|
|
The Top Albums of 2004Dec 07 '04 Write an essay on this topic.
Popular Products in Music
The Bottom Line This is a list of my top 10 albums of 2004, as well as some general music commentary.
Before you start reading these reviews, I just wanted to warn you that, yes, your greatest fear is about to come true: chances are you've heard none, or at best maybe one or two, of these artists or albums. I apologize in advance: I was bitten by the 'music critic' bug about half way through the year, probably as I was listening to Sonic Youth's new album, and before I realized it I had become addicted to the heroin-and-crack of indie; artists like the Arcade Fire and MF Doom. And goddamn is this stuff addictive; I couldn't kick it even if I wanted to. But of course I would never want to do that. Why would I quit something so rewarding? There's a reason that obscure indie-sounding music tends to pull people in like a black hole: it's usually good. It's especially hard on (armchair) critics, who make it their civic duty to listen to as much music as possible, and are therefore more susceptible to the satisfying sickness that is 'music geek'. So why do music critics always sing the praises of obscure artists whom you're sure nobody has ever heard of? It's because those artists are damn worth it! We don't care whether or not they were only around long enough to produce a solid B-side on a single they recorded over 4 days in the drummer's basement, good music is good music, and it shouldn't make a difference whether it's popular or not. So, without anymore justifications, here is the most painstaking, blood-drenched, time-consuming critical review I've ever written. These are, in my opinion, the top ten albums of the year (2004). I sweated over this list; I stayed up countless nights debating it; I practically ate, slept, breathed, and thought this goddamn list for a period of weeks. Recognizing this, I hope you take time to simply consider the albums I'm advocating, even if you've never heard them before. (For the sake of brevity, all but one of the reviews are less than 150 words) 10. Sparta - Porcelain (Geffen) It's a tribute to At the Drive-In that two stellar bands could raise from its ashes: the f*cking insane Mars Volta, and the calmer and more polite Sparta. Where the Volta makes songs with watery effects and space-rock tendencies, Sparta is governed by structure and precision, and accordingly boasts one of the most fastidious rhythm sections in music today. Porcelain came out of the blue this year, as no one thought Sparta had it in them to make an album this ambitious and empowering. But here it is: the punk guitars, passionate battlecry vocals, and tremendous rhythm section all working together for the sake of rocking. They rock hardest on "Guns of Memorial Park", but get into great grooves on "White Oceana Sleeps" and "Lines in the Sand", the latter of which soars out of the atmosphere. Porcelain was an unexpected delight this year, and is worthy of looking into. 9. Dizzee Rascal - Showtime (XL) He's an unintelligible African-British rapper, representing the "L.D.N." and the "big U.K.", who makes his own garage/two-step beats ala the Streets, and he calls him self, of all names, Dizzee Rascal. 'Nuff said, this guy made the top ten just because of that. Actually, his new album's not bad either. Showtime is cocksure and invigorating, full of synthetic funk and kooky rhythms, which see Dizzee Rascal as matured in mind as well as talent since his first-class rookie effort, Boy in Da Corner. He's more rap than the Streets, but he's more techno-synth than most other hip-hop acts out there. Songs like "Stand Up Tall", with its obsessive beat and spitfire lyrics, and the desperate, heartfelt "Imagine" (featuring one of the most emotional hip-hop beats ever made) display this best, as well as the massive talent and potential for the future this 19-year-old has. 8. The Libertines - The Libertines (Rough Trade) The Libertines (think Pavement-meets-The Stone Roses on cocaine) is loose and lazy guitar-based Brit-pop; so loose, in fact, that at any given moment it sounds as though it will disintegrate into soundcheck noodling. Somehow an inner momentum keeps it going though, and this driving force also allows the band to write about each other candidly. And it's brutal: we're in Honey's awkward shoes, drunkenly singing about Virginia Woolf as George and Martha rip each other apart. At the centre of the fighting is lead singer/crackhead Pete Doherty, partially absent from the band during recording and officially diagnosed with a bad attitude. "What Became of the Likely Lads", one of many equally excellent songs, is a sentimental and ideal track to represent the album because its title will be what people say when this band inevitably splits. And although the record sounds fractured, The Libertines is ultimately a success. 7. Interpol - Antics (Matador) This is just a strange album... and I'm not sure why, which makes it even stranger. Is it the bizarre '50s loverboy lyrics, or the catharsis-through-precision of Interpol's guitar and bass? Or how about some of the tightest and most complex pop drumming patterns since a Neil Peart solo, or how they are Joy Division reincarnated, or even how they all wear black all the time? Well, how about the fact that Antics is the band's sophomore effort after the unequivocal brilliance of Turn on the Bright Lights, their first release? Or just how about because... well, just because. They're Interpol - they can do whatever they want. The sorrowful yearning of "Narc", the confidently strolling "Evil", and the apocalyptic march "Not Even Jail" all are excellent tracks that represent the many unique aspects of this fantastic album. Recommended to anyone who believes Ian Curtis is still alive. 6. The Hives - Tyrannosaurus Hives (Interscope) Ahh... real rock n' roll. You've become quite the neglected genre. It's nice to see that you haven't been forgotten yet; just listen to Tyrannosaurus Hives. However, this ain't your daddy's rock n' roll... well, unless your daddy listened to Iggy & the Stooges. The Hives are back with the ridiculously-titled Tyrannosaurus Hives, which expands on their signature sound. Inspired by the work of European electronica pioneers Kraftwerk, the album has pinches of eclectic flourishes peppered through out it. They're still the same Hives that rocked faces in the past, though, with tracks like "Abra Cadaver", "B is For Brutus", and "Diabolic Scheme", the pinnacle of the album. On it, singer Pelle Almqvist channels the spirit of Iggy himself while surrounded by menacing guitars and screeching strings. If rock is your thing, then so is the Hives. As their website claims, "Tyrannosaurus Hives is all you hoped for and more." 5. The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free (Vice/Atlantic) Not quite rap, trip-hop, or techno, the Streets's A Grand Don't Come for Free follows the same tradition as his debut Original Pirate Material: offbeat rhymes, two-step beats, and intelligent lyrics about weed, clubs, cellphones, and females. This may not score high in ambition, but that he captures British club culture in a single album, similar to how the Who's Quadrophenia captured Mod culture, makes up for it. The club anti-ode "Blinded by the Lights", the heartbreaking "Dry Your Eyes", and the dualistic "Empty Cans" stand as the strongest tracks, the last of which gloriously ties up the loose ends that Skinner unveils throughout A Grand. Although Original Pirate Material is better, you can't go wrong with an album as creative, well-made, and well-conceived as A Grand Don't Come For Free. 4. Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand (Domino) Franz Ferdinand might register a 'isn't that the prince whose assassination triggered World War One?', but I assure you: Franz Ferdinand has not risen from the dead to release a self-titled album. Were we to transpose ourselves to Britain, it would be impossible to discuss modern music without mentioning the Scottish quartet with the same name, and believe it or not, this is the Franz Ferdinand I plan to write about. Brimming with insatiably catchy post-Strokes guitar riffs, danceable rhythm sections, and allusions to garage-rock and post-punk, Franz Ferdinand presents a band with a truly unique sound. Their one successful single here was "Take Me Out", and it's an outstanding example of all those characteristics I mentioned combined into one song. However, tracks like "Auf Achse" with its brooding cheese-synth, "This Fire" with its addictive main verse, and the propelling groove of "Darts of Pleasure" all give it a run for its money. Either way, the album is an impressive debut from a band that seems destined for great things. 3. !!! - Louden Up Now (Touch and Go) Awkwardly-named !!! (pronounced 'chk-chk-chk') have not made a watershed of dance-rock on par with the Rapture's Echoes, but it's a damn tasty stew of disco, pop, rock, and techno. No matter how shy you might be, Louden Up Now will fill your heads with thoughts of dancing to its frantic grooves. 'New York City' can be heard in every song on the album: eclectic and diverse, hook-filled and catchy, and lead vocalist Nic Offer's couldn't-care-less sneer resembles Lou Reed if updated for the club scene. It's suiting that the pinnacle of the album is "Me and Giuliani Down By The Schoolyard (A True Story)", a political disco-2000 that lasts a deliciously funky nine minutes. A great album for chillin', partyin', studyin', drivin', and, uhh, eatin', Louden Up Now is great for any occasion, but when it comes to dancin' it is perhaps the finest album put out this year. 2. The Arcade Fire - Funeral (Merge) Like Nine Inch Nails's "Hurt" video, Funeral's empowerment and salvation arises from sorrow, suffocating angst, and disintegration. But I want to make this clear: this isn't the manufactured angst of emo, but something much more genuine. The Arcade Fire's debut is an organic, romantic, and elegant catharsis of the pain that death, loss, and love can bring. What sets them apart from emo (not mentioning the Arcade Fire's creative musical superiority over the most of the genre) is that they see light at the end of the tunnel: in the end, life is still worth living. "Neighborhood #3 (Power out)" is the phenomenal stand-out of the album, but it is only one on a flawless album. Lead singer Win Butler cries "the power's out in the heart of man/ take it from your heart and put it in your hand" - in fact, forget the whole review. This line alone summarizes the album better than any review ever could. So that's it... except for one. As you notice, this list consists of only nine entries. I have one more album, but since I wanted to do a whole review on it, I'm not including it here. It should be up in a couple hours after posting this, because I still have to write it. And I'll give you one clue: it's not the new Britney Spears greatest hits compilation. For the sake of understanding my list, there were some albums I wanted to listen to but never had a chance. Maybe if I had had more time and money my list would be more accurate, but since I didn't I figured I could at least inform you of the records that I personally heard were GREAT but didn't get around to hearing: Madvilliany - Madvillan; Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds; You're a Woman, I'm a Machine - Death From Above 1979; Give Up - The Postal Service; Seven Swans - Sufjan Stevens; and Fabulous Muscles - Xiu Xiu. Here's a list of the runners-up, or albums I listened to over the year that were particularly awesome, even though they may not have been good enough to have made the list: To The 5 Burroughs - the Beastie Boys; Mm... Food? - MF Doom; Sonic Nurse - Sonic Youth; How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb - U2; A Ghost Is Born - Wilco; From A Basement On A Hill - Elliot Smith; College Dropout - Kanye West; and Good News for People Who Love Bad News - Modest Mouse. Two albums that have been vastly overrated this year are Medulla by Bjork, an abstract synth-vocal composition that is utterly unlistenable, and Van Lear Rose by Loretta Lynn, which I think is only revered because the critics have a permanent hard-on for Jack White and all his various projects. Yah, it's good, but it's three-stars-out-of-five type pleasantly enjoyable good, not five-out-of-five change-your-life type good. The biggest letdown of the year was Green Day's American Idiot, an album that gets an A+ for effort but unfortunately a C for accomplishment. Green Day was really putting its heart and effort towards becoming relevant to pop music again, but sadly they missed the mark and ended up in territory somewhere between cliche Good Charlotte and Blink 182's latest album, but with trademark adrenaline and, for the first time, grand ambition. The album sputters though: it may be fresh and have a revitalizing effect on Green Day's career, it's essentially an over-reaching, under-achieving record that's repeating the same unfocused criticisms of society that the Sex Pistols lived out less than thirty years ago. It's not like we needed another pop artist to speak out against President Bush this year either, a trend so overabsorbed that even Puff Daddy chipped in with the ridiculous "Vote or Die" campaign, which takes the cake for 'the most meaningless pop culture catch phrase' since 'Whazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzup'. In Green Day's defense, though, Billie Joe has always held a special spot in my generation's collective heart. To see him filled the same passion he had during Dookie is refreshing, and it reminds us of what a powerhouse Green Day was at one point. They were our first memorable music heroes who literally spat in authority's face, and violated our virgin ears with a swear word or two in "Longview" a week or two before the Offspring shattered our fragile little minds with "you stupid dumb-sh!t god-damn Motherf*cker!" Ahh, those were the days. When I think about memories like this, sometimes I think I'd like to relive them: I'm sure Green Day is thinking the same thing right now. Is there anything else worth mentioning about 2004 in music? Of course there is, but it will have to wait for another time, and another review. It's 3:27am now, and sleep beckons. Thank you for taking the time to examine my list of the top ten albums of the year, and I hope it guides you on the path to listening to good music.  |
| Read all comments (3)|Write your own comment |
|
Ads by Google
|
by kiwifella
by George_Chabot
![Jersey Boys [Original Broadway Cast Recording] by Original Broadway Cast Reviews](http://di2.shopping.com/images/pi/95/a4/8a/2006752046-100x100-0-0.jpg?p=p8.e62e1844b6d60d74bcc8&a=2&c=1&l=8071320&t=120602204132&r=1)
