The Top Fifty Favorite Songs Of 2004 - Pt.2

It’s inevitable there will be deserving songs left off of this list. Last year I left The Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Maps” off the list, and I totally loved that song! Oh yeah, and there’s “Elevator Love Letter” by Stars, “Smells Like Happiness” by The Hidden Cameras, “The Black Path” by Aerogramme, and “”A Forced Escape Canoe” by Ben Davis. Oh yeah! And “Mystery and Crime” by The Joel Plaskett Emergency (oh that song is so damn good!). Shoot! So, I would like to apologize to those songs that I have and will leave off my list: “I’m sorry that I left you off my list. You don’t deserve that kind of treatment. I know, I know. What? Yes, it’s unfair … and disrespectful. I ‘m very sorry to you, Song-That-Invariably-Will-Be-Left-Off-My-List. What? Oh fine, I’m sorry that I’m such a bastard. What? No, I’m not gonna say that I’m an insensitive asshole. I’m sorry. C’mon let’s go get down to DQ and get a Blizzard. My treat! Does that sound good? Yeah, I thought so…” And off I go with my arm around those songs I dissed … accidentally.

40. “Trouble Trouble” by The Ponys
Lead singer Jerod Gummere’s Richard-Hell-slash-XTC-yelp exemplifies the urgency of this full-on blast of Nuggets -garage R&B – dirty, uninhibited, sexy, dangerous – screw the Hives and the major label they rode in on. Turn this baby on and hit the town … or something like that. Sometimes the best reason to listen to a song is because it rocks. If the chorus doesn’t move you, you don’t have brain.

39. “Nailed To The Floor” by The Shut-Ins
A veritable hunk of pop that is equally idiosyncratic, ominous, and catchy (think The Fall), this demo track rocks it hard. Neil Weir’s vocals are amazingly M.E.S. awful but with more soul – in case, you have no fucking clue, this means they are good. The song chugs from verse-to-chorus and back with nervous tension intensified by Neil’s sister and co-collaborator, Martha’s wonderful “oo-ahs” on the chorus (talk about a great chorus and hook!). The guitar is incredibly harsh, the bass is ponderously punchy, and the drum machine is ice cold: a potent concoction. No proper release from The Shut-Ins at this point, but you can listen to this demo (and others) at their website.

38. “The Phonograph Plays, Part And Parcel” by Joy Electric
For over ten years, the criminally underrated Ronnie Martin has been constructing some of the finest synth-pop songs. This song is what you expect from Ronnie: strong melody, great chorus, solid hook, but it’s further enhanced by Ronnie’s lovely and mournful vocal performance (maybe his best ever), the keenly nostalgic house beat, and the perfect integration of his trademark whirs/buzzes/blips into the song. This could be very well the best performance Martin has committed to tape.

37. “I Don’t Really Love You Anymore” by The Magnetic Fields
Classic Merritt: cello on lead, ukulele on rhythm, a wonderful melody, cleverly silly lyrics. I love how he drops his vocal down to that creeky-croak baritone on the last word of certain lines. This song rolls forward immaculately over its two-minutes and thirty-three seconds duration.

36. “New Ways Of Living” by Destroyer
Oddly gripping, ingenuously glamorous, subtly addictive, Dan Bejar and his Destroyer are making some of the most challenging pop music out there today. What is this? Glam-folk-troubadour-pop? Maybe. Synth-folk-80s-nostalgia-prog? Perhaps. The track seems to have more in common with orchestras than rock bands (there is no proper drum kit, just an occasional snare, timpani, cymbal crashes, glockenspiel). No matter, when the melody is this unique and still listenable, I just call it a great song.

35. “Unrecorded” by M83
During the autumn season, this track was the soundtrack to the daily commute. As my bus would come to the stop at 2nd Ave N and 6th St., I would press play on this track, dismount the bus and begin my trek to the office. Walking down the crowded sidewalks, up escalators, through skyways, blaring this track, I would pass the corporate minions and homeless freaks and glance at each face while the driving shoegazer electronica would resound in my ears. It seemed weird: this music, these indeterminate faces … until this homeless guy with missing teeth came begging … it seemed even stranger.

34. “Disconnect The Dots” by Of Montreal
I love it when a group re-invents itself. Electronic beats and synthesizers infiltrate the indie-psychedelia that was Of Montreal. The band has always had the songs, but they’ve been obstructed by their eccentricity in arrangement and/or melody and acid-freaked lyrics. The dancey groove on this track balances out the oddball lyrics (twee and obtuse as ever), this isn’t just a single it’s a proclamation.

33. “Not About To Lose” by Ron Sexsmith
Sexsmith gets better with each record, he’s become a songwriter tour de force (along the lines of the magnificent Joe Pernice). I love the Byrds-ian electric guitar riffs, tinkling keys, and inconspicuous drum fills. A wonderful string drenched intro, glorious melody, one sweet hook, and an affecting performance; “Not About To Lose” is songwriter wonderment.

32. “Modern Woman” by Dogs Die In Hot Cars
Late in the year, I was listening to Please Describe Yourself by Dogs Die In Hot Cars a lot and this song really caught my ear. I really love the arrangement: the way the guitars swarm only to give way to classic 80s jangle; the changes are just sick; the chorus soars; the bridge brings the song down nicely, giving you a breather and the song keeps moving. Just a really hot track.

31. “Huffman Prairie Flying Field” by Guided By Voices
Pollard writes the absolute perfect swan song for his band. Initially, I had a big gripe about the last 1 minute 16 seconds, as he repeats "For far too long" to fade out. Upon additional listens, I realized that it fits the end of GBV (and Pollard’s fascination with “nobody cares”, “I’m an old drunk”, etc.). With the right lighting, at the right time of day, I even get a bit weepy-eyed as the lead guitar soars and the vocals fade under that classic GBV sound. The highlight of this track is how Pollard delivers the hook: “I’ve come to start up my head/been closed and locked up”, stunning how he found this hook, for this song, for this record.