― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Friday, 14 January 2005 06:43 (nineteen years ago) link
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.
― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Friday, 14 January 2005 06:44 (nineteen years ago) link
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
"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
― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Friday, 14 January 2005 06:59 (nineteen years ago) link
― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Friday, 14 January 2005 07:00 (nineteen years ago) link
― thank god i ain't too cool for the safe belt (smile), Friday, 14 January 2005 07:12 (nineteen years ago) link
That Teedra Moses cover and blurb has thrown it straight to the top of my list of albums to buy.
― Alba (Alba), Friday, 14 January 2005 07:28 (nineteen years ago) link
― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Friday, 14 January 2005 07:30 (nineteen years ago) link
― mottdeterre (mottdeterre), Friday, 14 January 2005 07:36 (nineteen years ago) link
― Alba (Alba), Friday, 14 January 2005 07:42 (nineteen years ago) link
― mottdeterre (mottdeterre), Friday, 14 January 2005 07:45 (nineteen years ago) link
― Alba (Alba), Friday, 14 January 2005 07:46 (nineteen years ago) link
― mottdeterre (mottdeterre), Friday, 14 January 2005 07:49 (nineteen years ago) link
― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Friday, 14 January 2005 07:52 (nineteen years ago) link
― mottdeterre (mottdeterre), Friday, 14 January 2005 07:55 (nineteen years ago) link
― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Friday, 14 January 2005 10:30 (nineteen years ago) link
― Stevem On X (blueski), Friday, 14 January 2005 10:43 (nineteen years ago) link
― Daniel Cohen (dayan), Friday, 14 January 2005 10:52 (nineteen years ago) link
― Stevem On X (blueski), Friday, 14 January 2005 10:52 (nineteen years ago) link
― Alba (Alba), Friday, 14 January 2005 10:53 (nineteen years ago) link
Stevem - do you not have the Ada album? You should!
― Alba (Alba), Friday, 14 January 2005 10:55 (nineteen years ago) link
― Stevem On X (blueski), Friday, 14 January 2005 11:04 (nineteen years ago) link
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.
― Tuomas (Tuomas), Friday, 14 January 2005 12:17 (nineteen years ago) link
― Andrew Blood Thames (Andrew Thames), Friday, 14 January 2005 12:20 (nineteen years ago) link
― Andrew Blood Thames (Andrew Thames), Friday, 14 January 2005 12:21 (nineteen years ago) link
― Andrew Blood Thames (Andrew Thames), Friday, 14 January 2005 12:23 (nineteen years ago) link
I hope you like it N.
"It kinda seems um noncoreRnBaudience types getting into it don't notice it's THEM not the GENRE that's getting smarter, y'know?"
What are you referring to here Andrew?
― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Friday, 14 January 2005 12:37 (nineteen years ago) link
― Andrew Blood Thames (Andrew Thames), Friday, 14 January 2005 12:46 (nineteen years ago) link
― Andrew Blood Thames (Andrew Thames), Friday, 14 January 2005 12:47 (nineteen years ago) link
― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Friday, 14 January 2005 12:52 (nineteen years ago) link
― Andrew Blood Thames (Andrew Thames), Friday, 14 January 2005 12:53 (nineteen years ago) link
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0001WAO5S.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
Morrissey - You are the Quarry
The title is a little surprising, as if anyone were in danger of being hounded into extinction in recent years, it was Morrissey. After the highpoint of Vauxhall and I, things went awry. Two dismal and dismally received albums, not least by his record company, dented his legend. Worse still, being branded “deviant, truculent and unreliable� by Judge Weeks and then forced to pay a million pounds to Mike Joyce must have been intolerable. No wonder he decamped to LA to escape his many enemies, reflect on the past and listen to his Diana Dors albums. However, the 7 year sabbatical has worked wonders. The Morrissey on You are the Quarry is no crushed gladioli, he's a flower of much tougher stock, brimming with swagger and confidence. As ever, his muse is himself, and with the past 10 years of disappointments, he has plenty to work with, but it’s no monochrome mopefest. At turns disappointed, mournful and angry but always imbued with his characteristic wit. Essentially though, all he still wants is to be loved, and when he's in such powerful voice the very least you can do is surrender. -Billy Dods
"It's pretty damned great to my ears" -Ned Raggett
"I'm giving it a qualified thumbs up...." -Matt Helgeson
(can't find anything better, these Moz threads are fucking impenetrable)
― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Friday, 14 January 2005 14:23 (nineteen years ago) link
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0002ZDW30.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
The Delgados - Universal Audio
Where did all the sound go? Upon initial listens, the lack of HUGEness (i.e. strings) made the songs sound bare and empty. But on the other hand, the more stripped-down approach is appropriate for an album which lightens the mood compared to the darker, more morbid “Hate�. Besides, the anthemic choruses of "Is This All That I Came For?" and "Get Action" are titanic enough -- let's face it, those songs don’t need extra embellishments. The strings may be gone (for now), but the fantastic tunes remain, and it's yet another great Delgados album. -MindInRewind
"It's very, very good. Not a great departure in songwriting terms, though not as gloomy as Hate, probably closest to Peloton, but there are lots of bits that sound like tips of the hats to POP in the production, rather than Hate's nods to INDIE WANNABE GRANDEUR." -Edward O.
"i think it's super solid. nowhere near the downtrodden(?) feel of Hate, and less emphasis on strings. the female singer's songs tend to be superior and more straightahead pop. sometimes i think the male singer forces those big choruses just a bit too much. if the single (Everbody Come Down) doesn't earn them some mainstream attention, ours is a crazy, mixed-up world." -Tobo
― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Friday, 14 January 2005 14:33 (nineteen years ago) link
― Captain GRRRios' Giggletits (Barima), Friday, 14 January 2005 14:35 (nineteen years ago) link
haha so THAT'S what Homer is saying in that bowling episode...
― Stevem On X (blueski), Friday, 14 January 2005 14:37 (nineteen years ago) link
― Big Baby Bingo (Chris V), Friday, 14 January 2005 14:40 (nineteen years ago) link
― Big Baby Bingo (Chris V), Friday, 14 January 2005 14:42 (nineteen years ago) link
#33.
http://stat.discogs.com/R/330239-1096703226.jpg
Bark Psychosis - ///Codename: Dustsucker
On the first Bark Psychosis record in ten years, vocalist Graham Sutton and a dozen credited instrumentalists craft a denser sound than on the vaunted Hex but convey the same sort of beautiful desolation, filled with filtered, druggy guitars and off-kilter sighs. Much of the album's success can be owed to ex-Talk Talk drummer Lee Harris, whose steady ride cymbal is thrillingly trancelike. But Sutton's knack formanipulating a wealth of sonic colors and textures also pays off: "Miss Abuse" builds into a slow and dirty grind, as a bass synth squirms over clanging train bells. And there's a point in "The Black Meat" where I'm suddenly reminded of the stylish Los-Angeles-at-night of Michael Mann's Collateral: the crisp trumpet and splashy drums would sound fantastic coming out of the limo stereo, as you gaze out the window to admire all the glass buildings. The perfect nexus between the heady post-rock I adored in college and the sad shoegazer I've only recently been discovering. -Jaymc
"The thing is it's not a comeback or a reformation or an attempt to recapture past glories. It's just a guy who loves music taking his time and enjoying making it; in this respect, of course it's good, because there's no pressure or expectation, just music." -Sick Mouthy
"Dude, it completely rules. Don't understand why the girl sings so many sings. But the beginning of the second one, about standing on a beach on some strange land. . .album of the year?" -Trevor Horn
"God this is so gorgeous, I can't believe it. It's spinning in my shitty kitchen Philips CD player for the second time now and I am already overwhelmed." -alex in manhattan
― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Friday, 14 January 2005 14:44 (nineteen years ago) link
Everyone I show the Teedra cover to goes 'she's so hot!' at first, then they see a close-up and go 'actually she's much older than she looks on the cover'.
I mean, I sorta think it's the kinda R&B album that only really makes sense if you've internalised R&B.
this is otm, it's not the kind of R&B which appeals to the 'look, R&B's male producers take cues from IDM, we can like it now' brigade at all. Those people tend to think that R&B as a genre was shitty pre-Timbaland, and this is kind of a throwback to that era (except not, &c).
Complex Simplicity is actually a perfect title for it.
― The Lex (The Lex), Friday, 14 January 2005 14:48 (nineteen years ago) link
― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Friday, 14 January 2005 14:51 (nineteen years ago) link
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0001IN0VM.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
The Hold Steady - Almost Killed Me
I'd love to be able to listen to the Hold Steady without thinking "I'm listening to the Hold Steady." (This is the risk you run when a band's got "personality," I guess.) Anyway last night I got close, and here's how: I thought about all the surprising ways they manage, on Almost Killed Me, to get from loud to louder. Listening that way made the whole mess transcendent. -DKrissoff
"ommfg--the Hold Steady are GRATE." -M Matos
"fave rock album of the year EASY" -Cinnblount
― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Friday, 14 January 2005 14:58 (nineteen years ago) link
― Matt DC (Matt DC), Friday, 14 January 2005 15:03 (nineteen years ago) link
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0002TL6ZW.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
Mylo - Destroy Rock and Roll
31. Mylo - Destroy Rock n Roll
Electroclash was fun and all, but rarely either bangin' or poppy enough, so thank heavens it turned out to be a transitional thing. Destroy Rock & Roll feels transitional too: this sort of sweet'n'soft electro house lends itself wonderfully to the album format, and I hope it's only the first of many. Mylo's only beginning to sharpen his skills and his best is yet to come - compared to, say, the sweeping muscular majesty of his remix of Kylie's "I Believe In You", this album already sounds sketchy. But that's just another part of its laidback charm. Destroy Rock & Roll is immediate in its warm embrace, and flawlessly sequenced - gearing up slowly, then diving headstraight into a seemingly endless wave of hook after sunny hook, and at the end slowing down again into Royksopp-y bliss. Roll on summer of 2005! -Mind Taker
"Hey, this is great! Okay, the album clearly doesn't have an original bone in its body but its still one of the most purely enjoyable records I've heard in a while..." -Matt DC
"I'm currently playing it to death and enjoying it immensely, whilst knowing full well that I'll be sick of it by the end of the summer." -mike t-diva
"Marianna and I discussed this in the pub. We concluded that it is a fantastic album and you are all ponces." -Gravel Puzzleworth
― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Friday, 14 January 2005 15:08 (nineteen years ago) link
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0001GCMEA.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
30. Wiley - Treading on Thin Ice
There's no one quite like WileyI know you will agreeHis tracks are always icyFrom a cold mysterious placeAnd though he says he's froze at heartHe seems to be confusedThe words of everyday feelingAre the ones that he has used
Wiley we love youWiley we doThough you may not have made the best album of 2004You made the most important one. -Jacob W.
"It's really good. Not as abrasive as I'd expected... very poppy in places." -The Lex
"Really pretty great, although it doesn't have the immediate take-your-head-off power that Boy In Da Corner did the first couple of times you played it." -DJ Mencap
― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Friday, 14 January 2005 15:17 (nineteen years ago) link
― Captain GRRRios' Giggletits (Barima), Friday, 14 January 2005 15:19 (nineteen years ago) link
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000255LAM.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
Sonic Youth - Sonic Nurse
29. Sonic Youth - Sonic Nurse
Sometimes after just a few albums, bands begin to sour on me. I don't think Stereolab's new Margerine Eclipse is a particularly bad record; I probably just overdosed on them a while back and now everything they do just seems tired. So it's a surprise to me that the new album by Sonic Youth, whom I've loved now for over ten years, is my favorite of theirs since Washing Machine. That record's final track, "The Diamond Sea," launched the template for much of their recent output: a loose, hazy, jammy style that could achieve a certain dreamy transcendence but just as often seemed tepid or bloated. Sonic Nurse does absolutely nothing new but perfects that form in a way that sounds both spirited and effortless. Songs routinely exceed the six-minute mark but never feel excessive; even during long, mazy guitar solos shot through with noise, the band for the first time in a while sounds entirely at ease. -Jaymc
"It's a bit underwhelming. They seem to be cruising well within their comfort zone. It's solid, but unspectacular, save for a couple of songs." -Dave Segal
"This is probably their best album 'cause it's so MOR" -Mr Snrub
"this album is SO good. Murray Street was a step in the right direction; this takes the good things about that album (namely, the builds) and really uses them to their full advantage." -Kyle
Nominated by toothy philanthropist as one of the Biggest Drops in Quality Ever
― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Friday, 14 January 2005 15:25 (nineteen years ago) link
― jed_ (jed), Friday, 14 January 2005 15:30 (nineteen years ago) link
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00022FWPE.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
Gretchen Wilson - Here for the Party
28. Gretchen Wilson - Here for the Party
To be completely honest, the is the only country album I've heard this year. Living in Croatia means this stuff feels refreshingly exotic to me, but sadly also means that I have no place to purchase it offline. Which is a shame! "Redneck Woman" and "When It Rains" rock so much they put most "proper" rock of today to shame. But, first and foremost, I enjoy this as a great SOUL record. Every one of its ballads is completely gorgeous. "Here For the Party" does all those things R&B forgot to do and nu-soul just can't do no matter how hard it tries: it's rich, soothing, tender, romantic, bittersweet, and... I don't know, it just makes me feel all warm inside. -Mind Taker
"Just finally heard the whole Gretchen Wilson album yesterday, and it is indeed quite great" -Chuck
Jaymc's prediction for Sasha Frere-Jones' Next Article in the New Yorker
― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Friday, 14 January 2005 15:35 (nineteen years ago) link
― Matt DC (Matt DC), Friday, 14 January 2005 15:40 (nineteen years ago) link
#27.
http://stat.discogs.com/R/305545-1094668715.jpg
Scissor Sisters – Scissor Sisters
I was listening to their “Comfortably Numb� cover at my parents’ friends house once. I can only imagine what they think of me as a result. -The Good Dr. Bill
"Scissor Sisters live - grebt.Scissor Sisters on record - "meh", ranging to "argh what is this shit?"" -Matt DC
"Right!!!!! I've finally listened to this album!!!!! Ang again, it's been a bit of a surprise!!!! On the strength of the "Comfortably Numb" I was expecting a mildly annoyingly innoffensive House music flavoured record, and instead got for the most part a late 70s rock/pop record with solid, if slightly workmanlike, production, and reasonably decent tunes!!!!! In fact, at times it comes across almost like a Christopher Cross album with balls!!!!!!" -Old Fart!!!
"surely gay and camp are synonomous with good logic and reason?" -Stevem
― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Friday, 14 January 2005 15:45 (nineteen years ago) link
― mike h. (mike h.), Wednesday, 19 January 2005 15:53 (nineteen years ago) link
I would have voted for it, if I'd gotten my shit together in time to vote in this thing.
― o. nate (onate), Wednesday, 19 January 2005 15:55 (nineteen years ago) link
― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Wednesday, 19 January 2005 15:56 (nineteen years ago) link
― The Lex (The Lex), Wednesday, 19 January 2005 16:08 (nineteen years ago) link
― john'n'chicago, Wednesday, 19 January 2005 22:12 (nineteen years ago) link
― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Thursday, 20 January 2005 20:23 (nineteen years ago) link
― The Lex (The Lex), Thursday, 20 January 2005 20:35 (nineteen years ago) link
― Juan, the Magic Don (jingleberries), Thursday, 20 January 2005 20:41 (nineteen years ago) link
― mcd (mcd), Thursday, 20 January 2005 20:55 (nineteen years ago) link
Was I really the only person who voted for Prince? Shit. And not one vote for Destiny's Child!
― sundar subramanian (sundar), Thursday, 20 January 2005 21:08 (nineteen years ago) link
― Moston (Moston), Thursday, 20 January 2005 21:14 (nineteen years ago) link
― sundar subramanian (sundar), Thursday, 20 January 2005 21:16 (nineteen years ago) link
― mcd (mcd), Thursday, 20 January 2005 21:24 (nineteen years ago) link
― Alba (Alba), Thursday, 20 January 2005 21:29 (nineteen years ago) link
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
― Jeff-PTTL (Jeff), Thursday, 20 January 2005 21:38 (nineteen years ago) link
― zeus, Thursday, 20 January 2005 22:33 (nineteen years ago) link
― sundar subramanian (sundar), Friday, 21 January 2005 02:20 (nineteen years ago) link
― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Friday, 21 January 2005 03:13 (nineteen years ago) link
― peepee (peepee), Friday, 21 January 2005 13:12 (nineteen years ago) link
― Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Friday, 21 January 2005 18:06 (nineteen years ago) link
Maybe because, you know, there were great songs on the album too?
― deej., Friday, 21 January 2005 18:14 (nineteen years ago) link