you show your pain like it hurts

first off i'd just like to share that i slipped and fell in the shower this morning and i hurt quite a bit. feel free to laugh at my pain.

now thats out of the way, it is "best of '04" season and so of course VTB will jump on the bandwagon with our obligatory "best of" lists.Last year we went through our tops in one shot and even created a list of new years resolutions that we actually kept (we did in fact quit smoking, and were even going to the gym for quite some timeuntil school got in the way, and we can play quite a few recognizable riffs on the bass guitar, but don't expect us to join ozzfest any time soon). This year we'd like to give it to you slowly, tenderly, building up to a climactic finish just in time to kick off the 'O5.

So without any further ado, VTB would like to present to you with a rose - we've decided to keep you until the next elimination although we'd like you to put out just a little bit more if you want to make it to the end... umm, we mean that we'd like to present you with the first of the Best of the Best of '04:

Songs of the Year*
1. Mr. Brightside - The Killers
2. Bend and Break - Keane
3. Still in Love Song - The Stills
4. These are the Ghosts - The Bees
5. The Quiet things that No One Ever Knows - Brand New
6. Waiting for the Sun - The Shore
7. Apocalypse Please - Muse
8. Chocolate - Snow Patrol
9. I'm Not Okay (I Promise) - My Chemical Romance
10. The Same Mistakes - Cooper Temple Clause

*songs we've listened to the most according to our IPods - repeat artists excluded

Albums of the Year*^1,2
1. The Bees - Free the Bees
2. Morrissey - You are the Quarry
3. Arcade Fire - Funeral
4. The Cooper Temple Clause - Kick up the Fire...
5. The Delays - Faded Seaside Glamour
6. Muse - Absolution
7. Snow Patrol - Final Straw
8. Goldie Lookin Chain - Greatest Hits
9. Keane - Hopes and Fears
10. The Ordinary Boys - Over the Counter Culture
11. The Killers - Hot Fuss

*not particularly in any order, as determined by our own damned tastes.
¹reissues, soundtracks and greatest hits albums ineligible
² the killers were added for good luck and because we couldn't cut the list to ten, cutting it to eleven was tough enough