Top 50 singles of 2005

50 Young Knives - The Decision
49 Rilo Kiley - Portions For Foxes
48 Kate Bush - King Of The Mountain
47 Ambulance Ltd - Primitive (The Way I Treat You)
46 Bloc Party - The Pioneers
45 M83 - Don't Save Us From The Flames
44 Elbow - Forget Myself
43 LCD Soundsystem - Daft Punk Is Playing At My House
42 Mew - Special
41 Antony & The Johnsons - Hope There's Someone
40 Guillemots - Made Up Love Song #43 (I Saw Such Things In My Sleep EP)
39 Dears - 22: The Death Of All The Romance
38 New Pornographers - Sing Me Spanish Techno
37 Bloc Party - So Here We Are
36 Mew - Apocalypso
35 Patrick Wolf - The Libertine
34 Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Is This Love?
33 Kubichek! - Nightjoy
32 Bloc Party - Two More Years
31 British Sea Power - It Ended On An Oily Stage
30 Bloc Party - Banquet
29 Kaiser Chiefs - I Predict A Riot
28 Lady Sovereign - Random
27 Maximo Park - Graffiti
26 Dead 60s - Riot Radio
25 Rakes - Retreat
24 Interpol - Evil
23 The Boy Least Likely To - Hugging My Grudge
22 Amerie - 1 Thing
21 Brakes - All Night Disco Party
20 M.I.A. - Bucky Done Gun
19 Go! Team - Bottle Rocket
18 William Campbell & Kevin MacNeil - Local Man Ruins Everything
17 Annie - Heartbeat
16 Maximo Park - Apply Some Pressure
15 Editors - Bullets
14 Arcade Fire - Wake Up
13 Brakes - Ring A Ding Ding
12 Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc
11 Futureheads - Decent Days And Nights
10 M.I.A. - Galang '05
9 Editors - Munich
9 Futureheads - Area
7 Arcade Fire - Neighbourhood #2 (Laika)
6 Girls Aloud - Biology
5 Arcade Fire - Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out)
4 Decemberists - 16 Military Wives
3 Futureheads - Hounds Of Love
2 Doves - Black And White Town
1 Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies)

That's right, don't look surprised. We already had it there anyway, but it was listening to Funeral again while writing the Albums Of The Year soliquoly that finally convinced us of Rebellion (Lies)' greatness, the way it just doesn't let up on the long march to redemption, or Hades, whichever is the quicker. Seeing them perform it with gusto on Top Of The Pops was a late hurrah for that most maligned of music institutions (and with CD:UK supposedly finishing in March, whither the opportunities for chart willing acts on prime time?), seeing Win fail to engage one of Sam & Mark in small talk on the following Saturday's Reloaded was at the same time bizarre and cheering, marking their territory out in all senses. We ummed and aahed about the next four, but the pounding (good word, that, Doves should use it as a song title sometime) Northern Soul-goes-inner city after dark stomp won out. Hounds Of Love was a cover the Futureheads made their own with the aid of a wall of guitars that built throughout the three and a half minutes, and hopefully one day our luck and timing will come together and we'll get to hear the magic words in person - "this side, sing along with Ross, this side, sing along with Jaff..." The Decemberists got as close as they'll probably ever come to a pop moment without letting up on the shameless short storification that marked Picaresque out as something special. Yes, that's Girls Aloud at six, proving that yes, this is a UK blog. That surprised ourselves, having been wary of the claims made for their production before, but Biology is just an extraordinary record, fitting three different songs, four hooks and absolutely no concession to what cliche has it pop bands should sound like into the first two minutes. A ticking off to V2 and 679, whose remixes of Galang and Decent Days And Nights altered the very beginnings and ruined the flow of the records (especially the latter) so much we were forced to downgrade them. Editors' album let us down by having two good tracks and they were the preceding singles, which to be fair were superb, Munich's shimmering, Will Sergeant in a tin box guitar being one of the year's most exciting moments. The entry of ex-Astrid guitarist William Campbell and Stornoway performance poet Kevin MacNeil's collaborative 7" is a pleasant surprise even if we do say so ourselves as the compilers, a wistful, plaintive spoken word and chiming acoustic work that essentially requires a kidney to be sold to get hold of a proper copy by now.