Let's do a "Favorites of 2004 So Far" thread!

[DariusNYC]

It's been 6 months, Summer is here, Davey has posted his Half Gone Comp . . . . it's the time for a Favorites of 2004 So Far thread. So those of you who buy a decent number of new albums give us a mini-list, I would suggest a Top Five List. Here's my very tentative list:

1. Kanye West -- College Dropout

2. Modest Mouse -- Good News For People Who Love Bad News

3. Morrissey -- You Are the Quarry

4. Secret Machines -- Now Here is Nowhere

5. Wilco -- A Ghost is Born (this may go way up or way down with more listens)

Big caveat is I haven't yet purchased some albums that I'm very interested in, so we'll see how this evolves.

Give us your lists!

[tentoze]

Running on a very dicey memory since I'm at work, and realizing that changes might result once I'm home and look through the stack of stuff I've bought so far:

1) Davendra Banhart, Rejoicing In The Hands- doesn't find its way out of the cd player for very long at a time.
2) Bonnie Prince Billy Sings Greatest Palace Songs- great tunes, great session players backing Oldham up, excellent sound.
3) Ghost, Hypnotic Underworld- just to show that I ain't really a one-twang pony.
4) Espers, S/T- Songs that sound medieval, until those crashing electric guitars come rolling in.
5) Vetiver, S/T- A 1st cousin to Rejoicing In The Hands .

[Davey]

It is kind of tough because I haven't heard that many albums and many of the ones I have heard all have about the same appeal to me. So there's about 5 others that could fit on this list but are left off for now. Like Animal Collective and Lali Puna and Moonbabies. And that Ghost album that tentoze likes so much is muy bueno prog rock too. Captured over 10 minutes of the title suite on my Half Gone. Seems like The Streets and Kayne West and Loretta Lynn are running away with the top spots from the critics this year. I bet the Streets is gonna be a big seller too since I've been seeing it advertised on TV. Can you believe that Modest Mouse now has a gold album? Couldn't happen to a goofier bunch of guys! Do the cockroach, bitter buffalo. Pretty cool video for Float On ;)

1. Honeydogs - 10,000 Years
2. Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News
3. Devendra Banhart - Rejoicing In The Hands
4. Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
5. Electrelane - The Power Out

[Stone]

1. Destroyer - Your Blues
2. Loretta Lynn - Van Lear Rose
3. Les Savy Fav - Inches
4. Mission of Burma - OnOffOn
5. The M's - s/t

I just bought the latest Devendra Banhart and Sonic Youth, and there are a few I haven't spent much time with yet, but I think AC Newman, Xiu Xiu, and The New Year all have a chance of making my top ten list at the end of the year (as does Mclusky).

I still don't have Animal Collective, Wilco, Beastie Boys, Honeydogs, Scissor Sisters, Franz Ferdinand and many others.

[tentoze]

I just bought the latest Devendra Banhart and Sonic Youth, and there are a few I haven't spent much time with yet, but I think AC Newman, Xiu Xiu, and The New Year all have a chance of making my top ten list at the end of the year (as does Mclusky).
I'd be interested to hear about the AC Newman; it may be on my wishlist if I get a rec...........

:)

[Dusty Chalk]

Auf der Maur -- recommended for the Garbage/Smashing Pumpkins crowd
yelworC, Trinity -- finally! (Industrial; one of the best of the Metropolis releases)
Decree, Moment of Silence -- strange combination of industrial, psychedelic, and jam (the other of the best of the Metropolis releases)
Friends of Dean Martinez, Random Harvest -- melifluous
Real Tuesday Weld, I, Lucifer -- bizarre
Skinny Puppy, The Greater Wrong of the Right -- sounds like the last ohGr album, but that's still a good thing
Einstürzende Neubauten, Perpetuum Mobile -- these guys just get better with age (alternative rock played with odd instruments)

...I'm sure I'm forgetting something...

[Stone]

I'd be interested to hear about the AC Newman; it may be on my wishlist if I get a rec...........

:)

I really like it a lot, and recommend it to fans of power pop and indie pop. It's got some real catchy tunes, and they seem to be stuck in my head lately. It's really a fine collection of well-crafted pop tunes, and he uses a variety of instruments (but doesn't overdo it), which I really like.

I'd like to hear that Espers album - interested in a swap?

[Slosh]

#1 for me would easily be Les Savy Fav - Inches but since it's all previously released singles it shouldn't really count as new, so that leaves...

McLusky - The Difference Between Me And You Is I'm Not On Fire
Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News
Wilco - A Ghost Is Born

Pretty sad that we're this far into the year and this is all I have (plus an EP) :(
All are quite good however so I suppose I can't b<a>itch too much.

NP: Roxy Music - Avalon (SACD)

[tentoze]

I really like it a lot, and recommend it to fans of power pop and indie pop. It's got some real catchy tunes, and they seem to be stuck in my head lately. It's really a fine collection of well-crafted pop tunes, and he uses a variety of instruments (but doesn't overdo it), which I really like.

I'd like to hear that Espers album - interested in a swap?
It's yrs, amigo.

;)

[Davey]

1) Davendra Banhart, Rejoicing In The Hands- doesn't find its way out of the cd player for very long at a time.
Yeah, I've been playing that one a lot too. The glow seems to fade out a bit in the second half for me, but lots to like throughout. What do you think of the Willard Grant Conspiracy? I know it's kind of a 2003 release for Europe but here in the USA it's a 2004 and a very good one too. Maybe not top 5 for me, but still very good. I think Uncut Magazine had it top 5 last year. "The ghost of the girl in the well" still knocks me out everytime. Guess it doesn't really stand out that much from their previous albums, but only because the quality of all their work is so high, even if a bit undramatically so.

<i>All I need is a soft hand
to ease me in</i>

[tentoze]

Yeah, I've been playing that one a lot too. The glow seems to fade out a bit in the second half for me, but lots to like throughout. What do you think of the Willard Grant Conspiracy? I know it's kind of a 2003 release for Europe but here in the USA it's a 2004 and a very good one too. Maybe not top 5 for me, but still very good. I think Uncut Magazine had it top 5 last year. "The ghost of the girl in the well" still knocks me out everytime. Guess it doesn't really stand out that much from their previous albums, but only because the quality of all their work is so high, even if a bit undramatically so.

All I need is a soft hand
to ease me inRejoicing stays solid from start to finish for me, but I'm way off the hard road most of the time anyway. And now that you mention WGC, I DO consider it a 2004 release, and it easily knocks off my #5 pick from yesterday (like I said, I was going off of shaky memory alone). It gets as much playing at the Desert Sanctuary as the Banhart, Handsome Family's Signing Bones, Lambchop's Aw C'Mon, and Sun Kil Moon- those seem to always be out of the rack for the last little while. Agreed that the WGC is not a tornado, more like a summer shower that slowly increases in strength and accumulates in the senses. Just plain damn good stuff. It seems that several of the groups I have a great deal of respect for have more of a following in Europe- besides WGC, 16 Horsepower and Johnny Dowd come immediately to mind; and no doubt there are a dozen more.

[Davey]

And now that you mention WGC, I DO consider it a 2004 release, and it easily knocks off my #5 pick from yesterday
Yeah, I'm pretty sure it'll be in my top 10 if we deem it a 2004 release, which I'm also inclined to do since that's what it says on the back. Beautiful album, and probably the first one to realize their full potential for the whole CD. And doesn't sacrifice anything to do it since it still has a couple real standouts like on all their albums. Really starting to grow on me. Kind of like a creeping fungus. Just did a Google and turned up the Uncut review which is some interesting reading. They really, really liked it. Album of the month and top 5 of the year. Lots of prose. Link below.....

http://wgc.hinah.com/press/?id=160

[Swish]

Honeydogs - 10,000 Years You were right Davey, this is a keeper. They sound very different, and much better, than on the previous material I've heard from them.

Richmond Fontaine - Post to Wire Fun stuff. I guess you can consider it "Alt Country". He does this funny bit between the songs where he writes to his friend "Pete",

Les Savy Fav - Inches Somewhat of a departure for me, but I like this just fine.

Franz Ferdinand - S/T

I could only come up with four right now, but with "Animal Collective" on the way, maybe I'll have 5?

Swish

P.S. Happy 4th of July!

[Davey]

Honeydogs - 10,000 Years You were right Davey, this is a keeper......but with "Animal Collective" on the way, maybe I'll have 5?
Honeydogs rule! Glad you like it. Nothing else really like it that I've heard this year. Kind of in limbo land though, outside of indie but not close to mainstream. Our buddy allears said he picked up a copy too but no feedback yet. I used the opening and closing tracks to open and close my new Half Gone 2004 comp. They're almost like a prologue and epilogue on the album, setting the scene and then wrapping up the story. They are somewhat representative of the diverse musical styles you'll find even though there is so much more beyond those two songs to explore.

On the other hand, I can't even predict how you'll react to Animal Collective. Did you listen to any samples? About half of it is available at the label site I've posted before in full length mp3. I'm probably a little weirder than you when it comes to music and usually have more time to get to know it, so give it time and don't dismiss it right away...but it might not be something you like all that much. It is fun, but a little messy too :)

[Swish]

Nevermind the music reference :) You have steered me toward some crazy stuff in the past, but the winners have made up for it. I had no interest in the new Honeydogs until I saw your rave review. Their previous release is gathering dust in my cd cabinet, so 10,000 Years really surprised me. It's very different without being too odd or experimental if you know what I mean. I played it for a couple friend and they were equally impressed on the first listen, so they asked for promotional samples. ;)

NP: Super Furry Animals - Phantom Power

Swish