4. Tortoise - Dot/Eyes
While any track on It's All Around You could have been selected as a top track of 2004, “Dot/Eyes” is a total curve ball. Tortoise, ever the champion of experimentation, one-up themselves with this relentless, make-you-think-you're-tripping brain burner. Seeing Tortoise perform this song is a fantastic experience, as one [bad word] understands how tired and focused [bad word] John McEntire gets as he rides the high hat and kicks the bass [bad word] off-kilter longer than any other human is capable of doing. The song seems to be attempting [bad word] away from the players, opening a portal in the roof and consciously willing the audience into oblivion. But Tortoise hold it together, and the fury of effects and two bass guitars ripping through the cosmos is ultimately tamed with a sizzling snip of the cord, and the song goes dead. (Nathan Keane)