Revisiting my "Top Albums of 2004" 20 Years Later
Part 8 of 10: Real good stuff
Hey!
We got a move date. Or time. House isn’t sold, but we are moving next month. Let’s Go! Christmas in the new place.
Welcome back. Things are rolling along here, nothing much new to report beyond that. It’s been a horrendously wet week where we live (and somehow a big chunk of the US is STILL having a heatwave?).
Like millions of others, I’m now 2 weeks out since I deleted Twitter/X and I haven’t noticed a significant change in my life, though maybe there is less clutter around. I still get a lot on Bluesky, but it’s been a nice change and not as dramatic as I thought it would be. Still lacking some resources for local news/alerts that I used that platform for, but nothing I haven’t been able to navigate.
Getting toward the end of the year, as you know. I’d like to get one more of these posts up before the end of the month but am going out of town for Thanksgiving and don’t know if I’ll get to it. Regardless, we are in good shape to finish up before the end of the year.
For Year-End stuff here, I still don’t know what form that is going to take - I got a nice round-number of albums I rated at a certain place and feel strongly about and can just write about all of them in a few installments - though I may try something else. Regardless, I’ll find some way to get something out.
6 records this go ‘round and a bunch of heavy hitters and high praise. Enjoy.
Joanna Newsom
The Milk-Eyed Mender (Drag City)
Original Placement: 13
Joanna Newsom is someone who I love in theory but not as much in practice. 4 critically lauded, whimsical (and very different) albums in 20 years. Expert playing and songwriting. Unique time signatures, production techniques and lyrical content. And yet, the voice is still a struggle. It’s odd right? When you listen to any of her records, there is like a midway point where you don’t notice it and actually really love it, but if you take any sort of break and try to dive back in, it’s jarring to the point of discomfort. This has always been my preferred Newsom album, because it has SONGS and it’s light and airy rather than the intense experiences of Ys or Have One on Me. Though, even as my “favorite” Newsom album - it’s not something I reach for and not something I’ve listened to more than a small handful of times in the last 20 years. And yet, the songs are so unique and so memorable that listening to it again for this project, it felt familiar in a way I wasn’t expecting. One thing I noticed and really keyed in on during this go-round was how well she does little things. Despite the elvish delivery and harp-playing, Joanna is able to combine traditional 60s White American, European/Celtic and early Black American folk music unlike many. Little changes in bridge structure in comparison to verses become addicting earworms. She’s a brilliant musician that I am unsure I will ever give her due. Every couple of years I think about getting heavy into Joanna - but I never pull the trigger. Fuck it, we will do this - maybe soon?
Morrissey
You are the Quarry (Attack)
Original Placement: 45
Unlike Joanna Newsom, Morrissey is someone with a unique voice and sound that I really DON’T want to try and like, but has a bunch of releases that are just undeniable. The Smiths are maybe at the top of list of bands that I recognize as being great but that I’m just not that into - despite decades of listening to them. Morrissey’s solo career doesn’t do much for me either, but this record did it for me in 2004 and does it a bit for me now. Now, I know people who consider this an all-time pop masterpiece, and I see that a bit, it certainly has a lot of strong, memorable songs (“Irish Blood, English Heart” & “The First of the Gang to Die”), but like all Morrissey music, there is something that takes me out. I feel like he’s always winking at me in a way that I don’t find cool, but disheartening. Like despite the fact that he’s a total dumbass, he wants me to KNOW that he’s knows more than I ever could and he is going to tell me about it. Throughout his career, he’s been surrounded by amazing musicians and OBVIOUSLY he is a very clever lyricist and songwriter but he pretty much always peaks at “Very Good” for me and never great. This is good and towards the top of all Smiths/Morrissey stuff I’ve heard, but it hasn’t pushed me towards wanting to get back into any of his other work.
TV On The Radio
Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes (Touch and Go)
Original Placement: 9
One of the bigger disappointments on this list so far compared to how high my expectations were. I was OBSESSED with TVOTR in the 2000s. I saw them live multiple times, owned multiple t-shirts and listen to their first two albums and EP a lot. Like A LOT. That said, it’s been at least 15 years since I’ve listened to THIS album front to back and well, it’s not resonating in the way I expected. It’s still a unique listen with the really low bottom end and Tunde’s expressive vocals, but it’s not as alien and original as it once felt (though I still can’t REALLY point to any other bands that sound like TVOTR). As I write this, we are 4 days out from a 20th Anniversary Remaster/re-release with some demos and bonus material that Pitchfork LOVED so maybe I am just in the minority in my opinions changing on this record, but I was disappointed in my initial disappointment and even more disappointed I was correct on subsequent listen.
It’s not bad, not even close. It’s awesome. It’s just not as awesome as I want it to be. “Staring at the Sun” is still one of the best songs of the 2000s, “Dreams” is still great, “Poppy” is something you need to hear still, but as a whole record it just doesn’t stack up like I assumed it would or in the way that it used to. It’s still a monumental record for the era, though.
Jesu
Jesu (Hydra Head)
Original Placement: N/A (#2 in 2005)
I’ve mentioned this a handful of times in these write-ups, but this album wasn’t originally on my 2004 list. It wasn’t even on my redone 2004 list from 2010, BUT it was very high on my 2005 list (which I only posted in my AIM info box, and didn’t write about). Despite it coming out in 2004, I always had this pegged as a 2005 release and thought I even bought it when it came out, so I have no idea how this happened, but the internet was a different place 20 years ago. So I thought I would include it here with this group as a record from the year that I deemed to be very important to me at the time, despite my own mix-ups.
For what it’s worth - in 2005, due to life, teenage depression, huge changes, dropping out of school, etc - I didn’t have the desire to WRITE about music and only posted like a top 10 or 20 in AIM, as I said. I think I have a solid memory on what else was placed highly: Dälek - Absence, SunnO))) - Black One, Kanye West - Late Registration, Lil Wayne - Tha Carter II, Common - Be, Broken Social Scene - S/T, M. Ward - Transistor Radio, Animal Collective - Feels, Boris - Pink and Sam Prekop - Who’s Your New Professor
Anyway, I wanted to include this, even if it goes against the spirit of the exercise a little bit, and here we are.
Here’s the thing: For me, this is a 5-star record. It will NOT be my top placed record of the year and I was surprised to feel so strongly about it still, but this supremely depressive (and yet bright?) record is so strong to me and brings up such strong memories of listening to it very loud at a job I despised. I found solace in this record and it has really been a record I turn to every couple of years for it’s sonic quality. I just love it. It’s funny to look back at this 2004 list and recognize that there are almost NO heavy records and then in 2005, there are a BUNCH, but that helps me want to include it here. If you’ve never heard it - it’s hard to explain. This record is an hour of slow, plodding songs with nearly incomprehensible vocals and distortions and crushing drums that bury you but show you the light through the burial. It’s not quite drone music, nor is it quite metal music nor is it quite shoegaze, though those are genres that Justin Broadrick has certainly explored well. The 30-minute sequence of “We All Faulter” → “Walk on Water” → “Sun Day” is truly special and the big highlight for me. It’s not a record that is going to appeal to everyone, and I can imagine many people just HATING it, but for me - it just works. It’s an awesome record and I am happy to love it as much as I did 19 years ago, when I got the date wrong.
Feist
Let It Die (Arts & Crafts)
Original Placement: 27
I have basically no chill when it comes to Leslie Feist. I just adore her beyond about anyone and even though I haven’t loved her last two albums, the love I have for her 3 record run that started here is nearly unmatched in the past two decades. My love for her started here and reached new heights the following year, when I saw her open for Broken Social Scene in a one of the best solo performances I’ve ever seen in pop music. She created mesmerizing vocals loops with pedals and toyed with her songs in a way that felt original and unique to that particular audience. I LOVE her voice and arrangements and the overall pleasantness of her records and can’t shake them even if they get overplayed (as much of The Reminder did). This was her big introduction to the world, with songs like “Mushaboom” getting major mainstream play. It’s the covers around this album that really allow it to shine, reminding you of the originals, but making them completely Feist. The Francoise Hardy “L'amour ne dure pas toujours” is great, her version of Ron Sexsmith’s “Secret Heart” ups the pain and vulnerability of the fantastic original, her cover of the Bee Gees classic “Inside Out” might not surpass the original, bit fits perfectly alongside it, and her version of Blossom Dearie’s “Now At Last” to close the album is genuinely one of my favorite love songs of all time. It might be too lite for some, but it’s just a perfect little vocal pop album for me and endlessly relistenable.
Ted Leo + Pharmacists
Shake The Sheets (Lookout)
Original Placement: 2
“Me and Mia”, the opener from Shake The Sheets might very well be a top 5 opening track ever for me. And the album doesn’t let up. As I sit here right now, one of my ONLY regrets in the last handful of months is not seeing Ted & Co. touring this album here in Portland for it’s 20th Anniversary. I mean, I DID see them 3 times around the release of this record and all 3 shows were GREAT, but still - 20 years later, this is still one of my absolute favorite guitar pop records. It’s shocking this didn’t make my redone Top 10 in 2010, but who knows. As it stands, it’s just hit after hit for me, a record that has multiple songs that get stuck in my head out of the blue, even after not listening to the record for years at a time. It’s straightforward poppy indie music and it’s perfect. Tyranny of Distance is a bit more experimental, Hearts of Oak has Ted’s best soft songs, but this record is the best front to back - a total blast.
Jeez, what a collection of music.
Revisiting “Top Albums of 2004” Rankings (in progress):
Elliott Smith - From a Basement on the Hill (4)
Junior Boys - Last Exit (N/A)
Jesu - Jesu (N/A)
Wilco - A Ghost Is Born (7)
Ted Leo + Pharmacists - Shake The Sheets (2)
Kanye West - The College Dropout (N/A)
Drive-By Truckers - The Dirty South (11)
Cam’Ron - Purple Haze (44)
Animal Collective - Sung Tongs (14)
AIR - Talkie Walkie (8)
Feist - Let It Die (27)
Shuttle358 - Chessa (N/A)
Espers - Espers (12)
Van Hunt - Van Hunt (24)
De La Soul - The Grind Date (10)
Joanna Newsom - The Milk-Eyed Mender (13)
Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans (43)
Trick Daddy - Thug Matrimony: Married to the Streets (36)
The Futureheads - The Futureheads (22)
Devendra Banhart - Rejoicing in the Hands (18)
The Black Keys - Rubber Factory (25)
TV on the Radio - Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes (9)
Talib Kweli - The Beautiful Struggle (37)
Interpol - Antics (6)
Max Richter - The Blue Notebooks (3)
Annie - Anniemal (5)
Morrissey - You Are The Quarry (45)
Jason Forrest - The Unrelenting Songs of a 1979 Post Disco Crash (17)
The Hives - Tyrannosaurus Hives (41)
Jens Lekman - When I Said I Wanted To Be Your Dog (35)
Ty - Upwards (19)
John Legend - Get Lifted (20)
RJD2 - Since We Last Spoke (28)
Oh No - The Disrupt (31)
k-os - Joyful Rebellion (46)
The Libertines - The Libertines (21)
Frausdots - Couture, Couture, Couture (15)
The Gift Of Gab - 4th Dimensional Rocketships Going Up! (47)
The Good Life - Album of the Year (38)
Nas - Street’s Disciple (33)
Gary Wilson - Mary Had Brown Hair (49)
Handsome Boy Modeling School - White People (30)
Ike Reilly Assassination - Sparkle in the Finish (39)