with only 2 weeks left in the year i think its safe to start rolling out the "best of..." lists. i'm sure some good discs slipped through my radar in 2004 so maybe this can be a way to discover some shit i missed. heres my list...

15. Sultans - Shipwrecked
14. New Found Glory - Catalyst
13. Blood For Blood - Serenity
12. David Cross - It's Not Funny
11. Flogging Molly - Within A Mile of Home
10. Beastie Boys - To the 5 Boroughs
09. Avoid One Thing - Chopstick Bridge
08. Handsome Boy Modeling School - White People
07. Bars - Introducing...
06. (International) Noise Conspiracy - Armed Love
05. The Black Keys - Rubber Factory
04. Jimmy Eat World - Futures [deluxe edition]
03. The Ducky Boys - Three Chords and the Truth
02. Incubus - A Crow Left of the Murder
01. Green Day - American Idiot

1. Helix - Rockin' In My Outer Space
2. BLS - Hangover Music Vol.6
3. Brides Of Destruction - Here Come The Brides
4. Naked Beggars
5. Aerosmith - Honkin' On Bobo
6. Enuff Z'Nuff - ?
7. Tesla - Into The Now
8. Scorpions - Unbreakable
9. U2 - HTDAAB
10. Duran Duran - Astronaut

Here's my top 25 list and my bottom 4. And that covers all the new release CDs I bought this year.

1 Joanna Newsom - The Milk-Eyed Mender
2 Bjork - Medulla
3 Allison Moorer - The Duel
4 They Might Be Giants - The Spine, The Spine Surfs Alone EP, Indestructable Object EP
5 Patti Smith - Trampin'
6 Nellie McKay - Get Away From Me
7 Rilo Kiley - More Adventurous
8 Arcade Fire - Funeral
9 Kasey Chambers - Wayward Angel
10 Magnetic Fields, The - i
11 Auf der Maur - Auf der Maur
12 Madeleine Peyroux - Careless Love
13 Neko Case - The Tigers Have Spoken
14 PJ Harvey - Uh Huh Her
15 Keren Ann - Not Going Anywhere
16 Muffs, The - Really Really Happy
17 Adrienne Young & Little Sadie - Plow to the End of the Row
18 Avril Lavigne - Under My Skin
19 Tift merritt - Tambourine
20 Loretta Lynn - Van Lear Rose
21 Banco de Gaia - You Are Here
22 Jem - Finally Woken
23 Ani Defranco - Educated Guess
24 Norah Jones - Feels Like Home
25 Julianna Hatfield - In Exile Deo

Bottom 4
4 Wilco - A Ghost is Born
3 Tortoise- It is All Around You
2 Gretchen Wilson - Here For the Party
1 David Cross - It's Not Funny

the David Cross cd was the worst cd you bought all year? wow. any reasoning behind this?

Um, It's Not Funny? I loved 'Shut Up You Fucking Baby', and this just seemed like a less than funny rant of the same topics that were covered on 'Shut Up'. Big disappointment for me. Same reasoning with Wilco and Tortoise- I love both those groups and their releases were mediocre at best this year, thus major disappointments that affected their place on my list.

fair enough. i guess what i was curious about was whether or not you were familiar with his act when you bought it.

I'd say my list are in no particular order:

Franz Ferdinand, "Franz Ferdinand"
Green Day, "American Idiot"
TV on the Radio, "Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes"
Bjφrk, "Medulla"
The Pixies, "Live in Eugene Oregon 4/28/04" (thank you DiscLive!)
Modest Mouse, "Good News For People Who Love Bad News"
The Arcade Fire, "Funeral"


I would also rank the new "Wilco" as disappointing, I just haven't gotten into it at all.

My list:
1. Blood Brothers - Crimes
2. Green Day - American Idiot
3. Say Anything - ...is a Real Boy
4. The Littlest Man Band - Better Book Ends
5. Rise Against - Siren Song of the Counter Culture

The list could go on for a while, but after giving it some thought, these are really the only albums I see myself listening to repeatedly over the years. This year was pretty weak for music, IMO, with a lot more disappointments than usual.

Of the new releases I bought this year:

1)The Arcade Fire – Funeral
2)Wilco – A Ghost Is Born
3)Brian Wilson - Smile
4)Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus
5)Modest Mouse – Good News for People Who Love Bad News
6)The Polyphonic Spree – Together We’re Heavy
7)Elliot Smith – From a Basement on the Hill
8)The Fiery Furnaces - Blueberry Boat
9)Rufus Wainwright - Want Two
10)Of Montreal – Satanic Panic in the Attic

Most of these are from the last few months, simply because I can't remember all of the music I got this year...I thought Modest Mouse came out in 2003 until someone mentioned it and I checked it. I thought it was generally a very good year...

Oh, and I thought A Ghost Was Born wasn't that great when I first listened to it, but after a couple more listens, it really has grown on me. I think it's a great record. Not as good as YHF, but still very good.

Brian

Edit: Forgot about Smile...

Didn't pick up many new releases this year, just tons of reissues and older stuff. Here's a few of 2004's discs I enjoyed:
7. The Alarm - In The Poppy Fields
6. Bad Religion - The Empire Strikes First
5. Tarbox Ramblers - A Fix Back East
4. Social Distortion - Sex, Love And Rock 'N' Roll
3. Tiger Army - III: Ghost Tigers Rise
3. Sultans - Shipwrecked
2. Flogging Molly - Within A Mile Of Home
1. The Meteors - The Lost Album

And, dissapointments:

4. The Hives - Tyrannosaurus Hives
-I didn't expect much out of this anyway, but this album is just plain terrible.

3. Nekromantix - Dead Girls Don't Cry
-yawn

2.Hot Snakes - Audit In Progress
-Now, I love RFTC and will buy all the side project-stuff for as long as I shall live, but what the hell iis this?!?! I enjoyed the first 2, but this throws repetitive word-shouting and instrumentation into almost-melodies. "Hair And DNA" sounds like it could fit onto one of their other albums, but the rest of the disc is downright lame. I'm puzzled at why it got such good reviews.

1.Reverend Horton Heat - Revival
-The only reason why the Hot Snakes CD isn't #1 is because I was expecting so much more from this album. Sure there are a few good tracks here (the title track is GREAT!), but on most of the tracks the band just seems to be going through the motions. Lots of unoriginal stuff here. Many of these songs remind me of some of the band's older/better stuff. This is definately the Rev's worst album. Yes, it's much worse than Space Heater. Please, please, PLEASE never work with Ed Stasium again.

1. Paulson - Variations
2. Saosin - Translating the name
3. Head Automatica - Decadence
4. Killswitch Engage - The end of Heartache
5. Alexisonfire - Watchout
6. MF Doom - MMM Food
7. God Forbid - Gone forever
8. Before Today - A Celebration of an Ending
9. Dead Poetic - New Medicines
10. Taking Back Sunday - Where you Want to Be

madvillain
wilco
killers
modest mouse
king's x (live)

total disagreement, it's way better than their first, fantastic stuff, IMO

Scorpions - Unbreakable

Brides Of Destuction - Here Come The Brides

Velvet Revolver - Contraband

Alter Bridge - One Day Remains

Megadeth - The System Has Failed

RTZ - Lost & Found

Avril Lavigne - Under My Skin

Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway

Gwen Stefani - Love Angel Music Baby

1) Arcade Fire - "Funeral"
2) Camera Obscura - "Underachievers Please Try Harder"
3) Rogue Wave - "Out of the Shadow"
4) Very Most - "Make the Case for Me"
5) Nastasia, Nina - "Dogs" (Reissue)
6) Saturday Looks Good to Me - "Every Night"
7) Hidden Cameras - "Mississauga, Goddam"
8) Brian Wilson - "Smile"
9) Viva Voce - "The Heat Can Melt Your Brain
10) Mirah - "C'Mon Miracle"


Other notables:

!!! - "Louden Up Now"
Apostle of Hustle - "Folkloric Feel"
High Water Marks - "Songs About the Ocean"
Magnetic Fields - "i"
Nanook of the North - "The Tδby Tapes"
Unbunny - "Snow Tires"

I could only think of 7...

• Joss Stone - "Mind, Body & Soul"
• Norah Jones - "Feels Like Home"
• Keane - "Hopes And Fears"
• U2 - How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
• Ivana Santilli - "Corduroy Boogie"
• Los Lonely Boys
• Jill Scott - "Beautifully Human: Words & Sounds 2"

There might be more..

Brian Wilson - SMILE*
Bjork - MEDULLA
Morrissey - YOU ARE THE QUARRY
Mission of Burma - ONOFFON
Interpol - ANTICS
Q and not U - POWER
Jay-Z - THE BLACK ALBUM
Beastie Boys - TO THE 5 BOROUGHS
The Foreign Exchange - CONNECTED
Ted Leo/Pharmacists - SHAKE THE SHEETS
Annie - ANNIEMAL
The Streets - A GRAND DON'T COME FOR FREE
TV on the Radio - Desperate Youth...
Ratatat - Ratatat

*best album of the year

Sonic Nurse

favourite albums of 2004:

Air – Talkie Walkie
Banco de Gaia - You Are Here
Bjork – Medulla
Charlatans, The – Up At the Lake
Delays, The - Faded Seaside Glamour
Dogs Die in Hot Cars – Please Describe Yourself
Earlies, The - These Were the Earlies
Egg, The - /forward *
Franz Ferdinand
Futureheads, The
Grand Drive - The Lights In This Town Are Too Many To Count
Grand National - Kicking the National Habit
Hives, The - Tyrannosaurus Hives
Interpol - Antics
Kasabain – Kasabain
Keane – Hopes and Fears
Killers, The – Hot Fuss
Morrissey – You Are the Quarry
Mull Historical Society - This Is Hope
Mutiny – Yada Yada
Razorlight
Streets, The - A Grand Don’t Come For A Free
Zutons, The – Who Killed The Zutons

Compliation
DFA Compliation Vol. 2

reissue
Manic Street Preachers – The Holy Bible

* best album of the year

1. Killers, The - Hot Fuss
2. Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
3. Interpol - Antics
4. Keane - Hopes and Fears
5. Garden State Soundtrack (even though I already owned most of the songs, still a spectacular combination)
6. N*E*R*D - Fly Or Die
7. U2 - How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
8. Merritt, Tift - Tambourine
9. Wilson, Brian - Smile
10. Dogs Die In Hot Cars - Please Describe Yourself

No particular order...

Green Day - American Idiot

Muse - Absolution

Garden State Soundtrack

Nirvana - With The Lights Out (Not "new" music, but c'mon...)

Slipknot - Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses

There has been only 1 great album this year. Real Gone by Tom Waits,

1 really good album, Good New for People... Modest Mouse

2 Good Albums , A Ghost Is Born by Wilco, and Velvet Revolver Contraband

and a few decent ones, Antics by Interpol, American Idiot by Green Day, maybe 1 or 2 more.

And of course the best album of the year ( I am a lil obsessed) Lindsay Lohans Speak, yeah yeah yeah, but a few songs are pretty good, and shes amazing.
im like a 15 year old kid when I see her. hehe

!!! - Louden Up Now
Modest Mouse - Good News...
Morrisey - You Are The Quarry
Polyphonic Spree - Together We're Heavy
The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free

In no particular order

Real Gone - Tom Waits
Nelly - Suit
Anthony Hamilton - Comin' From Where I'm From
1.22.03 Acoustic - Maroon 5
The Girl in the Other Room - Diana Krall
American Idiot - Green Day
The Delivery Man - Elvis Costello
Fly or Die - N*E*R*D

Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
Mando Diao - Hurricane Bar
Soundtrack of Our Lives - Origin Vol. 1
The Killers - Hot Fuss
The Go! Team - Thunder Lightning Strike
U2 - How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
The Libertines - The Libertines
Kasabian - Kasabian
Delays - Faded Seaside Glamour
Embrace - Out of Nothing
The Charlatans - Up At The Lake
Interpol - Antics
Ryan Adams - Love Is Hell
The Concretes - The Concretes
Ted Leo - Shake The Sheets