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Check out Pitchfork's Top 50 Albums for 2005. You probably won't agree with it and you might not even have heard some of it but Pitchfork continually put out strong reviews on new music with good writing in most instances. They aren't genre specific either and feature music from the worlds of hip-hop to indie and electronica.

Here's my Top 10 "Albums I've heard in 2005".

10. Franz Ferdinand - You Could Have It So Much Better

9.   KT Tunstall - Eye To The Telescope

8.  Beck - Guero

7.  Royksopp - The Understanding

6.  Junior Senior - Hey Hey My My Yo Yo

5.  Kanye West - Late Registration

4.  Diplo - Florida

3.  五月天 - 知足 最真杰作选

2.  Bloc Party - Silent Alarm

1.  Antony & The Johnsons - I Am A Bird

366.com turn up some simple but interesting items. Cool Hunting recently featured their two way carafe, so you can fill two glasses at once. I love the phone/cashcard ashtray which is made by stamping a mould onto discarded phonecards. Its likely you could do the same using other similar cards. Brilliant.

Linked off MoCo Loco, Domeau & Peres make furniture together with some big names in the French world of design, like the Bouroullec brothers, Matali Crasset, Martin Szekely and Christophe Pillet among others. Of particular interest is Francois Azambourg's brilliant structural Very-nice chair, which manages to beautifully express the structure of the chair itself as the main aesthetic.

Just checked out MoCo Loco and found this R2 vacuum cleaner from Rowenta and also this brunch collection in collaboration with Jasper Morrison. There's this particularly clean and modern feel to the products and I'm in love with Morrison's coffee maker.

Olah.com has this pretty brief but good rundown on all things denim. From the history to dyeing methods, everything is covered snappily so you have a great start off guide.

Then there's 45rpm's Bespoke Denim. They've got this store in Tokyo that lets you custom make your own pair of jeans, selecting all the details you ever wanted.

I somehow restumbled onto the website of wacky illustration duo Kozy and Dan. Better known as Kozyndan, the husband and wife team make some crazy illustration using both pen and mouse.

Check out this reworking of a Hokusai standard.

The thing about their work is that its mad, funny, thought provoking, witty and sharp. The details are what makes the illustrations look so alive. The expressions on people's faces are captured wonderfully. Like this piece about Japanese salarymen.

I've loved DJ Shadow ever since I was introduced to Endtroducing... by a mate of mine. His beats are just rock solid and his feel for melody is beautiful. Lately, there have been two newer guys who've been making music somewhat similar to Shadow but obviously with their own unique flavour.

Diplo or Diplodocus made his name together with people like M.I.A and releasing a rather spectacular solo album in Florida. He's also got a live mix out with Fabriclive 24.

You can read this Pitchfork interview with the man himself.

RJD2's first album, Dead Ringer is marvellous, with Chicken-Bone Circuit really really sounding like it came off a Shadow LP and he's followed up with Since We Last Spoke.

Its been a while since I've been excited by any new music but if anything these guys might be it. They might not be quite the same level as Shadow but I'm pretty sure they're gonna get there.

Check out these cool number spirals.

Linked from Neatorama.

Ooh~! I really like this "robot". Whenever you plug it into the socket, it runs off and unplugs itself, causing it to die.

I can imagine seeing the thing itself might not be very spectacular and its visual impact probably lacks an effect unless you're watching it in some huge space in absolute quiet so it becomes so much more dramatic.

I absolutely love the idea and its simplicity.

Liberation is by Hisashi Murata and this was linked off we make money not art.

Jean Reno starred with Ryoko Hirosue in the 2001 flick, Wasabi. Written by Luc Besson and directed by Gerard Krawcyzk, Wasabi first appears to be a remake of The Professional set in Japan. The film itself is beautifully shot, with some really wonderfully colored scenes that give the film a very contemporary look. I actually didn't know it was from 2001 until I googled it. Check this review.

Wasabi takes on Japanese wildstyle coloring and there's some beautiful scenes and shots all over. The street shots, shots in the arcade, airport etc are all beautiful. Colors running all over with transparent hot pinks overlapping blues and reds. Its bright and loud, like a stereotypical imagination of what Tokyo might look like.

The story itself is somewhat similar to The Professional. Hirosue plays the special little girl that Reno has to take care of. He in turn, blasting baddies and knocking their lights out calmly while she spins around shopping. I liked the flow of the film. How it portrayed Reno's character as a workaholic cop whose only thing is golf on Sundays. It then rapidly spins into a murder mystery / action movie.

The tagline goes "Possibly the greatest French language, English subtitled, Japanese action-comedy of all time. I think that's about right, since its also the only film in that category. It deserves better. Not the best Besson related piece I've seen but certainly a great ride. Pacy and hard hitting, gentle and pretty.