Noah Chernin is an asshole. He knows it and so do I, but we at Loose Record still find a way to love and respect his passion for music. Today I've been completely buried at the office so I asked Noah to hook me up with his Top Five records from the past year. This is a preview to the massive feature we'll roll out next week showcasing our writers picks for the year 2005. Here is what one fourth of Sam Champion had to say. Some obvious picks in here along with one that no one could predict. Good looks Noah - you still suck.

Top Five records of 2005 and why by Noah Chernin Of New York rock outfit Sam Champion (in no order)

The Magic Numbers :: S/T
Remember that feeling - the last day of elementary school. Maybe 5th grade and you jump out the back of the bus at your stop. And you are holding hands with the girl you liked all year and she kisses you on the cheek and runs away to her house. And then you see her again next year. 6th grade. Her braces are off. You have the beginnings of bad facial hair and it just isn't the same. This is kinda like that.

Spoon :: Gimme Fiction
Contains quite possibly one of the best songs to fit "rock and roll" into the lyrics. Once again Spoon rises to the occasion and delivers a fucking home run of a record. Preserving the Album as an artform. No one pays more attention to sequencing and overall shape and beauty as Spoon.

Bob Dylan :: No Direction Home Bootleg Series Vol. 7
Recorded from 1959 - 1965. So what. Worth it for “Ballad of a Thin Man' alone on disc 2. Now that's what Noah calls Music Vol. 1!

Cass McCombs :: PREfection
Alhough I feel Cass' A to be a more superior record, there is just no denying the (dare I say it!??) GENIUS of this kid. Part Reed, part Lennon, part early Waits, he's just got it. I don't know what else to say.

Kayne West :: Late Registration
I'm pretty closed minded when it comes to music. I'd say I'm a purist, Jay would say I'm an Asshole. Give me the Crazy Horse chug, a warbly vocal, ripping electric guitars and I'm a sucker. But Kanye delivered big and I am a changed man. I even like Adam Levine's vocal on "Heard 'Em Say" and from there it just gets better. "Gold Digger" is the new "Hey Ya!" and so on.....