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I avoided compiling a list of my favorite music of 2005 because there's so damn much I didn't hear. Then Girish dropped a request in the comment section and I opted to compile a list of my favorite tracks of the year. (I guess that one could say it's a singles list, but, uh, many of them weren't proper singles and I heard very few of them on the radio.) Eschewing the sacred album format would have been unthinkable to me in college; thankfully the interweb/iTunes has loosened me up a little.

Here, in alphabetical order by artist, are fifty of my favorite tracks of the year. (I'm sure I'm missing dozens; these were the first fifty or so that popped into my head and were high on my iPod play count.)

1. !!! "Take Ecstasy With Me"
   
2. Tori Alamaze "Don't Cha"
   
3. Fiona Apple "Not About Love (Jon Brion Version)"
   
4. Fiona Apple "Tymps (Sick in the Head Song)"
   
5. Basement Jaxx "U Don't Know Me (JaxxHouz Klubmix)"
   
6. Beck "Ghettochip Malfunction (Hell Yes)"
   
7. Beck "Broken Drum"
   
8. Black Dice "Smiling Off (DFA Remix)" / "Smiling Off (Luomo Remix)"
   
9. Mary J. Blige and U2 "One"
   
10. Bloc Party "The Pioneers (M83 Remix)"
    
11. Boards of Canada "Chromakey Dreamcoat"
    
12. Kelly Clarkson "Since U Been Gone"
    
13. Common f/ John Mayer "Go"
    
14. Bob Dylan "Don't Think Twice It's Alright (Demo Version)" [No Direction Home]
    
15. Missy Elliott f/ Vybez Cartel and M.I.A. "Bad Man"
    
16. The Go!Team "Feelgood By Numbers"
    
17. Goldfrapp "Number 1"
    
18. Goldfrapp "Ooh La La"
    
19. Gorillaz "DARE" / "DARE (DFA Remix)"
    
20. Kronos Quartet & Asha Bhosle "Take Another Toke (Dum Maro Dum)"
    
21. Lady Sovereign "Random"
    
22. Bettye LaVette "How Am I Different?"
    
23. LCD Soundsystem "Daft Punk Is Playing At My House"
    
24. LCD Soundsystem "Great Release"
    
25. Aimee Mann "I Was Wishing I Could Clean Up for Christmas"
    
26. Miranda Lambert "Kerosene"
    
27. Jamie Lidell "Multiply"
    
28. Paul McCartney "Fine Line"
    
29. Brad Mehldau "Knives Out"
    
30. M.I.A. "Bucky Done Gone"
    
31. M.I.A. "10 Dollar"
    
32. Moby "Blue Paper"
    
33. New Order "Krafty"
    
34. New Pornographers "Sing Me Spanish Techno"
    
35. Nine Inch Nails "Only" / "Only (Richard X Remix)"
    
36. Sinead O'Connor f/ Sly & Robbie "War"
    
37. Michael Penn "Walter Reed"
    
38. Sia "Breathe Me (Four Tet Remix)"
    
39. Sigur Rós "Glósóli"
    
40. Nina Simone "Lilac Wine (The Album Leaf Remix)"
    
41. Gwen Stefani "Cool (Richard X Remix)"
    
42. Gwen Stefani "Hollaback Girl"
    
43. Sufjan Stevens "Chicago"
    
44. Sun Kil Moon "Tiny Cities Made of Ashes"
    
45. Kanye West "Hey Mama"
    
46. Kanye West f/ Consequence and Cam'ron "Gone"
    
47. The White Stripes "My Doorbell"
    
48. The White Stripes "Walking with a Ghost"
    
49. Lee Ann Womack "I May Hate Myself In the Morning"
    
50. Ying Yang Twins "Wait (The Whisper Song)"