Thursday, December 23, 2004
The Best Albums of 2004:
Espoir en Année Sans Lumière
Introduction
Album of the Year:
The Arcade Fire - Funeral
The first time I heard Montreal's Arcade Fire was way back in the spring, when a friend told me to check out their debut EP. I had been reading about them on Canadian web pages, and one thing I noticed was how much people loved the band. So, I downloaded a couple of songs, thought to myself, it's not bad, but I had to admit I wasn't as blown away as others had been. They were a decent enough band, but as far as I was concerned, that was it. Then, three things happened in very short succession that completely changed my opinion. First, on the evening of August 31, two music blogs I frequent, Said the Gramophone and Teaching the Indie Kids to Dance Again, posted four tracks from The Arcade Fire's new album, which floored me with their power and diversity. The next day, the band was on the cover of Exclaim, Canada's best music mag. A couple days later, the album was all over the net, MP3 swappers abuzz about the record, either completely in love with it, or rather annoyed by it.
I was definitely smitten, convinced it was probably the best Canadian album of 2004, at the very least, and over the course of two weeks, I let the thing grow on me, until I could form a decent opinion on it. I got a copy of the CD in the mail, and was immediately struck by the album's artwork; instead of a regular lyrics booklet, the liner notes were arranged in the form of a funeral card, as for the artwork, here was an ornate, classy-looking cardboard gatefold cover, and as you opened it up, there on the outside, a silver, embossed scribble, strewn haphazardly across the artwork, as if a toddler got ahold of it, and added his or her own random doodle. On the day when the full emotional impact of this album hit me, I noticed a distinct connection between the artwork and the music.
Recorded during a period where all band members had relatives who had passed away, Funeral seems an apt title, but ironically, the music overflows with pure joy. Like the album artwork, the music is an ebullient, flourish of youthful enthusiasm across a drab, depressing backdrop. Singer/guitarist Win Butler sings of teen lovers wishing to escape their familial problems in the dead of winter, pledging to dig a tunnel to their windows. He sings fantasy tales of vampires, great power outages that have the kids swinging from the lifeless power lines, their eyes shooting sparks, people dancing in the streets to the blue strobe pulse of police cars. The music itself has been described as a mishmash of various influences, such as Talking Heads, Bright Eyes, Modest Mouse, Interpol, Pulp, as well as calypso and folk, the band displaying enough naïve arrogance to throw every idea they can think of at the wall. And through some dumb divine miracle, it all stuck.
So why on earth did so many people flock to the Arcade Fire's album, buying every single copy Merge Records had initially printed? Such unprecedented hysteria over an indie rock album goes a lot deeper than people merely trying to look hip. Yeah, the album's production sounds sloppy and a bit muddy at times, and songs seem to have joyous codas tacked on almost arbitrarily, but what Funeral has that every other album from 2004 lacks in comparison, is passion, plain and simple, and every person who fell in love with this album has made the same emotional connection with the music. It's the simple, sincere, doe-eyed, rosy-hued sentiment of it all that got us all hooked, be it the fiery "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)", the hushed tones of "Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles)", the sweeping ballad "Crown of Love", or the impassioned trifecta of "Wake Up", "Haiti", and "Rebellion (Lies)". And what more poignant image of childhood than singer/multi-instrumentalist Regina Chassagne's "In the Backseat", in which she describes watching the world go by outside her passenger window? This is simply one of the most rewarding albums I have heard in a very long time, the first to have such a raw impact on myself in three years. On Funeral, surrounded by death, The Arcade Fire choose to focus on life, and this album positively explodes with it.
2. Junior Boys - Last Exit
This album, and my choice for album of the year, were the two titles in 2004 that gained their notoriety from websites, online journals, and file sharing. In the case of Junior Boys, they sent their demo CD to online critics, built up strong internet word of mouth over a year's time, and thanks to that initial buzz, they were able to land a record deal in the UK. By the time Last Exit came out in early spring, they were a full-fledged critical darling, one of the year's buzz bands. If you spent any time perusing music blogs and message boards, you knew about Junior Boys, even if you hadn't yet heard anything by them. In fact, I naively went to record stores in search of the CD, thinking that if this Canadian band had a CD out in the UK, surely it must be out in Canada, right? Surprisingly, it wasn't the case...Canadian record labels had really dropped the ball.
Curiosity got the best of me back in April or so. I was puzzled, because here was a Canadian band (from Hamilton, of all places) who was getting so much advance praise, yet I had read next to nothing about them in any Canadian publication. I forget what track it was I downloaded, probably "More Than Real", and my immediate reaction was, these guys are Canadian? The sound was a strange hybrid of UK garage, glitch pop, and 80s electropop, the arrangement so minimal, so understated, that the tune sort of came and went, failing to get much of a reaction out of yours truly. The track sat around on my computer for a few months, and slowly, I began to notice the song was starting to niggle its way into my head. By late summer, I was gradually getting to know the rest of the album in a similar fashion, casually easing into the music. By the time the album was released officially in North America, I was hopelessly addicted. In fact, if it weren't for a certain record, this would have been my Album of the Year.
It's understandable how some people just can't get excited about Last Exit; after all, it's an extremely unassuming piece of work. It does not grab the listener immediately; upon first listen, in fact, it seems a bit chilly and distant, but given the chance, you realise that there's a warmth to the music, a tenderness that is downright shocking once you notice it. The music itself, is a fascinating blend of styles; strongly influenced by both the burgeoning UK garage sound and the best laptop/glitch/IDM of the past five years, with its clicking, stuttering beats, Jeremy Greenspan takes that grime sound out of the East London streets, and tidies it up as only a nice Canadian could, combining the softly polished beats with crystalline accents of synthesizers. The vocals, sung in a pained, close-to-breaking tenor voice, hearken back to early 80s acts such as OMD and, believe it or not, Hall & Oates. The album is simply brimming with the pop hooks of new romanticism and blue-eyed soul; you hear it on the downbeat "Birthday", the wistful "High Come Down", and the beautiful "Teach Me How to Fight", and if the complete lack of irony wasn't enough, the capper is a shamelessly outta-the-80s saxophone solo on the closing track "When I'm Not Around". It's an exquisite, moving debut, one that continues to improve with every listen.
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
3. Madvillain - Madvillainy
While I continued to be fascinated by releases by UK stalwarts Dizzee Rascal and Wiley this past year, 2004 has had its share of pleasant hip hop surprises for yours truly, like the goofy, yet fun crunk trend, and Ghostface's impressive Pretty Toney Album (which I was a bit late in hearing), but unlike other casual listeners (repeat with me, I'm not a rockist, I'm not a rockist), I just can't see what's so great about Kanye West, especially when compared to an album as demented, whimsical, and just plain fun as Madvillain's inspired, obviously weed-enhanced masterpiece, Madvillainy.
The result of a highly touted collaboration between stalwart producer Madlib and oddball MC MF Doom (who parades around in a Dr. Doom style mask), Madvillainy is one of those albums that just doesn't work very well when you listen to the downloaded, MP3 version. Comprised of a dizzying 22 tracks in 46 minutes, songs average little more than two minutes in length, all of them segueing into the next, and individual tracks are so brief and to the point, they feel incomplete when they conclude. When I went out and bought the actual CD, though, the listening experience improved a hundredfold, and what hit me immediately was the smooth flow of the entire record. Madlib creates such a warm, lush, yet surprisingly minimal backdrop of sound, as groaning accordions blend into smooth 1970s funk, old B movie soundtracks mesh with jazz; it's a mix that's so fascinatingly varied, yet so cohesive, that it's impossible to sit and listen to just one track; you're compelled to just let the entire disc run.
Not only that, but you also have the gifted MF Doom, who takes his hip hop villain persona and runs with it, having fun with the whole concept of the "bad guy", while at the same time laconically delivering some of the cleverest, most brilliantly absurd lyrics you'll ever hear. Easily one of the most original lyricists today, MF Doom possesses such a unique skill for whimsical wordplay, that his hilariously absurd word goofs come weirdly close to the gifted surrealist poet Bob Kaufman, or even the great Beat wit Tuli Kupferberg, all delivered with a laconic (stoned?) delivery: "The flow make her fatty shake, patty cake, patty cake/For fake, if he was Anita Baker's man/He'd take her for her masters, hit it once an' shake her hand." Not only that, but Doom's pop culture references are hilarious, as he name-drops Kurt Angle, Worf, Lawry's seasoning (!), Gary Gnu, Juicy Fruit, not to mention the very goofy line, "More cheese than Doritos, Cheetos, or Fritos." Ironically, the one track I've come to love the most is "Shadows of Tomorrow", performed by Madlib and his squeaky-voiced alter-ego Quasimodo. Reciting a poem written by Sun Ra, Madlib spews some brilliantly mind-bending lines ("Reality is today of eternity/The eternity of yesterday is dead"), interrupted briefly by a quick inhale of an obviously dubious substance...a perfect touch. Seriously, with an album this fun, this thrilling, this fast-paced, how can you not sit back and enjoy the whole thing?
4. Drive-By Truckers - The Dirty South
When trying to think of the one artist or band who has, in my opinion, anyway, dominated the first half of this decade, only one name comes to name: the Drive-By Truckers. Absolutely nobody has released a string of albums in the last five years as the Truckers have: 2001 gave us the highly ambitious Southern Rock Opera, last year, it was the brooding, introspective Decoration Day, and in 2004, the incredible streak continued with the hard rocking The Dirty South.
As great as the previous two albums are, the one thing that The Dirty South has going for it is the sense that the band has fully realised its potential. Relentless road warriors, the Drive-By Truckers have built a strong reputation as one of the best live acts around (I wouldn't know, they never come to the Canadian Prairies), and on this new record, that potent live sound sounds like it's been harnessed in the studio. Decoration Day was beautiful, but very sombre, heavy on acoustic guitars and more traditional country arrangements; here, The Dirty South, though, is rough, ragged, abrasive. Wicked slide guitar licks tear across verses, distorted, Crazy Horse style solos scream, thrums of bass notes rumble like thunder from a vast, grey Prairie sky, and three weary, ravaged voices howl away, spewing lyrics about the Southern experience, all the anger, the fortitude, and the self-doubt. Produced by David Barbe (former bassist for Sugar), this album crackles with a power and potency that all their previous releases lacked.
What a wealth of songwriting talent this band has. The band's songs have always centered around the gifted songwriting duo of Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley, but since the inclusion of third singer/guitarist Jason Isbell, the quality of the songs has risen sharply. Hood's songs continue to get more and more ambitious, gradually straying from the roaring Southern rock of many of his earlier compositions, taking on a more subdued tone. "Puttin' People on the Moon" and "The Sands of Iwo Jima" showcase his storytelling prowess, while the beautiful "Tornadoes" is one of the best songs he's ever written. Cooley continues to do the same old thing, coming up with a combination of simple rock and folk tunes, full of his keen observational wit, highlighted by "Where the Devil Don't Stay", "Carl Perkins' Cadillac", and the NASCAR homage "Daddy's Cup". It's Isbell, though, who steals the show completely; "The Day John Henry Died" is a great Springsteen-esque rocker, a modern re-telling of the great folk song "John Henry", "Never Gonna Change" is more laid back in a Tom Petty kind of way, its catchy chorus masking Isbell's dark depiction of Southern pride, and "Goddamn Lonely Love" is a Westerbergian tearjerker of a drunken ballad. Topping them all, though, is the jaw-dropping "Danko/Manuel", which has Isbell paying respect to the late members of The Band, while coming to the realization that he's now stuck living the same tough road life his idols went through, wondering aloud if it's all worth it in the end: "They say Danko would have sounded just like me," he muses, "Is that the man I want to be?" When an album is a great as The Dirty South is, then yeah, I think it's worth it.
Sunday, December 19, 2004
5. The Dillinger Escape Plan - Miss Machine
I've been listening to heavy metal music for 21 years now; it was the first musical style to completely enthrall me, turning me into an obsessive fan during the 1980s, and that obsession paved the way for the much wider realm of music geekdom, spanning nearly every genre out there. Still, I always wind up gravitating toward the loud stuff every now and then, especially if it's particularly daring, and this year, in particular, was such a great year for metal acts, that it was tough to leave some titles out of this top 20 list. This year, there were several releases that not only were exhilarating listening experiences, but also dared to push the envelope, taking metal into new territory.
The Dillinger Escape Plan's debut album Calculating Infinity was one of those metal debuts that fans gravitated to, declaring it an instant classic. Indeed, their distinctive version of "math metal", with its extremely complex arrangements, jazz-like cadences and strong hardcore/grind influence, was performed with such virtuosity, that it was astonishing on a technical level, but as great as the music was, it sounded robotic, chilly almost. The band's Irony is a Dead Scene EP, recorded with guest vocalist Mike Patton, was a step in the right direction, but it wasn't until their highly anticipated new album, Miss Machine, was released this past summer, that their experimentation reached an even higher, much more accessible level. Of course, the more narrow-minded metal fans were all over this release, lamely accusing The Dillinger Escape Plan of "selling out", but as experience in metal music has taught me, the records that polarize the fans so much are very often the ones that are worth hearing.
First off, not only is the hardcore element still present on , but its harder-edged songs topple everything on Calculating Infinity. "Panasonic Youth" is pure genius, a dizzying progressive metal composition that takes you on a two and a half minute rollercoaster ride full of wild plummets, loops, and hairpin curves, as the band sifts from one time signature to another in the blink of an eye, channeling Yngwie Malmsteen and Steve Vai one second, jazz fusion the next, and classic grindcore immediately after that. Songs such as "The Perfect Design", "Sunshine the Werewolf", and "Van Damsel" prolong that hardcore momentum (drummer Chris Pennie is the undisputed star on these tracks), but to their credit, the band doesn't dwell on these sounds, as they (gasp!) dare to try something a little different. The key improvement is in the addition of singer Greg Puciato, who, while an excellent metalcore barker, possesses an impressive vocal range, one very similar to that of Patton, and he adds some much-needed melody to songs like "Unretrofied", "Phone Home", and the superb single "Setting Fire to Sleeping Giants", which boasts a sly Meshuggah reference during the chorus. 2004 might have been a memorable year for aggressive music, but it was The Dillinger Escape Plan who provided the biggest thrills.
6. Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
In 2003, it really looked like British guitar-based rock music was dead in the water. Aside from The Darkness, The Libertines, and Muse, there wasn't much to get excited about, as electronic and UK garage was on the rise, with the likes of Dizzee Rascal, The Streets, Goldfrapp, etc. Meanwhile, over in North America, indie rock continued its impressive resurgence, led by post punk revivalists The Strokes, Interpol, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and to a lesser extent, The Rapture, but all bands were missing that one huge commercial hit. It was only a matter of time before the trend made its way to Great Britain, and when it did, who knew that a bunch of skinny, dapper art students from Glasgow would quickly set out and accomplish what Interpol and The Rapture had failed to do, and with such panache, to boot?
So what's the bigger surprise of 2004, that Franz Ferdinand came from out of nowhere to put out one of the best rock albums of the year, or that the ever-fickle American mainstream listeners were so incredibly quick to embrace the band? Early this year, while reviewing Franz Ferdinand's debut album, I wished aloud that the single "Take Me Out" would be the song that would propel the post punk sound onto mainstream radio and television. After all, we'd been Nickelbacked and Creeded to death over the last four or five years, and it was time to move on, and it was so pleasing to see I wasn't the only one who felt that way, as the Franz album went on to be certified gold in both America and Canada. People are sick of moshing to surly, bearded louts playing third-generation grunge; it's time to dance.
Franz Ferdinand, like many of their peers, draw heavily on the angular, disco-fueled rock sounds of Gang of Four, Public Image Ltd., and Joy Division, but there's a joy to their music that's missing from that of The Strokes or Interpol. Many people forget just how upbeat much of Joy Division's music was, and Franz channel that feeling brilliantly. These guys play well for a bunch of effete white boys, as the songs rock hard in that wonderfully, jittery way, but they also move with a lithe swagger, the quartet capable of some phenomenal grooves, something you hear on the two spectacular singles "Take Me Out" and "This Fire", while a strong disco sound is used on "Auf Asche", and a subtle ska influence can be heard on "Tell Her Tonight". It's singer/guitarist Alex Kapranos who makes the album great, though, as his lyric writing bear a strong similarity to the sly wit of the great Jarvis Cocker, as "Michael" seethes with lust, "Jacqueline" is social commentary disguised as a love song, and "The Dark of the Matinee" is a memorable depiction of adolescent passion. Sounding better now than it did back in February, this album has surprising lasting power, and is proof that British rock is far from dead.
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
7. The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free
Mike Skinner's homemade amsterpiece Original Pirate Material was one of those albums that had many people, including yours truly, wondering whether the young UK artist would ever be able to top it. It happens so many times with great debut albums, the thrill of discovery wanes, and subsequent releases often lack the freshness of that one record. Whether he would fail, like many were expecting, or succeed on his sophomore effort, whatever Skinner was going to put out was certain to be fascinating, and much-discussed. When his new single "Fit But You Know It" leaked, it was an oddball, yet encouraging tune that had me looking forward to hearing the rest.
Then, a few days later, the ballad "Dry Your Eyes" surfaced online, and all my hopes were dashed. Here was the gifted Mike Skinner, singing an unbelievably corny sounding ballad, crooning like a third-rate Chris Martin. In fact, I was so disappointed, I went and wrote tersely on this very blog, "It's pandering, lowest-common-denominator, easy-listening schlock." I thought, for sure, this album would be a disaster. Egads, dear reader, was I ever wrong. Nine months later, I'm reminded of one of Skinner's lines: "Why did I have to go and do a stupid thing like that?...I'm such a twat."
A Grand Don't Come For Free is not only a very worthy follow-up to Original Pirate Material, but also one of the best concept albums in a long time. On the surface, the story's not much, as we follow Skinner's protagonist through everyday life, bur as he proved on his first album, Skinner's great strength is in the lyrical details, making the most mundane details sound fascinating. The focus here is on the words, not the beats, as he completely strips down the backing tracks. You're instantly involved on the first song, "It Was Supposed to Be So Easy", as the character Mike tries to run a few errands, only to have something go wrong every time, and his day completely unravels as a result. He meets a girl on the very sweet "Could Well Be In", enjoys simply watching TV with her on her sofa on "Wouldn't Have it Any Other Way", has a huge row with her on the very next track ("Get Out of My House"), cheats on her while on Holiday ("Such a Twat"), and ultimately loses her to his friend. All the while, there's the nagging problem of a missing wad of cash, the mounting tension reaching the boiling point on "What is He Thinking", and that's where "Dry Your Eyes" reveals its power, as the simple guitar chords, Skinner's surprisingly perceptive observations, and the deceivingly simple chorus make for a powerful combination. The eight minute denouement "Empty Cans" is the best thing Skinner has ever done, his musical arrangement incredibly simple, yet the subtlest of changes midway through completely shifts the mood from miserable to redemptive. The end of the story might sound cheesy, but Skinner makes it work amazingly well, and you can't help but feel good after hearing this album.
8. Jens Lekman - When I Said I Wanted To Be Your Dog
It happens every year, an album drops in my lap from seemingly out of nowhere, and it turns out to be so good, I'm dumbstruck. I seem to mention this every time I do one of these lists, but those kind of obscure albums that float in from out of the ether (well, my copy came from Hamilton) are partially why it's fun to reflect on how, twelve months previous, you had no idea who this artist was, but now, you're their biggest fan.
22 year-old Jens Lekman has been writing and recording his own compositions for years, but it was early this year when two singles, Maple Leaves and Rocky Dennis hit the top 20 in his native country of Sweden. The two EPs were brief, tantalizing samplers of what this guy is capable of, as Lekman tried every little trick he could think of; "Maple Leaves" utilized clever, lo-fi sampling, "Black Cab" had a great mid-60s janglepop feel, and the tender "Rocky Dennis Farewellsong to the Blind Girl" was pure pop genius. It wasn't until his debut album was released, that Lekman became a star over there, and in September, the rest of us were treated to this special little disc.
Described as "a collection of recordings, 2000-2004", When I Said I Wanted To Be Your Dog could have been a big, ambitious mess, like Badly Drawn Boy's charming The Hour of Bewilderbeast, but instead of throwing 79 minutes' worth of music onto one CD, Lekman chose to feature a handful of songs that complemented each other nicely. So, as opposed to the wide-eyed ambition of the two previous EPs, we have a record that sounds more consistent, focused, restrained, and exceptionally strong. It's clear Lekman is a devotee of such songwriters as Stephen Merritt, Morrissey, and Donovan, but instead of singing about wearing your love like heaven, he's wondering if you've finished your banana from 7-11. That facetious, often goofy quality keeps his melodramatic music grounded; he's sincere, often drippy, but he's not above offering a cheeky wink here and there. Hints of samples are present, such as on the wistful "Tram #7 to Heaven", the pretty "Higher Power", and the whimsical "Happy Birthday, Dear Friend Lisa", but for the most part, it's an acoustic album. "If You Ever Need a Stranger" is a sumptuous piano ballad, while "The Cold Swedish Winter" and the folky "Julie" are gentle acoustic guitar tunes. Best of the lot, though, is the buoyant pop tune "You Are the Light", with its schmaltzy horn section that resemble something Wayne Newton would use, as Lekman, in Merrittesque fashion, Lekman tells a story of doing anything to please a girl, even if it means he'd be arrested, going on to mention he used his phone call from jail to dedicate a song on the radio to her. Lekman is a major talent, blending traditional pop arrangements with youthful innocence, and this album is the best singer-songwriter debut in the last four years.
9. The Fall - The Real New Fall LP (Formerly Country On The Click)
Over the years, I've been aware of the inimitable Mark E. Smith's music, starting back in the early 1990s; if you were a Pavement fan, you certainly knew who The Fall were, but while the band kept producing music at a prolific rate during the 90s, I only knew several singles and the older stuff I'd heard on the radio, preferring the younger Pavement to the old fogies. It wasn't until this year, though, that I felt compelled to buy a new album by The Fall, and as a testament to the band's perpetually enigmatic nature, I had no idea which new CD to purchase. There were two to choose from, and I knew one was the UK version, and one was the newer US release, but I had no idea which was which. So, I took a shot in the dark, and opted for the CD with the digipak packaging. And lucky for me, I made the right decision.
The Real New Fall LP came out in the UK in late 2003, to great acclaim, but along with having a different tracklisting (two more songs are included) and several different mixes, the US version is vastly superior. The grizzled Mr. Smith is in fine form, as he delivers his trademark dry wit, complaining about his financial hassles ("Mountain", "Xyralothep"), slurring his words like a drunken lout ("The Past"), and ranting about country life ("I hate the countryside so much/I hate the contraflow [country folk?] so much"), and even reading a letter sent to him by an irate Portuguese promoter. Musically, his ever-evolving band is in fine form, sounding like a mad garage rock band one minute (both "Mountain" and "Janet vs. Johnny" are indebted to Iggy Pop's "The Passenger"), abrasive art rock the next ("Mad Mock Goth"), and even incorporating a strong dance element ("Green Eyed Loco Man", "Recovery Kit #2"). Smith always works best with a woman helping support him, and keyboardist Elena Poulou provides great melodic support, both in her synth work and vocally.
The album is loaded with memorable moments, like the spazzy Beach Boys homage "Mike's Love Hexagon", the facetious cover of Lee Hazlewood's "Houston", and the hard-edged "Boxoctosis". Best of the lot, though, is the great single "Sparta #2". Originally presented as "Theme From Sparta FC" on the UK album, this newer mix is phenomenal, giving the song a badly needed kick in the pants, as the band absolutely tears into the track, Smith delivering his lyrics in an impassioned voice, Poulou underscoring Smith's lines with her own Greek translations of the verses, with everyone joining in for a raucous, soccer hooligan chant: "English Chelsea fan this is your last game/We're not Galatasaray/We're Sparta F.C.!" Still, in the end, it's Smith's self-deprecating humour that wins you over, best exemplified by a great verse in "Mountain": "So I went fishing/A note from a fish said: Dear dope, if you wanna catch us/You need a rod and a line/Signed, the fish."
10. Mastodon - Leviathan
For many of us in our mid-thirties, the golden era of progressive thrash metal ended with Metallica's ...And Justice For All in 1988. After a brief, final flourish by underground masters Voivod, Nuclear Assault, and Prong, the genre seemed to fade, as most people, including myself, took to the grunge sounds of Soundgarden in 1989. With Metallica leaving that ambitious sound for good, we never really got a proper follow-up to that album. In 2004, however, we did get a very refreshing trip back to the glory days of the late 1980s that thrilled every single old-school headbanger to no end, from the unlikeliest of sources.
Atlanta's Mastodon made a name for themselves a couple years ago with their debut album Remission, a great piece of tuned-down sludge metal, which combined the churning, superheavy sounds of Eyehategod with a cool Southern rock element. As good as that album was, though, there was no way we could foresee the near-masterpiece that their next album would be. While you still hear elements of the first album on "Blood and Thunder", the ferocious opening track from Leviathan, you instantly sense much more ambition to the arrangements. The rhythm section is taut, crisp even, echoing that distinctive, highly controversial mix on Metallica's Justice (the high-pitched snare drum sound is downright bizarre), while the guitar work of Bill Kelliher and Brent Hinds are much cleaner, as they bring a huge assortment of sounds into the mix; you get Iron Maiden style harmonic flourishes, enough complex time signature changes to make any Rush fan happy, and some brilliantly monolithic riffs that top anything Metallica has done in the past thirteen years.
As you can probably tell by the cover art, there's a bit of a nautical theme to Leviathan, namely Melville's Moby Dick. While it's not specifically a concept album, several songs revisit the plot from the classic novel, such as "I am Ahab", "Seabeast", and "Aqua Dementia", but although the band has a lot of fun with the bombastic subject matter, what you remember most of all are the riffs, and there are so many on this vessel, its wood-planked hull heaves and cracks under the weight. The ferocious "Blood and Thunder" lives up to the title, "Iron Tusk" combines brutal heaviness with a subtle melody that creeps into your subconscious, and "Megalodon" provides my favourite moment, where an oddly-syncopated opening section and an all-out thrash assault are bridged by a seven second blues rock riff that sounds ripped straight out of an Allman Brothers tune. The album climaxes beautifully with the nearly 14 minute epic "Hearts Afire" in which Mastodon's metamorphosis from sludge masters to prog metal kings is fully realised, as you can hear elements of 80s Metallica and Rush's great Moving Pictures album utilized throughout, while still maintaining an originality all its own. If Mastodon continue to improve at such an alarming rate, then we can't wait for the next record.
Thursday, December 9, 2004
11. Death From Above 1979 - You're a Woman, I'm a Machine:
Buzz surrounding this Toronto duo was building steadily this past summer, thanks in large part to the single "Romantic Rights", which was released way back in January. After they changed their name from Death From Above to Death From Above 1979, thanks to threats of legal action by New York producers DFA, their debut album was released, but although I was a big fan of "Romantic Rights", I waffled on getting their album, deciding to wait and see how the rest of the songs sounded live. In early October, I found out, and was stunned; here were two sweat-drenched guys, one delivering wild, heavily distorted bass licks, the other pounding relentlessly on a small drum kit, howling into a microphone. The feral energy of it all was inescapable, as they commanded the attention of every single person in the jam-packed club. Needless to say, I headed to the merch table as soon as they were done. This album is exceptional, as the band draws heavily on both metal and punk; not only do you have the aforementioned single, which is easily one of the catchiest rock tunes all year, but also the tense, yet pensive "Black History Month", the relentless minimalist stoner rock of "Little Girl", and the lascivious closing trifecta of "You're a Woman, I'm a Machine", "Pull Out", and "Sexy Results". Although it's all done with bass and drums (with a tiny bit of synth), the music is not as gimmicky as you'd think, and like the great Morphine, that big, full, bottom-end sound masks some real musical dexterity lurking underneath.
12. Scissor Sisters - Scissor Sisters:
New York's Scissor Sisters made a little bit of noise in the summer of 2003 with their very clever cover of Pink Floyd's ubiquitous rock radio classic "Comfortably Numb", transforming it into a Bee Gees style disco thumper, complete with brilliant falsetto singing. At the time I thought it was fun, but grew tired of it as autumn rolled around, and its inclusion on the really, really, really awful mix CD by DJ Keoki did it no favours. Early this year, I read someone's rave review of the new album, imploring everyone to download "Take Your Mama Out" and "Mary". So, begrudgingly, I did, and I was flabbergasted. Here were two absolutely dead-on imitations of 70s AM radio rock, music that owed a lot to early Elton John, but still sounded shockingly original. Those two songs won me over, and I went and bought the album in the spring. Of all the albums in this countdown, Scissor Sisters is by far the most fun; there's a glittering aura of camp to it all, but unlike the ultimately shallow sounds of Fischerspooner, the songs hold up extremely well. The songwriting duo of singer Jake Shears and multi-instrumentalist Babydaddy prove to be especially skilled, combining danceable, upbeat songs with wonderfully racy lyrics. "Tits on the Radio" has a terrific funk bassline, "Filthy/Gorgeous" is flat-out goofy disco, and "It Can't Come Quickly Enough" and "Return to Oz" are two beautiful ballads that show Shears doesn't need to rely on that Barry Gibb imitation ever time. And you know what? "Comfortably Numb" sounds great now.
13. Dizzee Rascal - Showtime:
It took a while for me to get into Dizzee Rascal's great debut album Boy in da Corner a year ago, but when his second album came out this year, I took to it much quicker. Makes sense, since I'm much more used to his unique delivery and thick London accent. Showtime, released surprisingly quickly (as if intent on proving a point), is a very strong album, one that faithfully follows the formula of the last album, with Dizzee's homemade beats and clever song samples. However, what makes this one so enjoyable are the beats, which are less harsh, but stronger overall, as well as the overall production, such as the hint of bhangra on "Learn", and the great blend of synth stabs and retro videogame bloops and bleeps on the fun single "Stand Up Tall". It's the album's second half where Showtime really takes off, as "Girls" is an hilarious, stumbling come-on, featuring a Bootsy Collins-voiced guest MC named Marga Man, and the climactic tracks "Imagine" and "Fickle" both prove that young Dylan Mills is at his best when his lyrics are introspective, as opposed to the clunky silliness of "Knock Knock". Best of the lot, though, is the stupendous "Dream", which samples the instrumental track from Captain Sensible's 1982 hit "Happy Talk" (itself a cover of a Rodgers & Hammerstein tune), as Dizzee turns it into a funny, sincere look back on his life so far. Follow-ups to instant classics are almost always disappointments, but with Showtime, Dizzee Rascal shows everyone he's for real, and one of the UK's most important musical talents.
14. The Futureheads - The Futureheads:
It took nearly half a year for this album to grow on me. Here were four young guys from Sunderland, England, carrying on like a bunch of kids hopped up on Red Bull and Pixie Stix, brazenly raiding the catalogues of The Jam and XTC, pausing every once in a while to deliver some truly bizarre four part vocal harmonies that sounded somewhere between a do wop group and a barbershop quartet. Zipping through more than a dozen songs in 35 minutes, it was almost as overwhelming as the Pig Destroyer album. It was sometime in November where the album really started to click; albums like this need to be given a chance, and once I was able to differentiate between each song on The Futureheads, I was surprised to find myself smitten with the thing. The songs are wound up so tightly, with verses that brim with tension, and choruses that allow for explosions of energy, before the band goes back to turning the screws even tighter. "Le Garage", "Decent Days and Nights", "Meantime", and the facetious "First Day" are great examples, the band's tight arrangements proving they're no slouches as musicians. Best of the lot is their perfect cover of Kate Bush's 80s classic "Hounds of Love", which combines those goofy harmony vocals with an energy level equal to that of The Only Ones' 1978 classic "Another Girl, Another Planet". Coming right on the heels of the endearing, yet underachieving second album by The Libertines, The Futureheads emerged as one of the year's most pleasant surprises with their very beguiling debut.
15. Pig Destroyer - Terrifyer:
Grindcore has to be the toughest musical genre for casual listeners to get into, and people either love it or hate it. What helps is if a grind band dares to try something different than what everyone else is doing. Virginia's Pig Destroyer are heavily indebted to grind progenitors Napalm Death, but their own style is especially unique. First of all, they have no bassist. Secondly, they incorporate great shock rock themes in album concepts and lyrics. Best of all, though, guitarist Scott Hull channels classic thrash metal, his frantic, ultra-fast riffs echoing the nimble sounds of Slayer, making the songs surprisingly accessible. Their 2004 album, the aptly-named Terrifyer, is a brutal, unrelenting, 21 song assault; songs are so short, that when hearing it for the first time, it's practically impossible to differentiate between them, and the production is grating, but brilliantly so, the shrill guitars offset by John Evans's thunderous drumming. But once you get a few listens in, the familiarity pays off, as you can pinpoint specific moments on the record. The album is best enjoyed as a single, 32 minute suite, but tracks such as "Gravedancer", "Carrion Fairy", and "Towering Flesh" (which clocks in at an epic three and a half minutes) are prime examples of the great combination of vocalist J.R. Hayes' wracked vocals and Hull's technical wizardry. Along with the companion DVD track "Natasha", which has the band tinkering with much slower rhythms and ambient sounds, Terrifyer marks a high point in the rise of aggressive music.
Sunday, December 5, 2004
16. A Girl Called Eddy - A Girl Called Eddy:
In 2003, I particularly enjoyed Richard Hawley's album, Lowedges, placing it in my top ten. The former member of Longpigs and Pulp not only surprised me with his songwriting skill, but also his production skills, as he created a comfy, downbeat, lush sound that owed as much to Phil Spector as it did Scott Walker. A Girl Called Eddy, the debut full-length by New York singer-songwriter Erin Moran caught my interest when I learned that Hawley was the producer, and when I first heard the album, I was dumbstruck: here's an album that echoes every characteristic from the great Lowedges (right down to the studio musicians), only this time, coming from a female perspective. The album simply sounds gorgeous, as Moran's compositions echo the likes of Bruce Springsteen ("The Long Goodbye"), 1970s soul ("Tears All Over Town"), and Bacharach-style ballads ("Somebody Hurt You", "People Used to Dream About the Future"), while her smooth, silky voice sounds like a combination of Aimee Mann and Chrissie Hynde. Unlike Hawley's guitar-heavy songs, the emphasis here is on piano, and while the sound is sumptuous, it's never too sappy, even on the sly Carpenters homage "Heartache". She has that whole 70s AM radio feel to her album, from the decidedly retro sound (just listen to the beautiful "Golden"), her Laura Nyro style cover photo, and best of all, the CD's ingenious design, made to look like a tattered, 30 year-old record sleeve. Like Lowedges, it sadly remains a buried treasure, a very classy record that deserves to be heard.
17. Annie - Anniemal:
My introduction to Norwegian electropop chanteuse Annie Lilia Berge Strand was in early August, when her single "Chewing Gum", was posted on the Into the Groove MP3 blog. Produced by the inimitable Richard X, the man behind the brilliance of Sugababes' "Freak Like Me" and 2004's superb "Some Girls", by Rachel Stevens, "Chewing Gum" overflows with heaps of 80s electropop touches, Richard X's sugary-sweet sounds perfectly offsetting Annie's sly innuendo of, "I don't want to settle down/I just want to chew gum." When the album leaked a short bit later, it's no wonder that she attracted a cult following on the net, as many (including yours truly) was knocked out by her soft, unpretentious crooning. "Me Plus One", also produced by Richard X, is the kind of giddy dance music that you'd expect from Kylie, while "Helpless Fool For Love" combines Annie's seductive singing with a coy synth hook, and the herky-jerky "Always Too Late" has a decidedly American pop feel. The buoyant "Greatest Hit" has a contagious disco groove, and the euphoric "Come Together" is a great blast of retro house, thumpythumping for a good eight minutes. Best of the lot, though, is "Heartbeat", produced by Torbjørn Brundtland (he of Norwegian electro greats Royksopp), its pulsating chorus so obvious, but so perfect. It's both understated and passionate, and above all, fun, and the same can be said for the entire album.
18. Isis - Panopticon:
One of the more recent albums to squeak into my year-end list, Panopticon is one that caught me completely by surprise late in the year. Coming on the heels of Neurosis's very good The Eye of Every Storm, along came Isis, and I was impressed by how much this band takes a similar, ultraheavy, epic sound to a slightly higher level. Essentially, this is ambient heavy metal, a style that depends on the kind of ebb and flow of quiet, introspective moments followed huge tsunamis of roaring guitars. Much like what the Deftones do, but done on a much grander scale, Isis employ a strong shoegazer influence along with the metal roots, and like My Bloody Valentine, there are moments of jarring beauty on this album, especially on tracks like "So Did We" and the brutally gorgeous instrumental "Altered Course". As for Aaron Turner's vocals, they're buried deep in the mix, and are hardly a factor at all, since you can't understand a word what he's saying. That said, the album's concept, based on the writings of philosopher Michel Foucault, centres not only the Orwellian feeling of paranoia in today's society, but also the fact that such peripheral, "panoptic" vision, on our parts, makes us more aware of the world we live in. Alternately claustrophobic and expansive, it's heavy music at its best: adventurous, challenging, and often exhilarating.
19. Xiu Xiu - Fabulous Muscles:
In 2003, no album creeped me out more than Xiu Xiu's A Promise. It was my first introduction to the prolific, highly disturbed singer-songwriter Jamie Stewart, and although I was very impressed with the music, which was minimal and full of high melodrama, the overall feeling of the thing didn't sit well, and instead of making my top 20 list a year ago, I gave it a polite nod in my honourable mentions. When Stewart came right out with the follow-up early this year, the musical strides he made offset the murky lyrical content, and some of the songs even dared to be (gasp) catchy. Fabulous Muscles has its share of creepy moments, like on "Brian the Vampire" and the confrontational anti-war rant "Support Our Troops OH!", but this time, there's a touch of compassion to the songs. Instead of wallowing in his own misery, either presents character sketches, or sings about people he knows; for instance, "Nieces Pieces" is a grim letter to his young niece, and "Mike" is a touching eulogy to his father. Instead of the acoustic guitar/gamelan combination of A Promise, Stewart uses keyboards and amplified instruments, and the overall improvement in production is prominent on the two best songs, the stirring "I Luv the Valley", and the climactic "Clowne Towne". Stewart may never stop being miserable, but that's fine, as long as his songs continue to be this good.
20. Lansing-Dreiden - The Incomplete Triangle:
It would be so easy to be turned off by Lansing-Dreiden if their album wasn't so darn good. Comprised of a bunch of Miami artists, now based in New York, the group pose as a phony corporation, lampooning the fact that it's getting harder and hard these days to differentiate between corporate pop music and the real deal. Yeah, the joke does get tiresome, though their commitment to the gimmick is rather remarkable, as their background information very dryly adheres to the point that they are a "company", not a collective. By the time you get to paragraph five of their own "legal statement", you're going, "Okay, okay, I get it," but thankfully, the music on The Incomplete Triangle more than holds its own. Essentially, the album is divided into three parts. The first third is flat-out hard rock, as the terrific "Metal on a Gun" and the ferocious "The Eternal Lie" combine metal riffs and melodies with rapid-fire drum machine (not unlike early Ministry). The middle section veers off into early 90s shoegazer territory (think Ride), epitomized perfectly by the dreamy "Laid in Stone", and concludes with a burst of pure synthpop, as songs like "I.C.U." skilfully mine the vintage sounds of Depeche Mode and New Order. The satire might wear thin, but to their credit, Lansing-Dreiden sure know a good hook when they hear one.
Saturday, December 4, 2004
My Honourable Mentions of 2004:
(The best of the rest, in alphabetical order)
Leonard Cohen - Dear Heather
He might have just turned 70, but on this album, Cohen proves he's still got it, returning to the form he showed between 1988 and 1992. Alternately traditional and avant-garde, it's one of the boldest albums of his career.
Essential tracks: "Because Of", "There For You", "Dear Heather"
Converge - You Fail Me
A surprisingly accessible blend of hardcore and metal that eschews technical proficiency and shock tactics for music coming straight from a wounded soul. Few hard records convey raw emotion as well as this album does.
Essential tracks: "Last Light", "You Fail Me", "Eagles Become Vultures"
Andre Ethier - With Christopher Sandes Featuring Pickles and Price
A hastily-recorded side project by the Deadly Snakes singer, it's a drunken charmer of a record, as he channels late 60s Bob Dylan, delivering blues-tinged folk music that sounds perfect for late nights. A real treasure from left field.
Essential tracks: ""Little Saddy", "Dear John", "Sweep Up After Me"
Fantomas - Delirium Cordia
An astonishing piece of progressive jazz/metal, Mike Patton and friends deliver a 74 minute suite that is so unsettling, I think it's the most accurate musical depiction of the nightmare experience ever put to record. Definitely not for late nights.
Essential tracks: The whole darn thing!
Girl Nobody - The Future Isn't What it Used to Be
An extremely assured debut, the Vancouver band puts together a hypnotic mishmash of electronic, shoegazer, indie rock, and enigmatic lyrics, performed by a very versatile band, and led by one of the most seductive singers I've heard in a while.
Essential tracks: "Aliens", "Smile and Beware", "Sirens"
Lamb of God - Ashes of the Wake
Everyone expected Lamb of God to step up as the leaders of new American metal, and with this album, they fully realise their potential, with song structures that echo late 80s Megadeth and lyrics that show much more depth than many would think.
Essential tracks: "Laid to Rest", "The Faded Line", "Ashes of the Wake"
The Ponys - Laced With Romance
A rough-hewn garage rock scorcher, this record possesses the energy of The Hives and more displays of musical daring that any young American rock band has pulled off in years. Audacious and very catchy, this band has so much talent, it's kind of scary.
Essential Tracks: "Let's Kill Ourselves", "Fall Inn", "Virus Human"
Raising the Fawn - The North Sea
The perfect definition of a slow-burning album, this one needs time to sink in, but when it does, it's beautiful, as the trio veers from hushed melodies, to vibrant pop rock, to roaring waves of guitar, led by the terrific tenor voice of singer/guitarist John Crossingham.
Essential tracks: "Gwendolyn", "The News", "Drownded"
Run Chico Run - Shashbo
A most fascinating album by the eccentric Victoria duo, blending progressive rock, pop, jazz, and even cabaret into a truly original musical melange that's as creepy as it is fun. One of the most indescribable albums of the year, it must be heard to be believed.
Essential tracks: "Jacques and Madeleine", "Lifestyles of the Living Dead", "Star Booty"
Therion - Lemuria/Sirius B
An incredibly ambitious double album, the Swedish symphonic metal masters brilliantly combine choirs, opera soloists, and a full orchestra with their traditional-sounding power metal, as the songs explore world mythology through the ages. It's unbelievably bombastic and melodramatic, but so is opera. Fantastic stuff.
Essential tracks: "Typhon", "Abraxas", "Son of the Sun"
Thursday, December 2, 2004
The Best Ineligible Releases of 2004:
(albums containing previously released material, like live albums, reissues, compilations, and concert DVDs)
1. Black Sabbath - Black Box: The Complete Original Black Sabbath 1970-1978
When I first learned of the plan to put together all of Black Sabbath's Ozzy-era albums into one huge, fully remastered, seven-disc box set, I thought, yes. At long, long last. After years of second-generation cassette recordings of those poorly mixed tapes, avoiding the equally crummy CD versions, biding my time until the entire catalogue was remastered properly, the collection I had been craving for so long was now a reality. Much to my great frustration, though, the set's release date would be pushed back and pushed back over six months, until it finally came out early this year. And oh man, was it ever worth the wait. This just might be the best box set I have ever come across.
It's one thing to have the band's early classic discography together, but another to have it all remastered from the original source tapes. The resulting sound is both jaw-dropping and ear-shattering, and you hear the improvement instantly on the first album, as you hear Tony Iommi's classic riffs on "Black Sabbath" and "The Wizard", not to mention Bill Ward's pummeling drumming, presented in a mix so powerful, it's like hearing it for the first time all over again. Listening to those albums, especially the band's first six, really hammers home the fact that the entire heavy metal genre would be nothing without Sabbath, and their best music is timeless. You've got the simple spaced-out doom of Black Sabbath, the virtuosic Paranoid, the stunning Master of Reality, the accessible brutality of Volume 4, the masterpiece Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, and the spectacular (often underrated) Sabotage. Plus, listening to the two weaker albums today, Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die, although they're half-hearted efforts, they still have their own brief flashes of genius. I'll be the first to admit that I can be prone to the odd use of hyperbole every once in a while, but I can say with all honesty and sincerity that the Black Box is nothing short of a treasure. If you like metal, or even rock music, you need this. Greatest. Box set. Ever.
2. Judas Priest - Metalogy
Now, if it weren't for a certain Black Sabbath box set, this would have been my runaway winner of this category. Not only did Rob Halford make all of us old-school metalheads foam at the mouth by announcing he had rejoined Judas Priest, but this four CD/one DVD career-spanning anthology is as good as it gets. With box sets, you either get full, restored albums (see above), or more of a best-of collection peppered with rarities, and Metalogy is quite possibly the finest box set compilation I have ever come across, and easily one of the best metal box sets in history. Over the course of 65 tracks and five hours' worth of classic metal, the four discs chronicles the band's output from 1974 to 2002; Disc One covers the experimental, highly influential 1974-1978 period, Disc Two is all about their more commercial sounds from 1979-1982, Disc Three offers a look at the band during their peak popularity between 1982 and 1986, and the fourth disc covers their latter-day period, including four tracks during the Ripper Owens years. Although "The Ripper" is conspicuously absent, there are really no complaints about the tracklisting, as each album is given fair treatment, and the bonus live tracks are all very impressive, often better than the original studio versions. The special bonus DVD, featuring the long-out of print 1982 videotaped concert, is worth the price alone, a scorching performance, offering young newbies and longtime fans a fun glimpse of the band at their very peak. Packaged in its supercool leather & spikes design, Metalogy is not only a great introduction to one of the greatest bands in heavy metal history, but also a trip down memory lane for those of us who grew up with the band 20 or more years ago.
3. Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain: L.A.'s Desert Origins
I regard the 2002 deluxe edition of Pavement's great Slanted & Enchanted as the greatest re-release ever put out, and to Matador Records' credit, their similar treatment of the band's superb 1994 follow-up Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain is very nearly as good. Crooked Rain, while not as groundbreaking as its predecessor, is still a classic, but in a different way, as the band took on more of a mainstream sound (including country, jazz, and rock), twisting it enough with their off-kilter musical influences and enigmatic lyrics to make it all a very accessible listening experience. It sounded different, but it still sounded like Pavement, if that makes sense. However, like Slanted & Enchanted's re-release, this one's all about the extras, and while the B-sides don't quite measure up to the earlier ones on the last set, the ones here are still very good, highlighted by the REM cover "Camera" and the REM tribute "Unseen Power of the Picket Fence". Where this double CD shines, though, is in the wealth of unreleased demos, highlighted by a fascinating 1993 session that yielded the excellent "All My Friends", a song every bit as great as anything on Crooked Rain. This terrific set reiterates just how great Pavement was, and how much fun 1990s indie rock was.
4. The Clash - London Calling: 25th Anniversary Legacy Edition
Without question, London Calling is one of the greatest albums of all time, a fiery punk album that manages to be accessible and experimental at the same time, providing insanely catchy hooks while bringing in such influences as ska, dub reggae, and rockabilly, so perfectly, that it's a double album that remains much adored by punk fans and mainstream pop music fans alike. This past year, a quarter century after its release, it was re-released in such a way, that not only did it provide a ton of background information and bonus tracks, but it manages to rank as one of the greatest classic album reissues in history. The first disc is a remastered version of the original album, and while that would normally be good enough, guitarist Mick Jones stumbled across recordings of the band's legendary rehearsal sessions, which were long thought lost, and those 21 tracks, dubbed The Vanilla Tapes are great fun for Clash fans, as they get to hear the band rip through the new material they were working on, songs that would go on to become timeless classics. In addition, there's an accompanying DVD with a fun documentary feature on the recording of the album, promo videos, and best of all, footage of producer Guy Stevens doing anything and everything to get the best out of the band, be it throwing chairs, swinging ladders around, and dancing about, yelling in the guys' bemused faces, exhorting them to play better. As this great record proves, his tactics indeed worked.
5. Bob Dylan - Bootleg Series Volume 6: Concert at Philharmonic Hall 1964
How great was 2004 when it came to reissues? So great, that the latest installment of Bob Dylan's stupendous Bootleg Series, which would usually plat at or near the top of my list, places at a modest Number Five on the 2004 top ten. But believe me, Volume 6 is every bit as great as Volumes 1 through 5. One of the most popular Dylan live bootlegs, the 1964 Philharmonic Hall concert documents Dylan at a critical stage in his development as an artist. At that point in time, he was about to permanently abandon his traditional folk balladry, most notably his songs of protest and social commentary, in favour of much more adventurous song structures and lyrical styles, which became heavily influenced by Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. Throughout the concert, he's in a very good mood (I think he was a bit on the tipsy/stoned side), and he facetiously trades barbs with the audience (in direct contrast to his legendary Manchester 1966 recording). His early material is impeccably performed, but especially fascinating are the performances of his then-new songs, "Gates of Eden" and "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)", during which you can hear a pin drop, the audience is so enthralled. The album's production is crystalline, and renders all those old bootlegs useless.
6. The Fall - 50,000 Fall Fans Can't Be Wrong: 39 Golden Greats
It's always been really hard to get into The Fall. And there have been quite a few of us who have wanted to; what with Pavement's devotion to Mark E. Smith, and many of their records played late at night on CBC FM back in the glory days of the early 1990s, the band was always interesting, but the albums were always hard to find in Canada, and compilations were always incomplete. Until now, that is. This new anthology is the first truly comprehensive collection, culling singles, album tracks, and B-sides from 1978 to 2003, and the result is thrilling, two and a half hours of classic post punk that, if you've never heard The Fall before, will be quite the revelation. With a kazillion albums, live recordings, and bootlegs, it is a very daunting task to decide where in the Fall catalogue to start, but that problem has now been solved, a perfect primer to one of the most underrated bands in history. What's the best way to experience this outstanding compilation? "Repetition, repetition, repetition-ah."
7. Various Artists - DFA Compilation #2
Far and away the leaders of American indie dance music, production duo/labelmeisters The DFA are starting to step away from the guitar-based dancepunk they helped pioneer with the likes of The Rapture, as both their production work and their remixes continue to get more and more adventurous. Though their new, three-disc compilation doesn't have a song as seminal as The Rapture's "House of Broken Lovers", what it does offer is more than three hours' worth of fabulous dance music. From LCD Soundsystem's brilliant "Yeah" and "Beat Connection", to The Juan MacLean's "Give Me Every Little Thing", to Liquid Liquid's re-recording of their early 80s avant-garde song "Bellhead", to other great tracks by Pixeltan, J.O.Y., and Black Leotard Front, this is easily the coolest compilation to come out this year. Best of all is the fun DJ mix on the third disc, which climaxes with an inspired mash-up of "Yeah" and "Beat Connection". Like the famous blog says, The DFA are teaching the indie kids to dance again.
8. Disco Inferno - D.I. Go Pop
Now, technically, as far as re-releases go, the 2004 re-issue of Disco Inferno's seminal post-rock masterpiece D.I. Go Pop is lacking any of the extra bells and whistles that are always prevalent on today's deluxe editions, but in all honesty, the fact that this great album is now available domestically in North America for the first time ever, is enough of a bonus. If you followed UK rock ten years ago, you were aware of this enigmatic record, either by way of its indescribable sounds, or merely by its distinctive, unforgettable album cover, but hearing the music today, it's amazing how gracefully it has aged. With all three members of the band triggering MIDI samples via guitar and drums, it's as mesmerizing a blend of noise and beautiful melodies as My Bloody Valentine's Loveless. It doesn't take many listens before you realise that this is by far one of the best albums to come out of the 1990s.
9. The Pixies - Live in Saskatoon, SK - 04.17.04
I'm including this two-disc set for a couple of reasons. One, because I was at the show. And two, because it's an absolutely superb performance. This was the band's fourth show of their spring tour, and after the glitches that peppered their Minneapolis performance, things were really coming together nicely by the time they hit the prairie city. In front of an ecstatic crowd of at least 5,000, many of whom had traveled from all over North America, the band ripped through classic after classic after classic, including great performances of "Bone Machine", "Monkey Gone to Heaven", and a dead-on perfect rendition of "Here Comes Your Man". In addition, the band pulled out such nuggets as "No. 13 Baby", "Cactus", and "Hey", and were obviously having a lot of fun onstage. It was a great concert experience, and this limited edition double CD (1000 copies were sold), recorded and sold by DiscLive, turns out to be a great little live album, as well.
10. Voivod - War and Pain
Voivod's 1984 debut album is not only the greatest Canadian metal debut of the 1980s, but also one of the most important underground metal records from the 1983-84 era. While Metallica took created an unholy marriage between Judas Priest and Venom on Show No Mercy, War and Pain was altogether different, and in fact, years before its time. The sound had the speed of European thrash, but a precision that few bands from the same time period were able to match., and in Voivod's case, they instantly carved out a signature sound of their own, one that nobody since has been able to imitate. This deluxe edition comes with tons of extras, including demos and a full live performance, but the real treat is the album itself, which comes fully remastered.
Wednesday, December 1, 2004
Introduction
Don't blink, or you'll miss an entire year going by. An album is leaked, a CD arrives in the mail, you run out to the local record store, you write incessantly about all your musical obsessions in your blog, for websites, in e-mails, on message boards, during chats on AOL Messenger and Soulseek, and when you finally lift your head over the multiple stacks of discs piled high in front of you, and turn away from the stale light of the computer monitor, you're hit with the realisation that an entire year is coming to an end. Well, okay, it's not quite that bad, but one you get to the end of a year, it's always a bit startling at first. Egad! I have to get my year-end lists ready! Such is the life of every music geek.
So, here we are, my fourth annual look back at the year that was on this page, and the nineteenth (yikes!) straight year I've done a best albums list. And yeah, 2004 was a pretty good year, despite a very weak last quarter. It sure started off strongly, highlighted by notable releases by the likes of Xiu Xiu, Lambchop (two albums, actually), and Luomo, but it was a debut album that caught our attention early on, by a precociously named band called Franz Ferdinand. It was a good year for the Brits, be it the rejuvenated rock of The Futureheads, The Libertines, Dogs Die in Hot Cars, or Bloc Party, the more urban-themed strains of The Streets, Dizzee Rascal, and Wiley, and even a remarkable return to form by The Fall. I stumbled across a young singer-songwriter named Jens Lekman, who knocked my socks off, and was just as surprised by solo albums by Andre Ethier, A Girl Called Eddy, and Patterson Hood. The crazed duo of Madvillain got me excited about American hip hop again, while The DFA continued to provide the best American dance music out there, and Scissor Sisters took the shtick of Fischerspooner and added bona fide musicianship. Meanwhile, The Drive-By Truckers continued to do their thing, like no other American rock band today. Heavy metal, my first musical love, had a phenomenal year; records by Lamb of God, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Meshuggah, and In Flames exceeded expectations, while Pig Destroyer, Mastodon, Nightwish, and Isis came from seemingly out of nowhere to floor me with music I'd been ignorant of before now. Best of all, it was another great time for Canadian music, as debuts by Junior Boys, Death From Above 1979, and Arcade Fire showed just how powerful internet word of mouth can be, while controller.controller, Girl Nobody, The Evaporators, Alexisonfire, Auf der Maur, Raising the Fawn, Frog Eyes, and the old guy, Leonard Cohen, showed just how great this country's music continues to be. Best of all, I got to know a charming record label out of Vancouver, whose specialty in savvy powerpop quickly caught my attention, turning me on to such artists as Run Chico Run, Sekiden, Natasha Thirsk, Leeroy Stagger, and The Ladies and Gentlemen.
It was also a good year for concerts...I saw Metallica for the fourth time since 1986, got to witness an R.E.M. show for the first time ever, and even got splattered by Gwar. I saw my share of exhausting triple bills, like Broken Social Scene/The Stills/Raising the Fawn (what a night that was), Ministry/My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult/Hanzel und Gretyl, and Billy Talent/Metric/Death From Above 1979. Manitoba, now named Caribou, blew my ears out, and reminded me why I named their record my 2003 album of the year. And best of all, in some strange miracle that still has me beside myself in shock, The Pixies came through my town in April, treating us to a show we'll never, ever forget. We don't get too many high profile shows out here, but the sudden, incomprehensible appearance of The Pixies made up for it, providing me with my most fond live music memory of the year.
Be sure to watch for my top 20 songs countdown in the left margin, which will commence at the same time as my album countdown. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you have as much fun reading this stuff as I do writing it. If I can turn you on to some music you might have otherwise missed out on, then that's even better. Enjoy!
Before I get going with this year's big list of stellar recordings, as always, I have to admit I'm nowhere near as hip as I should be, and mention the albums from 2003 that I was stupid enough not to notice until this year:
Dimmu Borgir - Death Cult Armageddon
This album is so great, it deserved a top ten ranking in last year's list, at the very least. Simply put, black metal has never sounded this great, as the Norwegian sextet combines their trademark satanic cacophony with some mesmerizing symphonic strains. An intense, draining album, it balances the sacred and profane, the menacing and the beautiful, perfectly. Devilishly bombastic, lavishly packaged, and thrilling from beginning to end, it's one of the best metal albums I have heard in a long time.
Metric - Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?
I was so slow to catch on with this album, gradually getting acquainted with the album's blend of indie rock and electropop over the first half of the year. Songs like "Combat Baby" and "Succexy" got my attention instantly, but it was the brilliance of the ferocious "Dead Disco" and the great synth sound of "Hustle Rose" that showed me Emily Haines and her band are for real. This should have made my 2003 top 20, easily.
My top ten albums of 2003:
1. Manitoba - Up in Flames
2. The Strokes - Room on Fire
3. Drive-By Truckers - Decoration Day
4. Dizzee Rascal - Boy in da Corner
5. Constantines - Shine a Light
6. Grandaddy - Sumday
7. The Notwist - Neon Golden
8. Broken Social Scene - You Forgot it in People
9. Richard Hawley - Lowedges
10. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever to Tell
Past albums of the year (uh, please bear in mind I was sixteen when I started this):
1986: Iron Maiden - Somewhere In Time
1987: Def Leppard - Hysteria
1988: Queensryche - Operation: Mindcrime
1989: Voivod - Nothingface
1990: Megadeth - Rust In Peace, Led Zeppelin Box Set (tie)
1991: Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger
1992: R.E.M. - Automatic For The People
1993: Nirvana - In Utero
1994: Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
1995: Elastica - Elastica
1996: Pulp - Different Class
1997: Bob Dylan - Time Out Of Mind
1998: Monster Magnet - Powertrip
1999: Metallica - S & M
2000: Yo La Tengo - ...And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out
2001: Bob Dylan - Love And Theft, The Langley Schools Music Project - Innocence & Despair (tie)
2002: The Streets - Original Pirate Material
2003: Manitoba - Up in Flames
