six

Ratatat - Remixes vol. 1

well, i wrote about this album a couple of weeks back so.... feel free to look it up in the archives. in short, excellent reworkings of some hip hop songs. ratatat again brings horrid guitars to the mix and the results are no less fascinating than before. actually it must be more fascinating giving the higher ranking.

seven

Gonzales - Solo Piano

yes, this is the foul mouthed canadian rapper who brought us let's groove again a couple of years back. now he writes solo pieces for piano and i'll be damned if they just aren't damn pleasing. admittedly i don't think i'm perfectly able to distinguish the quality of the album and the fact that i'm still in shock after gonzales' turnaround. what next, jay-z playing the cello? at any rate, if you feel like trying something different and nice this just might be it.

i still can't help but find his website a little funny.....

eight

Max Richter - Blue Notebooks

i didn't really expect to like this album very much but i gave it a chance because it came out on fat cat. for a lack of words to describe the music it is in some ways classical (which is a bad word coming from my mouth) and in others electronic. or whatever the instrumentation not dissimilar from what many post-post-rockers (e.g. godspeed) are playing at. but the results here are very very pretty and this remained the album i listened to while working for much of the summer.

nine

Les Savy Fav - Inches

actually not an "album" but a compilation of singles released since their last release (i think). we should be thankful (or unthankful now that they are on hiatus) for bands that like les savy fav decide rocking out is far better than being cool (sorry guys). then again les savy fav doesn't really rock, i just think of them that way. there is more concern with sounds and textures but not at the cost of letting the energy down. sometimes they even verge on being dancepunk but again the emphasis would on the punk whereas everyone else seems to have forgotten that part.

ten

Interpol - Antics

probably the album i waited most anxiously for this past year. their debut really grew on me - from being just another band mining the past with good results to being (how come noone mentions the kitchens of distinction here) simple one of my favorite albums ever. deep inside i always feared that turn on the bright lights was just a fluke but at the end of the day antics proved to be about as good as one could hope for. its not a huge departure for the band in anyway.... but then again it wasn't really what i had hoped for.

eleven

The Go!Team - Thunder Lightning Strike

one frantic albums guitars, drums and horns all over the place and it sounds somewhat like what i would expect the theme song for dukes of hazard to sound like (yeps, i've never seen an episode). if i'm off track here feel free to let me know. anyhow, the album is fun as hell and i was very impressed from the moment i heard their first single. i was even more impressed when i realized these guys actually play instruments.

twelve

Frog Eyes - The Folded Palm/Ego Scriptor


so i'm cheating - it really is two albums. one studio and one live. i've been fascinated by this band lately - the 'deranged' vocals can be a little much to take at first but soon it takes over as the most important instrument in the band. these are albums that are pretty at time, powerful at others but always captivating. if you miss the young nick cave and his bad seeds this might just prove to be the fix for you.

thirteen

Ratatat - Ratatat

the album that should never have worked - horrible synth-sounding guitars mixed with hip-hop-ish beats. instead it is equally one of the most fun and most strangely moving album of the year. hot damn.

fourteen

Blonde Redhead - Misery is a butterfly

blonde redhead may just be may favorite band ever. i tend to think of misery is a butterfly as the 'baroque' version of blonde redhead. the songs are great but it probably would have ended up higher on the list if the sound hadn't been so polished - i miss the rawer breathing lo-fi sound of the earlier albums. but lovely nonetheless.

fifteen

mf doom - venomous villain

another killer album released by mf doom this year. normally productivity like this would make one suspect about the quality - and indeed many complained that his mm doom consisted mainly of beats from his special herbs albums - but there is no reason to complain. ok, it is perhaps not quite as good as viktor vaughn but then again one's expectations do change over time - mf doom brought something new to the game and it is hardly new anymore and therefore it is hardly as thrilling. at any rate, i have listened to this album as much as most of his earlier efforts. cartoon hip hop at its best

sixteen

Apostle of Hustle - Folkloric Feel

the broken social scene sound is unmistakable and frankly this album is the second best thing one could wish for (well, other than the fifteen albums that topped this one). somewhere i read that this album was supposed to be influence by latin music but i just can’t hear it. at any rate, definately the fix to tide you over until the new bss album but more importantly it is not simply a carbon copy.

seventeen

Masta Killa - No Said Date

i would like to say that i was nostalgic for the wu-tang clan but i never really got into them until after the were splintered all over the place. but of all the splinters this probably sounds the most like the wu-tang clan - and that without sounding dated. anyhow, you are dared to sit absolutely still through this song.

eighteen

Xiu Xiu - Fabulous Muscles

xiu xiu have always been an interesting proposition. while each release has had several great songs there have always been some that verge on the unlistenable. not so much this time around. still semi-disturbing at times but very very listenable and, well, likeable. and, yes, his voice grows on you. interesting trend this year (or maybe it is just me?) - sort-of-deranged singing? Anyhow, Xiu Xiu deliver this time around.

nineteen

Midwest Product - World Series of Love


oh well, this one was actually released in 2003 but since i'm a little slow.... this is yet another album that snuck up on me. as much as dislike the 80s it is quite obvious that Midwest Product draw their influences from the period. it is just so damn listenable. and admittedly their influences are more likely new order than paul young. anyhow, a near perfect blend of electronics and "real" instruments.

twenty

CocoRosie - La Maison de Mon Reve


this album should perhaps been disqualified for its pretention potential right away. two americans with a french fetish record an album mixing the old and the new with, what at least sounds like, odd instruments. thankfully i'm not particularily against pretention (how could one survive iceland otherwise?!) and what i found is one of the more refreshing albums of the year. it does sound unique almost to the point of being timeless and it is equal parts sweet and sinister.

twentyone

Mono - Walking Cloud, Deep Red Sky, Flag Fluttered and the Sun Shined


true, this album didn't get great reviews & i was a little disappointed with it myself. and at least for me part the reason was that it didn't quite live up to its previous outings - and, yes, there are a number of bands doing a good job at the quiet-loud-quiet-loud type of numbers. at any rate, walking cloud just wasn't the change of pace that i had hoped for but in the end i was still won over by the stunning beauty of this album. despite a number of well qualified in the category mono stands heads and shoulders above the rest. the sample song is perhaps not characteristic of the album but it hints at why, perhaps, they outdo their peers - this one could easily find home on an album by the delgados or mercury rev.

twentytwo

Department of Eagles - Whitey on the Moon

where on earth did this come from? and why did noone notice? released in 2003 but its my list so i'll dance if i want to. just a freakishly fun album from a couple of guys that don't seem to take themselves to seriously. not that there is any sloppiness around, it is a beautifully inventive album from all over the place. its variety reminds me of cex's earlier stuff but the neat bits could easily be mistaken for daedelus' best work - and coming from me that is high praise indeed.

twentythree

Sonic Youth - Nurse

another back to form album on the list. i had pretty much given up on sonic youth – not that i didn’t like there last few albums, i just never really got into them. here, however, just great sonic youth songs, nothing too revolutionary but simply a solid album.

twentyfour

Alias - Muted

released in 2003 but new to me. and it is all about me anyway. the song with Markus Acher from the Notwist has to be the song of the (last) year. great great song. nothing on the album can really compare but Alias is certainly someone to keep an eye on (like most everything on anticon)

twentyfive

Sondre Lerche - Two Way Monologue

my sunday morning album. coffee, fresh bread and a dose of sondre. extremely poppy in an orchestral sort of a way reminding me a bit of Beck at times. extremely hummable, extremely pleasant, and extremely nice.

twentysix

Fingathing and the Big Red Nebula Band

what a horrible name for a band. and what horrible cover art. i didn't have high hopes. especially when the line consists of a drummer, bassist and a dj. bound to be some sort of wankery going on. but they sound like daft punk. everybody dance like a robot now. but what a wank.

twentyseven

Ikara Colt - Modern Apprentice

did noone notice this album? nothing really new here and the influences shine through: the fall, sonic youth, joy division, unwound all stuffed in the ikara colt blender and the result is about as good as one could hope for. a great anti-dote to all the laptop rock, the freak folk, the dance punk and whatyouhave.

twentyeight

MF Doom - MM Food

the beats had most appeared on his special herbs series but who gives a damn...

twentynine

Efterklang - Tripper

back in the day the Icelanders spoke Danish to seem posh. today danish bands copy sigur rós. oh, how the tide turns. but to be fair, this is pretty nicely done and more than a basic carbon copy. for one thing some nicely done electronics…. and stuff.

thirty

Shannon Wright - Over the Sun

this album is intolerable. I’ve never been able to listen to it in its entirety – it just sucks the life out of me. But in small doses each song is a depressing gem. Nice guitars, nice voice, painful listening.

thirtyone

Norfolk and Western - Dusk in Cold Parlours

a quiet little album that managed to cling to my cd player for quite a long time. hints of calexico but, well, more alt-country. and i have never really got along with alt-country at all. more in the vein of the pernice brothers and lambchop perhaps? who knows? who cares? i like it.

thirtytwo

Erlend Oye - Dj kicks

i was prepared to hate this album as much as i did hate his last one. so i was a little disappointed that i just couldn’t hate this. a rather clever little album that is essentially a compilation but together by Oye but with the twist of adding some of his own vocals. surprise of the year. only half bad.

thirtythree

PJ Harvey - Uh huh her

frankly i started disliking pj harvey (as much as one can) about the same time everyone started liking her. on this album it was back to the basics and what pj does best. Rawer, simpler, less theatric.

thirtyfour

Ghostface - The Pretty Toney Album

i had somewhat mixed feelings about this album for a while and frankly i wasn’t sure if i wanted to like it. but in the end i came to my senses. the perfect marriage of hip hop and vintage soul (actually, i have no idea whether it is vintage or not but it sounds like it).

thirtyfive

The Thermals - Fuckin A

fuckin a! the thermals brought the rock. not quite the blast their last year's album brought upon us but still fuckin a! simple, lo-fi, catchy. end to begin

thirtysix

Autolux - Future Perfect

call it nostalgia. it is true that i still miss my bloody valentine. but this is not really anything like mbv. more like the americanized version of shoegazing. far more melodic and poppier but thick, crunchy guitars. pretty and loud - wasn't that really what shoegazing came down to?

it's been awhile

so i took a little break from blogging over the holidays... but enough laziness. at any rate, like any other proper music nerd i have spent the last few weeks trying to figure out what the best albums released last year were - b/c it really matters, you know.... due to time constraints i will be posting my top 35 (don't ask why!) in seven installments over the next couple of weeks or so . with song samples no less! at any rate, the links to the songs will only be active for a very limited time. first installment appears tomorrow (or the day after?). it's all very exciting, isn't it! but until then "old-fashioned" rock from the like young: out to get ME. sometimes simple is good. drums, simple guitar riffs and songs catchier than the flu.