The good albums of 2005

[den]

The Mountain Goats - The Sunset Tree - A bit more than their usual lo-fi acoustic guitar, but still simple, catchy, and wonderful. John Darnielle really knows how to write a song and tell a story. He also has an interesting and entertaining music blog.
http://mountain-goats.com
http://www.lastplanetojakarta.com

Black Mountain - s/t - Straight-up fist-pumping catchy psych rock. They're opening for Coldplay in N. America, so look out.
http://www.thewaxmuseum.bc.ca/jwab/index2.html

Hmm, I actually saw both of these bands in concert together.

I'm kind of behind on new music (as always). Thoughts on other mentions, subject to change:

Outhud - Good stuff
Spoon - Good overall
NIN - Decent for NIN, I suppose
Beck - Weak and mostly disappointing
Billy Corgan - Haven't heard much, and while I like Corgan, I'm not really a fan of his synth-sounding stuff.
Weezer - "We Are All on Drugs" is simultaneously the worst and the most genius song they've ever written.
M83 - pbbthh. "Can't Stop" sounds like fucking Mannheim Steamroller. (thought Mannheim Steamroller itself is awesome)
Coldplay - I flipped out when I heard "Talk" and recognized the riff from Kraftwerk's "Computer Love"