id have to say hot snakes and decahedron. mainly hot snakes because i saw them two nights in a row in october and they were really good and i cant remember having such a good time at a show and it doesnt hurt that their new cd is really fucking awesome. also decahedron. their album "disconnection imminent" i think is spectacular. unfortunately i saw them when they played with a crappy "hardcore" band that begins with a d but i cant remember their name because i am drunk. anyway i love them too. and i still have all my love with big black.

Arrrgh! More lists! This really is a forum for amateur autistics! Shit, I'm only going to add to this...

Liars - The last album was a revelation, and live they set a firecracker off in your arse.

Lightning Bolt - Music to weld to. Sex weld.

Wolf Eyes - Just look them up, I have no glib description for the luscious noise they make.

The most recent band I flat-out fell in love with was the Drive-By Truckers. No, really. They play unapologetic hard rock with a Southern influence that's totally unpretentious, much smarter than you'd expect, and directly from the heart and the gut with no irony and no excuses. Forget the name -- they're not a joke and their most recent album, The Dirty South, is my fave album of 2004. Southern Rock Opera and Decoration Day are pretty damn compelling, too.

Mission of Burma's recent burst of activity turned an old crush into a revived love affair -- Onoffon was far better than anyone had a right to expect, and I've seen three shows from the reunited band so far, each more powerful and satisfying than the last. Has any band ever pulled themselves out of mothballs this well? Just amazing stuff.

i determine this by my magnetic impulse to own everything a band has released - most recent of which is US Maple.

notable mentions of this year include:
-Colossamite
-Dead Meadow
-Deerhoof
-Unwound
-Shellac

Neurosis was mentioned, and ive fell more deeply in love with them this year after buying Times of Grace and the Eye of Every Storm.

i think the most intense affection is felt with my friends, Blame Game.

Pedal Steel Transmission

Does Shannon Wright count as a band?

Oh, well.

Shannon Wright live.

the joggers

Teardrop Explodes!

Envy

Battles

Tusk