2005 proved quite a refreshing year for music, polishing the apple and unleashing quirky pornographers on savvy music kids across the nation. The best of the breed proved to be an eclectic mix, spanning everything from the resurrection of 70s disco fever to addicting bubble gum pop Britney would trade her first born for. The common element that they all share is an innovative approach to formulas that grew tired eons ago. Now pay particular attention to the fact that this isn't a list of the top singles of 2005. I haven't listened to commercial radio in four years so I wouldn't know a band's single if it came up and slapped me upside the head with a lobster. These are the songs that sprang off their albums and wrestled me to the ground like a possessive lover. They beg to be cherished in your iPod, and they've got all those luscious qualities where you simply must surrender to their seductive musical touch. Also, to save myself some whining over technicalities, the final five picks can't claim 2005 as the year of their birth, but they sucker punched my attention through inclusion on soundtracks and just general discovery this year. Therefore, they are part of the family. Here is the best of 2005.

A handful of years ago if a musician sold the rights to his song for use on a television show or, God forbid, a commercial, they were labeled a sellout, immediately to be shunned as a musical pariah. Remember the stink that was created when the Rolling Stones let Microsoft use "Start Me Up" to launch Windows 95? Now, not only is it accepted, artist's are signing away their first born to get their tracks exposed to the receptive, hip audiences of television's elite shows. Bands like Telepopmusik and Citizen Cope probably wouldn't exist if it weren't for the launching pad of television. Grey's Anatomy isn't just one of the hottest new commodities on the tube, it also features some of the best new music. It is consistently a savvy mix of unknown, up-and-coming artists that seem tailor fit for the scene they are serenading. Now its time to take these hundred or so songs and find the most compelling musical candy that Grey's has sweetened our life with. I only wish they had taken as much care assembling this soundtrack as they do in their weekly duties laying down episode tracks.

Before writing for PM Media and spinning tunes on Innovative Radio, my only outlet for getting my musical ideas out to the masses was Amazon's Listmania compilations. They were cheesy little sales tools for Amazon to hijack my musical expertise to sell albums, but sometimes you make concessions to get access to a wide audience. Well I'm taking back my lists Amazon. I hear them quivering in their corporate boots as I speak. My most popular list has always been the Depression Collection. This collection is the gathering of collective misery from artists I've stumbled across over the years that really squeezed the pain out of life's toughest moments. These tracks hand you the towel when rivers stream down your face and hold your hand to tell you that you aren't going through this gut wrenching pain alone. Girlfriend take the ginzu knife to your heart? Dog tangle with rush hour traffic? I have the cure to shake you out of that artificial Prozac happiness.

Everyone is a critic whether they care to admit it or not. We all have our own peculiar batch of ideas and opinions on everything from the best dishwashing detergent to who is trashier -- Britney or Christina? One of the more interesting parts of running this site is stumbling across artist message boards that pickup our articles. There really is no middle ground in the discussion. If I loved the album and showered it with praise, they are ready to invite me over to dinner and set me up with their hot sister. If it was mediocre or offered up some well-placed criticism, it's execution day where the townspeople gather round the gallows to hiss insults and hurl rotten fruit. You learn to develop a thick skin quick or your objectivity can take a major beating when you start blowing sunshine up an artist's bum so you don't have to suffer the potential fallout. What's life without a little adventure?

My friend Amy and I were killing time before Razorlight took the stage at Tabernacle the other night. We'd spent the last three evenings around one another so the conversation well was sufficiently dry at that point. I was busy visually scanning the crowd when I overheard the girl next to us discussing the sublime experience she had at a limited seating concert for Christina Aguilera. After my inner music snob got through rolling on the floor laughing, I had a brilliant thought. What if, as part of the admission, they printed the first show you'd ever been to, followed by your favorite show square on your forehead. After some discussion, it was decided that the first show you'd ever been to had to be a voluntarily effort on your part for the purpose of seeing that show (i.e. my seeing the Beach Boys after a Braves game doesn't count). Think of the interesting conversation that could be triggered by doing this. Screw buying the world a Coke, this could be the answer to bridging the societal divide. So this stirred the thought pot and I've taken it a step further laying out the 10 best shows I've experienced in my life. They were all a high on so many different levels so let's get to it.

2004 was an exciting year for music. I left too many great albums on the cutting room floor when assembling this impressive group of albums and I'd go a step further to include the top 3 among my all time top 25. This list proves that music has not signaled its death rattle as many have feared but is still as vibrant and innovative as ever. It's simply become harder by the day to seek out since modern radio has become so saturated with bands following a sheet of instructions on how to make it big. They've stopped promoting artists and the neglect is sickening. This is your music. Stop letting corporate America define your music taste and take back your listening space.