With the Bills playoff hopes down the drain and with a few minutes before TSN's coverage of Team Canada's semifinal game against the Czech Republic at the 2005 IIHF World Junior Championship, I've started spinning tunes.
Looking back at music in the year 2004, there are quite a few bright spots. I've already listed my five favourite albums of 2004 and my five favourite songs of 2004, but what of the gems that didn't appear on either list? What about those tunes I liked so much I spun them over and over again in 2004? This entry is dedicated to them.
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps - Karen O's voice on this single encapsulates me each and every time I listen to it. Listening to it again today I don't know how I could leave it off my five favourite songs of 2004 list. I want to call this a killer ballad, but it's actually pretty heavy in a wickedly calm way.
- The Strokes - Reptilia - I can't say enough good things about The Strokes. This was the second single from Room On Fire and my favourite cut on the album. It's the kind of brilliance bands produce when it seems they don't really care if you like it or not. I liked it. I liked it a lot. Tremendous song.
- Broken Social Scene - Cause=Time - I love how this tune puts you in a trance, threatens to speed up and shuts back down, melding into that awesome daze once more. I loved this tune before I learned the wonderful history and home-grown nature of the band. Throughout 2004 I found myself returning to "Cause=Time" time and time again.
- Metric - Combat Baby - I think this might be one of the most under-rated tunes of 2004. It's eerily catchy with a Yeah Yeah Yeahs sensibility. In fact, this tune is the ideal companion piece for "Maps" with a great female lead voice and a political statement to boot. Again, I loved this tune before I learned the wonderful history and home-grown nature of the band. Toronto rocks!
