Top ten disks of 2004
- Sonic Nurse, Sonic Youth. A satisfying return from the over-the-hill gang.
- Madvillianry, Madvillian. What do you get when you pair the genre’s greatest DJ and one of its best emcees? Predictably, the best hip-hop record of 2004, that’s what. Great cover image.
- The Grey Album, Jay-Z and DJ Danger Mouse. I ditched all of my old Beatles records a long time back, not because I didn’t like them, but that I was fatigued. The beauty of the Grey Album is that the Fab Four have been recontextualized; they sound fresh again.
- Funeral, Arcade Fire. The “it” record of 2004, and well-deserved, if not as much as one hears. Rousing.
- Franz Ferdinand, Franz Ferdinand. Fab—bonus points for the fantastic constructivist video by Jonas Odell.
- Talkie Walkie, Air. Once again, some of the most heartachingly beautiful pop tunes put to silicon.
- Britney Spears Greatest Hits: My Prerogative, Britney Spears. (If it plays, it goes on the list.) Toxic, y’all.
- Radio Morocco, “Various artists.” Sublime Frequencies is perhaps the worst-kept secret of the last twelve months—their disks have been cropping up on many best-of lists. I prefer the “radio” recordings to the field and found cassettes, because you get a sense of the times through pop, vocal stylings, ads, &c. That they come across in French, English, and Berber, makes it twice as nice.
- Ta Det Lugnt, Dungen. The Swedish combo has an elusive, authentic sound, one lost in time, the result of spending a good number of years, sitting in their bedrooms, listening to Zeppelin. Indescribable.
- “Vertigo,” U2. I don’t own the disk; haven’t downloaded it; still may have heard it more than any other single this year, thanks to Apple and MTV. It’s good.
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