REM - i wanted to be wrong, 2004

“I Wanted To Be Wrong” is one of the album’s unqualified successes. It’s a slow, pretty folk-pop ballad that attempts to reconcile a strong feeling of alienation from George W. Bush’s America and a sense of obligation to feel empathy for people the singer views as a destructive influence on his country and the world at large. It’s a very conflicted song, but it’s surprisingly low on angst — if anything, it comes across like a defeated shrug. There is certainly some anger in the lyrics, but it’s stifled and buried as the singer looks around, struggling to understand a culture that he barely recognizes, and openly rejects his identity and ideals. He’s trying to be fair, he’s trying not to be judgmental, but he can’t help it."

Saturday Looks Good To Me - if you ask, 2004

"With its reverbed guitars and stop/start pacing, Keep Walking reminds me of the better songs off the most recent album by Atlanta's The White Lights. This similarity is brought home on one of the later tracks called If You Ask. With an organ, a vibraphone and some dominant drumming, that song has that haunted prom feel that characterizes the work of so many Atlanta-based bands. However, to the credit of Saturday Looks Good to Me, unlike other bands, they manage to make each song different enough that I'm not left thinking that everything sounds the same."

Bright Eyes And Neva Dinova - get back, 2004

"in 2004, Bright Eyes mastermind Conor Oberst and Neva frontman Jake Bellows decided to take their friendship to the next level, lock themselves in a basement, and crank out some tunes."

Bright Eyes And Neva Dinova - i'll be your friend, 2004

"Conor Oberst began his musical career in his early teens, issuing self-recorded solo albums and founding Saddle Creek Records with his brother, which helped to kick-start a burgeoning Omaha, Nebraska scene. Propelled by a powerful collaborative spirit, the label and its bands grew significantly over the next 15 or so years, especially Oberst’s career. Setting his neurotic insecurities, mental instabilities and melancholy romanticism to equally fraught – and, for his age, mature and ambitious – music, he released his first record as Bright Eyes in 1998 and burned brightly. 2000’s Fevers & Mirrors is one of the great albums of the last decade."

Bright Eyes And Neva Dinova - i know you, 2004

"This song right here just does something to my brain. It’s like a lucid dream."

My Morning Jacket - bermuda hwy live, 2004

"Early Recordings is a compilation album series by Louisville, Kentucky rock band My Morning Jacket. It was released in 2004 on Darla Records. The two constituent albums, called chapters, are called The Sandworm Cometh and Learning respectively. Danny Cash created the graphic design to both albums and played bass and keyboard on the second. J. Glenn performed drums for the series and Johnny Quaid played guitar. "Two-Tone" Tommy played bass for the first album, but Quaid took over for the second."

Brian Wilson - good vibrations, 2004

"As a solo artist, Wilson rerecorded "Good Vibrations" as the closing track on his 2004 album Brian Wilson Presents Smile. This extended version included lyrics by Tony Asher and a different bridge section, both originally written in 1966."

REM - aftermath, 2004

"Aftermath" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M. It was released as the second single from their 13th studio album, Around the Sun (2004), on November 29, 2004. Upon it release, "Aftermath" peaked at number 41 on the UK Singles Chart. The single also charted in the Netherlands and Sweden, peaking at numbers 44 and 59, respectively."

REM - the ascent of man, 2004

"This always felt like a bridge type of song to me, a way to get from one part of an album to another, but here it's just trying to get to the end. For this album the song could be considered a strong closer, but on its own it's an easy song to overlook. In fact, when I started this album I wouldn't have been able to hum it to you if asked - which is a shame because it's a lovely song. The literary references spill over to the structure of the song which is has a bookend style verse, an allusion to unrequited love because of metaphors--all very cool, plus the overlapping verse is so well done."

REM - the worst joke ever, 2004

"The song has grown on me and maybe its brevity coupled with the resurrection of the track during the Dublin sessions make me think of it in a different way. By this point in the album though, there is a malaise - could this song have picked up the pace and plugged in a little it might've started sounding like ACCELERATE. Maybe."

REM - wanderlust, 2004

"Wanderlust" is a song by American rock band R.E.M. It was released as their fourth and final single from their 13th studio album, Around the Sun (2004), peaking at number 27 in the United Kingdom (becoming their last of 31 top-40 hits there) and number 48 in Ireland."

Stars - what i'm trying to say, 2004

"The song features a verse-chorus structure with a driving beat and layered instrumentation. It opens with a synth-pop intro, followed by Torquil Campbell’s and Amy Millan’s alternating vocals, which create a dialogue-like feel."

Chumbawamba - the wizard of menlo park, 2004

"Un is the eleventh studio album by English rock band Chumbawamba, released on 8 June 2004 by Koch Records. The album was written and produced by solely by Chumbawamba. A musical departure from predecessor Readymades (2002), the album incorporates elements of folk, electronic, and world music. Thematically, the album acts as a social commentary on a variety of political and social issues, including individualism and anti-consumerism. Un was promoted with two singles: "The Wizard of Menlo Park" and "On eBay"."

REM - boy in the well, 2004

"The song, like a lot of songs from this album, starts off in a slow and dark sounding way. We get some acoustic guitar playing a bleak progression that starts with two minor chords (Em and a variation of F sharp minor). There’s also some piano and dramatic synth strings. I think the fake strings make this intro sound a little corny and overall it’s a sound from this album we’ve heard a ton of already. Lyrically, this song starts off with this character leaving a situation or a person/people that are dragging them down. Michael sings about this character walking away and how this other person or people are “drowning” while on display. The reason I think it could be “people” is because he sings “every time I've dropped by, I've tried to say ‘the water is rising.” This gives me vibes that this character could be talking about their parents. And maybe they feel like the boy in the well because they feel like getting out this metaphorical well."

Keane - can't stop now, 2004

"On its surprising debut album, seemingly underpowered Brit trio Keane (piano, drums, vocals) reconfigures the high-romantic aesthetic introduced by Radiohead and mainstreamed by Coldplay as the launchpad for a serious hookfest. Hopes and Fears contains more hooks than most pop groups manage in their careers; the album brims with unabashedly grand, sun-breaking-through-the-clouds gestures."

Keane - your eyes open, 2004

"Blame Coldplay. Since their success - and subsequent absence - everyone with half a tune and a long-lost love thinks they're sensitive. But three-piece band Keane actually are. And they don't need guitars to prove it. Instead, they rely on singer Tom Chaplin's choirboy vocals and some tender piano melodies."

Stars - celebration guns, 2004

“There’s been a lot of tears, tears of emotion. The way that music lives in your body, it can bring you back to a certain time, and that’s quite visceral and intense.”

Keane - bedshaped, 2004

"It's a sad and angry song, but also full of hope. I think I'm right in saying that in hospital when someone is ill and has to spend a lot of time in bed they can become 'bedshaped'."

Stars - reunion, 2004

"Sometimes the packaging is too big for the small sentiments, with the title track rattling inside so many pretty bows and colour. But most of these powerful pop songs bloom to match the intensity of the feelings they lament."

Keane - bend and break, 2004

"Keane are a guitarless trio from the sleepy southern British town of Battle who spent six years chasing a record deal, and they’re only now reaping U.K. success with their debut single, “Somewhere Only We Know.” It’s wonderfully anthemic, dominated by a pounding piano and the angelic voice of singer Tom Chaplin, who sounds less like a rock star than a choirboy."