LIST-O-RAMA: The Best Songs of 2004

With the end of the year rapidly approaching, I thought I would pretend to be a big fancy professional music writer. It would be redundant of me to join the chorus hailing The College Dropout, American Idiot and The Grey Album, as these terrific records were the only albums of any real substance this year. Since 2004 was all about the iTunization of the RIAA, it's far more interesting to break things down by individual song. So without further ado, here's yet another year-end best-of list:

20. "Lucifer"- Jay-Z
19. "I Don't Wanna Know" - Mario Winans
18. "The Sound of Settling" - Death Cab for Cutie
17. "Ch-Check It Out" - The Beastie Boys
16. "Wanna Get to Know You" - G-Unit feat. Joe
15. "Mosh" - Eminem
14. "Dirt off Your Shoulder" - Jay-Z
13. "Float On" - Modest Mouse
12. "Mad World" - Gary Jules
11. "Flap Your Wings" - Nelly
10. "Mr. Brightside" - The Killers
9. "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" - Green Day
8. "Through The Wire" - Kanye West
7. "Miracle Drug" - U2
6. "Confessions, Pt. 2" - Usher

5. "If I Ain't Got You" - Alicia Keys

After hearing "You Don't Know My Name," the stale first single off her second album, I groaned as I feared that Alicia Keys was just becoming yet another entry into the glut of mundane female R&B singers. But this second single just swept me off my feet with its classic soul and powerful chorus. I always love it when the piano is used in pop music, and here it's implemented perfectly. And as a final bonus: Method Man plays her knucklehead boyfriend in the video! Truly inspired casting.

4. "Evil" - Interpol

I discovered this excellent band this year and this track off of Antics is one of those songs that gives you hope for the future of rock. Like "PDA," from their first album, "Evil" is smooth, haunting and invigorating all at the same time.

3. "Spaceship" - Kanye West

The College Dropout has already produced about five singles, but I can't understand why the best song on the album hasn't gotten its due. Kanye has the best ear for samples of any producer in rap, and here he picks an obscure Marvin Gaye track and makes it his own. Who would have thought a track about hating your job at The Gap would have so much weight to it?

2. "Encore" - Danger Mouse/Jay-Z/The Beatles

The Grey Album got a lot of publicity for its novelty and its flouting of copyright laws. But it's also the best album I've heard this year. Jay-Z's "Encore" becomes blistering rock n' roll when it's put to a loop of The White Album's "Glass Onion" and "Savoy Truffle." With a runtime of just over two minutes, this song leaves you wanting more in every sense of the phrase. With "Encore," Danger Mouse shows that mash-ups have eye-opening creative potential, rather than just curiosity factor.

1. "Maps" - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

I can't remember ever being this transfixed by a rock single. It's a beautiful song that's unlike any other song that you would consider "beautiful." I've heard a lot of writers refer to it as a ballad, but to me it feels like an anthem, despite the fact that its about yearning for love. The best part about "Maps"? It feels new every time I hear it. It's the most-played song on my iPod and I still get chills when I hear that opening guitar siren. A classic.

 
Why Don't I Recognize My Team?

These are strange times for Stanford basketball. In the past, we've entered preseasons in which the conventional wisdom was that a rebuilding season was afoot. In the fall of 1999, we had just lost four starters including Arthur Lee, the team leader. But we turned the naysayers on their heads, shared the Pac-10 title, and earned a number one seed in the tournament. In the fall of 2002, we lost Casey and Curtis to the NBA and Chris Hernandez to a broken foot. But Monty rallied the troops, Julius rose to the occasion as point guard and we fought our way to another 20-win season.

So going into this season, I heard all the haters say that losing Monty, Childress and our seniors would be devastating to the team. But as a student of history, I didn't worry because Stanford basketball always regrouped and defied preseason expectations. Well, after our first seven games, I'm not nearly as confident.

Having watched our most recent games, it just feels like there's a piece of our offense that's missing. There's Chris running the point, Rob and Matt down low, and then... a void. While Dan Grunfeld slash to the hoop to the tune of 19 ppg has been a nice surpise, this offense needs shooters. We've always had a reliable yet underrated three-point shooter, going from Peter Sauer to David Mosely toRyan Mendez to Matt Lottich. I like the potential of Tim Morris, but I haven't seen enough to be conviced that he'll be a significant contributor in the starting lineup. My problem isn't so much with our 3-4 record, it's the fact that this lineup just doesn't look like a team in the Stanford mold. I still haven't seen a posession that looked like a "Stanford possession"-- moving the ball around the perimiter, posting up down low and crisp interior passing-- all year.

Coach Johnson, I'm not ready to throw you under the bus, but you've got your work cut out for you, sir.

 
The Walt Era Begins

Well, Walt Harris was so far off my radar originally that I never even considered him to be a potential candidate for Stanford football coach. I must admit that I'm still slightly miffed that my number one choice, Norm Chow, was available but rejected (what exactly does Chow have to do to get a head coaching job? Since when is grooming three Heisman winners not enough??). However, I can't say that I'm unhappy with Harris. He knows how to build an offense and he turned a mediocre Pitt program into a BCS school. When you think about it, how many schools get the chance to steal the coach of a conference titleist? So for the first time in ages, there's a sense of hope and optimism hanging over the Stanford program- not a bad early Christmas present.