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
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.comAn 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?
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.ukMore poppy than The Strokes?
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.netAcid 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
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
22 – Joy Zipper – American Whip
http://www.joyzipper.tvI 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.
25 – Scissor Sisters – Scissor Sisters
http://www.scissorsisters.com/Somewhere between Elton and Prince
26 – Maritime – Glass Floor
http://www.maritimesongs.comPoppy 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=35Electronic 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.comHow 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.phpAll 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.htmlHip-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
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.comThe band’s name says it
49 – Lali Puna – Faking the Books
http://www.lalipuna.deGerman glitch-pop
50 – Devendra Banhart – Rejoicing in the Hands
http://www.younggodrecords.com/Artists/DevendraBanhart/Mostly indescribable quirky folk music
MP3: “The Body Breaks”
Hi, I'm 
Great list Noah…will have to check out a lot of these bands.
Great list, you have great taste (read: similiar to my tastes in music). I would have thrown in “the late great daniel johnson” CD.
have you checked out: (spelling/ exact titles may be wrong as my memory is terrible)
Andrews birds – bath of fire
Antony and the johnsons – I am a bird
Danger Mouse and Gemini – Ghetto Pop Life
keep up the great work.
Greg
Andrew Bird’s Bath of Fire I haven’t checked out, though I should because I love his new one. I expect you’ll see Antony and the Johnsons on my list this year and I really like Danger Mouse and Gemini’s “Ghetto Pop Life” and I really like it, in fact, I’m really surprised it’s not on this list. I guess I must have forgotten. We’ll call it 51 for now.