listen to an asshole.
So I guess it follows that with my need to rattle off every fucking music purchase I make and ramble about bands I like a lot, I would have to put together a top 10 for the year, so here ya go. Feel free to call me an idiot for not liking what you like/whats really cool.
Top ten records of 2004:
10) AC Newman- the slow wonder. This album is great on a number of levels. It is the solo endeavor of New Pornographer's vocalist. Bringing to mind some hybrid of the shins and belle and sebastian with fountains of wayne somewhere in the middle, it is a relentlessly poppy record that seemingly gets better every time I hear it.
9)Brian Wilson- smile. I have owned pet sounds for a long time, and have liked it quite a bit. I had heard about this album coming out, and read nothing but great reviews until its release. I got a hold of it, and from the first listen was awe struck. The original version (or alternate) of good vibrations if an eye opening peek into Brian wilson's lyric genius. And with the gorgeous, so far ahead of it's time "child is the father of man" the album is untouchable.
8)wilco- a ghost is born. This is the album of the year people loved to hate. Everyone had a preconceived notion that it had to be Yankee Hotel Foxtrot part two. It instead delivered with a less alt.country tinged effort, and a more unfocused take on true songwriting. Some of the songs spiraled into guitar noise going on for minutes on end on songs like "spiders (kidsmoke)", and "less than you think", but the album is more than the sum of it's parts when considering the relentless beauty of "wishful thinking" and "company in my back".
7)the streets- a grand don't come for free. I didn't get into this right away. I had heard the single, and liked it, but I had never really gotten turned onto the streets. It seemed like some people lived and died by them, name dropping all over, but I never got it. With this album I got it. The shaky rhythms paired with a near unintelligible mix of brit slang and tight rhymes give it a feel unlike anything else out this year.
6)Interpol- antics. I guess this year was a big year of being surprised by follow ups. You always have an idea in your head of how the album would sound if you were at the helm. You can hear the intro, or picture the artwork. Interpol's antics showed up right on time. There is not a hint of sophomore slump. If anything they are at their best on this record. From the undeniable pop ramblings of "evil" to the haunting beauty of "take you on a cruise", this album is in a category of near perfection.
5)xiu xiu- fabulous muscles. When insound did their tour support split series featuring xiu xiu and the jim yoshii pile up I ordered a copy right off away. I had read really good stuff about some leaked tracks, and I was anxious to check it out for myself. At the time it was my favorite stuff I had ever heard from xiu xiu. I listened to that album and was anxious for the release of fabulous muscles. Upon hearing the full length it was cemented as my favorite xiu xiu release to date. It is so brutally honest and beautiful, but it was also brimmed with a pop sensibility that wasn't present on older releases. You know an album is good when someone who claimed they would "never buy it because of the cum on my lips lyrics" raves about it when they listened to it.
4)detachment kit- of this blood. I was always a fan of the first full length the detachment kit put out a few years ago. It was so fucking raw and urgent. I had high hopes for this new full length and upon buying it the first week out I was at first taken back a little. They were no longer content to pick up the slack of les savy fav and run with it. There were ballads, off kilter rhythm lines driven home by a stream of conscience lyric sensibility. Eventually I realized this was no continuation of "we raging, quiet army", this was a whole new direction for the band.
3)the killers- hot fuss. Go ahead, I know you want to. Make fun, it's fine. You're too cool to like the killers. For those of you who aren't, I think this record from start to finish is really really great. I had heard the single for some time before pursuing the rest of the album on a recommendation. They call to mind the 80's cars influenced pop right off the bat. You can't even make it through the first song without singing along, and so goes the rest of the album too. Standouts like "mr. brightside" and "believe me natalie" leave you wanting to start the whole thing over again.
2)walkmen- bows and arrows. One day I was out and about shopping for nothing in particular, and I was looking in the used bin at everybodys. I came across a used copy of bows and arrows, and after hearing the rat a couple times I got it on a whim. I was familiar with them in a superficial way at best. I knew they were in a saturn commercial, and I had an EP from a couple years ago when they were still on star time records. I guess that was part of the fun, I had no idea what to expect. From the start I loved what I heard. The record is just such a sprawling bend of melody and anxious ideas. This is the record they have been waiting to make.
1)modest mouse- good news for people who love bad news. I guess it's the in thing to talk shit about a really good band because they got popular, because that is all that people have done since this album came out. Granted, "float on" became to rock radio what Outkast's "hey ya" was only a few months earlier, but that does not detract one bit from the sheer genius and fist in air sing along bad ass-ness of it all. The rest of the album promised more of the same, from acoustic sing alongs to stilted rhythm lines backed by Isaac brock's mad yelp. Either way, cool or not, popular in the eyes of OC fans, or the fact they are to be included on the next kids bop (?) this is a truly moving record.
near misses, or the ones that didn't get in but I love a lot. in no particular order.
the faint- wet from birth, devandra banhart- nino rojo, devandra banhart- rejoicing in the hands, modest mouse- the moon and Antarctica (reissue), air- talkie walkie, owen- I do perceive, of montreal- satanic panic in the attic, animal collective- sung tongs.
ten songs I love from this year.
10. the killers- mr. brightside
9. the firebird band- obsessive compulsive
8. animal collective- winters love
7. bright eyes- lua
6. styrofoam- couches in alleyways (featuring Ben Gibbard)
5. owen- skin and bones
4. kanye west- jesus walks
3. detachment kit- skyscrapers
2. minus the bear- i'm totally not down with rob's alien
1. bright eyes- I'll be your friend
other top shit of the year:
movies- the united states of Leland, Napoleon dynamite, garden state, eternal sunshine of the spotless mind.
television: arrested development (also my favorite DVD of the year maybe), the OC, life as we know it, nip/tuck, lost.
so there it is, I am more than a little sure you all disagree with me. Feel free to leave comments telling me I don't know shit about music, or how the OC is gay or whatever. I hope the Christmas season and the new years finds you all well. Take care all.