BUZZ BANDS

Hear here: What a year

Buzz Bands took in a lot of music this year. Then we were sprinkled with fairy dust.

That defining moment came in November at the El Rey Theatre, and it helped make that night our favorite show of 2004. The headliners were the Dresden Dolls, a Boston duo whose music and theatricality can only be described as cabaret gone off on a punk bender.

The El Rey was dotted with costumed crazies that night, the Dolls having issued a tour-wide invitation to performance artists to attend the shows and do their thing. Winged creatures, punked-out Raggedy Anns, clowns -- this show had it all. And that was before pianist-singer Amanda Palmer and drummer Brian Viglione appeared in their Weimar era get-ups and ripped through a set highlighted by Palmer’s anthem to mental breakdown, “Girl Anachronism.”

Still, when a gowned goddess swept up and beseeched us to “close your eyes and make a wish,” we were surprised. Of course, we obliged, even if it meant having a tough time explaining glitter in the hair when we got home.

Besides, most of our wishes had already come true, thanks to all we witnessed in 2004.

We saw bands who were signed (the Adored), dropped (the Stratford 4), forgotten (Tsar) and remembered (Harvey Danger). We saw solo artists strum at the AlterKnit Lounge, hum at the Hotel Cafe and struggle to keep their wits over the chatter of crowds in West Hollywood and Silver Lake. We’ve seen teenage marvels (the Like) and veteran wonders (Kristin Hersh’s 50 Foot Wave).

We saw L.A. bands, touring bands, bands that need to get out of Silver Lake more and bands that need to play the Sunset Strip less.

We caught Franz Ferdinand, Snow Patrol, the Futureheads and the Arcade Fire in small clubs. We caught Modest Mouse and Death Cab for Cutie in -- of all places -- larger concert halls.

We were mistaken for somebody’s dad at Chain Reaction (understandable), accused of being an A&R; guy at the Roxy (well, maybe) and spotted, uh, enjoying ourselves too much at the Gig. We dodged flying bodies at Alex’s Bar and diminutive actors at the Viper Room.

We trolled the local bins in record stores and caught the local show on the inappropriately named but well-intentioned Indie 103.1.

So herewith are a few nods to what made 2004 special:

* The genre-benders -- We shout out to musicians who don’t fit neatly into compartments, who stretch boundaries, who make us hyphenate. So here’s to albums we loved by Gram Rabbit (electro-twang-psychedelia), Devendra Banhart (psych-folk-pop), Ross Golan & Molehead (indie-rock-hip-hop), Greyboy (electro-funk-soul) and Eleni Mandell (countrified-jazz-pop). More, please.

* Best decade -- Why, that would be the ‘80s. Shoegazers, new wavers, dance-punks, synth-poppers -- all reemerged to sprinkle their ingredients into the new sonic stew. Argue all you want about whether we need another Joy Division; we’re too busy cueing up the Killing Joke song.

* Best division -- When we saw Elevator Division, a pop quartet from Kansas City, we thought they were the Local Division, a new L.A. band. By the time we got that straight, somebody told us about L.A.’s Division Day. We’re divided on which band delivers the most joy.

* Favorite albums by people who live near you -- These five we simply couldn’t have lived without this year: “More Adventurous” by Rilo Kiley, “Treble & Tremble” by Earlimart, “Midnight Movies” by the trio of that name, “Dangerous Dreams” by Moving Units and “Future Perfect” by Autolux.

* Nicest surprise -- We’d have shown up anywhere Rilo Kiley was performing, but when Death Cab for Cutie frontman Benjamin Gibbard was announced as the opening act for a July show at the Ford Amphitheatre, it was a slam dunk to arrive early. After Gibbard’s solo acoustic set, he returned to the stage with Jimmy Tamborello, his collaborator in the wildly successful side project the Postal Service. Joined by Rilo Kiley’s Jenny Lewis, they performed their hit “Such Great Heights.” A one-song set was never so fulfilling.

* Best residency -- Many venues are trying the monthlong gigs, with a resident band performing every week, but Spaceland consistently books the most promising talent.

* Three bands we’d like to see signed -- Foreign Born, Silversun Pickups, the Few. We’re sure you have others.

* Promotion that goes down easiest with draft beer -- Kiss or Kill, found regularly at Zen Sushi, serves up the kind of unaffected pop-punk that makes hipsters squirm. It’s fun. It’s cool, but maybe not like your fedora is cool. And two of the sassier regulars, the Dollyrots and the Randies, released pretty nifty albums this year.

* Promotion that goes down easiest with a soft drink -- The Tuesday all-ages night at the Key Club gives kids a taste of the Sunset Strip, with a steady diet of up-and-coming bands. And who knows, Flea’s daughter might be playing.

* Best show starring an iPod -- Jason Falkner played a set at the Troubadour with the Apple device as his backing band. And it worked.

* And the best show that foreshadowed the movie -- Anton Newcombe, frontman of the Brian Jonestown Massacre, came off as a troubled figure in “Dig!,” the documentary that followed the trajectory of his band and the Dandy Warhols. In a spring show at the El Rey, he was notably irascible, spewing political invectives at the audience for longer than his band actually played. We would have felt cheated, but the music was really good. That’s all we ask.