Well, here's the motherload, Took me awhile to compile this year end poll. Had just as much fun making the best of 2004 CD mix for family and friends. I hope a few of you post a list as well. I love reading them and sharing with fellow music lovers.
In My Room
Kevin’s Favorite Music of 2004
This was the year of Folk Music, I’d say. Over half of my Top 25 CD’s could be classified as Folk Music. It was also the year of the ‘Cover’ albums for me. Paul Weller, Kathryn Williams, David Kitt and The Innocence Mission all released ‘Covers’ discs. Maybe they all should have released their own music instead. Sure, there were a couple of good cover versions on those albums, but for the most part, they weren’t any better than your average “American Idol” show. Here’s a few lists of what truly rocked, inspired and on occasion gave me goose bumps or moved me to tears.
Top 25 CD’s of The Year
1.) Ray LaMontagne-“Trouble” Wow!, of all the CD’s that graced my player(s) this year, none repeated as often as this disc. Ray and producer, Ethan Johns created a modern day masterpiece, yet the disc sounds like it was made in the early 70’s. Great songs, great voice, great future for this amazing US talent from Maine.
2.) Tom Baxter-”Feather & Stone” British singer/songwriter who’s often compared to Jeff Buckley, Chris Martin(Coldplay) and Ed Hardcourt, yet he’s far to talented for that! An artist with amazing songwriting craft and passionate vocals. His B-sides on his UK CD-singles are worthy of inclusion on his debut. Rarely have b-sides been so strong. Funny thing! There mainly cover tunes, damn good ones for a change.
3.) Franz Ferdinand-“Franz Ferdinand” Is this band going to end up on almost every critics ‘best of 2004’ list or what? Art-Dance-Rock for the new millennium. Mix a little Bowie, a little Blondie, and a whole lot of infectious hooks to create the best guitar rock CD of the year! Forget all that power pop punk crap. Forget all that wannabe garage noise. This is the best guitar rock band out there!
4.) The Memory Band-“The Memory Band” Instantly this disc wraps you in it’s subtle folk-tronica warmth. If ever a band deserved the label folk-tronic, this is it. Very few vocals, yet I hum all the way through.
5.) Sam Phillips-”A Boot and A Shoe” Comeback of the year! Sam’s best disc since “Martini’s & Bikini’s”. Sam has finally found her niche. I hope she continues down this path. An amazing collaboration would be Sam and Joe Henry teaming up/doing a record together. Well, one can wish, can’t he?
6.) Jolie Holland-”Escondida” Former “The Be Good Tanya’s” member releases her sophomore disc. Tom Waits thinks she’s the best singer/songwriter out there. He’s not wrong. Most definitely the best new Diva on the block!
7.) Iron & Wine-“Our Endless Numbered Days” Southern gothic folk music. In my opinion, Sam Beam tops his debut. I don’t know why this record spoke to me so much. Gentle soothing songs ‘bout religion, mortality and death. Sounds fun, eh?
8.) Athlete-“Vehicles & Animals” Released last year in the UK, gets a Mercury Prize nomination and sells a good number of copies throughout Europe. Released this year in the states, totally ignored. Sound familiar? Is it typical Brit Pop fair? Well, yes and no, but it’s great pop music. Sophomore disc drops in January’05.
9.) Devendra Banhart-”Rejoicing In The Hands…“ & “Nino Rojo” Devendra release two discs in one year. First one could have been edited a wee bit. Second is a flat out marvel of avant-garde folk music. No one on this planet sounds even close to this guy. He is the most individual and unique singer/songwriter/guitarist I’ve ever heard. He’s a damn good Fine Artist as well. Does all of his own CD artwork and lettering.
10.) Caetano Veloso-”A Foreign Sound” Caetano’s first all-English vocals collection. 22 standards and classics from the great American Songbook. Lovely interpretations, only one misstep, his Dylan cover.
11.) Kings Of Convenience-”Riot On A Empty Street” Norwegian duo finally drops it’s sophomore disc. More varied then the debut. Gentle chill out folk pop.
12.) Adrian Crowley- “A Northern Country” The saddest record of the year. Irish singer/songwriter is criminally ignored by the masses, even in his own country. By far, his best release.
13.) Adem-”Homesongs” Scotsman’s debut. With the help from former band mates of Badly Drawn Boy & Fridge amongst others, Adem creates a collection of modern day folk music. Bleeps and blips are kept at a minimum allowing the words and simple cords to grab your attention.
14.) James Yorkston & The Athletes-”Just Beyond The River” More subtle then the debut. James is the closest thing we have to a modern day Van Morrison/John Martyn. His band (The Athletes) are flat out brill! This disc is a slow grower and worth the repeated listens to get into.
15.) Gravenhurst-”Flashlight Seasons” Gravenhurst is one man. Gravenhurst is Nick Talbot. Gravenhurst is folk music. Gravenhurst is good for your soul.
16.) The Hidden Cameras-”Mississauga Goddam” Never has a gay, church choir, chamber pop band sounded so good! Joel Gibb and co. release yet another fine collection of songs about water sports, tea rooms, sex with married men and getting the hell out of your home town. I wish I had this music when I was a young man. I dare you not to hum along with some of these brill pop songs!
17.) Bebel Gilberto-”Bebel Gilberto” Brazilian pop chanteuse’s second collection of Bossa Nova pop. Sexy, laid back, rhythms sung in English and Brazilian Portuguese .
18.) Half Cousin-”The Function room” Scottish duo who love to mix quirky sounds, loops, and guitar based folk rock. Very low-fi, very cool!
19.) Rufus Wainwright-”Want Two” Not strong as “Want One”. But nonetheless a very good collection. More orchestral then “One’. The best American Songwriter alive today. Why aren’t the American idols (Idiots) singing this stuff? Far better then most of the crap they cover.
20.) Sondre Lerche-”Two Way Monologue” Norway’s Rufus Wainwright! Only Sondre is a far better singer than Rufus and a wee bit more quirky. Great sophomore disc. Very Beatles and Bacharach at the same time.
21.) Keane-”Hope And Fears” No guitars, just piano, drums and keyboards make up one of the great pop discs of the year. Also contains one of the great new vocalists (Tom Chaplin) in pop music.
22.) Vinicius Cantuaria-”Horse And Fish” Brazilian singer/guitarist and one of the best jazz/rock assembles make another strong collection of jazzy, Brazilian, fusion rock. Definitely stands out of Caetano’s shadow!
23.) Grand Drive-”The Lights in This Town…” This band can do no wrong. Another damn fine collection of Americana rock/pop. Funny thing is they’re Aussie ex-pats living in London and they do it better then most American acts.
24.) Damien Dempsey-”Seize The Day” Seize your total commitment to this young man’s fight! An Irish singer/songwriter who sounds a lot like Christy Moore and sings about one young man’s issues in modern day Ireland. Remarkable street-smart songwriter.
25.) Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter-”Oh My Girl” This one took along time to cast it’s spell on my ears. Like Jolie, Jesse’s got it!
Bubbling Under:
Beta Band-“Heroes to Zeroes”, James Blunt-“Back to Bedlam”, U2-“How To Dismantle…”, R.E.M.-“Around The Sun” Intepol-”Antics”, Magnet-”On Your Side”, Jeffery Foucault-”Strpping Cane”, Hem-”Eveningland”, The Zutons-”Who killed…..The Zutons” Delays-Faded Seaside Glamour, Keren Ann-”Not going Anywhere”.
Maybe Next year(CD‘s that should have been better):
1.) The Finn Brothers-”Everyone Is Here” A complete waste of amazing talent. The most boring collection of Neil Finn’s career.
2.) The Blue Nile-“High” I don’t know if I can wait another seven years for their next disc. This one wasn’t a bore, it just didn’t do anything new for the band. To bad, because we have to wait so long between albums.
3.) Tift Merrit-”Tambourine” So talented, such an amazing singer/songwriter, Such a letdown. This women needs Ethan Johns back behind the deck. Over-produced fluff!
4.) Joanna Newsom-”The Milk-Eyed Mender” Not that this was a bad record. It was a good one, But why doesn’t it capture the raw energy, true naivety of her live performances and the harp sounds half as good as it does when she performs live. To bad. Needs a producer/production to bring the best out of her.
Best Movie Soundtrack:
Gustavo Santaolalla-“The Motorcycle Diaries”
Most over-rated Soundtrack:
“Garden State” Do we have to hear another Mall-Rat say how cool The Shins are? Worst yet, Does Frou Frou sound like Dido or what? I’m going to be even further obnoxious by saying that I have been making mix tapes like this for years. Come on kids, get grip, start mixing your own!
Best Re-Issue CD’s:
1.) Jeff Buckley-”Grace”(Legacy Edition)
2.) Nick Drake-"Made To Love Magic"
3,) The Go-Betweens- “Liberty Bell And The Black Diamond Express“, ”Tallulah” and “16 Lovers Lane”(2 Disc Jetset label)
4,) The Waterboys “This Is The Sea”(2 Disc UK reissue)
Best Song/Single:
1.) Franz Ferdinand-“Take Me Out”
2.) Tom Baxter-”My Declaration”
3.) Ray LaMontagne-“Jolene”
4.) The Walkmen-"The Rat"
5.) Travis- “Walking In The Sun”
6.) Delays-”Long Time Coming”
7.) Iron & Wine-”Passing Afternoon”
8.) Gravenhurst-”The Ice Tree”
10.) Keane-”Somewhere Only We Know”
2004 Song in a class all by itself (One for the Great American Songbook):
Rufus Wainwright-”The Art Teacher” If only Ella was alive to record this gem!
Best Video:
1.) Kings Of Convenience-”I’d Rather Dance With You”
2.) Franz Ferdinand-”Take Me Out”
Best Long format Music Video/DVD:
Travis-”Singles” What a great package this is. You get all the videos (minus that horrible US version of the “Turn”- Thank God!). Bonus material includes behind-the-scene’s, making of’s, TV appearances and band commentaries, Plus some great hidden easter eggs as well! All for a very low price tag and for a change, Sony does it right the first time, not years later with the expanded or re-release.
Best CD Cover/Sleeve Art:
1.) Devendra Banhart-“Nino Rojo” & “Rejoicing In The Hands…”
2.) Adem-”Homesongs”
3.) U2-”How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb”(limited book edition)
4.) Delays-”Faded Seaside Glamour”(UK edition)
Best CD Sleeve Notes:
1.) Caetano Veloso-“A Foreign Sound”
2.) The Go-Betweens -“ Liberty Bell…”, “Tallulah” and “16 Lovers Lane”(2004 2-disc reissues on the Jetset label)
Do I Have to wait another year for?
1.) Beth Orton’s new CD produced by Kieran Hebden(aka Four Tet) who happened to help/or produce #13 and #14 in my Top 25 of this year.
2.) New music from David Baerwald.(Maybe in download format?)
3.) Radiohead to put out another record?
4.) Wilco getting back to writing/recording good tunes, not noise!, Good tunes!
