I sent my good friend a copy of my Best 2004 list below, as we share similar musical interests and views on pop-culture. Talking about the list a little bit, we both agreed that neither of us had even been huge fans of Belle & Sebastian. Personally, I could never get into much of their music, it was either too dreary or too wishy-washy poppy. But I really like "Your Cover's Blown" (last year's 'Bohemian Rhapsody', as it's been dubbed in some places, LOL), in my favourite top 3 singles of the moment. I've tried to find a few more songs from the latest CD Dear Catastrophe Waitress and the Books EP, hoping they would be similar in sound and tone. So far, the tunes "I'm a Cuckoo" and "Wrapped Up in Books" are the most catchy ones, and I am digging them. I will be on the lookout for others.

Let's find a way to be happy, not like plankton.
- Flaming Lips, "SpongeBob & Patrick Confront..."

Just a funny line from a quirky little Lips song that I am enjoying right now.

I started writing my own best-of list for the year, but got sidetracked by work, so it's a little late in coming. I'm sure most is familiar, so explanations may not be required. Anyhow, here's my personal audio-visual highlights for 2004 in no particular order (and some may be older, but "new to me" for this year):

* Wilco - A Ghost Is Born
* Arcade Fire - Funeral
* Broken Social Scene - You Forgot It In People
(funny, those are about the only 3 whole albums I DL'd this year, it just seemed to be the season of the blog-downloaded single).

Some songs I really liked:
* Wolf Parade - Dear Sons and Daughters
* TV On The Radio - Staring At The Sun
* Arcade Fire - Wake Up
* Fiery Furnaces - Tropical Ice-Land
* Tobin Sprout - Courage The Tack
* GBV - Huffman Prairie Flying Field
* Modest Mouse - Ocean Breathes Salty
* The Walkmen -The Rat
* Belle & Sebastian - Your Cover's Blown
* Pixies - Bam Thwok
* Von Bondies - C'mon C'mon
* Feist - Mushaboom
* Brian Wilson - Heroes and Villains
* The Unicorns - Jellybones
* Wilco - At Least That's What You Said
* Flaming Lips - SpongeBob & Patrick Confront the Psychic Wall

Other A/V:
* Wilco - Aug.6 Capital Music Hall - powerhouse performance!
* Pixies - Nov.30 - Bob Guertin Arena
* Champions World Series Soccer (Liverpool v. Porto, Roma v. Celtic) - July 30/Aug.1 - Skydome

* Team America - laugh out loud funny as shit
* Return of The King
* Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
* An Evening With Kevin Smith

* Don't Believe The Hype: Franz Ferdinand, The Killers

* Medium: blogs (haha!)

* Gadget: iPod (said the Christmas recipient of a 20GB iPod)

* Obsession: soccer pools, shopping at Winners