6) Danger Doom, The Mouse and the Mask. 50 Cent's The Massacre was the top-selling album of '05. But if the kids really want to look cool, they'll check out knob-twiddler Danger Mouse and mad-rhymer MF Doom mashing up spacey loops, offbeat flow and animated oddities from the Cartoon Network.

5) Kanye West Moment No. 2: I expected a good show when I saw West in October at the USF Sun Dome. I also expected a surly reference to his September skewering of the president on NBC's Hurricane Katrina telethon. But what I didn't expect was a jaw-dropping, seven-piece, all-female string section and Kanye simply letting his music do the talking.

4) Martin's Scorsese's 207-minute documentary No Direction Home: Bob Dylan celebrates the reluctant Voice of a Generation by smartly highlighting his musical strengths and his persistent personal weaknesses.

3) Kanye West Moment No. 1: Late Registration. With all the pressure of a sophomore album jinx, West goes two-for-two in a big way. West, Mariah Carey, and R&B crooner John Legend all earned eight noms at next year's Grammys. Smart money's on the rapper they call the "Louis Vuitton Don."

2) M.I.A., Arular. A quick tutorial on Maya "M.I.A." Arulpragasam: Sri Lankan rapper, tribal-beat-spinning DJ, runway-worthy London club kid, all-night party girl. To sum it up: 2005's most promising hip-hop newcomer. Pay attention.

1) With Put the "O" Back in Country, Waylon's kid Shooter Jennings had one of the best albums of the year. But nothing in pop music gave me greater joy than playing (and playing and playing) Shooter's first single, 4th of July, until the song started soundtracking my dreams. It's 41/2 minutes of rollicking radio perfection about love and memories and road-tripping with girlfriend/femme fatale Drea de Matteo. The very essence of rock 'n' roll.

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