9. Modest Mouse- Good News For People Who Like Bad News

I only started serioulsy listening to Modest Mouse once this album came out and I must say I wish i had gave them more attention years ago. If Modest Mouse would cut out the 1 or 2 gimmicky songs and fill the gaps with solid songs this album would have placed higher. Overall this album is very enjoyable and Float On is a great example of a song that got popular for all the right reasons.

8. Royal City - Little Hearts Ease

The third album for Royal City came out this summer and I had very high expectations. I was slightly dissapointed but I still think it is an album worth buying/listening to. Jim Guthrie gets to sing a song, Ain't that the Way, and it is among the best on the album. Royal City's lack of touring this album was somewhat dissapointing, but if it frees up Guthrie to write new stuff then I guess i don't mind that much.

7. Wilco- A Ghost is Born

This is another band I neglected in the past, but decided to give a chance with the acclaim this album was receiving. Since then I bought Summer Teeth and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and now consider Wilco among the premier bands. In comparison to the previous albums mentioned A Ghost is Born sems to have picked up a more of a Lennon style production. I don't think this album stacks up to Summer Teeth but it is still an album that I consider among the best of 2004.

6. Hayden- Elk Lake Serenade

2004 was really the first year I listened to much Hayden and this album is a solid piece of material. I consider it a bit of a step down from Skyscraper National Park, but thats just because I consider that album to be Hayden's masterpiece album. I find myself being in the mood to listen to this album almost all the time.

Absolutly brilliantly crafted album. Their style of rock sort of reminds me of 80s, but in a good way. Take me Out, like Float On, is another great case of a song that reached huge success for all the right reasons. It's good to see the U.K. making its comeback in the type of music that it started. Franz Ferdinand prooves that you can acheice mainstream popularit without putting out an album that sucks ballsack..

4. Stars - Set Yourself on Fire

I saw their video on The Wedge and decided to download their newest album. Right after that happened they held the #1 spot on the Canadian Campus charts for over four weeks. This album deserves the praise it gets. Stars are another Canadian band that features split male/female singing duties and they pull it off flawlessy. Another album that prooves Canada is a hotspot for putting out important albums.

3. Interpol- Antics

I liked Interpol's last album but I found it to have too many songs that weren't up too the level they could have been. That is why I think the defining feature of Antics is how incredibly solid it is all throughout the album. From the moment it starts to the moment it ends, it never hits any moments of lackluster. This album has been the critics darling this year and it has helped make Interpol a moderately popular band. With any luck Interpol will help open the way for other independant bands to reach out to more listeners.

2. Elliott Smith- From a Basement on a Hill

When I first heard this album I felt sad for many reasons, but the biggest being that I knew this would be the last Elliott Smith album I would ever get to hear. I just finished reading his biography which went into fairly great detail about the process Elliott went though writing and recording this album. Each song was painstakingly recorded exactly the way Elliott wanted them and there is some controversy over how the album ended up being mixed. I think even though it might not be the way Elliott entirely intended it turned out great. Twilight still sends shivers up my spine everytime I hear it. There is definatetly no question about Elliott Smith's passion and conviction in his songs. From a basement on a Hill further reinforces my intense fascination with his songwriting. Great album, great artist... devastating that he's not around to continue writing music.

1. Arcade Fire- Funeral

I know this album has been put over buy every other reviewer as the "greatest" and "album of the year" blah blah blah, but let me assure you that my absolute love for this album has not been influenced by them in any way. I guess what makes this album so good is that I connect with it on so many levels, some that I can pinpoint and some that I can't. The ones that I can't pinpoint are especially epic and awe-inspiring to me.