here's a list of the only music that mattered in '05. Btw, release dates aren't important (some of these originally came out decades ago). What matters is, this is the music that affected me in the past year. Not in any order. All equally brilliant.
Don't settle for what THEY want you to listen to.

-Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane, "At Carnegie Hall"
-Sutherland Brothers and Quiver, "Dream Kid"
-Various, "Children of Nuggets" box set
-Aretha and King Curtis "At Fillmore East" box set
-Flatt & Scruggs, "Foggy Mountain Gospel"
-Deniece Williams, "This is Niecy"
-Gang of Four, "Return the Gift"
-Wynton Marsalis, "Live at the House of Blues"
-Delroy Wilson, "Better Must Come: Anthology"
-Noel Coward, "The Songs of Noel Coward"
-John Coltrane Quartet, "One Down, One Up: Live at the Half Note"
-Bill Withers, "Just As I Am"
-Betty Wright, "My First Time Around"
-Prince Far I, "Silver & Gold"
-Various, "Son Cubano NYC: Cuban Roots and New York Spices"