted Romantic
Faker
“Debut album a long time coming for this Sydney five piece. So much depth to the songs and so good live. Watch them fly.”

The Magic Numbers
“Much talked about UK four-piece consisting of two brothers and two sisters deliver perfect pop music with loads of heart.”

The Throes
Two Gallants
“US Roots duo deliver a brilliant debut exploring the dark side of music.”

Ghost Songs/Dirty Ron
Tim Rogers & The Temperance Union
“A Double album always runs the risk of being a bit of a rambling mess and this one is no different. It would make the cut for My Brothers Room alone - "I had three records, all from Minneapolis and a face that only a mother could kiss"  OH YEAAH!”
Graham Ashton
Capitol Music


Smiling At Strangers
TZU
“This is pushing the boundaries once again and included a live show to back it up!”

Gimme Fiction
Spoon
“A unique take on songwriting, Britt is brilliant!”

Broken Social Scene
“Speaking of brilliance.”

Z
My Morning Jacket
“Turn it right up and be absorbed.”

Innaway
“Just like you're trip'n to a nice sunny place in California in the sixties. If you like Grandaddy, you'll dig this.”

Celestial Son
Mountains In The Sky
“I really like this record and it’s been a morning favorite most of the year.”

Set Free
American Analogue Set
“Tis a beautiful way to spend your Sunday arvo kicking back.”

Veneer
Jose Gonzalez
“A short and intriguing listen.”

The Weight Is A Gift
Nada Surf
“Absolute pop genius, a record with great song after great song.”

Home For An Island
The Exit
“Gig of the year for me, if they ever make it out here get along! This album is brilliant!”
Grant Gilles
Mushroom Music International


Mezmerize/Hypnotize
System Of A Down
“Paranoid and unapologetic, taken as a whole, these 23 tracks are almost overwhelming.”

A Smattering Of Outtakes And Rarities
Yo La Tengo
“Part of a two disc set, these outtakes are better than most band’s A-list material.”

Gimme Fiction
Spoon
“A great release from a band with a great back catalogue. Do yourself a favour and also check out Girls Can Tell.”

Illinois
Sufjan Stevens
“Grandiose and indulgent, but with enough talent to pull it off.”

Innaway
“My favourite new band of the year and from my home state.”

In The Reins
Calexico/Iron And Wine
“I know it’s an EP but it was just too good to leave off the list.”

Bang Bang Rock & Roll
Art Brut
“Stop buying albums from the supermarket.”

Government Commissions - BBC Sessions 1996-2003
Mogwai
“With a sound this rich and full, it’s hard to believe this is a live album.”

Man-Made
Teenage Fanclub
“Angelic voices and comfortable songs.”

Love Craft
Super Furry Animals
“Throwing pop music a wicked curve ball.”
Rob Hudson
modmove.com


Illinoise
Sufjan Stevens
“Part Two of Stevens’ epic tribute to each United State is a lush, crazy, moving, surreal and haunting masterpiece.”

Cripple Crow
Devendra Banhart
Everyone’s favourite neo-folk loon makes his most focused and beautiful record yet. Both dippily eccentric and warmly accessible.

Z
My Morning Jacket
“Beardy country/soul rockers go to space. Freaking genius."

Prefection
Cass McCombs
“Strange, macabre storytelling wrapped in dark, shivering, deliriously gorgeous songs.”

Engineers
“For making me feel like I was 17 again, when Ride or My Bloody Valentine roared and sighed from every floppy-fringed aesthetes’ stereo.”

Aerial
Kate Bush
“...in which hyper-gifted recluse breaks 12 year silence with breathtaking double album of quirky, dreamlike pop and neo-classical invention.”

Yesyesyesyesyes
The Boat People
“Brisbane prog tunesmiths exceed expectations with this crisp collection of barmy offbeat pop.”

Before The Dawn Heals Us
M83
“Almost unbearably wonderful French blend of synths, sophistication and brutal, dreamlike psychedelia.”

Oceans Apart
The Go-Betweens
“Australia’s songwriting treasures firing on all cylinders. It doesn’t get better than this.”

Witching Hour
Ladytron
“Crystalline electro-pop with a nasty side. Delicious.”
Matt Thrower
Rave Magazine

Click here to check out our 2004 top ten gig lists