Best of 2004

Well, we have to include SMiLE!

G

The five albums released this year that I really got into are by :

Rickie Lee Jones

My Morning Jacket

Morrisey

The Blue Nile

John Martyn

Feist

Blimey , mostly oldies, must be telling me something

Opps

six.

After a slow start it turned into a very good year. Doubtless I'm forgetting some, but off the top:

Mission of Burma: On Off On
Mr. Airplane Man: C'mon DJ
Interpol: Antics
The Futureheads: s/t
The Walkmen: Bows and Arrows
The Arcade Fire: Funeral
Sonic Youth: Sonic Nurse
Les Savy Fav: Inches

Still quite a few recent releases I have yet to hear and/or digest -- and yet a month to go this year.

[Edit to add Morrisey: You are the Quarry -- correct Simon.]

Hi Simon - thanks for responding but can you give titles as well. I think I know the albums your're talking about but not everyone will.

Cheers

Andy

"It's that time of year again"

No it's not! There is still > 1/12th of the year to go. [/Joel]

Matthew

Matthew - there's always one...

It is that time of year - record companies don't normally release their good stuff in the last few weeks of the year - do they?

Anyway stop quibbling and post a few favourites.

Andy

Funeral by Arcade Fire has cropped up here and a few other lists but I just can't get on with it. I'm beginning to think its my partner's crappy old system that I'm having to listen on for a bit - old Sony personal CD player hooked up into a 20 year old (at least) Akai amplifier and Wharfedale speakers. It's OK on acoustic but anything a bit more complex and dense and it tends to sound conjested and harsh.

Andy

HI,
If this is measured on the number of plays a CD/LP gets in our house then it would be Keane with Hopes and Fears...

I'll think of some others and post those tomorrow...

andy c!

I mostly found myself in Fopp this year buying old stuff because little that was new inspired me. Even some of the great names mentioned here. Anybody else simply hear some of this stuff and go "well it's good but I know where that bit came from" and so on. For me, good or okay just doesn't cut it any more so bye bye old faves like REM, The Blue Nile and so on. Dull, clinical and soulless is the phrase that springs to mind.

Having said that, for me, three albums stood out as interesting but only one as outstanding.

a) Smile - if only for the group of songs from Cabinessence to Surf's Up. One of the rare occasions where people with the vinyl version really suffer because they have to get up and turn it over!!! It is a long, long way from what many people here portray it as but is enjoyable and I do keep coming back to it.

b) Nellie McKay - Get Away From Me. Precocious and varied in the best sort of way. Far too slight for a double but, as a single it would have made a great debut that we'd all be talking about. As it is, she's one of the few to watch over the next year or two and yet she seems to have disappeared already.

c) The Trashcan Sinatras - Weightlifting. I've not seen anyone mention this here. First album for eight years and ones that fans of great, lyrical, jangly guitar pop should rush out and buy now. It took me three listens but I'm there now and it's truly the only music I have fallen in love with this year. Someone said they are what Aztec Camera should have become. I couldn't agree more. All this gushing and it actually has that rare thing, truly uplifting positive lyrics (Freetime, All The Dark Horses).

Anyway, enough gushing. Just go out and buy it. Downloads available off their site too from what I can recall.

Mike

quote:

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Originally posted by Simon Matthews:
The five albums released this year that I really got into are by :

Rickie Lee Jones

---

You mean The Evening of My Best Day ... ?

I still feel it's one of the greatest albums ever made by anyone. It was actually released in 2003, but if you didn't get to it until 2004 then it's new for you.

What a brilliant album it is.

These are my favourites. I agree with Mike, 2004 hasn't been that great. I've thought for a while that CD encourages artistes to put out too much material whereas vinyl used to force them into a more self-critical editing selection. Only the best could go on the limited 20 odd minutes a side disc. Just a thought, perhaps another thread.

Robert Wyatt - Cuckooland - always interesting, a national treasure.

Morrissey - You Are My Quarry - a return to form for the awkward one.

The Blue Nile - High - this seemed to polarise opinion but I've played it quite a lot.

Bonnie "Prince" Billie - Greatest Palace Music" - some great stuf from Will Oldham, if somewhat overlong (se comments above).

Brian Wilson - SMiLE - I know this is going to get me drummed out of the Brownies, but I was never really into the B. Boys, but after seeing him at the RFH last July (£65 a ticket!!!!)I became a bit of a fan. It's not the greatest thing since sliced bread as some have suggested but it is good.


Bob Dylan - Bootleg Series Vol.6 - what can I say - awesome.

Ember - Land Under Water - this was probably played the most this year. Inventive contempoary folk from a local three-piece - Nick and Rebecca Sullivan and Emily Williams. Emily has an extraordinary voice and is a strong and evocative songwriter. A fabulous album with excellent sound as well.

A couple of reissues:

Richard and Linda Thompson - I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight - a haunting, beautiful record.

Brian Eno - Another Green World - Great cover art!

* * * *

The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free - I don't actually own this but have heard it in full a few times and I really like it.

Andy

Actually, can I add the latest Joseph Arthur? I forgot that. They take an age to grow but they're records to live with.

Someone tell me they love the Trashcan Sinatras please???

Mike

Mike

Have just ordered a copy on your reccomendation and after hearing some excerpts on their website. Will report back later on.

Andy

Ian Brown- Solarise
Kings of Convenience- Riot on an empty street.
Brian Wilson- SMiLE
U2 - How to dismantle....
Maroon 5 (i know its pop but its a good one)

I think it has been a rather good year for my music buying, certainly lots of variety.

My 5 at least this far.

Leonard Cohen 'Dear Heather'.
Laura Veirs 'Carbon Glacier'
Grand Drive 'The Lights In This Town Are Too Many To Count'
Wilco 'A Ghost is Born'
Nick Cave 'Lyre of Orpheus/Abbattoir Blues'


Bruce

Yeah, this year was a little light. Here's my picks of the last 18 months...

My personal favorite is Think Tank, by Blur.

Others:

Arcade Fire: Funeral
Candi Staton: Astralwerks compilation (reissues)
Ambulance LTD: LP
Baby Dayliner: High Heart & Low Estate
AC Newman: The Slow Wonder
Soul Jazz Records: Chicago Soul Compilation (reissues)
TV on the Radio: Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes
Modest Mouse: Good News for People Who Love Bad News
The Streets: A Grand Don't Come for Free

quote:

---

Laura Veirs 'Carbon Glacier'
Bruce

---

I have read a lot of good reviews of this .... apparently you would concur.

I have her "Triumphs & Travails of Orphan Mae", which features Danny Barnes (Bad Livers), a resident of Seattle, as is Ms Viers. Apparently she has significantly more followers in Europe than here in the US.

Looks like I will be a shoppin' this weekend.

Jeff A

Jeff

It is a very interesting little album, a sort of quirky and modern update on early Michelle Schocked (if that gives you any help) with distinctive brittle and icy atmosphere. I'd never heard of her before and bought it on the strength of a great review in the paper.

Bruce

quote:

---

Originally posted by Bruce Woodhouse:
modern update on early Michelle Schocked
Bruce

---

Excellent, I can hear the Michelle Shocked comparison in the 'Travels and Travails..." disc also.

Will order this up this weekend. Thanks for the recommendation.

Jeff A

I'd like to add all of the Paul Simon remasters and to second Nellie McKay and U2.

Oh, and of course 'Smile'

quote:

---

Originally posted by Bruce Woodhouse:
Jeff
It is a very interesting little album, a sort of quirky and modern update on early Michelle Schocked ... with distinctive brittle and icy atmosphere.
Bruce

---

re: "Carbon Glacier" by Laura Viers

Stunningly good album on first listen.

"a tiny little flute is whistling in the lips
of a stranger on the corner
a tiny little girl ties flowers to her wrists
and the bees come round to adorn her"

Thanks again for the recommendation,

Jeff A

Using my arbitrary rating system, the following albums have the most votes (so far):

Brian Wilson - Smile (no surprises here)

The Blue Nile - High

Arcade Fire - Funeral

Morrissey - You Are The Quarry

The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free

Laura Viers - Carbon Glazier

Andy

[This message was edited by AndyFelin on Sun 12 December 2004 at 13:55.]

Interesting...

When I shortly come to expanding my horizons with my record collection I think I now know the place to look..

Cheers,

JR