2004; Somebody TOLD Me, Franzincensed and Bleurgh! (D&D's Best of 2004 w/o)Dec 23 '04 Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line The Bottom Line is a really bad Three Wise Men gifts review title pun. 'Twas the night before the night before Christmas, when all through the music section, creatures were stirring, even Modest Mouse... or something like that. Two things have been driving me crackers for the past couple of weeks, the annoying twitch in my right eyelash, and coming up with worthy contenders for a best of 2004 showdown for D&D's w/o. 2004 has been a pretty good year for me as far as music is concerned. Yeah. I've been simultaneously wowed, shocked and awed by the veritable plethora of excellent new releases by old favourites and new talents alike. Plus, having spent almost a full year now frequenting the music section here at Eeeps and reading so many music reviews that my head may explode on my 1 year anniversary, in a grand, gushing, glorious explosion of dramatic noise. And out will rush an amalgamation of samples from every band I've read about this year. The plus side to that is I've also been introduced to lots of new stuff, thanks to some of my favourite music writers and their pimpage of all things great and good. Whilst perusing my CDs to compile my lists for this here w/o entry, I was shocked to discover I'd purchased a phenomenal 256 albums this year. That's double and then some, compared to last year. Those I have to thank for this rise in wanting to part with my hard earned cash on some excellent music include many of our wonderful music writers. Thank you, one and all, for making me financially poorer, but musically so much richer. Anyway.. on with it... Albums, Albums, Albums 10. Alanis Morissette - "So-Called Chaos" 9. Embrace - "Out of Nothing" 8. PJ Harvey - "Uh Huh Her" 7. Morrissey - "You Are the Quarry" 6. Ash - "Meltdown" 5. Scissor Sisters - "Scissor Sisters" 4. Snow Patrol - "Final Straw" 3. Elliott Smith - "From a Basement on the Hill" ... ... Now, the number one spot had me in a spin, virtually twisted and tortured and pulled in several different directions. So, since I couldn't decide who to bestow the top spot on for this year, in an effort to be fair, I've got 2 number ones. Yay! =1. Keane - "Hopes and Fears" This debut from the trio consisting of Tom Chaplin (vocals), Richard Hughes (drums), and Tim Rice-Oxley (piano) from East Sussex in England managed to sweep me off my feet. From start to finish, this collection of well polished, gorgeous and heart-wrenchingly melodic songs is completely flawless. The angelic, squeaky clean tones of Chaplin run the gamut from heartbreak to heartswell effortlessly. What impresses me more is the lack of guitars on this album, which relies mostly on pianos and keyboards, and of course the voice of Chaplin, which in itself is an instrument of beauty. Opening on the excellent "Somewhere Only We Know" and ending on what I refer to as my "kitchen song" (see later) also known as "Bedshaped", these 12 songs have caused a mini-sensation throughout parts of the world. Their anthemic "Everybody's Changing" being a large part of what kicked it off. I think I managed to bore most of my friends to the point of distraction by my constant raving about this album. Worthy of a slot in first place it indeed is. =1. Grant Lee Phillips - "Virginia Creeper" Formerly a member of the excellent California based Grant Lee Buffalo, Grant Lee Phillips went solo in 1999. After releasing his first 2 albums, "Ladies' Love Oracle" and "Mobilize", Phillips released this gem in 2004. Throughout much of the 90's I was a sworn, die-hard Grant Lee Buffalo fan, and their 1993 debut "Fuzzy" is among my favourite releases of that year. To get to 11 years later and have good old Grant still around makes me smile. Not only that, "Virginia Creeper" represents a lot of what I love about music. It's a quiet album of graceful melodies and aching notes. Lyrically delicately wounding and deeply touching. Encompassing various flavours of music, from acoustic indie, with a hint of country and a slight celtic feel in places. The breath taking beauty of songs like "Hickory Wind" and "Far End of the Night" to the delightful tales-to-music in such songs as "Susanna Little" and "Mona Lisa" have me wanting to make the album human and marry it. So hats off to Grant for this absobloodylutely gorgeous musical marvel. ... Best and not so best of the rest... other albums that rocked my socks this year include Manic Street Preachers "Lifeblood", whose rendition of "Richard Nixon" on TV scared the bejesus out of me, there's something not right about seeing Nicky Wire frolic in a Richard Nixon mask, aside from that, the album is a grand affair. U2's "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" was one I've only recently picked up, thanks to the several excellent reviews I've read of it, and their pretty awe inspiring live performance I saw on TV recently. Honourable mentions go to REM, The Rasmus, Modest Mouse, Thirteen Senses, Graham Coxon, Bjork and Tori Amos for their efforts this year. Leaning towards the not so good includes the likes of Franz Ferdinand, who I must admit I loved at one point. Sadly, overplaying and the issue I have with collective FF hairdos have pushed me away. Though, I do still adore the song "Take Me Out". Damien Rice's "O" also proved to be a disappointment, not that it isn't nice, thoughtful stuff. But, if I wanted to listen to David Gray, I'd put on a David Gray album. See my point? Singles, Singles, Singles. This section proved the hardest, urgh, I spent many an evening agonising to the point of despair at what to pick. Largely because there has been TONS of excellent singles out this year. After several hours of deliberating, ripping my hair out and finger nail biting right up to my elbows, here's my top ten.. appreciate the hell out of it, please. 10. Muse - "Sing For Absolution" 9. Scissor Sisters - "Laura" 8. Manic Street Preachers - "Love of Richard Nixon" 7. Modest Mouse - "Float On" 6. The Killers - "Somebody Told Me" 5. Franz Ferdinand - "Take Me Out" 4. Maroon 5 - "This Love" 3. Kent - "Karleken Vantar" 2. Keane - "Everybody's Changing" ... 1. The Rasmus - "In the Shadows". What I really love about my single choices, is the appearance of 2 singles from Scandinavian acts (i'm still a Scandinavian music pimper, remember) that were re-released outside of Scandinavia, due to said bands getting some global attention. It makes me feel all warm, smoggly og hyggelig inside, it really does. So, one of them was Kent, the other is what made my number one choice-ah-oh-ah-oh. These lads from Helsinki, Finland, have been churning out alternative rock for years and years in Scandinavia. In fact, they're very famous in Scandinavia. Sadly, due to lack of resources and marketing, they never made it beyond.. until this year. After switching to a Swedish record label (see, Sweden can pimp all the best bands right!) their 2003 album release "Dead Letters" (already a massive hit in Scandinavia) finally went global in 2004. Re-released in April of this year in Europe at large and the US/UK, "Dead Letters" was a massive success for the Rasmus. But the enormity of that success can mostly be attributed to what is, by far, the best song on the album.. "In the Shadows". Which now means The Rasmus get to play 20,000 capacity arenas in Europe.. But sadly still 300 capacity venues in places like New York. What's up with that? Anyway, "In the Shadows" is a mixture of dazzlingly memorable, guitar fuelled, bass guzzling, drum banging music, with perfect riffs, excellent harmonies, sufficiently self-loathing lyrics (It's a Scandinavian trait). To top it all off comes the hook.. the instantly catchy refrain of "Ah-oh.. Ah-oooooh!". Hear it once, you'll never forget it. Finland (finally) found a way to infiltrate the brain of the masses. Safe to say the song is so fantabulastic, that it has me doing the fandango, the cha-cha AND the mamba pretty much every time I hear it. So yay for The Rasmus. Yay for Finland (finally) Can't Get You Out of My Head and/or SHUTTUP! My brain, as far as music is concerned, is like a sponge. It soaks it up, and squirts it right back out at the slightest squeeze. Let me explain that. I'm prone to getting a song lodged in my head, and randomly blurting out the odd line from said song, sometimes even a whole verse, more often than not, the chorus. Scarily, my brain isn't biased when it comes to these songs, so anyone could wind up becoming spontaneous song outburst fodder. Here's a few that made it into my head, and randomly out of my mouth this year; Robbie Williams - "Radio".. it swirled around my head for a good while, graciously giving me the odd image from its bizarre video occasionally. And the random outburst of "Listen to the radio!" from me not entirely at will. Kelis - "Milkshake"... was infectious, I'd find myself humming to it when it wasn't anywhere to be heard. Natasha Bedingfield - "These Words" Natasha sisterofDaniel Bedingfield managed to annoy the crap out of me, by making me spew out the line "these words are my own.. Iloveyou, Iloveyou, Iloveyou", mostly when I went to make coffee. Keane - "Bedshaped".. now this one was weird, everytime I went into the kitchen, I'd be overcome with an urge to belt out "BEDSHAAAAAAAAAAPED". Why the kitchen, I have no idea. Joss Stone - "You Had Me".. oh Joss, now she seemed to pop into my head whenever I used public transportation. And also, after a conversation I had with Mike, she also made me laugh in inappropriate places. Mostly because she sounds like she's singing "You Had May".. Thus, "You had May, you lost May" became the new words. Which made me sad for the misplacement of poor May (who in my head was someone's Grandma) O-zone - "Dragostea Din Tei".. for the love of Romania! A massive hit in Europe, it was inescapable. But mostly, it just made me YODEL! Arrrrgh. Anastacia - "Left Outside Alone".. Anastacia came back this year stronger than ever after her illness scare. As well as being sick and tired of being sick and tired, and welcoming us to her truth, she was also left outside alone (aw). Anyway, the song wormed its way into my brain, and was possibly the only random outburst song that I'd sing at non-will (again) in its entirety. I guess I liked it. Yeah I did. There were tons more, including the majority of my favourite singles picks. But I'll leave it there, since my elaboration of the infectious "Somebody Told Me" by the Killers involves dancing with my cat. Who, FYI, loves the song as well. Pauses for Thought Music also gave me a few pauses for thought this year. Like, my murderous thoughts with regards to Brit boy bands Busted and McFly, I thought they ought to be rounded up and pushed into a gaping chasm with noxious substances and various predatory animals festering at the bottom. I thought that !!! was the STUPIDEST band name ever, and they had a song with 2 question marks in its title; "Hello? is This Thing On?". At least The Thrills' "Whatever Happened to Corey Haim?" was an interesting question this year. I thought that spoof band Soul Control and their song "Chocolate" (SO not to be confused with Snow Patrol's song of the same name) was pants. I thought the band POP! bordered on music abuse, with enough cheese to keep the BeNeLux countries in cheese for the next century. Also, their video for "Serious"..? Ewwwww. Ew. Ew. I thought that the loss of indie guru John Peel this year was tragic. A Mini Selection for January I'm looking forward to what 2005 holds for music on the whole. However, 3 top single picks that are out next month (but already getting lots of airplay in these parts) are: Athlete - "Wires" from their album "Tourist" (also released next month) Feeder - "Tumble and Fall" from their album "Pushing the Senses" (also released next month) Thirteen Senses - "Thru the Glass" (re-release) from their album "The Invitation" (which will also be re-released next year) Oh, and watch out for these guys in 2005. They're making my music senses tingle and zing and stuff. And Finally. Thanks to Mike and Drew for hosting the write-off. Some favourite music writers (I wasn't going to do this since I didn't want to leave anyone off..so I've picked a small selection of those that have inspired me to comment a lot on their reviews, or have simply inspired me with their wit, wisdom and stonking good reviews and general niceness throughout the year) andym173 brendan2 caffienatedyak cecile1 flamepillar jf-gb lambchops plorentz shilmafone socrazy speeddemon531 voxpoptart willowchild ...and so many others. Season's greetings / God Jul, and all the best to everyone for 2005 :) Cheers.  |
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