So with 2004 drawing to a close, the whole country's got a fever for some listmakin'. According to the fourth edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, excessive list making is a common compulsion associated with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.
Well it's time for many of our favorite indie-music publications and sites to start a-courtin' Helen Hunt*, because the best-of-2004 lists are flying fast. The excellent Stylus has done 2004 albums and singles. As we mentioned before, The Onion A/V Club put their picks up. The NME list and several others are available at the Rocklist site. Stereogum posted the really embarassing entries in Rolling Stone's 2004 top 50 albums list. Jimmy Buffett is represented. I shit you not. Be prepared to throw up in your mouth a little. Finally, Bitchfo... er... Pitchfork has posted their reissues and singles. Albums go up tomorrow. So that leaves Spin, The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop poll, and the major newspapers.
In the spirit of year-end stock-taking, the management would like to take a moment to consider notable moments in the cinema of 2004. Specifically, two films that were so bad, so unnecessary, so... wrong as to boggle the mind. The first offender is the Denzel Washington/Tony Scott wank-fest Man on Fire, a paean to gratuitous violence so deeply cynical and coolly executed as to go virtually unnoticed by critics and social commentators alike. The basic premise, that any level of physical depravity is justified if it's perpetrated in retaliation for the death of Dakota Fanning is bad enough. That the victims of Denzel's increasingly sick and elaborate tortures are all Mexican scum who dared to defile a lily-white innocent takes inspiration from one of the oldest (and most offensive) tropes in American cinema... one that points back to the proud tradition started by D.W. Griffiths's Birth of a Nation. Who woulda thought? A respected black actor and an Englishman just set America's cultural growth back about 20 years. Oh, and the little shit turns out to be alive at the end.
Shitfest number two is a more straightforward, old-fashioned stupid movie. In fact, rather than tell you why it was so bad, I'll just give you the name: Van Helsing.
But don't listen to me. Of my three favorite movies this year, two are about zombies.
*In case you didn't get that Helen Hunt joke
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
LISTMANIA! 2004
Sweet Christ in heaven. The management is happy to bring you this year's installment of LISTMANIA! The "convenience" of modern blog technology has allowed fun graphics and other 21st-century tricks and treats. This also took four times longer than it has in past years. So you'd better fucking appreciate it. And now, without further griping, the management is proud to give you...
THE TOP TEN ALBUMS OF 2004
10. Our Endless Numbered Days ~ Iron & Wine / Rejoicing in the Hands ~ Devendra Banhart
Let’s get this out of the way: on the whole, I do not care for folk music. I don’t like hippies, and I believe that barefoot people should not make music. There are exceptions both past (Dylan, Billy Bragg) and present (Kings of Convenience), but that stuff is just… beyond. And they all wore shoes. So two folk albums in one year? What are the chances? Okay so I’m cheating right off the bat by choosing two albums for the tenth slot, and there are basically two reasons for this. One, this spot was, like, totally a tie between some five or six albums and I needed some plausible thematic wiggle room. Two, both are neo-folk albums consisting primarily of one dude and one guitar. And frankly I don’t know enough about folk music to tell which is better. Banhart’s guitar lines are more interesting but his voice can get a little “arty” (read, ostentatious). Samuel Beam, the thick-bearded chap who is Iron & Wine, brings a more simplistic, inbred-yokel feel to his songs, calling to mind whiskey-fueled sing-alongs in the smoky mountains. If I had to, I’d give Iron & Wine the edge by virtue of his awesome beard and the genuinely haunting quality of his music. Nonetheless, both albums are masterpieces of songcraft and acoustic, um, folkiness. An interesting side note: Banhart actually recorded 57 songs, 32 of which were chosen for two albums; this one, and the slightly less stellar Niño Rojo, which was released this fall.
9. Shake the Sheets ~ Ted Leo + Pharmacists
“Little Dawn,” Shake the Sheets's opening track, is so good, so tight, so bloody fist-pumping and life-affirming, that it’s difficult to get past. I think I heard the second song on the album for the first time 24 hours after pressing play. The repeat button kept getting in the way. Luckily, I finally arrived at song two: “Me and Mia.” Yeah. I might have pooed my pants. I can’t remember. Ted Leo’s music is unabashedly pop-punk, and he has more than a passing vocal resemblance to Joe Jackson. Really, that’s all you need to say. If Look Sharp-era Joe Jackson had a baby with Stiff Little Fingers and the Buzzcocks… well, you get the point. The strained earnestness of bands like Blink 182 seems all the more pale in the light of Leo’s blend of pop skill and lyrical directness. The most astounding (and misleading) element of these songs is their apparent simplicity. He makes it look so goddamn easy. But there’s nothing harder than pop perfection.
8. Talkie Walkie ~ Air
The essential elements remain unchanged. Goofy French pronunciation of English lyrics? Check. Le smooth? Check. Laudanum-laced keyboard notes that never seem to end? Check and check! In fact, two tracks in you start to wonder if Air is stuck on autopilot. Then you run into “Run” and everything goes all pear-shaped. A spooky reverie leads into the most heavenly “chorus” imaginable… floating choral lines fade in and out over a single word (“run,” “go,” etc.) stuck on repeat. Even better, they’re so fucking French that “run” sounds like “ren.” Trust me, it’s as funny as it is beautiful. The real upside is that Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel have upped the ante as music writers, relying less on cheap 1970s atmospherics, and plumbing the greater depths of both electronic and acoustic traditions. They’re still Air, though, which means copious amounts of marijuana will doubtlessly enhance your listening experience.
7. Antics ~ Interpol
Luckily, Carlos D. is good for something other than black ties and shoulder holsters. Increasingly nasal and fatuous vocalist Paul Banks may eventually put the band on the road to ruin, but for now Carlos and drummer Sam Fogarino are keeping Interpol head and shoulders above the rest. Okay, okay, I’m a little bitter at Banks for wearing a stupid hat and turning his damn vocals up to 11 the last time I saw the band live. But seriously, dude’s lyrics are pretty rough. It’s a testament to the band’s technical skill and unique (yes, unique) sound, then, that they make such bloody good records. Hey, it can’t be easy when your debut album (my retrospective pick for best album of 2002) makes you the U2 of indie rock and draws comparisons to Joy Division and Afghan Wigs. It’s not all skill, though. Interpol do doom and gloom with grandiose style and danceable hooks… and they look cool. That’s all the goth ‘n’ roll bases right there, kids. Also, “Not Even Jail” is my clear choice for non-single song of the year. I love big, epic rock songs that make me tear up just a little, y’know?
6. The Libertines ~ The Libertines
This may be the ultimate break-up album. Not because it’s something you put on and cry along with when you break up with someone, but because it is the sound of one drunken, dysfunctional, and totally fucking doomed rock band coming apart at the seams. So it’s depressing? Nope. It’s fucking glorious. This is the sound of abandon, of Nero fiddling while Rome burns to the ground. Life is fucked? Have a drink. Is the opening track, “Can’t Stand Me Now,” Pete Doherty’s fatalistic mea culpa? Yeah, probably. Who cares? “Don’t Be Shy” may be the drunkest I’ve ever heard a band on LP (including The Pogues), and it sounds fantastic. The Libertines are the most beloved band of the UK’s music press for two very different reasons. Reason one, they’re always in trouble and make great press. Reason two, some of the most quotable lyrics ever: “The boy kicked out at the world/The world kicked back a lot fucking harder.” “Well I’ll confess all of my sins/After several large gins…” and so forth. Anyone want a drink?
5. Good News For People Who Love Bad News ~ Modest Mouse
I don’t like Modest Mouse. Their last album left me cold. So imagine my surprise when I picked this up after hearing “Float On” on modern rock radio(!?). It was one of those “this song is great… who could this be?” moments. The rest, as they say, is history. The album opens with a wild horn intro, leading into “The World At Large,” which sounds like a funeral procession for the victims of a bloody clown-car accident. And then it’s the aforementioned super-single, the feel-fucking-good hit of the summer. Wow. For whatever reason (hey, I’m not Greil Marcus!) the band’s calculated eccentricity has become a virtue, adding a taste of the unexpected to otherwise conventional, solid hooks. Horns, carnival organs, and the like threaten goofiness, but Jeremiah Green’s brilliant drumming is just enough to keep the whole balloon from, er, floating on. Special secret note: “The View” is the best slept-on dance song of the year.
4. The Futureheads ~ The Futureheads
Does a rock band need a raison d’être to be considered relevant? More to the point, is relevance relevant? The Futureheads are, at least on the face of it, all about fun, speed, precision, and the sharpest four-part harmonies on Earth. Also, they have really thick, cool Sunderland accents and they dress real nice. Not exactly a recipe for critical praise. And yet their crisp sonic attack and boundless energy has made these clean-cut North Englanders critical darlings. Interestingly, The ‘Heads’ self-titled debut was produced by none other than Andy Gill, whose Gang of Four is still “relevant” as all hell and had raison d’être falling out of their assholes. Anyway, this is all irrelevant. Songs like “Robot” and “Decent Days and Nights” beg you to dance around in your underwear and learn every vocal part. This is the very essence of fun. Also, The Futureheads win this year’s Best Live Band award.
3. Funeral ~ Arcade Fire
I’ll come right out and admit this up front: I can’t really articulate why this is such a good album. I could mention other bands to which they bear some similarity (Talking Heads top that list), but it wouldn’t really do much good. There are marching-drum rhythm sections, arpeggioed guitars, Yoko Ono-style ethereal vocals… all kinds of stuff, really. Like British Sea Power or Broken Social Scene, Arcade Fire is a brilliant art-rock band that’s far too mercurial to pin down. Needless to say, they’re Canadians. That being said, Funeral is no pretentious mish-mash of pretty noises. No, that’s Fiery Furnaces’ Blueberry Boat (winner of this year’s Most Overrated Album award). Rather, it’s a poignant, grandiose reflection on humble little themes like life and death. Oh, and “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)” is a mind-blowingly beautiful song. So it’s got that going for it. Which is nice.
2. Franz Ferdinand ~ Franz Ferdinand
Hi. We’re Franz Ferdinand. We’re from Scotland, which chicks love. We’re really well dressed, which chicks love. We’re totally gay, which chicks love. When we started this band, it was with the intention of making rock music that girls like to dance to… which chicks love. Basically, we’re a disco-rock, postpunk orgasm wrapped in chocolate and dipped in beer with cocaine sprinkled on top and chicks love us. Oh, and we’re not really gay.
What can you say about the FF that hasn’t been said already? “Take Me Out” was far and away the best dance single of the year. “The Dark of the Matinée” was the best make-out song of the year. See? There were a number of “bests” associated with this album. It’s cool, funny, deprecating, sexy, endlessly insinuating, and effortlessly stylish. Basically, this album is every sophisticated foreigner you’ve ever wanted to fuck. Only in convenient album form.
1. Bows + Arrows ~ The Walkmen
Anger, hurt, defeat… in musical terms, these emotions are too frequently reduced to outright aggression or gothic moping. Or, in the case of Nine Inch Nails, both. But let’s face it, emotional complexity is more than just a pet concept of French film critics. In real life, you rarely feel 100% Minor Threat. You’ve gotta read a lot of Sylvia Plath to feel exactly Cat Power. The power of The Walkmen is their ambivalence. The songs can be upbeat--hell transcendent--while they make you want to pound your head against a wall. They can sound like funeral dirges while they kick out drunken one-liners. The jumbled, contradictory nature of real emotions, of genuine crisis, comes across just as those emotions frequently do: clear as a fucking mud puddle.
This is the first time I’ve selected an album for number one that has everyone split into two camps. There is no middle ground on The Walkmen. A lot of people just don’t get it. And I don’t think it’s a question of failing to grasp something that’s definitely there. These songs are raw in a way that can unsettle, or even annoy, as easily as they can enthrall. But I just can’t get enough of it. This baby kills me. The haunting wail of Walter Martin’s organs, Paul Maroon’s wall-of-sound guitar, and Matt Barrick’s drums are the perfect foil to Hamilton Leithauser’s weary, addled vocals… a smoky hybrid of Boy-era Bono and Greg Dulli of Afghan Wigs.
Oh and there’s one more thing: “The Rat.” Hands down, the best song/single/whatever of the year. A monstrous ball of rage, disgust, and utter resignation, it manages to make the listener want to jump around instead of curling up in a ball to die. How Barrick’s drum kit keeps from exploding, I’ll never know. “When I used to go out / I knew everyone I saw / Now I go out alone / if I go out at all.” Uplifting stuff.
Runners-Up:
Bloc Party (EP) ~ Bloc Party
You're a Woman, I'm a Machine ~ Death From Above 1979
You Are The Quarry ~ Morrissey
Misery Is a Butterfly ~ Blonde Redhead
Boy in Da Corner ~ Dizzee Rascal
Probot ~ Probot
Smile ~ Brian Wilson
Honorable Mention:
American Idiot ~ Green Day
Now Here Is Nowhere ~ Secret Machines
Kiss & Tell ~ Sahara Hotnights
Tyrannosaurus Hives ~ The Hives
Young Liars ~ TV on the Radio
Underachievers Please Try Harder ~ Camera Obscura
Pawn Shoppe Heart ~ Von Bondies
Through the Sun Door ~ White Magic
Madvillainy ~ Madvillain
Onoffon ~ Mission Of Burma
Hot Fuss ~ Killers
Louden Up Now ~ !!!
This Island ~ Le Tigre
SINGLES
1. “The Rat” ~ The Walkmen
2. “Take Me Out” ~ Franz Ferdinand
3. “Your Cover’s Blown/Wrapped Up in Books” ~ Belle and Sebastian
4. “C’mon, C’mon” ~ Von Bondies
5. “Float On” ~ Modest Mouse
6. “Can’t Stand Me Now” ~ The Libertines
7. “The Last of the Gang to Die” ~ Morrissey
8. “Spitting Games” ~ Snow Patrol
9. “What You Waiting For” ~ Gwen Stefani
10. “Mr. Brightside” ~ The Killers
…but this goes to…
11. “Teenager” ~ Camera Obscura
Honorable Mention:
Annie, “Chewing Gum”; LCD Soundsystem, “Yeah”; Britney Spears, “Toxic”
REISSUES/ COMPILATIONS
Ranking reissues doesn’t make much sense, but I do have to place the special edition of The Kinks’ The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society at the top. Why? Extras, baby! The Pavement and Clash reissues of great albums are just super, but the extras are somewhat less than enthralling. But this edition of Village Green is three discs of rarities and obscurities worth listening to.
1. Village Green Preservation Society: Remastered Special Edition ~ The Kinks
Crooked Rain Crooked Rain: L.A.'s Desert Origins ~ Pavement
London Calling: The Legacy Edition ~ The Clash
Weezer: Deluxe Edition (The Blue Album) ~ Weezer
Travel Edition, 1990-2005 ~ Saint Etienne
Here are the superior label and theme comps…
Dfa Records Presents: Compilation 2 ~ Various Artists
Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the ‘80s Underground ~ Various Artists
…and the best DJ mixes…
DJ-Kicks ~ Erlend Øye
Suck My Deck ~ Ivan Smagghe
Unclassics ~ Morgan Geist
Whew!! I'm exhausted. That's it. Go home.
THE TOP TEN ALBUMS OF 2004
10. Our Endless Numbered Days ~ Iron & Wine / Rejoicing in the Hands ~ Devendra Banhart
Let’s get this out of the way: on the whole, I do not care for folk music. I don’t like hippies, and I believe that barefoot people should not make music. There are exceptions both past (Dylan, Billy Bragg) and present (Kings of Convenience), but that stuff is just… beyond. And they all wore shoes. So two folk albums in one year? What are the chances? Okay so I’m cheating right off the bat by choosing two albums for the tenth slot, and there are basically two reasons for this. One, this spot was, like, totally a tie between some five or six albums and I needed some plausible thematic wiggle room. Two, both are neo-folk albums consisting primarily of one dude and one guitar. And frankly I don’t know enough about folk music to tell which is better. Banhart’s guitar lines are more interesting but his voice can get a little “arty” (read, ostentatious). Samuel Beam, the thick-bearded chap who is Iron & Wine, brings a more simplistic, inbred-yokel feel to his songs, calling to mind whiskey-fueled sing-alongs in the smoky mountains. If I had to, I’d give Iron & Wine the edge by virtue of his awesome beard and the genuinely haunting quality of his music. Nonetheless, both albums are masterpieces of songcraft and acoustic, um, folkiness. An interesting side note: Banhart actually recorded 57 songs, 32 of which were chosen for two albums; this one, and the slightly less stellar Niño Rojo, which was released this fall.
9. Shake the Sheets ~ Ted Leo + Pharmacists
“Little Dawn,” Shake the Sheets's opening track, is so good, so tight, so bloody fist-pumping and life-affirming, that it’s difficult to get past. I think I heard the second song on the album for the first time 24 hours after pressing play. The repeat button kept getting in the way. Luckily, I finally arrived at song two: “Me and Mia.” Yeah. I might have pooed my pants. I can’t remember. Ted Leo’s music is unabashedly pop-punk, and he has more than a passing vocal resemblance to Joe Jackson. Really, that’s all you need to say. If Look Sharp-era Joe Jackson had a baby with Stiff Little Fingers and the Buzzcocks… well, you get the point. The strained earnestness of bands like Blink 182 seems all the more pale in the light of Leo’s blend of pop skill and lyrical directness. The most astounding (and misleading) element of these songs is their apparent simplicity. He makes it look so goddamn easy. But there’s nothing harder than pop perfection.
8. Talkie Walkie ~ Air
The essential elements remain unchanged. Goofy French pronunciation of English lyrics? Check. Le smooth? Check. Laudanum-laced keyboard notes that never seem to end? Check and check! In fact, two tracks in you start to wonder if Air is stuck on autopilot. Then you run into “Run” and everything goes all pear-shaped. A spooky reverie leads into the most heavenly “chorus” imaginable… floating choral lines fade in and out over a single word (“run,” “go,” etc.) stuck on repeat. Even better, they’re so fucking French that “run” sounds like “ren.” Trust me, it’s as funny as it is beautiful. The real upside is that Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel have upped the ante as music writers, relying less on cheap 1970s atmospherics, and plumbing the greater depths of both electronic and acoustic traditions. They’re still Air, though, which means copious amounts of marijuana will doubtlessly enhance your listening experience.
7. Antics ~ Interpol
Luckily, Carlos D. is good for something other than black ties and shoulder holsters. Increasingly nasal and fatuous vocalist Paul Banks may eventually put the band on the road to ruin, but for now Carlos and drummer Sam Fogarino are keeping Interpol head and shoulders above the rest. Okay, okay, I’m a little bitter at Banks for wearing a stupid hat and turning his damn vocals up to 11 the last time I saw the band live. But seriously, dude’s lyrics are pretty rough. It’s a testament to the band’s technical skill and unique (yes, unique) sound, then, that they make such bloody good records. Hey, it can’t be easy when your debut album (my retrospective pick for best album of 2002) makes you the U2 of indie rock and draws comparisons to Joy Division and Afghan Wigs. It’s not all skill, though. Interpol do doom and gloom with grandiose style and danceable hooks… and they look cool. That’s all the goth ‘n’ roll bases right there, kids. Also, “Not Even Jail” is my clear choice for non-single song of the year. I love big, epic rock songs that make me tear up just a little, y’know?
6. The Libertines ~ The Libertines
This may be the ultimate break-up album. Not because it’s something you put on and cry along with when you break up with someone, but because it is the sound of one drunken, dysfunctional, and totally fucking doomed rock band coming apart at the seams. So it’s depressing? Nope. It’s fucking glorious. This is the sound of abandon, of Nero fiddling while Rome burns to the ground. Life is fucked? Have a drink. Is the opening track, “Can’t Stand Me Now,” Pete Doherty’s fatalistic mea culpa? Yeah, probably. Who cares? “Don’t Be Shy” may be the drunkest I’ve ever heard a band on LP (including The Pogues), and it sounds fantastic. The Libertines are the most beloved band of the UK’s music press for two very different reasons. Reason one, they’re always in trouble and make great press. Reason two, some of the most quotable lyrics ever: “The boy kicked out at the world/The world kicked back a lot fucking harder.” “Well I’ll confess all of my sins/After several large gins…” and so forth. Anyone want a drink?
5. Good News For People Who Love Bad News ~ Modest Mouse
I don’t like Modest Mouse. Their last album left me cold. So imagine my surprise when I picked this up after hearing “Float On” on modern rock radio(!?). It was one of those “this song is great… who could this be?” moments. The rest, as they say, is history. The album opens with a wild horn intro, leading into “The World At Large,” which sounds like a funeral procession for the victims of a bloody clown-car accident. And then it’s the aforementioned super-single, the feel-fucking-good hit of the summer. Wow. For whatever reason (hey, I’m not Greil Marcus!) the band’s calculated eccentricity has become a virtue, adding a taste of the unexpected to otherwise conventional, solid hooks. Horns, carnival organs, and the like threaten goofiness, but Jeremiah Green’s brilliant drumming is just enough to keep the whole balloon from, er, floating on. Special secret note: “The View” is the best slept-on dance song of the year.
4. The Futureheads ~ The Futureheads
Does a rock band need a raison d’être to be considered relevant? More to the point, is relevance relevant? The Futureheads are, at least on the face of it, all about fun, speed, precision, and the sharpest four-part harmonies on Earth. Also, they have really thick, cool Sunderland accents and they dress real nice. Not exactly a recipe for critical praise. And yet their crisp sonic attack and boundless energy has made these clean-cut North Englanders critical darlings. Interestingly, The ‘Heads’ self-titled debut was produced by none other than Andy Gill, whose Gang of Four is still “relevant” as all hell and had raison d’être falling out of their assholes. Anyway, this is all irrelevant. Songs like “Robot” and “Decent Days and Nights” beg you to dance around in your underwear and learn every vocal part. This is the very essence of fun. Also, The Futureheads win this year’s Best Live Band award.
3. Funeral ~ Arcade Fire
I’ll come right out and admit this up front: I can’t really articulate why this is such a good album. I could mention other bands to which they bear some similarity (Talking Heads top that list), but it wouldn’t really do much good. There are marching-drum rhythm sections, arpeggioed guitars, Yoko Ono-style ethereal vocals… all kinds of stuff, really. Like British Sea Power or Broken Social Scene, Arcade Fire is a brilliant art-rock band that’s far too mercurial to pin down. Needless to say, they’re Canadians. That being said, Funeral is no pretentious mish-mash of pretty noises. No, that’s Fiery Furnaces’ Blueberry Boat (winner of this year’s Most Overrated Album award). Rather, it’s a poignant, grandiose reflection on humble little themes like life and death. Oh, and “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)” is a mind-blowingly beautiful song. So it’s got that going for it. Which is nice.
2. Franz Ferdinand ~ Franz Ferdinand
Hi. We’re Franz Ferdinand. We’re from Scotland, which chicks love. We’re really well dressed, which chicks love. We’re totally gay, which chicks love. When we started this band, it was with the intention of making rock music that girls like to dance to… which chicks love. Basically, we’re a disco-rock, postpunk orgasm wrapped in chocolate and dipped in beer with cocaine sprinkled on top and chicks love us. Oh, and we’re not really gay.
What can you say about the FF that hasn’t been said already? “Take Me Out” was far and away the best dance single of the year. “The Dark of the Matinée” was the best make-out song of the year. See? There were a number of “bests” associated with this album. It’s cool, funny, deprecating, sexy, endlessly insinuating, and effortlessly stylish. Basically, this album is every sophisticated foreigner you’ve ever wanted to fuck. Only in convenient album form.
1. Bows + Arrows ~ The Walkmen
Anger, hurt, defeat… in musical terms, these emotions are too frequently reduced to outright aggression or gothic moping. Or, in the case of Nine Inch Nails, both. But let’s face it, emotional complexity is more than just a pet concept of French film critics. In real life, you rarely feel 100% Minor Threat. You’ve gotta read a lot of Sylvia Plath to feel exactly Cat Power. The power of The Walkmen is their ambivalence. The songs can be upbeat--hell transcendent--while they make you want to pound your head against a wall. They can sound like funeral dirges while they kick out drunken one-liners. The jumbled, contradictory nature of real emotions, of genuine crisis, comes across just as those emotions frequently do: clear as a fucking mud puddle.
This is the first time I’ve selected an album for number one that has everyone split into two camps. There is no middle ground on The Walkmen. A lot of people just don’t get it. And I don’t think it’s a question of failing to grasp something that’s definitely there. These songs are raw in a way that can unsettle, or even annoy, as easily as they can enthrall. But I just can’t get enough of it. This baby kills me. The haunting wail of Walter Martin’s organs, Paul Maroon’s wall-of-sound guitar, and Matt Barrick’s drums are the perfect foil to Hamilton Leithauser’s weary, addled vocals… a smoky hybrid of Boy-era Bono and Greg Dulli of Afghan Wigs.
Oh and there’s one more thing: “The Rat.” Hands down, the best song/single/whatever of the year. A monstrous ball of rage, disgust, and utter resignation, it manages to make the listener want to jump around instead of curling up in a ball to die. How Barrick’s drum kit keeps from exploding, I’ll never know. “When I used to go out / I knew everyone I saw / Now I go out alone / if I go out at all.” Uplifting stuff.
Runners-Up:
Bloc Party (EP) ~ Bloc Party
You're a Woman, I'm a Machine ~ Death From Above 1979
You Are The Quarry ~ Morrissey
Misery Is a Butterfly ~ Blonde Redhead
Boy in Da Corner ~ Dizzee Rascal
Probot ~ Probot
Smile ~ Brian Wilson
Honorable Mention:
American Idiot ~ Green Day
Now Here Is Nowhere ~ Secret Machines
Kiss & Tell ~ Sahara Hotnights
Tyrannosaurus Hives ~ The Hives
Young Liars ~ TV on the Radio
Underachievers Please Try Harder ~ Camera Obscura
Pawn Shoppe Heart ~ Von Bondies
Through the Sun Door ~ White Magic
Madvillainy ~ Madvillain
Onoffon ~ Mission Of Burma
Hot Fuss ~ Killers
Louden Up Now ~ !!!
This Island ~ Le Tigre
SINGLES
1. “The Rat” ~ The Walkmen
2. “Take Me Out” ~ Franz Ferdinand
3. “Your Cover’s Blown/Wrapped Up in Books” ~ Belle and Sebastian
4. “C’mon, C’mon” ~ Von Bondies
5. “Float On” ~ Modest Mouse
6. “Can’t Stand Me Now” ~ The Libertines
7. “The Last of the Gang to Die” ~ Morrissey
8. “Spitting Games” ~ Snow Patrol
9. “What You Waiting For” ~ Gwen Stefani
10. “Mr. Brightside” ~ The Killers
…but this goes to…
11. “Teenager” ~ Camera Obscura
Honorable Mention:
Annie, “Chewing Gum”; LCD Soundsystem, “Yeah”; Britney Spears, “Toxic”
REISSUES/ COMPILATIONS
Ranking reissues doesn’t make much sense, but I do have to place the special edition of The Kinks’ The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society at the top. Why? Extras, baby! The Pavement and Clash reissues of great albums are just super, but the extras are somewhat less than enthralling. But this edition of Village Green is three discs of rarities and obscurities worth listening to.
1. Village Green Preservation Society: Remastered Special Edition ~ The Kinks
Crooked Rain Crooked Rain: L.A.'s Desert Origins ~ Pavement
London Calling: The Legacy Edition ~ The Clash
Weezer: Deluxe Edition (The Blue Album) ~ Weezer
Travel Edition, 1990-2005 ~ Saint Etienne
Here are the superior label and theme comps…
Dfa Records Presents: Compilation 2 ~ Various Artists
Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the ‘80s Underground ~ Various Artists
…and the best DJ mixes…
DJ-Kicks ~ Erlend Øye
Suck My Deck ~ Ivan Smagghe
Unclassics ~ Morgan Geist
Whew!! I'm exhausted. That's it. Go home.
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
Hot Pixies Action, 12/13/04
Pixies. Concert. Old. Fat. Better than expected. "I Bleed." "Gigantic." Kim Deal is an angel. I was the youngest person there. Crowded. Missed Mission of Burma. Bummed. Camera phone sucks. Etc., etc.
I don't know why, but even though they played a great show, I'm having difficulty being enthusiastic about the whole thing. I guess you just can't go home again, y'know? Also, Hammerstein Ballroom is way too big for a rock show. I hate that place.
Tracklist:
1. Is She Weird?
2. Something Against You
3. Bone Machine
4. Cactus
5. I Bleed
6. Caribou
7. No. 13 Baby
8. Broken Face
9. UMass
10. Mr. Grieves
11. Dead
12. Hey
13. Velouria
14. Ed Is Dead
15. Gouge Away
16. Wave of Mutilation
17. Monkey's Gone To Heaven
18. Crackity Jones
19. Isla de Encanta
20. Tame
21. In Heaven
22. Wave Of Mutilation (UK Surf)
23. Here Comes Your Man
24. Holiday Song
25. Nimrod's Son
26. Vamos
27. Where Is My Mind
28. [ENCORE] Debaser
29. [ENCORE] Gigantic
Friday, December 10, 2004
Livin' La Vida Aquatico
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou will, as with all Wes Anderson films, require multiple viewings. In his review in the Times, A.O. Scott refers to Anderson's tendency toward "wonder-cabinet production design" (a wonderfully apt description). The guy takes an obsessive-compulsive approach to every frame, resulting in films that don't really sink in until the third or fourth viewing. I can say this, though: it's a very good movie and Bill Murray is my hero.
Most impressive, as always, is the music supervision. I don't want to give anything away, but both Bowie's "Queen Bitch" and Iggy's "Search and Destroy" are used to startling effect. Only Martin Scorsese can match Anderson's facility for using pop music to enhance even the most mundane scenes. Remember "Making Time" and "A Quick One (While He's Away)" in Rushmore? How about Nico's "The Fairest of the Seasons," "Judy is a Punk," and almost the entire first side of the Stones' Between the Buttons in The Royal Tenenbaums? Utter fucking genius.
Anyway, thumbs up.
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
And So It Begins... A Prelude To Listmania!
The Listmania! music list is the management's annual attempt to say a little something about the year's finest albums, singles, etc. Many of you will recall having received/participated in the old, lower-tech e-mail version. This year, what with the "blog" and all, you will be able to visit again and again, see cover art, etc. Also, in addition to the ability to comment without the dreaded "reply to all" stigma, you will still be able to submit your own list (The management will be happy to post many of them) and you can even send a link to your site if you have a similar posting. Glee! This is the kind of idyllic community that we can create using the internets!
This all comes up because, in addition to 2004 being nearly over, the first of the geeked-out 2004 music lists has already arrived. The folks over at The Onion AV Club kicked the list season off late yesterday. *bitter defeat* should follow suit as early as next week.
Thanks to Chezzabella for sending this article on an etymological approach to the word "dude." For those of us who [ab]use the term often, it's a fascinating read.
The management will attend a special premiere screening of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou this evening at MoMA. Can it possibly stand up to expectations? Probably not, but it still looks great. An assessment will follow shortly.
This all comes up because, in addition to 2004 being nearly over, the first of the geeked-out 2004 music lists has already arrived. The folks over at The Onion AV Club kicked the list season off late yesterday. *bitter defeat* should follow suit as early as next week.
Thanks to Chezzabella for sending this article on an etymological approach to the word "dude." For those of us who [ab]use the term often, it's a fascinating read.
The management will attend a special premiere screening of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou this evening at MoMA. Can it possibly stand up to expectations? Probably not, but it still looks great. An assessment will follow shortly.
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
Mischa Barton: "Will You Still Love Me If I Switch Back to Solid Foods??"
Mischa Baaaaaaaarton
Originally uploaded by the management.
The management has been made aware of the fact that Mischa Barton, star of best-show-on-TV The OC and international spokes-scarecrow for not eating, was also the freaky puke ghost in The Sixth Sense. Apparently I was the only person in the world who didn't know. The real question is this: is this the scene that put Mischa on the glamorous road to full-fledged celebrity bulemia? Has she graduated to the far more A-list anorexia nervosa? Is she perhaps dabbling in crystal meth, fancying herself a model type? If so, can we get her dealer's number?
Some reptilian part of my brain must have known that the Meesh was also the scary vomit girl... she has always unsettled me on a visceral level. Especially in this scene from the OC season premiere. Note the unlikely appearance of her frumpy, saggy ass... the last outpost of stubborn humanity on an otherwise extraterrestrial frame.
Six days and counting to the Pixies/Mission of Burma show. Here's a great Frank Black Francis Thompson quote about the reunion from Ken Switzer's Village Voice article:
"'People talk like, "Oh, they're just doing it for the money," as if it's some kind of ignoble thing. But the fact of the matter is, as a musician, you work really hard to get where you're at, you put a lot of effort into it, and maybe you fight with a lot of people about it.' So, he says, 'It's not just about money in the most evil sense of the word; it's about being an artist as opposed to being the manager of a warehouse.'"
Finally, just in case you were worried, renegade Rolling Stones remixer Fatboy Slim assuages the fear of electronic music fans everywhere: it's just in a slump right now. An offhanded admission to the mediocrity of his latest album?? Could be. Word on the street is that it's a lump of shit. Of course, how that differentiates the album from the rest of his work remains to be seen.
Monday, December 06, 2004
Matthew Barney? Chris Cunningham?? GOD???
I have no idea who's responsible for THIS, but they are to be congratulated.
All I can say is this: RAD. AWESOME. HOLY FUCKING SHIT THAT RULES.
You get the point.
**UPDATE** This is apparently the work of an artist named Mariko Takahashi. A definite resident of WTFland.
All I can say is this: RAD. AWESOME. HOLY FUCKING SHIT THAT RULES.
You get the point.
**UPDATE** This is apparently the work of an artist named Mariko Takahashi. A definite resident of WTFland.
Wednesday, December 01, 2004
I Love The 00s, Episode One
Remember Friendster?? Remember iPods?? Oh, and the last episode of Friends... that was so sad. Playstation 2 was so deck!! Trucker hats, too!! Oh my god, wasn't Electroclash funny?? I wanted to marry The Strokes. You know what was a great song?? "I'm sorry Miss Jackson (OOOH), but I am for reeeeeal!!"
The management has just been made aware of the fact that episodes of I Love the... go by year. Please disregard the above parody, as it doesn't make sense. It's a slow day at the office. Thank you for your understanding.
The management has just been made aware of the fact that episodes of I Love the... go by year. Please disregard the above parody, as it doesn't make sense. It's a slow day at the office. Thank you for your understanding.
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