First Heart Mighty Dawn Dart!

2004 end with a massive lurching and crashing slide, lubricated by alcohol, a will to self-destructive activities and frequent black holes where large portions of some nights were to be... Clutching a generously poured gin and tonic and pontificating about a Paul McArtney song, I fell backwards and just missed ending up in my father and step-mother's Christmas tree, which is about as big of a holiday joykill as there can be without a family suicide. Drinking every night from December 17th until last night is about as stupid an activity as I could recommend, and sadly, a lot more of a long-term commitment than many other vocational endeavours in my life, which is why I've hopped so fervently on the teetotalling New Years' resolution bandwagon, along with my other two roommates. A generous helping of self-loathing, pizza and two terrible movies ("Dummy" - a comedy with a ventriloquist theme starring Adrian Brody and Milla Jovovich, and "Igby Goes Down" which was terrible and perverse and misanthropic) and one strangely heartwarming one ("About A Boy" - oh God.....) was my steady diet today from my 5:00pm wake-up time till just a while ago. Alright, 'nough of that... Some 2004 wrap-up nonsense.

2004 Rock-Crit Adjective: Appalachian

2004's Lazarus Act: Previously mentioned Daddy's Hands

2004's Worst Example of Goldkicksian Trendhopping: Afrobeat

2004's Best Example of My Own Irrelevance: Barely listening to any new releases

2004's Almost-but-not-quite-right Musical Rediscovery: People rediscovering Bolan, but omitting his fat and washed up stage, which is, in my opinion, the more exciting and err, invigorating.

2004's Missed Opportunity: Radio Berlin not releasing that towers song recorded for the "Glass" LP.

2004's "Dead Before Their Time" Band: The Orphan

2005! will be: Vancouver's year, Montreal and Toronto have stepped up with some admirable slabs of vinyl, (err, well Montreal anyway, but a lot of people were talking about this Toronto place), and Victoria, too, to a lesser extent, but 2005 will reveal to the rest of the world, to a greater extent the particular and peculiar blend of surfer-lingo, musical archeology and alchemy and chemically-induced music-making that makes Vancouver, or at least the Commercial Drive and Main&Broadway areas so enjoyable to be a sociable music fan in. Black Mountain, Pink Mountaintops, Ladyhawk, Radio Berlin, The Book of Lists (Global Symphonic's newest signees), that Bejar guy'll probably do something, too...