2004-12-23 - 11:34 a.m. Top Ten Albums of 2004 Man, it was a good year. Musically speaking, anyway. PJ Harvey Uh Huh Her There is the grandiose and polished PJ Harvey, and there is the punky and stark PJ Harvey, and it seems the former has taken over these last few years, much to my dismay. UH HUH HER marks the return of primal, mode-2 PJ Harvey. Welcome back, li'l missy! Robyn Hitchcock Spooked Robyn's collaboration with Gillian Welch and David Rawlings is as pretty and honest and sinister as anything he's ever done. The unusual (for him) Nashville-y instrumentation provides lovely nuances and suggests interesting new possibilities. Libertines Libertines First, ignore the Strokes comparisons--the Libertines are much more organic and vibrant, less calculating with their musical homages and images. Like other sloppy rock gods before them, the Libertines capture the shimmering beauty and entropy of an orderly universe inhabited by severely disordered people. Shortly after this record came out, the band imploded amidst drug problems and criminal charges. Girl Called Eddy Girl Called Eddy A great, misty, Bacharachian sigh of an album, meant to be consumed while drinking tea (with bourbon) and only half-hearing the lonely train whistle outside the window. A classic example of an album that is more than the sum of its parts--the songwriting is good but not stellar, the singing is authentic but not spectacular, and yet one comes away from this album feelin' all swoony. Iron & Wine Our Endless Numbered Days Hypnotic bearded man sings scary sad songs for our own good. AC Newman The Slow Wonder At turns symphonic, poppy, kinda nasty--I ended up liking this more than New Pornographers for some reason Brother Danielson Brother is to Son Soothing and weird, Brother D. is Jesus' homeboy. Chris Stamey Travels in the South You didn't think guitars jangled anymore, did you? Well, Stamey remembers. Sam Phillips A Boot and a Shoe While I prefer Sam in pop mode, she still rocks when she Kurt Weills it up. Guided by Voices Half Smiles of the Decomposed Because a year without a GbV album is like a year without Santa Claus. Their "last" album is a rocking and melodic affair. Honorable mention: Camper van Beethoven - New Roman Times David Kilgour - Frozen Orange Dogs Die in Hot Cars - Please Describe Yourself Elliott Smith - From a Basement on a Hill Elvis Costello - The Delivery Man Green Pajamas - Ten White Stones Mission of Burma - On Off On Morrissey - You are the Quarry Penelope Houston - Pale Green Girl Rogue Wave - Out of the Shadow Rufus Wainwright - Want Two Stiff Little Fingers - Guitar & Drum Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans Ted Leo - Shake the Sheets The Hold Steady - Almost Killed Me Velvet Crush - Stereo Blues Doug Gillard - Salamander Adem - Homesongs Starflyer 59 - I Am The Portuguese Blues Secret Machines - Now Here Is Nowhere thoughts? (8 comments so far) previous - next blog archive contact