The Best of 2004...

ALBUMS
!!! - Louden Up Now (Warp)
9th Wonder & Pete Rock - Class is in Session (Bootleg)
Alice Russell - Under The Munka Moon (Tru Thoughts)
Amp Fiddler - Waltz Of A Ghetto Fly (Genuine)
Annie - Anniemal (679)
Arovane - Lilies (City Centre Offices)
The Beat Generation (BBE)
Baby Mammoth, Beige & Solid Doctor - Fabric 18 (Fabric)
Beans - Shock City Maverick (Warp)
Bent - Ariels (Open)
Bling47 / Platinum Pied Pipers Mixtape (Bling47)
Blockhead – Music By Cavelight (Ninja Tune)
Bugz In The Attic - Got The Bug (V2)
Carl Thomas - Let's Talk About It (Bad Boy)
De La Soul - The Grind Date (Sanctuary)
The Detroit Experiment - The Detroit Experiment (Ropeadope)
Diverse - One A.M. (Chocolate Industries)
DJ Krush - Jaku (Red Ink/Sony Japan)
edIT – Crying Over Pros For No Reason (Planet Mu)
Estelle - The 18th Day (V2)
The Flashbulb - Red Extensions of Me (Sublight)
Foreign Exchange - Connected (BBE)
Gaelle - Transient (Naked)
Gift of Gab - Fourth Dimensional Rocketship Going Up (Quannum)
Global Goon - Family Glue (J-Hok)
Helios - Unomia (Merck)
Hideo Sasaki - Light Sleep (Tri-eight)
High Contrast - High Society (Hospital)
I'm Not A Gun (John Tejada & Takeshi Nishimoto) - Our Lives On Wednesdays (City Centre Offices)
Jay Z - The Brown Album (Kev Brown)
Jay Z - The Grey Album (Danger Mouse)
Jay Z - The White Album (Kno of Cunninlynguists)
Junior Boys - Last Exit (Domino)
Klashnekoff - The Sagas Of Klashnekoff (Kemet Entertainment)
Keiichi Suzuki – Zatoichi Soundtrack
Kelpe - Sea Inside Body (D.C. Recordings)
Kings of Convenience - Riot on an Empty Street (Virgin)
Landau - Thepicompromise (Merk)
Lotek Hi-fi - Lotek Hi-fi (Big Dada)
Luke Vibert - Kerrier District (Warp)
Luomo - The Present Lover (Kinetic)
Machine Drum – Bidnezz (Merck)
Madvillain - Madvillainy (Stones Throw/Creative Vibes)
Marky & XRS – In Rotation (Innerground)
MF Doom - Mm..Food (Rhymesayers)
Mind, Body & Soul (Mixed by DJ Flight) (Defunked)
Modest Mouse - Good News For People Who Love Bad News (Epic)
Mutiny – Yada Yada (Underwater)
Mylo – Destroy Rock and Roll (Breastfed)
Myrakaru - Tammetõru (Expanding)
New Sector Movements - Turn It Up (Virgin)
Ochre - A Midsummer Nice Dream (Toytronic)
Oxia - 24 Heures (Goodlife/PIAS)
Raphael Saadiq - As Ray Ray (Pookie)
Ratatat - Ratatat (XL)
Ratatat - Remixes Mixtape
Rodney Hunter - The Hunter Files (G-Stone)
Roy Davis Jr - Chicago Forever (Ubiquity)
The Roots - The Tipping Point (Geffen)
Sa-Ra - Untitled Bootleg
Slam – Year Zero (Soma)
Shigeru Umebayashi - 2046 Soundtrack
The Sound Providers - An Evening With The Sound Providers... (ABB)
Stereotyp Meets Al Haca - Phase Three (Klein)
The Strange Fruit Project - From Divine (Special Edition)
Terri Walker – Untitled (Def Soul UK)
Troubleman – Time Out of Mind (Far Out)
Ty - Upwards (Big Dada)
Wagon Christ – Sorry I Make You Lush (Ninja Tune)
Wax Poetic - Nublu Sessions (Ultra)
Weapons of Mass Creation (Hospital)
Zap Mama - Ancestry In Progress (Luaka Bop)


FILMS
Tasogare Seibei (Twilight Samurai) by Yoji Yamada (Japan)
Shi Mian Mai Fu (House of Flying Daggers) by Yimou Zhang (Hong Kong)
Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind by Michel Gondry
Tokyo Godfathers by Shôgo Furuya, Satoshi Kon (Japan)
Bom Yeoreum Gaeul Gyeoul Geurigo Bom (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring) by Ki-duk Kim (Korea)
Zatoichi by Takeshi Kitano (Japan)
Bush's Brain by Joseph Mealey, Michael Shoob
Les Triplettes de Belleville by Sylvain Chomet (France)
Un Long Dimanche de Fiançailles (A Very Long Engagement) by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (France)
Oldboy by Chan-wook Park (Korea)
The Control Room by Jehane Noujaim
Farenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore
Team America: World Police by Tre Parker & Matt Stone
The Incredibles by Brad Bird
Collateral by Michael Mann
Before Sunset by Richard Linklater


*Note, the four films I have been most looking forward too... Wong Kar Wai's 2046, Katsuhiro Ôtomo's Steamboy, Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Hustle and Hayao Miyazaki's Howl's Moving Castle haven't received U.S. Release dates yet and were therefore not included. GAH!!!

If I was forced to pick one…

BEST SINGLE
Lucien-N-Luciano - Madre, Mother & Mere (Peacefrog)

BEST ALBUM
edIT – Crying Over Pros For No Reason (Planet Mu)

BEST MIX CD
JT Donaldson & Lance Desardi - San Francisco Sessions 5 (Om)

BEST FILM
Tasogare Seibei by Yoji Yamada

BEST PRODUCER
Lil’ Jon

BEST ART SHOW
Oooolathe… Travis Millard / Kiel Johnson @ Obey Giant (Los Angeles)

BEST LIVE PERFORMANCE
Sa-Ra / Lizz Fields @ Mighty (San Francisco)

BEST PROMOTER
Fresco (San Francisco)

BEST CLUB / BAR
Milk (San Francisco)

BEST LIVE DJ SET
Oooah @ Burning Man Decompression After Party (Los Angeles)

BEST PARTY
Snow Camp 2004 (South Lake Tahoe)

BEST DON’T ASK / DON’T TELL DEBAUCHED MOMENT OF 2004
Springtime in North Lake - Sponsored by Patron Silver (North Lake Tahoe)
Red Bull Mansion - WMC 2004 (Miami)

About my favorite album… The Sa-Ra bootleg pulls a close second. Heresy!!! You say! (Mylo is up there too)

About my favorite film… Triplets of Belleville is RIGHT THERE. Hmmm… this was a tough one... Gondry's Spotless Mind was very touching too...

About Collateral... I'm not a Tom Cruise hater but I am a Michael Mann fan. This film however, almost didn't make the cut... but then there is that one scene... probably my favorite scene of the year... the incredible cab ride dialog exchange between Jada's character and Jamie's character. THAT is acting. Hypnotizing and beautiful.

Biggest film surprise of 2004 was the Korean picture Oldboy… I’ve totally been sleeping on Chan-wook Park. You must check out Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance which I think I like even more than Oldboy… oohh yeah… he aint as graphic as Takashi Miike, but hes not for children under 17... I guess. Though, I turned out okay?

About my best don't ask / don't tell debauched moment of 2004... DON’T ASK

*This list is incomplete and/or a lie.