Top ten disks of 2004

1. Sonic Nurse, Sonic Youth. A satisfying return from the over-the-hill gang.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Funeral, Arcade Fire. The “it” record of 2004, and well-deserved, if not as much as one hears. Rousing.
5. Franz Ferdinand, Franz Ferdinand. Fab—bonus points for the fantastic constructivist video by Jonas Odell.
6. Talkie Walkie, Air. Once again, some of the most heartachingly beautiful pop tunes put to silicon.
7. Britney Spears Greatest Hits: My Prerogative, Britney Spears. (If it plays, it goes on the list.) Toxic, y’all.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. “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.