2004 artist favorites

favorite bands: The Decemberists
records of the year: Franz Ferdinand, The Shins: Chutes Too Narrow, Holly Golightly: Slowly but Surely
great live experiences: Rufus Wainwright, Festival Hall, London
top films: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
good reads: Bill Bryson: Short History of Just About Everything
delicious dining: Mildred’s, Lexington St, London; Al-Waha, Westbourne Grove, London

favorite bands: the magnetic fields, the long blondes, herman dune, bearsuit.
records of the year: longplayers: i – the magnetic fields, the futureheads – the futureheads, thunder, lightening, strike – the go! team, street vernacular – cannonball jane; EPs: bitter club – pipas; 45s: the girl’s distracted – saturday looks good to me, dead wrong – frausdots, jessica – adam green, bunty v beano – help she can’t swim; songs: i lost you (but i found country music) – ballboy and laura cantrell, autonomy boy – the long blondes, (there’s not enough songs about) squash – darren hanlon; plus all four of the records i released on fortuna pop! by bearsuit (x2), sodastream and would-be-goods. each of them was truly great, i kid you not.
great live experiences: hello cuca at gojonnygogogogo. boy, can that girl play guitar!; emmaboda festival. i don’t remember any bands. it doesn’t matter; love at all tomorrow’s parties. arthur lee! arthur lee! arthur lee!; lloyd cole and the commotions. wow!; charlie damage, the rebel, jeffrey greene at the betsey; bearsuit at pow!; herman dune anywhere and everywhere. from a personal point of view, that cut-outs tour with the frenchmen and pipas was pretty fine. a big shout out to the crew!
top films: ‘lost in translation’, if only for the soundtrack, ‘the motorcycle diaries’, ‘dead man’s shoes’
good reads: well, i managed to read a sum total of 4 books this year (marty’s probably read 400), so i’ll review them individually… homage to catalonia – george orwell. great book, but odd that he complains about the chorizo. i’d be happy to eat chorizo all the time…young adam – alexander trocchi. dour, but good…american tabloid – james ellroy. brilliant storytelling interwoven with the events and characters of america in the sixties…motherless brooklyn – jonathan lethem. a good read, but i thought it was going to be deeper than it was in the end. music magazines? plan b. kitty empire in the observer. mainly i read www.rednews.co.uk. it really is the best place for manchester united news.
delicious dining: ramen seto, kingly street, london for the best and cheapest dim sum in town; cantinha do portugal, stockwell road, brixton; uno e bino – rome (try the stuffed swordfish roll!); don fernando – seville (go for the taster menu!); the elefant household! certainly the hosts with the most!
best discoveries: i loved seville, and i loved emmaboda festival, two places i’d never been before… didn’t see too much art this year, but the hopper exhibition at the tate was excellent. better than i thought it would be… the local portuguese deli is a great discovery and keeps us supplied with pickled garlic, black olive spread and baklava. i’m sorry it has honey in mark, i really am… freeview and bbc4. little britain is shit though. give it to the masses… ipod. is this a bit of a cliche? i listen to more music. it makes me happy… flash memory. how’s that work then?
celebrated moments: watching portugal v england in the local portuguese bar (i’m welsh). oh my, that was good… and i guess, although i would hardly call it a celebrated moment, the death of john peel. to see such an outpouring of genuine emotion at the death of someone so fundamentally decent made me think that maybe there are more good, right-thinking (by which i mean left, obviously) people in the world than it sometimes seems. i felt very privileged to be able to pay my respects at the public service and it’s a memory i’ll keep with me the rest of my life… bearsuit at no.2 in the festive fifty, although i wish with all my heart that it had been peel spinning the discs.
guilty pleasures: i was quite addicted to map man on bbc2 with nicholas crane. he did an investigation into a different map each week, so one week it would be the underground map, the next a medieval map of britain, etc. no, really, it was dead good! the book’s out next year!
tips/hopes/predictions for 2005: I predict the world will become a more selfish and dangerous place and the misery and loss of life in iraq will intensify under america’s leadership. I hope I’m wrong. I also hope that something can be done to help the people suffering in asia right now and that our governments don’t renege on their promises of aid, or divert aid from other equally needy areas. and i hope the good, right-thinking people of this world stand up to be counted. phew, that was a bit heavy. scrub that and just put ‘kylie to crack america’ jimmy!

favorite bands: Jens Lekman
records of the year: Jens Lekman – everything, The Go Team
great live experiences: The Happy Couple in Greece, Sweden & Denmark, Jens Lekman in Sweden, The Clientele in Denmark, Brian Wilson in Germany
top films: Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, The Downfall
good reads: Neon magazine, “A Kind Of Loving”, “Jill”
best discoveries: The Pipettes, Sixtynine & The Continuous People, The Void, ASDA, Portobello Beach
guilty pleasures: Kylie Minogue – I Believe In You, Soulseek, hot water bottles
tips/hopes/predictions for 2005: The Happy Couple’s breakthrough year

favorite bands: The Zebras, Pipas, Architecture In Helsinki, Your Wedding Night, The Icypoles, Still Flyin’, The Ink Spots.
records of the year: Jonathan Richman “Not So Much To Be Loved As To Love”, Pipas “Bitter Club”, Dear Nora “Mountain Rock”, The Mosquitoes “Our Generation”, The Zebras “Car of Idiots” 7″
great live experiences: Wolf Eyes at the Mile-High Club, Oakland California. Not so much the band, as the crowd – in particular, seeing Drew from The Mosquitoes tip a full can of beer over some annoying guy’s head.
top films: Pooty Tang.
good reads: Richard Brautigan
delicious dining: Swedes/rutabagas – delicious in any tongue!
best discoveries: Lychee martini, homestarrunner.com, winter on Tasmania’s east coast, Brazillian blackbean soup, pulling a Ponti’s!
celebrated moments: a kiss at Heathrow airport – brings a steady flow of tears to my eye. OH, and meeting little Alexander Tassos!!!
guilty pleasures: “Pressed ham” on the car windscreen when driving past friends.
tips/hopes/predictions for 2005: see more friends.

favorite bands: Denise James, Richard Youngs, Jens Lekman, Epic 45, The Zebras, the Clientele, Stereolab, Fibi Frap, Radio Dept, Cass McCombs, The Lucksmiths, Wood-Sorrel, The Frenchmen, Twig, Evergreen Days, Architecture in Helsinki, Go-Team, Sleepy Township, PNAK, The Knife, Cause Commotion
records of the year: the opposite of hallellujah by jens lekman– live.
great live experiences: seeing the honeydrips play to a rained out crowd at tradgarden, stockholm, getting rained on dancing like crazy during jens lekman show at mon gala papillons and seeing members of bush hall holding up the amplifier stacks to avoid big mess… the lucksmiths in Brisbane! the go-betweens at the Barbican! Gary Olson & friends in Aarhus! The Frenchmen in Sheffield! but where were all the good londoners while we were watching denise james and her band of detroit eccentrics at the dinkiest london venue imaginable? (except for harvey)
top films: Toppest by far was The Saddest Music in the World by Guy Maddin- you gotta see it or re-see it! from the others: Napoleon by Abel Gance, It’s all about love by Thomas Vinterberg, Maya Deren’s Ashes, Before Sunset by Richard Linklater, Spiderman 2 (generally all “wacky wednesday” screenings, and i could include Dodge Ball in that cause it was so darn cheap), seeing the Dekalog again slowly and in the convenience of my own home, Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne by Robert Bresson, an amazing documentary about the Finnish electronic synth pioneer whose name I can’t remember, The Virgin Spring by Ingmar Bergman
good reads: Slave to the needles (awesome knitting zine), Chronicles by Bob Dylan, Raymond Roussel and the Republic of Dreams by Mark Ford, 101 Experiments in the Philosophy of Everyday Life by Roger-Pol Droit, Self portrait with cows going home by Sylvia Plachy, once again all the Daido Moriyama books that somehow ended in my vicinity, Factory Made by Steven Watson, The Invention of Solitude by Paul Auster, Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck, a biography of Samuel Pepys i didn’t finish but carried around a lot, Cowards Bend the Knee by Guy Maddin, Forget Me Not by Geoffrey Batchen, the parts of The Book of Skin by Steven Connor I read, A Minor Disorder by Vicky Grut, Next Level, and of late, Don Quijote
delicious dining: One word: Mildreds. But here’s two more: Chocolate Buddha. and the most unexpected? La Isla del Tesoro, an amazing vegan restaurant in Madrid I can wholeheartedly recommend.
best discoveries: The life of the bog– go see the Grauballe Man in Aarhus, find out. Seville! Yang Fudong, Fikrit Atay, AK Dolven. New toppings for old bagels- see guilty pleasures below. Woody beet juices all over the world. the bands and peeps we met and saw in Denmark- specially at Pop Revo festival!
celebrated moments: Seeing the Three Sisters in Katoomba, meeting Seth, witnessing a dear friend’s pregnancy, hearing that Gail will stay in London for a bit longer and let me continue mooching off her coffee in the morning, spending a week in Australia and a month and a half in London with the incredible Mr Monnone! and, of course, playing eating fighting cutting the hair of and goofing off with the one the only the great the PIDG.
guilty pleasures: i’m very guilty. all kinds of mites (vegemite, marmite, aussimite, etc, all thanks to you Mark!). i’m addicted. fermentation. miso. pickles. you name it. i havent’ tried natto though.
tips/hopes/predictions for 2005: it’s a year for love. and a lot of it.

band closest to my heart: Pram
records of the year: Lisa Gerrard (with Patrick Cassidy): Immortal Memory, David Sylvian: Blemish
great live experiences: Seeing British performance stalwarts Forced Entertainment at the Adelaide Festival… plus driving across the flatlands between South Australia and Victoria, many times. Playing with Nicole in Luxury Gap. Experiencing the Forty Part Motet by Janet Cardiff, which is a 40-speaker installation of Thomas Tallis’ Spem In Alium. Tears were indeed once again shed.
top films: re-watching Atom Egoyan’s back catalogue…
good reads: Finally read John Wyndham’s ‘The Chrysalids’ & Oscar Wilde’s ‘De Profundis’. Got my hands of ‘Guerilla Radio’ too – all about the brilliant B92 underground radio of Belgrade.
delicious dining: Luckie’s Pizza in West Preston (Melbourne). Yen Noodles in Melbourne. Vego & Lovin It in Adelaide.
best discoveries: A Melbourne whisky club! An astoundingly cheap way to drink very expensive Single Malt Islay Scottish Whisky, preferably cask strength.
celebrated moments: Quiet nights, alone, candles burning… Phone calls with Joshua.
guilty pleasures: Intense Orange by Lindt Chocolate, Intense and unending love of a certain Polish/Jewish bred Australian man.
tips/hopes/predictions for 2005: Let’s work now to end the oppressive and elitist regime of the John Howard Liberal Government in Australia. He’s a friend of Bush, so you get the general impression.
regret of the year: No new Simpático releases. The recordings exist, but the pressings thereof are delayed…

favorite bands: Radio Dept, Interpol, The Killers, Death Cab for Cutie, The Go-Team, Hope of the States
songs of the year: You are the generation that bought more shoes and you get what you deserve – Johnny Boy, Ewan – Radio Dept, Mr Brightside – The Killers, Dry your Eyes – The Streets, Chocolate – Snow Patrol
good gig: The Stills/The Shins at Concorde 2, Brighton.
moment: Brighton’s Leon Knight’s match winning penalty at the 2nd Division Play-Off final, Millennium Staduim, Cardiff.
top films: Elephant, Dead Man’s Shoes, 21 Grams
top TV: – Battlestar Galactica Mini Series, L-Word, 24
good reads: – London A Biography – Peter Ackroyd, Pretty Straight Guys – Nick Cohen, Empire – Niall Ferguson, Hey Nostradamus! – Douglas Coupland

favorite bands: Love Is All, The Legends, The Honeydrips, Broadcast, Camera Obscura
records of the year: Love Is All – Make Out Fall Out Make Up (song), The Legends – Call It Ours (song/single), The Legends – Up Against The Legends (album), The Honeydrips – Lay Your Arms Around Me (song), Raymond & Maria – Ingen Vill Veta Var Du Köpt Din Tröja (song/single), Pop Levi – Rude Kinda Love (song/single)
great live experiences: Jens Lekman, Mon Gala Papillons, Dec 11th, London; Jens Lekman, Mitt Sista Liv, July 30th, Kalmar/Sweden; Vic Godard & Subway Sect, Mitt Sista Liv, July 31st, Kalmar/Sweden; The Clientele, Pop Revo, Sept 11th, Århus/Denmark; The Divine Comedy, 15th Aug, Hamburg
top films: Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, Spider-Man 2
good reads: Neue Zürcher Zeitung (daily newspaper)
best discoveries: performing live: I survive – I even enjoy it!, summer and autumn in Sweden… Stockholm!!, London by night, illuminated in pre-Christmas euphoria, London – the Tate Modern (amazing building!), one or two bands whose names I´m not going to spill, as I´m hoping we can persuade them to get signed by Félicité…, White Russians are delicious! (that´s the drinks)
celebrated moments: listening to the final versions of our new songs – (hasn´t quite worn off yet…), “Seems like it´s really going to happen with Matinée…”, see live experiences and best discoveries, … plus various occasions related to falling/being in love, having a really good laugh with someone nice, dancing recklessly etc.
guilty pleasures: a fatal addiction to the local oldies radio station – in spite of constant embarrassment about how many obviously corny songs I know by heart (and sing along to – loudly), confessing to (not-so-)secretly fancying Graham Coxon (a bit) when I´m tipsy
tips/hopes/predictions for 2005: I choose to believe that the future will be glorious…

guilty pleasures: The definitive ‘I’ll never be allowed to record for Matinée again!’ top ten:
1. Steely Dan – I’ve even seen a Steely Dan tribute band….twice!
2. Daryl Hall and John Oates – ‘I can’t go for that…..actually I can!’
3. Duran Duran/Japan/ABC etc….but I guess these might be deemed cool today, somebody send me a memo!
4. Thin Lizzy/AC/DC/Rush….the puberty soundtrack just refuses to go away!
5. Playing air guitar to the above.
6. Goth Singles from the ’80’s ie Spiritwalker – The Cult, Temple of Love – Sisters of Mercy, Love like Blood – Killng Joke, all Bauhaus…pointy boots ahoy!
7. Earth, Wind and Fire, The Dazz Band, Cameo….funk showbands in general. I dream of the day when The Liberty Ship climb out of a flying pyramid, dressed as Pharaohs with keyboards played like guitars.
8. Sugar – Asking for sugar in your tea these days is tantamount to asking for crack cocaine.
9. Early Genesis…give me ‘Return of the Giant Hogweed’ over Beat Happening any day.
10. My Dad’s record collection….Doobie Brothers, Edgar Winter, The Eagles, The Allman Brothers… the man has a lot to answer for!

favorite bands: i was listening to stuff from all over the place in 2004, from 40s & 50s bluegrass to 60s jamaican ska/rocksteady with a bit of californian sunshine pop thrown in (along with the usual portion of tragic indiepop). so based on what i was listening to in 2004 rather than when it was recorded, i’d go for: don drummond, the millennium, flat & scruggs, the hidden cameras, prince jammy, & the ronettes.
records of the year: mississauga goddam – the hidden cameras. milk eyed mender – joanna newsom, antics – Interpol, the concretes – the concretes.
great live experiences: chris hillman at the bloomsbury theatre, london. i was on my gap year, so didn’t perform myself in 2004.
top films: (i can never remember which year stuff came out in..) spring, summer, autumn, winter.. and spring, eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, zatoichi, city of god lost in translation, house of flying daggers, garden state, american splendour
good reads: plan b magazine, the corporation by joel bakan, giant robot magazine
delicious dining: yes, please.
best discoveries: the meaning of life. it’s so cool. and so obvious too!
celebrated moments: hell, there have been so many that it’s difficult to choose..
guilty pleasures: I had a bit of a crush on Poppy Montgomery from US TV drama “Without a Trace”. However, given that we are cruelly separated by location, age, wealth & talent, I decided not to pursue the matter.
tips/hopes/predictions for 2005: Lib Dem/Green alliance sweeps to power in the UK May elections, the Conservatives come a distant 4th and decide to call it a day, and the people are united in a state of national kindness.

records of the year: the killers – hot fuss; libertines (self-titled); elbow – cast of thousands
great live experiences: devotchka with jim white at the tractor tavern; finally(!) seeing david bowie who is still a god to me; watching people bob up and down and sing along to mapc at the crocodile café!
top films: garden state and eternal sunshine of the spotless mind – great unconventional romances…
good reads: I read a book and a half a week.. there are sooo many! I am a huge fan of jasper fforde’s thursday next series
delicious dining: tup tim thai four times a month at the least – best ever seattle thai food! quiche at cafe ladro on a sunday afternoon; causelita’s caribbean cafe – the best happy hour!!!
best discoveries: devotchka!! my new favorite band
guilty pleasures: too many hours of animal planet. i never tire of watching animals getting rescued, healed and adopted!
tips/hopes/predictions for 2005: i hope all my bandmates’ wishes come true…

records of the year: (albums) mirah – c’mon miracle; magnetic fields – i; elliott smith – from a basement on the hill; camera obscura – underachievers please try harder; fairways – this is farewell; would-be-goods – the morning after; (songs) the owls – air; guild league – citronella; language of flowers – if it’s not you; trash can sinatras – freetime; pipas – jean c; snow patrol – spitting games; the happy couple – another sunny day (oops…2005?)
great live experiences: magnetic fields’ beautiful show at the moore theater in seattle; and camera obscura with tullycraft at neumo’s
top films: the station agent (on video in 2004); eternal sunshine of the spotless mind; harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban; kill bill vol. 2; (but still so many I haven’t seen yet…garden state, the aviator, million dollar baby, life aquatic with steve zissou, hero…)
delicious dining: tutta bella pizza; malay satay hut; belgian frites; oliver’s new mexican home cooking; lisa’s scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam
celebrated moments: first email from jimmy after receiving our demo; first time hearing ourselves on the radio (thanks kexp!)
tips/hopes/predictions for 2005: (responding to Saundrah’s response above) aw… cheers to that! happy new year!

records of the year: brian wilson – smile; morrissey – you are the quarry; arcade fire – funeral
best discoveries: hofner 500/2 club bass; moscato d’asti wines; the buchan hotel in vancouver bc; that shortcut through the woods on the walk home from work; ‘unicorn’ by tyrannosaurus rex; short-scale acoustic guitars; that god didn’t strike us all dead on november 3rd
celebrated moments: the arrival of my mapleglo rickenbacker 330; the first capitol hill watercolor society show at the SAW gallery being a sound success; meeting mapc by chance and just about everything that followed; playing badminton at party at james’ house in july; getting a raise at work; sleeping outside on a sailboat anchored near poulsbo in puget sound

favorite bands: all the usuals, no great changes
records of the year: great albums by Morrissey, Kings of Convenience, Durrutti Column (best of), Harper Lee, Pinkie, Trembling Blue Stars, Air plus a fine cdep by El Perro Del Mar.
great live experiences: as performer: We and You festival, Sweden; as audience: Morrissey, December 2004, still showing us all how it SHOULD be done…
top films: Fahrenheit 9/11
good reads: As ever, Coupland rules.
delicious dining: Circa, Lewes
best discoveries: National Maritime Museum, Falmouth, Cornwall
celebrated moments: see live experiences. Also August 3 /4 Brighton
guilty pleasures: watching reruns of Little Britain and The Office. Reading trashy novels I don’t need to concentrate on. Pro Evo Soccer.
tips/hopes/predictions for 2005: The rise and rise of Scandinavian pop!

favorite bands: Belle and Sebastian
records of the year: Kings of Convenience, ‘riot on an empty street’
great live experiences: Kings of Convenience – Brighton
top films: Fahrenheit 9/11
good reads: ‘The Lovely Bones’ by Alice Sebold
delicious dining: Rick Stein’s chip shop
best discoveries: Maenporth Beach, Falmouth, Cornwall
celebrated moments: Bette’s 1st birthday
guilty pleasures: chocolate. Wife Swap (the TV show)
tips/hopes/predictions for 2005: Everybody Hates Lovejoy

favorite bands: PJ Harvey, the Turds, Pussy Bottom
record of the year: Uh Huh Her by PJ Harvey
great live experiences: Morrissey in Manchester, PJ Harvey at Somerset House, Brian Wilson at the RFH, Jonathan Richman at the Jazz Cafe, Morrissey at Earls Court
top films: School of Rock
good reads: Behind the Scenes on the Pegasus Carousel With the Legendary Rock Group Love by Michael Stuart-Ware
delicious dining: Joosters
best discoveries: Pussy Bottom
celebrated moments: Middlesbrough FC winning the League Cup
guilty pleasures: 2nd Series of Peep Show, Some Girls by Rachel Stevens
tips/hopes/predictions for 2005: return of John Peel, leading to World Peace

favorite bands: My only really exciting find for the year was Okkvervil River. And maybe The Concretes.
records of the year: “Down the River of Golden Dreams” (album) and “Sleep and Wake Up Songs” (EP) by Okkervil River, “The Concretes” by The Concretes, “Winged Life” by Shearwater, “I” by the Magnetic Fields, “Second Storey” by Art of Fighting, “Little Chills” by Darren Hanlon, “Aw C’mon/No You C’mon” by Lambchop, “When I Said I Wanted to be Your Dog” by Jens Lekman, “Our Hopes and Dreams” by The Owls (especially the remarkable “Air”, probably my favourite song of the year).
great live experiences: Too few of either, unfortunately; Darren Hanlon’s album launch at the Hi-Fi Bar, Melbourne was the pick.
top films: The Station Agent, My Life Without Me, Somersault, Capturing the Friedmans, Elephant, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, In My Father’s Den, Napoleon Dynamite, Pieces of April.
good reads: “The Virgin Suicides” by Jeffrey Eugenides, “Purple America” by Rick Moody, “Jimmy Corrigan: the Smartest Kid on Earth” by Chris Ware, “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay” by Michael Chabon, “Joe Cinque’s Consolation” by Helen Garner, “Oblivion” by David Foster Wallace, “A Box of Matches” by Nicholson Baker.
delicious dining: Meal of the year was my birthday dinner at Mo Vida (hipster Spanish restaurant in Melbourne), with an honourable mention to the pizzette dolci at I Carusi.
best discoveries: I guess I’ll nominate Brunswick, my new suburb-of-residence; and in particular La Manna, The Brunswick Green, A Minor Place, Pete’s, The Retreat, Mediterranean Wholesalers and Ray.
celebrated moments: The first half of the Australian Rules football season, when St Kilda won an unprecedented ten games straight — in particular successive 100 point victories over Carlton and West Coast.
guilty pleasures: The Apprentice and Survivor — still! Goddamn that Mark Burnett.
tips/hopes/predictions for 2005: More a hope, but a more realistic prediction than ever before in my lifetime: a premiership for the St Kilda Football Club.

records of the year: Air-Talkie Walkie, Nick Drake – Made to love magic, Nicola Conte – Other directions, Embee – Tellings from solitaria, Destinys child – Lose my breath, Phoenix – Alphabetical, Jens Lekman – When I said I wanted to be your dog.
really nice records bought (but not released) in 2004: Arvo Pärt – Alina, Arvo Pärt -Fratres, Leroy Burgess anthology vol 2 the producer, Stuart Dempster – Deep listening, Basil Kirchin-Quantum, Krzyzstof Penderecki – Threnody for the victims of Hiroshima, Symphony no 3

favorite bands (not on Matinée): Radio Dept., Clearlake
records of the year (not on Matinée): Having fully established my indie cred, I’ll admit to several quasi-major label favorites of the year: Morrissey – I Like You and First of the Gang to Die, Keane – This is The Last Time, Trash Can Sinatras – Weightlifting, Gene – Let Me Move On, plus repeated listening to The Radio Dept. even though they topped my list last year.
top films: one pregnant wife + one newborn baby = a bad year for moviegoing. 2005 is our year to catch up so thanks for the recommendations.
good reads: the choice between sleeping and reading lately means I have a pile of unread or partially read books on the nightstand but I keep up with my subscriptions to Metropolis, PRINT, Dwell and How magazines plus all the great fanzines people send me from Sweden and Brazil and England and Spain. Keep sending them please!!
delicious dining: Sojourner Café and Restaurant Roy in Santa Barbara, Fred 62 diner in Los Angeles, Ti Couz in San Francisco, Mildred’s in London, making burritos with Marky Monnone, oranges and lemons from our backyard…
best discoveries: Math and Physics Club, The Happy Couple, Heywood Wakefield record cabinet (the Holy Grail of HW collecting…finally), and fatherhood!
celebrated moments: September 9, 9:38pm…meeting Alexander Christos Tassos!
guilty pleasures: ‘Somebody Told Me’ by The Killers, and as much I tried to resist, I had a date with The Apprentice and Desperate Housewives most Thursday and Sunday nights.
tips/hopes/predictions for 2005: greatest year ever for Matinée (I’m calling it already…get ready!) plus North Carolina over Kentucky in the NCAA basketball national championship.

favorite new bands: Human Television, Zebras, Math & Physics Club (my prayers for indiepop in Seattle were answered!), Professor Pez, High Water Marks, Language Of Flowers, and about a dozen or so Swedish groups.
records of the year: In order: Ted Leo / Pharmacists – Shake The Sheets; Human Television – All Songs Written By; Mountain Goats – We Shall All Be Healed; Boyracer – Happenstance; Revolutionary Hydra – The PEEFs; Sekiden – Junior Fiction; Frenchmen – Sorry We Ruined Your Party; So Many Dynamos – When I Explode; Fairways – This Is Farewell; Zebras – s/t; Of Montreal – Satanic Panic In The Attic; Like Young – So Serious; Breezy Porticos – Keep It Crisp; Racetrack – City Lights; Galactic Heroes – Every Sidewalk; From Bubblegum To Sky – Nothing Sadder Than Lonely Queen; High Water Marks – Songs About The Ocean; Bugs Eat Books – Ghosts Of Leaves; Professor Pez – Let Us Follow The Evil Balloon; A.C. Newman – The Slow Wonder. If I were a cheater, I would also include the Dutch Elms – Music For Happiness (which I released) and the Springfields and Primitives reissues, which are both dead brilliant, of course.
great live experiences: Athens Popfest was a blast; Sekiden RULE live; Ted Leo never disappoints…
top films: Kind of a slow year for movies…
best discoveries: Father Ted (which comes ->thisclose<- to knocking I’m Alan Partridge out of my #1 favorite show slot); XHTML
celebrated moments: the day I started working from home full time!
tips/hopes/predictions for 2005: Another big vacation would be nice!