The Year in Music 1994 w/r/t the Year in Music 2004

Devendra Banhart is physically threatened, repeatedly, by neighboring boys. Though rarely accosted he is permanently damaged.

The Faerie gods send Joanna Newsom to earth.

Loretta Lynn: Menopausal.

My first band, a middle-school quartet going by the name of The Enablers, records a demo EP. The recording is lost to time, yet in my memory the music outweighs the inexplicably lauded Funeral by The Arcade Fire.

Dizzee Rascal is born.

Isaac Brock, alcoholic teenager, forms an early version of what would become Modest Mouse -- his mother's boyfriend on six-string bass. There are no horns at this point.

Morrissey: Slut.

Paul Banks, an accomplished young boatsman, spends a surprisingly warm summer in the Hamptons, sailing and sunbathing.

Sonic Youth continues to push the boundaries of uninteresting squall.

Jamie Stewart spends the entirety of the year voluntarily locked in a closet, referring to it as "a project."

Sam Beam: Mustachio'd.

Alexander Kapranos attends a winter formal with his high school crush. After several dance-floor embarrassments he vows revenge.

Matt Friedberger is given an Erector Set for Christmas.

Brian Wilson: Completely fucking insane.

Bjork: Medula

Metal Machine Music for twee Icelandic voice. I heard it through the walls, a neighbor's harangue as I checked the mail.