I don't see any great records on the horizon, so how about calling it a wrap and rounding up the best of the year?
Kanye West, “College Dropout”
Franz Ferdinand, “Franz Ferdinand”
Mission of Burma, “ONOffON”
Modest Mouse, “Good News for People Who Love Bad News”
Loretta Lynn, “Van Lear Rose”
The Roots, "Tipping Point"
Steve Earle, "The Revolution Starts Now"
Jill Scott, "Beautifully Human: Words & Sounds 2"
Green Day, "American Idiot"
Ringers from late 2003:
John Cale, "Hobo Sapiens" (import only)
Sons and Daughters, "Love The Cup" (actually 're-issued' worldwide in 2004)
Best of 2004?
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Ess Ay Cee Dee
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Rspaight
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The Franz Ferdinand is good. We've got the Green Day -- my wife sez it's good, but I haven't heard it yet (it's been in her car for weeks...).
To be gratuitously strange, I'll nominate William Shatner's Has Been. The version of Blur's "Common People" he does with Joe Jackson is superlative.
Velvet Revolver's Contraband and Gold Medal by the Donnas are fine guitar rock albums.
Ryan
To be gratuitously strange, I'll nominate William Shatner's Has Been. The version of Blur's "Common People" he does with Joe Jackson is superlative.
Velvet Revolver's Contraband and Gold Medal by the Donnas are fine guitar rock albums.
Ryan
RQOTW: "I'll make sure that our future is defined not by the letters ACLU, but by the letters USA." -- Mitt Romney
Oh man, we gotta talk about Wilco, and a little bit about Morrissey.
I'm still PISSED that Morrissey bailed on Lollapolooza (sp?) to do his own tour, thus setting of an avalanche that put the kibosh on what would've a fucking AWESOME tour. The Flaming Lips, PJ Harvey, et al...Maybe it wasn't his fault, who knows how the biz works.
You really like that Wilco album? I have a real tough time getting into it. The songs just aren't their strongest, I'd say it was their weakest since A.M. "Spiders" is cool, I like how they've turned into a Neu! type rocker compared to the live rendition, "The Late Greats" is a nice song, "Handshake Drugs" is a pretty good track that's somewhat an improvement over the on-line Ep version, but the rest just doesn't do it for me. I dunno, maybe I'll give it another listen.
Meanwhile, WTF is with the out-of-touch-old-guy-syndrome at the other place? I myself posted here about liking "Smile," though not quite the released CD, and I'll admit the Grammy's suck 90% of the time, but:
"Kanye West with 10 nominations??? What a joke!!! That record he did with the sped up Chaka Khan sample was a neat gimmick but got old extremely fast. My prediction, is that Usher(album of the year IMO) and Ray Charles will win the most awards."
I actually like Usher's big single, and the album is probably his best, but better than Kanye, who's a JOKE? Who the f*** has produced every other great hip-hop/r&b record in the past year? Ray Charles probably will win, though even if this last album is essentially his own version of Sinatra's mediocre "Duets" albums.
and:
"is the song 'Veritigo' released too late? I think that song easily beats anything on that list. Man, locals Los Lonely Boys --WOW."
I actually like U2. I actually liked their last album. But how can you not be sick of that song, which at last count has ripped off riffs and melodies from Sonic Youth and Green Day all the way to the Supremes ("Keep Me Hanging On")? I guess that last part answered my question.
And Los Lonely Boys? Anyone here listen to them? They're not TERRIBLE, but c'mon, how many more middle-of-the-road, fake-'roots' bands do you need?
I'm still PISSED that Morrissey bailed on Lollapolooza (sp?) to do his own tour, thus setting of an avalanche that put the kibosh on what would've a fucking AWESOME tour. The Flaming Lips, PJ Harvey, et al...Maybe it wasn't his fault, who knows how the biz works.
You really like that Wilco album? I have a real tough time getting into it. The songs just aren't their strongest, I'd say it was their weakest since A.M. "Spiders" is cool, I like how they've turned into a Neu! type rocker compared to the live rendition, "The Late Greats" is a nice song, "Handshake Drugs" is a pretty good track that's somewhat an improvement over the on-line Ep version, but the rest just doesn't do it for me. I dunno, maybe I'll give it another listen.
Meanwhile, WTF is with the out-of-touch-old-guy-syndrome at the other place? I myself posted here about liking "Smile," though not quite the released CD, and I'll admit the Grammy's suck 90% of the time, but:
"Kanye West with 10 nominations??? What a joke!!! That record he did with the sped up Chaka Khan sample was a neat gimmick but got old extremely fast. My prediction, is that Usher(album of the year IMO) and Ray Charles will win the most awards."
I actually like Usher's big single, and the album is probably his best, but better than Kanye, who's a JOKE? Who the f*** has produced every other great hip-hop/r&b record in the past year? Ray Charles probably will win, though even if this last album is essentially his own version of Sinatra's mediocre "Duets" albums.
and:
"is the song 'Veritigo' released too late? I think that song easily beats anything on that list. Man, locals Los Lonely Boys --WOW."
I actually like U2. I actually liked their last album. But how can you not be sick of that song, which at last count has ripped off riffs and melodies from Sonic Youth and Green Day all the way to the Supremes ("Keep Me Hanging On")? I guess that last part answered my question.
And Los Lonely Boys? Anyone here listen to them? They're not TERRIBLE, but c'mon, how many more middle-of-the-road, fake-'roots' bands do you need?
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Ess Ay Cee Dee
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Yeah, the really long, slow crescendo of swirling chirping noises, I heard everyone in the band just took a device of some kind, adjusted it to make a sound they liked, set them all off, and left the room for a smoke. Tweedy says it's supposed to be like one of his migraines, and he KNOWS it was going to irritate the shit out of everyone. The song before that actually isn't bad, if I can remember.
The guitar stuff is actually the strongest part of the album, IMO. This is a really dynamic album, too, so it really leaps out when they start crunching down on Spiders.
With the whole generic roots-rock thing, that's been going back, what, 20 years? Even Los Lobos felt it was a dead-end at some point, hence "Kiko."
The guitar stuff is actually the strongest part of the album, IMO. This is a really dynamic album, too, so it really leaps out when they start crunching down on Spiders.
With the whole generic roots-rock thing, that's been going back, what, 20 years? Even Los Lobos felt it was a dead-end at some point, hence "Kiko."
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Ess Ay Cee Dee
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I really like the Franz Ferdinand album.
The Loretta Lynn album was good for about 5 minutes and now it sits at the bottom of a stack of CDs I never listen to
I have a soft spot for the Jet album even though I know it's cheezy crap.
I saw Los Lonely Boys play live and the guitarist is smokin' - even if their album is middle-of-the-road puke.
The Robert Randolph album isn't that great either, but he's emerging as a great talent who unfortunately will probably be known for great live shows and lousy albums.
As for Wilco, I saw them last year with Sonic Youth opening, and they tried to outnoise Thurston - it didn't work. What I loved about YWF, despite all the experimental stuff which I appreciated but didn't necessarily need, was the songs. That Tweedy fellow has written some fine songs and I think that's what's missing on the new album. And yes, I like the Neil Youngisms.
If you like Tom Waits, check out Real Gone. It's not great, but in this year of bad music, it's what passes for good.
What else is there from this year?
The Loretta Lynn album was good for about 5 minutes and now it sits at the bottom of a stack of CDs I never listen to
I have a soft spot for the Jet album even though I know it's cheezy crap.
I saw Los Lonely Boys play live and the guitarist is smokin' - even if their album is middle-of-the-road puke.
The Robert Randolph album isn't that great either, but he's emerging as a great talent who unfortunately will probably be known for great live shows and lousy albums.
As for Wilco, I saw them last year with Sonic Youth opening, and they tried to outnoise Thurston - it didn't work. What I loved about YWF, despite all the experimental stuff which I appreciated but didn't necessarily need, was the songs. That Tweedy fellow has written some fine songs and I think that's what's missing on the new album. And yes, I like the Neil Youngisms.
If you like Tom Waits, check out Real Gone. It's not great, but in this year of bad music, it's what passes for good.
What else is there from this year?
I'm trying to remember if I own any new releases from this year besides dada - How to be Found and Tesla - Into the Now.
Chuck thinks that I look to good to be a computer geek. I think that I know too much about interface design, css, xhtml, php, asp, perl, and ia (too name a few things) to not be one.
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Beatlesfan03
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Ess Ay Cee Dee wrote:They sound like a Tex-Mex version of Counting Crows to me and that's not a good thing.
I think more of a Tex-Mex Hootie and the Blowfish if you ask me.
As for my picks:
Norah Jones - Feels Like Home
Jet - Get Born
The Cure - The Cure
Incubus - A Crow Left Of The Murder
I'm going to have to check out that Wilco record, I keep hearing good things about it.
Craig
Rspaight wrote:Both of those were 2003, AFAIK. I didn't buy a whole lot of new music this year. Most of my entertainment dollar went to DVDs...
Ryan
Oy...you're right. Jeez, I guess I didn't buy much this year.
Oh, I did think of one: "Absent Friends," by The Divine Comedy. Utterly delightful. Please tell me that was this year.
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"Fuckin' Koreans" - Reno 911
"Fuckin' Koreans" - Reno 911
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chrischross
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I think the only new thing I've picked up this year that I'm really digging is the DFA Compiliation #2.
For those with a more experimental side, this is a worthy pick. Quite a few of the songs are incredibly catchy, and it's a nice change of pace from mopiness from the likes of Modest Mouse, et al.
Speaking of Modest Mouse, I can't figure out all of the rave reviews for their latest. Compared to Lonesome Crowded West, the new stuff is just a shadow of their former selves.
For those with a more experimental side, this is a worthy pick. Quite a few of the songs are incredibly catchy, and it's a nice change of pace from mopiness from the likes of Modest Mouse, et al.
Speaking of Modest Mouse, I can't figure out all of the rave reviews for their latest. Compared to Lonesome Crowded West, the new stuff is just a shadow of their former selves.