I don't know, this year was really really good. "Indie" rock kinda got some attention from mainstream radio, Lollapalooza proved to be a huge succ- oh wait it got cancelled. But the big news of the year was the triumphant return of the band perhaps most responsible for "indie" rock as we know it...The Pixies!!!! Hip-hop had a solid year as well a much better year than 2003 when it was OutKast, the Streets and really no much else. This year featured a couple of reunions that weren't quite as big as they shoulda been but Tribe Called Quest went back on the road and reportedly the Fugees even let bygones be bygones and did some low key shows in NYC.

Anyway, here's my top 20 albums of the year, happy holidays:

1. VAN LEAR ROSE -- Loretta Lynn
2. SHOWTIME -- Dizzee Rascal
3. FRANZ FERDINAND -- Franz Ferdinand
4. THE COLLEGE DROPOUT -- Kanye West
5. THIRD UNHEARD: Connecticut Hip Hop 1979-1983 -- Various Artists
6. RUBBER FACTORY -- The Black Keys
7. BOWS & ARROWS -- The Walkmen
8. FUNERAL -- Arcade Fire
9. A GRAND DON'T COME FOR FREE -- The Streets
10. LATE GREAT DANIEL JOHNSTON: DISCOVERED COVERED -- Daniel Johnston/Various Artists
11. ANTICS -- Interpol
12. STREET'S DISCIPLE -- Nas
13. THIS WEEK -- Jean Grae
14. MORE ADVENTUROUS -- Rilo Kiley
15. PRETTY TONEY ALBUM -- Ghostface
16. THE HEAT -- Jesse Malin
17. MADVILLAINY -- Madvillain
18. BEAUTIFULLY HUMAN -- Jill Scott
19. DESPERATE YOUTH BLOODTHIRSTY BABES -- TV on the Radio
20. BOY IN DA CORNER -- Dizzee Rascal

ALBUM OF THE YEAR - Van Lear Rose by Loretta Lynn
-- Well I raved it about right from the get-go and really my opinion never wavered one bit, Loretta Lynn's Jack White-produced comeback record is a true work of genius. Nothing about it is overdone in fact like real good southern cuisine every bit of Van Lear Rose is cooked to perfection.

RAP ALBUM OF THE YEAR - Showtime by Dizzee Rascal
-- I thought his first album Boy In Da Corner was a scintillating debut and showed some true promise for a extremely unique MC with a unique style. Less than a year later Dizzee cashed in on that promise with the flat-out amazing Showtime making his debut album a mere afterthought. Kanye West may be mainstream radio's new hip-hop golden boy but don't sleep on Dizzee Rascal 'cuz he obviously has no plans to rest on his laurels.

BAND OF THE YEAR - The Pixies
-- I thought about going with Franz Ferdinand or Modest Mouse but really 2004 belonged to the Pixies. From owning Coachella to a highly successful reunion tour Black Francis and crew almost made the music world forget that there ever was a split.

BEST NEW BAND - Franz Ferdinand
-- I don't know if FF will ever be able to follow-up their funky fresh debut album but really, who cares? This one's an instant classic. As much as people would like to forget about the Strokes (not I) that is exactly the band that Franz Ferdinand should call up next. Why? Because if there's one lesson Drew Barrymore's favorite band can teach Franz Ferdinand is if it ain't broke don't fix it. There's not a bad song to be found on FF what the band should do next is give its fanbase exactly what we want, more of the same! They're young they've got plenty of time to experiment and expand and all that but squash that, all we wanna do is dance! (as a side note: let me say that Canadian buzz band the Arcade Fire would probably win this award but they came around a little too late in the game for my tastes. I've been pumping Franz Ferdinand all year long and while Arcade Fire may be a technically superior band, they're just a little too Johnny-come-lately and their true impact won't be felt 'til '05...thanks Julie for putting me onto them.)


BEST GUITARIST - Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys
BEST DRUMMER - Pat Carney of the Black Keys

For the second year in a row I pick the two players from a bands that only uses those two instruments but I mean shoot, sheriff if the shoe fits... The strides that the Black Keys have made since their first album, The Big Come Up is downright miraculous and pretty freakin' scary. If one had to compare the Black Keys to another blues-based color-coded duo from the rust belt then I'd start with the person behind the drumkit. Patrick Carney is this tall lanky kid with big glasses who doesn't look like he could beat up a kitten if it scratched him. But put a couple of drumsticks in his hand and he turns to freaking Thor. His partner in rock, Dan Auerbach is no slouch with the guitar either and could give Loretta Lynn's producer a serious run for his money in his mastery of the guitar.

BEST BASSIST -- Carlos D. from Interpol

-- Not only is he the coolest looking member of a band that makes looking cool a national pastime his basslines are about as smooth as a plate of molasses (and about as filling.) Interpol's Antics is a tremendous step up from the half-good Turn on the Bright Lights due to much better songwriting and a bit of muscle-flexing by the whole band but it's Carl's basslines that are the adhesive that keeps the band together. Very subtlely he owns tracks such as Evil and Not Even Jail.

BEST SONG - Rock/Pop (SONGWRITING)

1. "Miss Being Mrs." by Loretta Lynn
2. "Portland Oregon" by Loretta Lynn
3. "The Lengths" by Dan Auerbach
4. "Float On" by Isaac Brock
5. "Hang On Siobahn" by Hamilton Leithauser
6. "Public Pervert" by Paul Banks

BEST SONG - Rap

1. "Through the Wire" by Kanye West
2. "Why" by Jason Phillips (Jadakiss) and Anthony Hamilton
3. "Brand New Day" by Dylan Mills (Dizzee Rascal)
4. "Dry Your Eyes" by Mike Skinner (The Streets)
5. "Give It Up" by Tsidi Ibrahim (Jean Grae)
6. "Bridging the Gap" by Nasir Jones and Olu Dara

SONG OF THE YEAR - Rock/Pop
1. "Float On" by Modest Mouse
2. "Take Me Out" by Franz Ferdinand
3. "10 AM Automatic" by the Black Keys
4. "The Rat" by the Walkmen
5. "Portland, Oregon" by Loretta Lynn feat. Jack White
6. "Somebody Told Me" by the Killers

RAP SONG OF THE YEAR
1. "Why?" by Jadakiss feat. Anthony Hamilton
2. "Jesus Walks" by Kanye West
3. "Dry Your Eyes" by the Streets
4. "Holla" by Ghostface
5. "Virgo" by Nas feat. Ludacris & Doug E. Fresh
6. "Boom!" by the Roots


Okay so it's like 3:40 on Christmas morning (still no sign of the fat guy with the reindeeer) and I should've been in bed hours ago. Since the only significant thing I've added to Killogs was my top 101 albums that I added on Thanksgiving I felt I'd follow that up with my year-end wrap up on Christmas.

Merry Christmahannukwanza to all and to all a good night!