The best album of 2004 was one that you may not have even heard of. You won't see its videos on TV and you can't buy it in stores, but you can download it online!

Here's a summary from DJ Danger Mouse's website:

Danger Mouse raised the bar on hip hop experimentalism by dropping the infamous Grey Album, which used the full vocal content of Jay-Z's Black Album, recorded over new beats and production created using the Beatles White Album as its sole source material. The resulting record is a unique hybrid of work, a re-interpretation being touted as the one of greatest remix albums of all time. With one million downloads in a week and ensuing battle between major record companies, the media, Internet and copyright advocates, the release of the Grey Album has been nothing less than a watershed moment for music.

I got exposed to this CD about six months or so ago and for the last couple months especially I have been listening to it on a regular basis. In short, it is absolutely brilliant. Forget about those other "remixes" you might have downloaded from the Internet - this thing is from scratch using the highest quality source material. In fact, remix just doesn't do it justice; a better word would be re-imagination. Eminem isn't kidding when he says that he's better than 99% of rappers out there, because records of quality can be few and far between in the land of hip-hop. If you're looking for that other 1%, you've found it in the Grey Album.

So, while Nick and I are living it up this weekend in Washington, D.C. on someone else's tab, why not take a break from your pathetic life and download it today?