2004: Top 20 Albums
Submitted by AAA on Sun, 05/02/2004 - 12:52
Tags:
- Joanna Newsom - The Milk-Eyed Mender
- The Fiery Furnaces - Blueberry Boat
- Devendra Banhart - Rejoicing in the Hands
- Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans
- Animal Collective - Sung Tongs
- The Streets - A Grand Don't Come for Free
- Xiu Xiu - Fabulous Muscles
- The Arcade Fire - Funeral
- Of Montreal - Satanic Panic in the Attic
- Sonic Youth - Sonic Nurse
- The Futureheads - The Futureheads
- The Go! Team - Thunder Lighting Strike
- Jens Lekman - When I Said I Wanted to Be Your Dog
- Death from Above 1979 - You're a Woman, I'm a Machine
- Deerhoof - Milk Man
- The Mountain Goats - We Shall All Be Healed
- Bjork - Medulla
- Panda Pear - Young Prayer
- Mirah - C'mon Miracle
- Iron & Wine - Our Endless Numbered Days
man, the streets i was just about to buy that yesterday dang! i picked it up and then somthing made me put it down!! :( lol i'll get it now
It's a great pick. I love it partially because it's a beautiful narrative, but if you've heard Original Pirate Material, be prepared for something of a departure.
Lots of great choices as well as some I've been very curious to hear - the Fiery Furnaces especially. I'm hoping to see A.C. Newman in a couple of weeks, so I'll most likely pick his album up there.
The Fiery Furnaces are genius. Crazy and magnificent.
A.C. Newman is great. His work is actually better than The New Pornographers.
I agree, A.C. Newman's solo stuff is fantastic, it might be my favorite album of the year.
Good to see that Arcade Fire made the cut. I ordered it Monday, but have yet to receive it. (I love the prices at deepdiscountcd.com, but they're slow as hell!)
I was actually surprised by how much I liked it. I tried to find it here in Philly on Tuesday, and every store either hadn't gotten it yet or was sold out. On Wednesday I checked the stores that were supposed to get it, and they had sold out already. Let's just say that the Pitchfork rave motivated a lot of indie hipsters to buy it.
So, after all this, I expected at least something of a dissapointment. Instead, it really defied my expectations.
Plus, I defy anyone to listen to the first track and not be at least a little affected by its whimsy and lovliness.
I enjoy the Arcade Fire CD a lot, but I'm not yet sure whether it'll make my Top 10 for the year. (Top 15, for sure.) At the same time, I also received The Features' Exhibit A, and I like that a considerable amount as well.
I always enjoy seeing an update to this list to see which album broke into the Top 10 and which was bumped. (And congrats to SMiLE, by the way.)
I've been on a role recently with albums. For a while, my top ten was untouched, but now, every album I buy has been at least very good.
I'm surprised to see Smile there. Surely, it was an experiment, but I'm not convinced it was an altogether successful one.
There were a few songs I really liked (Cabinessence, Heroes & Villains 1 & 2, Soulful Old Man Sunshine), but a lot that I didn't care for at all (especially on the second half of the album).
What did you love so much about it?
Well, I think one of our big differences on music is the way we look at the album format. For me, SMiLE was consistently surprising and moving, and the music was inventive and, at times, beautiful.
The album holds together extremely well. Working as a concept album about the cultural history of America, it took fascinating twists and turns. Besides, the biggest strength of the album was its ability to blend surrealism and emotion. While it was almost opaque at times, it remained a moving experience.
My other argument about the album is that it is truly an original work. Being an avid music listener, I was still pleasantly surprised by the way the album went. It was a fresh and interesting, and the fact that it was first created in the 60's is amazing.
In general, it is a trippy, beautiful, and lovely album.
Yup, you're absolutely right, here. I look at an album as a sum of several tracks.
I look at it as format to express themes, emotions, and messages as well as play music. I think that albums are an experience, and looking track by track doesn't personally work for me. I prefer to think of the entire thing as one entity as opposed to a selection of seperate musical creations.
I found a prime candidate for this list.
Sweet merciful Buddah that looks awful.
Ouch.
I picked up the Arcade Fire disc last night. I am loving it!
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Isn't it wonderful?
It really, really wowed me the first time...and then, magically, it grew on me even more!
I am greatly enjoying it, and I will take it as good news that it gets better with time.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
I feel the same way. I really liked it the first go round, but it's gotten even better over time. They just played here in SF and it was sold out so I didn't see them. But they just announced two more shows here in January and I won't be missing them again.
They played in PA, but I missed them. SIGH. I wish I had caught them.
Have you heard 'TV on the Radio'?
I have, they're on my runner-up list in the Comments section.