MOMENTS of the year, 2004

- "You! think you're slick! trynna hit!" - Ciara's sudden, operatic dismissal in "Goodies"
- "the way she GET LOW" - the moment in "Yeah" where Usher finally gives in to lust, the big 'fuck you' to fidelity
- "Hellooo! This is MIA! Would you pleeease! Come get me!" Come-on, shout-out and playground chant all in one - I love MIA's enunciation
- Cheryl Tweedy's perfect performance of the line "we're gift-wrapped kitty cats, we only turn into tigers when we gotta fight back" in the "Love Machine" video
- "Burberraaayyyy, St Tropaaayyyy, when you gonna learn to speak properlaaayyy" - Lady Sov 1, Jentina 0

more to come

oh GOD yes

- The Magnetic Fields, 'I'm Tongue Tied'.

The string/cymbal hits at the beginning of "Lean Back".
The sparkly bit before the vocoder in "Emerald City" by U.S.E.
Demon's "What, should I spit now? When when when when man?" from "Gangsta Toys".
Dizzee talking over himself during the intro on "What U Talkin'" on Lord of the Decks 2.
"Sorry, wrong beat", and the subsequent shift from the Zone 4 remix of Mya's "Fallen".
The opening line "I was born, I hate this part" from "I Was Born" by The Magnetic Fields.
The euphoria of the opening bars of Dykehouse's "Chain Smoking".
Listening to Assassin's "Girls Gone Wild" on the French Vanilla riddim and knowing it's going to be a hit even before the beat drops.
The moment the vocals come in on Jake Fairley's "Nightstick".

More to come.

ELECTRO CHIMING

Haha that makes it even sadder year for them then.

- the STOMP! STOMP! STOMP! part in "Take Me Out"
- the insanely funky guitar riff that comes in right after the line, "and you should leave it for her, the girl around the way." in "Your Cover's Blown"
- "You're an acid junkie college flunkie dirty puppy dirty bastard."
- "Fuck you, you ho. I don't want you back."
- when the drum fills come in on "Assessment"
- "It's a wonderful night, ya gotta take it from me. It's a wonderful night. (I'm gonna break it on down.)"
- the ringing guitar riff in "Float On"
- the harmonica in "Can't Stand Me Now"
- "Like I give a FUCK! Like I give a SHIT!"
- "AMERICA KICKS ASS!!"
- the first forty-five seconds of "Can't Stand Me Now," especially how the guitar riff gradually arrives
- "Imagine. How. It would be. To be at the top. Making cash money."
- "Uno! Dos! Tres! Catorce!"

and of course...

- "Waddleeengaboomyboodeediddly-dat dodo. Waddleeengaboomyboodeediddly-dat dodo."

oh so many more

-The beautifully chopped vocal samples for the unbearably touching Madvillain track "Fancy Clown."

-"January twenty-EIGHT. 1968." The very beginning of Nas' first verse on "U.B.R."

-The gigantic synth-swoops of Lil Scrappy's "F.I.L.A."

-Timbaland at the end of Brandy's "Who is She 2 You" - "Timbo the king! Brandy the Queen!" for some reason 10x as affecting as usual because a) the beat is so terrific and b) Timbaland is fading from popular consciousness.

-When the drums come in on Annie's "Come Together."

-Hearing CL Smooth and Pete Rock together again on "It's a Love Thing" and "Appreciate."

2. The whooshy noise just before the bass kicks on "Drumpads of Jericho"

3. "I sleep in hooded jim jams" off of Boogeyman

4. "My name is problem"

5. The squealy squiggly bits on the "rocker" intro. I never want to hear the big euphoric synth riff again, but the squeals are still great.

6. "I don't dance, not that I can't, but there's a pistol in my pants" in one line Eminem outshines his entire new album (probably)

1) The oasis of stillness and the sweet bassline drifting in on "The Feeling (Post Rave Dub)"
2) Too many moments to mention on "Frei/Hot Love", but maybe I'll mention the joyous little stuttering breakdown bit.
3) That moment on Mayer's "Amabile" where the eerie synth hook suddenly becomes stickier and more bittersweet, its microscopic tendril hooks grafting onto yer ears as it cycles past
4) "And the wind, and the wind, and the wind is in my hair!" - Teedra Moses, "Backstroke"
5) That bit in Ada's "Lovelace" where the incredibly morose trembling synths start to underscore and undermine the pealing rave energy.
6) "Stop! Baby remain as you were!" - Vybz Kartel, "Picture This"
7) "This is for all the girls who love fi have sex!" - TOK, "Sex on my Mind"
8) The henchmen backing vocals in "Some Girls"
9) The stadium rock drums halfway through "Strangest Things (Freeform Reform Dub)"
10) "Oh! Take it.. SLOW!" in "Move Ya Body"
11) "That's cool, I'm bigger now" in "Pies"
12) Dave Gahan's "Bottle Living (T. Raumschmiere Mix)" descending from pumping 4/4 into swamplike schaffel.
13) The rasp overtaking the wail as Fantasia sings "You see i've waited all my life..."
14) The sudden lurch into S&M porn groove in Mei Lwun's "Too Late"
15) BLARE/CRASH/BLARE/CRASH in the into of "Prototype"
16) "ARGH! LETHAL B'S GOT A GUN!"
17) "STOP! THAT BOY LOOKS LIKE CRAZY! STOP! THAT BOY LOOKS LIKE J!"
18) Freeway screaming "From Philly to Milanos!" in "Just Blaze, Bleek & Free"
19) The eerie mandolin on Luciano's "Mother, Madre & Mere"
20) The seering electronics interspersed with "Let it inside you!" on the Tiefschwarz mix of "Kinda New"

- JC Chasez goes from pounding tech-indie synthpop to breakdance videogame rave in 5 seconds on 'All Day Long I Dream About Sex'.

- The warm synth wash on Janet's 'All Nite (Don't Stop)' and the extended middle 8 - the beat shuts down, the background coos, Janet comes and then asks in cyberwhisper, "Can't we take this party higher?" and the Jam & Lewis bots oblige.

- The ending of the Cornelius mix of Kings of Convenience - 'I'd Rather Dance With You', when the acoustic coyness starts to blister and stutter smoothly.

-The subtly sinister synthaction in the middle of Cagedbaby's mix of Benny Benassi Presents The Biz - 'No Matter What You Do'.

- "HEY! STOP! You made a promise! to make me a star!You made a promise! I'd get to the top!" And the b/g. And the chorus. That'll be 'Some Girls', by Rachel Stevens, then.

- Plus-Tech Squeeze Box - 'Fiddle Dee-Dee!' switches from funky cut-up, stammering Japanese-Missy 'n' Tim in the verses, to a gleeful, Energiser powered power punk pop chorus to a calmer indie-pop-with-keyboards chorus within a minute. That's like 3 moments in one.

- The intro into the first verse on 'Toxic'. And the dance she does while trying not to singe her fingers during the middle 8 in the video.

- And when she goes into bot mode at the end of 'Brave New Girl' and unloads the "doo-doodoo-doo-doo"s.

- "I won't forget, the greatest times I had when I was dancing with you" and "This is D. This is I. This is F.F.I. This is C. This is U.L.T. If ever there's a girl that could rock your world then that girl sure is me." Hi, Annie!

-Best retro-synths of the year: 'Me Plus One', JC's 'All Day Long...' and 'Come To Me', Benassi/Cagedbaby and the entirety of Cut Copy's album.

- 10 Things I Love About JC Chasez - 'Shake It' (reposted):
1. The quick kickoff.
2. The backing vocals in the verses - "Hypno-tise mee", "Low-oh-oh-oh-oh" - and the choruses.
3. The technically unstunning but totally fitting dancehall breakdown.
4. The lyrics. "Do you know my na-ame!"
5. The beat - it wobbles but it don't fall down.
6. The post-chorus instrumental part. Absolutely bonkers.
7. The "la la la la la la la" bonkersness.
8. His'n'hers Camille voices.
9. It's the ultimate balance of popcraft and production savvy Kish Kash almost perfected and is therefore its ultimate embodiment.
10. It's the male 'Toxic' (or the 'Rock Your Body' of 2004) and it probably would've broken him everywhere.

- The oddly mournful, big-haired Dr Fink synth on Felix's 'Ready 2 Wear'.

- The '1985 BBC2 nature documentary' synth line on Captain Comatose's remix of Chelonis' 'I Don't Know'.

- The woozy backing on the Wernham Hoog rmx of The Concretes - 'Chico', and the lovely way the singer flows forth with "Wernham Hogg" at the start.

- Utter disco euphoria - the chanting late into the DFA mix of Junior Senior's 'Shake Your Coconuts'.

- BEP get into the circle at the climax of the 'Hey Mama' video and pop, lock, break, bend, spin and jazz step to dancehall. And Usher gets pwned.

- The delicate balance between twee pop and metal-grinding electro gets severely disrupted when Fanatstic Plastic Machine puts a Telecaster Mix on Markus Nikolai's 'Bushes'.

- The chorus of Junior Boys' - 'More Than Real' - emo lyrics, the phrasing, the doomy electrofunk - it's all there.

- The shift from 'Ah Oui Comme Ca' to the title track of Chromeo's She's In Control and the familiar drum machine, disco noises and awesome Cameo keyboard riffs and melody on the chorus of said title track.

- the re-appearance of the irresistible, implacable bass riff in DJ T's Phantomas

- after the extended spoken intro from Missy, Tweet's voice finally, sublimely sails into Turn Off The Lights and it's like an old friend is back

- watching Television at Glastonbury this year, by myself, on a horrible comedown, cold & wet, missing my girlfriend like never before, and sobbing uncontrollably as they play Venus. Happy tears, really.

- WE ALL LIVE AND DIE seconded!!

That night with Annie at the Social is up there, especially when Me Plus One was played and I realised she'd never marry me.

Oh god, Television at Glasto! Another reason for Sunday. Coming back after being caught in the downpour to end all downpours, getting into my tent across from the New Bands Tent and suddenly hearing "and now for our main band, Television!" Myself and Starry Sarah were the only ones at the site and we bombed across and they were incredible. I had a huge grin on my face the whole time, made even better by the fact I'd nearly missed it.

especially when Me Plus One was played and I realised she'd never marry me.

Tell me more.

To be fair, the "Annie, have my babies - OR ELSE" t-shirt he was wearing can't have impressed her much.

Yes! Or, even more, in the video when she makes the tiny half-motion to start flexing a bicep, the first time, the subtlest pop moment of the yeah.

when the eggshell-delicate guitars come in on gwen's 'hollaback girl'! and that recurring bit in the same song where it threatens to break out into avalanchesesque technicolour swoonery and then suddenly pulls back

Someone please tell me what this is from. I really want to know.

The way in "Valio la Pena," the band falls away and it goes to rumba-like drumming. Something unexpected actually happens in a Marc Anthony song.

The way the chorus on Youssou N'Dour's "Tijaniyya" starts to overlap with his singing, creating a sort of appropriately out-of-sync feeling. There's kind of "grace beat," an anticipation, a false start in some cases where the chorus comes in. (Sounds very Arabian, as in Saudi Arabia or Kuwait, rather than Egyptian, to me, but it may simply be African.)

-On Headman's Dance Modern, "SHE HIT, MY HEAD................" followed by fucked up acid hi-hats and 303s.

-Moonstarr's "Detriot", when everything slows down and the massive Derrick May synth washes start giving way to panicky melody all over again.

-Spirit Catcher-Dirty Circuit-when the synths perforate the track and you're just struck by this proggy "wow" moment.

-John Tejada's "Sweat"-"where are you gonna go tonight??? what drugs are you gonna do???? this one time, I went to a party, and there was swwwwwwwwwweaaaaaaaat dripping from the walls, getting in your hair, messing up your gel...................................AND THEN THE ROOF OPENED UP!"

Hystereo-Gly-"I don't care what those other people say, I'm gonna love you anyway!"

-Playing the Superpitcher remix of the MFA and watching people get huge grins on their faces as it kicks back in. happiest song ever!

-"Lovefood", "Touch" and ESPECIALLY "Funky Handclap" off the Mayer album, the latter I mix with the James Holden remix of Nathan Fake and it's amazing. So far I've only done it in quiet sets but one day I will do it at 5 in the morning when people are beginning to get a little sweaty and high again from the booze they've left at the party for after the club: and it will kill these people!

-Crispin J Glover-It's Over Now (Kenny Hawkes Mix)-THAT insanely catchy deep acid riff, over and over and over and over and over, and then almost two thirds of the way through the song that huge swooping diva vocal, the only real diva vocal I actually felt in this electroey year: "I'd do anything to get over you, cryin' all night just to help me get through, now I'm, gonna change my hair, the clothes I wear, the life I lead............"

Losoul-You Know-how crazily deep is this track, wish someone would play it out, it'd sound amazing after "Heiden". again the vocal is just perfect, imagine being in the right frame of mind and hearing "right now I belong to this place, wherever I'm going wherever I'm staying..."

Chelonis-mainly for "I Don't Know", testimony to the greatness of straight up direct lyrics.

Le Dust Sucker-Fancy Ball-"now let's get doooooooooooowwwwwwwwn", everything people said about Mylo but with some grit to match the fun and goofiness.

DJ Koze-Brutalaga Square-THIS OFF KILTER TECH TUNE IS RATTLING CLUBS TO PIECES. THIS SONG WILL MAKE SENSE FOR THOSE WHO LIKE THEIR ROUGH PRODUCTION JOBS DONE BADLY. TIP!

John Tejada-Chorgs-Don't know what to call this, I really hope 2005 gives us more of these weird tech/detroit/micro/prog/deep type tracks, or in other words, really loved up trippy synth washy click tracks which just sound amazing in a set together.

maybe more later!

-- s1ocki (parrisactava...), March 24th, 2004 11:40 PM. (slutsky)

In "Kids on Holiday" by Animal Collective, when the "HOLIDAYHOLIDAYHOLIDAYHOLIDAYHOLIDAYHOLIDAYHOLIDAY" part comes in.

The endless squelching keyboard at the end of "Yeah (Crass Version)" (which yeah, fuckers, probably isn't 2004, but it is for me so whatever).

* Discovering Interpol's "Evil". And discovering it, and discovering it. Damn shame about the album, though.

* Realizing, after the jillionth attempt at an end-to-end listen to Deloused In The Comatorium, that I really don't care for the Mars Volta.

* Buying, but not listening to, The Weakerthans' Reconstruction Site. I loved Left & Leaving so much that I'm afraid the new album will disappoint me terribly.
Yes, I suck.

* Conversely, buying and absolutely not being disappointed in The Streets' A Grand Don't Come For Free. Mike Skinner in great second album shocka.

* Attempting to sit through 3 absolutely awful hardcore bands that were opening for Candiria (the hands-down "WTF?" band of my current tastes, seeing as I care for neither rap-metal nor prog), giving up, adjourning to my local watering hole, and getting back just in the nick of time.

* "Rok One's Crazy", Rok One. "... and this song belongs to Queen & David Bowie." Righteous.

* Byron Stingily live. One of the last of house music's real artists.