These are the tracks that had some sort of effect on my life during 2005. They're not all tracks from 2005, but that doesn't matter.

I started out the year listening to Bond quite a lot. Especially Explosive. It kind of got me listening to something a bit different from my regular selection. Up until then I didn't stray that far from punk/rock music. I still listen to a lot of punk/rock music now, but I also listen to a wide selection of other genres, as you shall see.

I spent a lot of time listening to Songs for Silverman. It's one of my favourite albums and I absolutely love Gracie. I can listen to absolutely anything Ben Folds records, including Bitches Ain't Shit. I'm not really sure how it affected me, but I guess it also just helped to open me up to different styles. I really started to love the cello early in the year.

I first saw the movie Garden State, which is an absolutely great film with a lovely soundtrack. It introduced me to The Shins, Iron & Wine, Zero 7. I'd probably say that Caring Is Creepy is one of my favourite tracks from the album. It dragged me back towards a stage where I used to listen to Idlewild quite a bit, and so I had to go back to listening to These Wooden Ideas a few times a day.

Other tracks that remind me of California include Holy Smoke which I listened to on one of my first days in America when I went for a walk and got lost. Bigger Than My Body because when I first got my iPod this was one of the first tracks on Heavier Things and I would often listen to it on my walk to the bus stop in the mornings before college.

For my 21st birthday my (now-ex-)girlfriend bought me tickets to go see The Killers which is still probably the coolest gift I've ever been bought. We went to see them together at the Fillmore in San Francisco. Tegan and Sara were supporting, and they were great too. It took until they played Walking With a Ghost for me to work out where I knew them from. That track had been offered as a free download on iTunes quite a long time ago and I'd heard it a few times while my playlist was on random.

My favourite part of the concert has to be listening to All These Things That I've Done because of the way it was done. The whole crowd was involved in the whole "I've got soul but I'm not a soldier" part and it was incredible. I can't think of a better part of any concert I've ever been to.

Shortly before I moved back to England I got back into bands like The Offspring, and Oasis that I used to listen to before I moved to California.

One of the first tracks I heard on Radio One as I was being driven up the M1 from Heathrow airport was California which was pretty coincidental. That track always takes me straight back to Cali in my head.

When I got back to England I started to listen to a lot more of the really popular pseudo-alternative stuff. Things like Franz Ferdinand, Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs, and stuff like that. I love the energy in the music. One of my favourites has been Fingers in the Factories which just helps me get to work in the mornings when it's dark, wet, and nasty outside.

Since I've been in England I've only really been to one concert. That was Bloodhound Gang being supported by Electric Eel Shock. Both bands were excellent but I loved the presentation of You're Pretty When I'm Drunk. They all lined up on stage with helmets on that had drums attached to the tops. The drummer stood behind them all and played the song on their heads. They call it a "Dumb Roll" which is sheer brilliance. Between verses they would make Michael Jackson jokes, or break into songs like Gold Digger (feat. Jamie Foxx). It was a great concert.

At the very end of the year I've been listening to some seriously different music. One of my favourite albums is Deltron 3030. Virus is probably my favourite track on the album. I've even been listening to Sugababes, Kanye West, Gwen Stefani, and Black Eyed Peas... That's not very unusual for a lot of people... But it certainly is for me.

So yeah, that's basically a quick rundown. Of course there'll be bands that I'll think of as soon as I submit this, and there'll be songs that I'll hear over the next few days that I should have included, but I didn't, so I'll get over it ;)