My Top 25 Songs of 2005, albeit somewhat late and in no particular order.

1. Broken Social Scene-Ibi Dreams of Pavement (A Better Day)-Something about the raw emotion (and nothing else about it) reminds me of an emo song accept without the complete and utter shitiness that is required of "emo".
2. Aesop Rock-Daylight-"All I ever wanted to was pick apart the day, put the pieces back together my way." Great line when you've done a few things you regret. This works for fucking up exam questions, relationships and blackout nights.
3. Futureheads-Hounds of Love-I swear this song is an aphrodesiac. Be warned, listening to it before you go out on a Friday night can result in a Renton-like turnaround in sex drive.
4. Modest Mouse-A Different City-Old song, but finally applicable to my life. I would tell everyone to live in a city at least once in your life. It's an experience.
5. TV on the Radio-Staring at the Sun-an uncharacterizable band-just really good. The acapella aspects of their music is amazing.
6. Common-The Food-Most underrated hip-hop song of the year. I'm a crack dealer, right J? Hopefully I'll get paid this semester.
7. Kanye-Gone-Why isn't this the single off this album?
8. Wolf Parade-I'll Believe in Anything-This may be my favorite song of the year. The lyrics, the drama of the music, the meaning behind it, just amazing. It reminds me of so much from so many times in my life.
9. Ted Leo-Hearts of Oak-Again, an old song, but a song that got me rolling a lot of mornings at 7am and made me smile despite the dark circles under my eyes.
10. Shout Out Louds-Very Loud-Why wasn't this album received better by pitchfork. I rarely disagree with those cats, but this is much better than a mediocre album.
11. Saul Williams-Act III (Shakespeare)-Who is this guy? An essayist? Poet? Soon to be hip hop superstar? Professional scenester? Not sure, but his stuff is pretty good.
12. Okkervil River-For Real-Kind of a scary song, a lot of lyrics about blood, but excellent in every possible way a song is supposed to be excellent.
13. Arcade Fire-The whole album (Funeral)-Honestly, if you haven't heard this album you really should not be listening to music.
14. Chin Up, Chin Up-Why Is My Sleeping Bag a Ghetto Muppet?-Worst song name of the year, hands down. But these guys are pretty good and I think their sound is pretty indicative of Chicago. Kind of reminds you of the color grey.
15. DJ Shadow-Stem/Long Stem-An epic of a song off an old and incredibly influential album. I studied to this music a million times and this song is without a doubt my favorite off the album. I was listening to this song one night as 8 inches of snow dropped in about two hours. It was great.
16. AC Newman-Perfect Drug-Will forever remind me of Spring Break in Cancun. And by Cancun I mean Boston. Casey driving on too many Dayquils, Charles the Fifth sleeping on tables, and Tim meeting his soul mate.
17. The Black Keys-The Lengths-Beautiful song, not sure if it's about being in love or breaking up, which is probably the best part about it. I love that about the song and about life in general. "hold me now, never ever hold me again." I think that's about how in a breakup, you never really know if you're still in love with the person-that's the toughest thing to get through, and this song articulates it.
18. Hope For A Golden Summer-Midwest-Because, as a friend said, I don't really think these lyrics can actually exist. Too close to perfect, too fitting.
19. Trail of Dead-It Was There That I First Saw You-Off an old album, but still a song that blends everything you want in music. Lyrics you can relate to, passion in instrument playing and in singing, and oh yeah, the drumming is pretty fucking good. 3 years maybe since this album came out, and I still listen to this song probably twice a week.
20. The Walkmen-The Rat-Honestly, I knew I was supposed to like this band the first time I heard them and didn't. Three years later they would compete as one of my five favorite bands. I don't know if I've changed or if they have, but I pretty much like all their stuff now-so I guess it must be me.
21. Sufjan Stevens-Chicago/John Wayne Gacy, Jr.-I'm not as big a fan of this album as everyone else in the world. I think it is gradiose and somewhat melodramatic. I like my music simple, slightly more stripped down, and I DO NOT dig choirs. However, these two songs are amazing.
22. Telenovela-That Horse is As Good As Glue-Because perhaps my most proud moment is seeing my bro and Steph play this song live at the 40 watt. I think I may have been more proud of them in that moment than I had ever been of myself in my entire life. Seriously, it gave me the chills.
23. Spoon-I Summon You-I really cannot figure out what the hell this song is about and it drives me nuts. But I cannot, for days on end, get it out of my head. The guitar riff is just so damn catchy.
24. Seu Jorge-Rebel, Rebel-Soothing, oh so soothing. Great music to sleep to, probably to make love to as well. To be clear-making love and fucking are not the same thing-Norah Jones makes love, 50 Cent fucks. This is not a good song to fuck to.
25. Sam Prekop-This song makes me want to drive with the windows rolled down. It makes me want to be grilling steaks, eating lime tortilla chips with some delicious salsa, drinking margaritas coronas with friends. It makes me want to walk in the park on a 78 degree day with a breeze. Man, summer is gonna be good.