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You have arrived at the web home of Noah Brier. This is mostly an archive of over a decade of blogging and other writing. You can read more about me or get in touch. If you want more recent writing of mine, most of that is at my BrXnd marketing x AI newsletter and Why Is This Interesting?, a daily email for the intellectually omnivorous.

January, 2005

Top 50 Albums of 2004

This is the moment everyone's been waiting for, the proof that I really have no life. These are my 10 favorite albums of 2004, in order (roughly), with five word descriptions (or less) and an MP3 (mostly legal and only when I could find a link). (Also, for the MP3s, many are links to InSound and betterPropaganda.) I'm going to keep editing this list, and some rankings may change. Hope you enjoy it, I worked very hard. Any comments, questions, suggestions, let me know.

1 - Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Shake the Streets

http://www.tedleo.com/

Rockin' punk originally from Jersey

MP3: "MeAndMia"

2 - Moonbabies - Orange Billboard
http://www.moonbabies.nu/

Swedish, LIYL My Bloody Valentine

MP3: "Sun A.M."

3 - Saturday Looks Good to Me - Every Night
http://www.saturdaylooksgoodtome.com/

50's sounding rock from Detroit

MP3: "The Girl's Distracted"

4 - The Mountain Goats - We Shall All Be Healed
http://www.themountaingoats.net/

One guy whining with guitar

MP3: "Palmcorder Yanja"

5 - Annie - Anniemal
http://www.anniemusic.co.uk/

Very poppy electro with vocals

6 - Kings of Convenience - Riot on an Empty Street
http://www.kingsofconvenience.com/

Erlend Oye's better known project

MP3: "I'd Rather Dance With You" Live at Auditorium Parco della Musica, Rome, October 31, 2004

7 - Erlend Oye - DJ Kicks
http://www.erlendoye.com

An indie DJs DJ mix

8 - Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
http://www.franzferdinand.co.uk/

Scottish rock that everyone's heard

9 - Joanna Newsome - The Milk-Eyed Mender
http://www.walnutwhales.com/

More quirky than Bjork?

MP3: "Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie"

10 - The Arcade Fire - Funeral
http://www.arcadefire.com/

Canadian band hard to describe

MP3: "Wake Up"

11 - Rilo Kiley - More Adventurous
http://www.rilokiley.com/

This band does no wrong

MP3: "Portions for Foxes" Live at Good Records, Dallas, TX, October 23, 2004

12 - The Killers - Hot Fuss
http://www.thekillers.co.uk

More poppy than The Strokes?

MP3:

13 - Iron & Wine - Our Endless Numbered Days
http://www.ironandwine.com/

Guy and his guitar folk

MP3: "Naked As We Came"

14 - Annimal Collective- Sung Tongs
http://fat-cat.co.uk/fatcat/ . . .

Beats the hell outta me

MP3: "Leaf House"

15 - Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans
http://www.sufjan.com/

Snowy folk with Christian overtones

MP3: "Sister"

16 - A.C. Newman - The Slow Wonder
http://www.acnewman.net/

Lead singer of New Pornographers

MP3: "Miracle Drug"

17 - Of Montreal - Satanic Panic in the Attic
http://www.ofmontreal.net

Acid was involved in recording

MP3: "Lysergic Bliss"

18 - The Streets - A Grand Don’t Come for Free
http://www.the-streets.co.uk/

New breed of British hip-hop

MP3:

19 - Interpol - Antics
http://www.interpolny.com/

Just like their last album

MP3: "Slow Hands"

20 - Feist - Let it Die
http://www.listentofeist.com/

Every song is completely different

MP3: "Mushaboom"

21 - Phoenix - Alphabetical
http://www.wearephoenix.com/

French electro-pop band

MP3: "Everything is Everything"

22 - Joy Zipper - American Whip
http://www.joyzipper.tv

I really like electro-pop

23 - The Go! Team - Thunder, Lightning, Strike
http://www.thegoteam.co.uk/

Left this description to last

MP3: "Power is On"

24 - Walkmen - Bows and Arrows
http://www.thewalkmen.com/

They appeared on The O.C.

MP3: "Little House Of Savages"

25 - Scissor Sisters - Scissor Sisters
http://www.scissorsisters.com/

Somewhere between Elton and Prince

26 - Maritime - Glass Floor
http://www.maritimesongs.com

Poppy guitar music nothing more

MP3: "Sleep Around"

27 - Ratatat - Ratatat
http://www.ratatatmusic.com/

Two guitars and a computer

MP3: "Seventeen Years"

28 - Madvillain - Madvillainy
http://www.stonesthrow.com/madvillain/

Madlib and MF Doom hip-hop

MP3: "Accordion"

29 - Mirah - C'mon Miracle
http://www.krecs.com/mirah/

Often beautiful female vocals

MP3: "Jerusalem"

29 - The Cardigans - Long Gone Before Midnight
http://cardigans.com/

I like female lead singers

30 - John Vanderslice - Cellar Door
http://www.johnvanderslice.com/

Intelligent rock with electronic hints

MP3: "Pale Horse"

31 - The Roots - The Tipping Point
http://www.theroots.com/

Another solid album

32 - Kanye West - The College Dropout
http://www.kanyewest.com/

Should this be ranked higher?

33 - Murs - Murs 316 The 9th Edition
http://www.definitivejux.net/jukies/murs/

Murs and 9th Wonder hip-hop

MP3: "3:16"

34 - Wagon Christ - Sorry I Make You Lush
http://www.ninjatune.net/ninja/artist.php?id=35

Electronic music with some umph???

35 - Air - Talkie Walkie
http://www.intairnet.org/

Air make sweeping electronic music

36 - Wilco - A Ghost is Born
http://www.wilcoweb.com

How do you explain Wilco?

37 - The Fiery Furnaces - Blueberry Boat
http://www.thefieryfurnaces.com/

Not sure I get it

MP3: "Chris Michaels"

38 - Modest Mouse - Good News for People who Love Bad News
http://www.modestmousemusic.com/

They make poppy indie rock

39 - Magnetic Fields - I
http://www.houseoftomorrow.com/tmf.php

All songs start with "I"

40 - Prince - Musicology
http://www.npgonlineltd.com/

Prince does Prince again

41 - Death from Above 1979 - You're a Woman, I'm a Machine
http://www.deathfromabove1979.com/

These guys rock hard

MP3: "Romantic Rights"

41 - The Fever - Red Bedroom
http://www.thefeveronline.com/

Same realm as The Strokes

MP3: "Gray Ghost"

42 - The Bad Plus - Give
http://www.thebadplus.com/

Exciting jazz trio

43 - cLOUDEAD - Ten
http://www.dirtyloop.com/cLOUDDEAD.html

Hip-hop like you've never heard

MP3: "Rifle Eyes"

44 - Lambchop - Aw C’Mon/No, You C’mon
http://www.lambchop.net/

Two albums of southern goodness

MP3: "Something's Going On"

45 - TV on the Radio - Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes
http://www.tvontheradio.com/

Brooklynites experiment with sound

MP3: "Dreams"

46 - Zero 7 - When It Falls
http://www.zero7.co.uk/

More female vocals than Air

47 - Sonic Youth - Sonic Nurse
http://www.sonicyouth.com/

Grunge grandfathers make fuzzy music

48 - Mellow - Perfect Colors
http://www.mellow-workshop.com

The band's name says it

49 - Lali Puna - Faking the Books
http://www.lalipuna.de

German glitch-pop

50 - Devendra Banhart - Rejoicing in the Hands
http://www.younggodrecords.com/Artists/DevendraBanhart/

Mostly indescribable quirky folk music

MP3: "The Body Breaks"

January 4, 2005
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Noah Brier | Thanks for reading. | Don't fake the funk on a nasty dunk.