ILM TOP ALBUMS OF 2004

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0006B2AFQ.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

With Street's Disciple we bid final farewell to Nas the nihilist. Those who still think of Illmatic as his greatest hour may disagree, but as a lyricist the adult Nas has always sounded better when he gets affectionate than when he get thuggish. On God's Son, his previous LP, Nas might've portrayed his soul at its barest, but on Street's Disciple he finds a perfect blend of thought-out politics and mature (which doesn't equate with boring) emotional content. The album is rich with interesting, idiosyncratic details, such as Nas prentending to be a woman (as the "guest rapper" Scarlett), Nas bridiging the gap between blues and rap with his pa Olu Dara, Nas moving from detailed description of his past adventures with the ladies to an equally honest-sounding portrayal of his marriage with Kelis... Not all of it works, but even when Street's Disciple is not technically perfect - such as when Nas attempts to sing, with an ode to his daughter called "Me & You" - you gotta admire him for the try. Stripped down to a single disc, with a few of the lesser tracks dropped off, this might've been Nas' greatest album. Then again, Nasir Jones is nothing if not overwhelming, and that's what we love him for. -Tuomas A.

Other ILXors Say:

"Like most hip hop double albums, it has about a disc of solid material. I didn't expect much so it came out pretty well for me." -ROLLIE MOTHERFUCKING PEMBERTON

"Yeah I'm gonna reiterate that I think this album is fairly hot." -DJDee2005

"it's definitely better than I was expecting... the beats aren't as mediocre as I was thinking they'd be, and his lyrics are hitting pretty hard this time around..." -King Cobra

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0002JUXB0.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Bjork - Medulla

Bjork’s first ever a capella album; full of mouth clicks and buzzing nosies and such. Good, but not as good as “Drop It Like It’s Hot� or “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?� -The Good Dr. Bill

Other ILXors Say:

"Medulla turned out exactly how I expected it to be- something I *like* but not put on very often at all. The concept/gimmick is interesting but a bit limiting for a full album." -Mike O.

"If you like your Bjork weird, chances are you'll find much to enjoy on it [...] even when you're not sure if it's 'working', it's still interesting." ---

Other ILXor Stats:

Listed by Salvador Saca as a Pleasant Surprise That Exceeded Expectations

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0001M7P78.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News

48. Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News

The biggest musical surprise for me this year was the platinum-level commercial success of the new Modest Mouse album. Listening to the disc it's certainly amongst their most challenging, veering from driving rock to Beatlesque pop to banjo-driven country and beyond--not something I thought the mainstream was looking for in their popular entertainment. Modest Mouse have done this before, and did it even better on The Lonesome Crowded West, but after the vanilla snooze-a-thon of The Moon and Antarctica, this dash of deft and confident tone changes is a welcome return to form. -Keith Sawyer

Other ILXors Say:

"modest mouse is white southern rap, paul wall is black, with i'd go so far as to say everlast?! they had an add with a cool (i was going to say awesome but refrained bcs this is a british message board, but now you know what i mean) clip video inbetween freek-a-leek and jadakiss. the lil flip video is on" -Peter $

Other ILXor Stats:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0002SDKG6.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Tom Waits released another album this year. Jim Jarmusch fans and MOJO readers rejoiced. -The Good Dr. Bill

Other ILXors Say:

"I think I'm going to really, really like this album. It's like the gutter Medulla." -Jordan

"I've been listening the FUCK out of this album. " -Nickalicious

" Lydia Lunch and the Dresden Dolls did better Tom Waits albums than he did this year."

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000U98KI.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Mountain Goats - We Shall All Be Healed

During Mole, the first song The Mountain Goats played at the Paradiso in Amsterdam last year, I thought frontman John Darnielle was making these silly faces on purpose. When he kept it up during the following songs, I was really getting irritated until I realised he can't help himself. What a great performer he is, in fact: expressive voice, dynamic guitar playing (acoustic), smart songs, even the banter was entertaining. I don't usually have the patience for this type of (say it: FOLK!) music, but We Shall All Be Healed grabbed me right away.-JoB

Other ILXors Say:

"Only his second studio album, after years and years of home and live recordings, and it seems John Darnielle has run out of steam." -Salvador Saca

"The new record is excellent, as good or better than Tallahasse." -anthony kyle monday

ihttp://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0002UJN6K.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Wolf Eyes - Burned Mind

45. Wolf Eyes - Burned Mind

...worst atrocity mankind has ever produced.
It actually exceeds Freddy Got Fingered.
-- David Allen (Hippiedestroye...), October 18th, 2002.

WOLF EYES FUCKING RULES MAN
-- Be sure to Loop! Loop, Loop, Loop. (○☆♥♋∼◎↑Ω@♫♪), May 21st, 2004.

Chances are, 9 out of 10 ILMers are going to have an opinion (and a strong one) about Wolf Eyes that I'm not going to change with this blurb. You either already own this album and love it with all your little noise dude heart or you've shrugged it off as unlistenable rubbish. But for that 1 in 10 fence sitter: Burned Mind is Wolf Eyes's most varied, cohesive album to date and it's really a great place to start with them. Tracks like "Reaper's Gong", "Urine Burn", and "Ancient Delay" are eerie and vacant, slowly building sparse static laden textures while other songs like "Stabbed In The Face" and
"Village Oblivia" are relentlessly aggressive pieces of throat shredding vocals, bass stabs, and violently shifting noise. The songs weave in and out of one another and it all builds to the climax of "Black Vomit", a perfect, dubby collage of both the restrained and the
bludgeoning sides of Wolf Eyes. It's "Fischerspooner for daytime drinkers", it's pop music for the adderall generation, and it all begs for a house remix. -DOPESMOKER

Other ILXors Say:

What else is there to say?

rather

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0002858YS.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

The Killers - Hot Fuss

I knew what I was getting into with Hot Fuss. I’d heard multiple accounts of the album’s incredible inconsistency, and even as I tried desperately to disprove them with my first few listens, I more or less resigned myself to the fact that only half the album’s songs would be listenable. But all this did for me was beg that age-old question, is an album that constantly operates on a seven really better than one that constantly switches between operating on a ten and operating on a four? Does an album provide a richer experience when it overreaches its own grasp, or is it enough to find a comfort zone and stay there for the whole 45 minutes? Is it better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all? Whatever—point is, the first four songs on this album are really good. Like, Russell Crowe in Virtuosity good. –The Good Dr. Bill

Other ILXors Say:

"It's a hoot, lots of trashy hooks. Less sympathetic than Interpol but the drama's upped a notch." -CeCe Peniston

"ok I listened to the whole album now and LOTS of it reminds me of LOTS of the cure, about 1984-1992." -Teeny

"They have a good bass player." -Lukas

Other ILXor Stats:

Nominated by doc sketchy as The Most European-Sounding Record Made By Non-Europeans

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00049QKDI.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

The Futureheads - The Futureheads

The Futureheads are one of the few bands with an overt XTC influence that actually gets it right. Too often I find that newer bands namedropping XTC lack the energy, enthusiasm and wit to pull off even a Muppetized version of their heroes. There's also some Wire and (drop in your favorite UK late 70's/early 80's band) in there as well, but the sound is more robust and the constant presence of jumpy interlocking backing vocals is a distinguishing feature. What’s more, their songwriting branches well beyond tales of love/troubles into jumbles of situations and emotions that reward your attention. Oh yeah, and their Kate Bush cover is completely kickass addictive. -Keith Sawyer

Other ILXors Say:

"short sharp and sweet. great!" -Mr Monket

"How they manage to sound like so many bands I just don't like and still be awesome is beyond me." -hmmm

"Album of the year so far by a pretty major distance." -William Bloody Swygart

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00063MBT4.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Trick Daddy - Thug Matrimony: Married to the Streets

Daddy Dollars must have been born with that gruff papa bear voice, but six albums deep now he’s got the status as an elder statesman of the new South to match it. But he doesn’t just sit back and collect features and ride the crunk wave. Well, he does that too, but he also sticks with his classic mix of gushy, juicy sex jams, Miami bass anthems, hostile synth brass riff outlaw shit, and beautiful sincere children singing chorus hood wisdom, all while weaving hits from Ozzy cackles and obscure Talking Heads hooks. -HotelOpera

http://www.usemusic.com/use-cover-tour.jpg

U.S.E. - United State of Electronica

Nate Patrin recently described U.S.E. as "the Ramones for Daft Punk fans," which I think gets right to the heart of the band's aesthetic: it's sweet and shiny vocoder disco but with a D.I.Y. party spirit, which means lots of feel-good shouting and ample fist-pumping. The key moment for me was seeing the band live in October at a gleaming white gallery space in Tribeca, NYC. Though I already liked the record, I was captivated by the sheer energy and commitment the septet displayed on stage -- especially the backup singer rocking huge hoop earrings and striped athletic socks in high heels! I joined in their series of
gleeful shout-outs to Seattle neighborhoods I've never visited --"Capitol Hill? We love it!" -- and by the end of the set had a big dumb grin smeared over my sweat-soaked face. -Jaymc

Other ILXors Say:

"The United State Of Electronica would demolish The Arcade Fire in an energy-off." -Matthew Perpetua

"It's basically Daft Punk/Komeda gone Disneyworld (or at least their music has the "Disney Sparkle"), or (as noted by Ned in another forum) an album where every song sounds like the end of movie "Xanadu"" -Donut Bitch

"I think U.S.E., Scissor Sisters and Big & Rich should go on a mammoth cross-country tour this summer, sponsored by Fluxblog ("now with 50% more joy!") and PBR. Life would become too grand for words." -Sean Thomas

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0002CHI4C.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Teedra Moses - Complex Simplicity

A work of unbelievable clarity, sonic and emotional. It contains elements of both old-school early-90s R&B and today's futuristic equivalent, but fits too awkwardly into either category to be considered a middle ground: too sharp for the former, too slow for the latter. Initially it sounds sparse, but the production style of just pushing forward Teedra's voice, a beat and a sample while reducing everything else to detail magnifies the effect of everything which is happening: both the interesting ornamentation subtly buried in the production, and Teedra's own evocative, gorgeous lyrics. The title track, which alone is worth any price you might have to pay for this, is the most glorious paean to living in the moment, finding peace through partying since Mary J Blige's "Family Affair". -The Lex

Other ILXors Say:

"I'm incredibly pleased to find an R&B singer so determined to bring to light what I had assumed would remain the secret history of aquatic modern R&B." -Tim Finney

"This just topped the new Rahsaan Patterson as my favorite R&B record of the year." -Andy K.

Other ILXor Stats:

Made The Lex's Own Fucking Ten

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00011D1C2.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Stereolab - Margerine Eclipse

Another basic Stereolab release, except this one has less than seven words in the title. -The Good Dr. Bill

Other ILXors Say:

"instant easy listening classic with the original vu+neu! sound plus some added electronics" -Alex in Manhattan

"Basically, the deal is, I like this period of Stereolab, and this album is good even if I kind of already knew what I was in for." -dleone

"I think that Margarine Eclipse is okay, but it's not Stereolab's best work by any stretch." -Matthew Perpetua

Other ILXor Stats:

Listed my mike a as an Album That Renewed Your Faith in the Artist

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0001AP07M.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Nellie McKay - Get Away from Me

Everyone who hates Ms McKay, remember this: all the traits you can't stand in her (which probably remind you of ex-girlfriends, or maybe girls who wouldn't be your girlfriends in the first place) are traits she revels in, as much because they annoy the hell out of people like you as because they're part of who she is. Pretentiousness, preciousness, precocity; a tendency to be flippant about 'serious' subjects, and vice versa; a total lack of respect for the art forms she cribs off (oh, how easy it is to get a rise out of hip-hop heads!). What do you expect? Logic, accuracy and truth? Fuck that. Remember this, too: at college, the theatre girls, kooks and feminists may have been hell for you if you were trying to get in their knickers, but if you bothered to relate to them as people they were the wittiest, most fabulous, most loving people around. (Hey hey hey, that ain't nothin' to do with you - you're a sensitive Joe, I'm forgettin'!) -The Lex

Other ILXors Say:

"i can't stand this. it annoys every cell in my body. and then we got an interview disc and i could hear what an idiot she is on top of it all. utter crap." -Salvador Saca

"I heard this in the record store last weekend and I kept going between almost buying it and really wishing some one would turn it off." -Colin Beckett

"She may not rap as well as Eminem but she certainly sings better chorus hooks. She and Nelly need to hook up for some collabos." -Anthony Miccio

http://stat.discogs.com/R/329074-1102158834.jpg

Ada - Blondie

Sometimes Blondie is the cleanest, coolest and most central European of albums, all elegant line and dispassionate voice, with the right hint of desperation. Sometimes its like a small army of tiny electronic creatures arguing over making a disco record. Sometimes, as in 'the red shoes' it is both of these things. Sometimes it’s a bit embarrassing, as many of the best things are. Sometimes you might even be led to think that covering Everything But the Girl is a good idea. -Owen H.

Other ILXors Say:

"very yummy pop techno bliss" -Hector

"I've been listening to it almost every day for a few weeks, and I'm still not sure what to make of it. I guess I really like it, but after all of the singles it comes as something of a surprise. I guess it is more of an "album" than I expected." -Adam

Other ILXor Stats:

Listed by Stirmonster under 2004 Electro-House Classics ("that's right--a whole album of the stuff!")
Nominated by ken taylrr as techno/electronica/electro just plain good for sitting down or dancing.

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/images/s/stars/set-yourself-on-fire.gif

Stars - Set Yourself on Fire

For some reason, I didn't think that Stars could rise to the occasion for this album. When I saw the album title, I was ever warier. Could a statement like "Set Yourself On Fire" be done justice by a band with admittedly fey and delicate tendencies? Granted, "Heart" featured two incredible singles, plus a solid raft of album tracks, but this album really demanded an extra step. The first single matched my expectations; 'Ageless Beauty' is fey and delicate, but it's also insistent, driving, fuzzy, and HUGE. Arriving on the album after a marvellous 2-song, 10 min. introduction, this is the arrival of a band firing on all cylinders. -Derrick

Other ILXors Say:

"i think it's amazing. NO FILLER AT ALL. i thought the last one had two tracks I could have done without. but this one is near-perfect." -Cutty

"ALBUM OF THE YEAR. band of the decade, maybe" -Derrick

"I thought this was going to be some sort of new game show, for wannabe celebrities for whom merely being forced to live in the Australian outback and eat raw, maggot-infested koala abortions while suspended upside down by their heels from a helicopter above a slimy pit filled with crocodiles whilst rats gnaw at their genitals on national telly for a couple of weeks just isn't enough." -Stewart Osborne

That Teedra Moses cover and blurb has thrown it straight to the top of my list of albums to buy.

Stevem - do you not have the Ada album? You should!

I guess at this point there's no hope for The Alchemist to be on the list, but I hope Cee-Lo or Infinite Livez will still turn up, otherwise I'm gonna be quite disappointed.

How many people did vote, anyway?

Sure, give me a second.

I'm curious as to why that is.

I wonder if it's because so many of us are so invested in year-end stuff for blogs and print publications that the idea of an ILM poll seems like just another headache or obligation. (Of course, it need not be: I'd already determined my top 10s for Pazz & Jop, so I just quickly filled out the rest of the 20, and sent it off to Dr. Bill.) I mean, I don't really know what the demographic is at SOMB, but I'd wager that posters there may get more excited about sharing their best-of lists on the board, because they haven't already done it anywhere else.

The harpist got lots more press, but I don't find it inherently surprising that a fun, wildly catchy record beat out dungeons and dragons music.

That's the worst description of Joanna Newsom I've ever heard.

I have still yet to knowingly hear a single note of College Dropout. I pride myself on this fact.

I got no list from your e-mail address, for whatever reason.

blood brothers is in twice

seconded.

i didn't vote cos i was polled out.

erlend oye dj kicks is this year's token dance pick if such a thing exists.

junior boys winning would have been nice. next to talkie walkie it's the album i listened to most last year. they both pretty much soundtracked my summer. (along with 8 trillion house and techno tracks)

xpost, i recently bought that philip jeck album and it's great.

Annoyingly i only just got this, but love it and would certainly have put it pretty high up...

I would have voted for it, if I'd gotten my shit together in time to vote in this thing.

Was I really the only person who voted for Prince? Shit. And not one vote for Destiny's Child!

Here's my list:

Birchville Cat Motel – Beautiful Speck Triumph
Xiu Xiu – Fabulous Muscles
Tim Hecker – Mirages
Ghost – Hypnotic Underworld
Michael Mayer – Touch
Kevin Drumm – Impish Tyrant
Mitch Akiyama – If Night is a Weed and Day Grows Less
Wolf Eyes – Burned Mind
Sagan – Unseen Forces
Zeena Parkins & Ikue Mori – Phantom Orchard
Max Richter – The Blue Notebooks
Arve Henriksen - Chiaroscuro
Annie – Annimal
Oren Ambarchi – Grapes From the Estate
Skygreen Leopards – One Thousand Bird Ceremony
Fiery Furnaces – Blueberry Boat
Fennesz – Venice
Junior Boys – Last Exit
Animal Collective – Sung Tongs
Phoenix – Alphabetical

Maybe because, you know, there were great songs on the album too?