tops of oh!four (a human jukebox post)

Usually, I like to be on top.
This past year it just didn't happen.
Granted the first few months of oh!four were spent holed up in a dark spot on the L.E.S.
Sure, I had a couple of good hold overs from oh!three, as well as some music downloads; however without a job, confined to a stone-aged-slow-dial-up connection, and with the eventual shit my hard drive took -- I was pretty much thirsty all year long.

So, I spent a good part of the year playing catch up...
So, let's get this shit up while it's still relevant.

Top Ten Albums of 2004 -- (alphabetically)

Aloha - Here Comes Everyone (Polyvinyl)
Apostle of Hustle - Folkloric Feel (Arts and Crafts)
The Arcade Fire - Funeral (Merge)
The Futureheads - S/T (Sire)
Lali Puna - Faking the Books (Morr Music)
Matthew Dear - Backstroke EP (Spectral)
Mission of Burma - OnOFFOn (Matador)
Pinback - Summer In Abaddon (Touch and Go)
RJD2 - Since We Last Spoke (Def Jux)
TV On The Radio - Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes (Touch and Go)

Honorable Contenders:
The Album Leaf, Battles, Deerhoof, Dirty on Purpose, The Go Find, The Go Team, Kings of Conveniece, Ted Leo/RX, Murs, Pedro the Lion, Q and Not U, Ratatat, Ulrich Schnauss, Subtle, and Wilco.

Ten Albums I Wish That I Had Heard:

Black Eyes - Cough
The Chinese Stars - Rare Sensation
The Eternals - Rawar Style
Fennesz - Venice
Hot Snakes - Audit In Progress
Pan American - Quiet City
Red Eyed Legends - Mutual Insignificance EP /The High I Feel When I'm Low 12"
Turing Machine - Zwei
The Warmers - Wanted:More
Wrangler Brutes - Zulu // S/T cassette*

Re-Issue of the Year:

Talking Heads - The Name of This Band... (Rhino)

Besides hearing all of the major singles over the years, this was the first Talking Heads album that I really listened to with great interest from begining to end. Of course this is a highly expanded release, but Rhino is nice enough to give the track sequencing for the original album.
I recommend it for intensity's sake.

Greatest Hits/Box Set/RePackaged:

Low - A Lifetime of Temporary Relief****

Best Thing to Happen to Music in the oh!four:

Mp3 blogging**

Funniest/Worst Thing to Happen to Music in the oh!four:

Ashlee Simpson's flub, subsequent booing at the Bowl, and the fact she still has a career.***

Most Overrated Trend that ultimately overshadowed a damn fine concept album****:

The Mashup/Blend vs. Dangermouse/Jay-Z - The Grey Album

Thank God It's Over:

Electroclash

It's a Command. Not a genre:

Dance Punk. (duh, there's an implied comma in there.)

Aforementioned Oh!Three Holdovers:

The Constantines - Shine A Light
Consonant - Love and Affliction
Enon - Hocus Pocus
The Stills - Logic Will Break Your Heart
Sunkillmoon - Ghosts of the Great Highway

First Quarter, (or so...) Anticipated New Releases:

Caribou (formerly Manitoba) - Milk of Human Kindness
Out Hud - Bring On The Drama
Boom Bip - Blue Eyed In The Red Room
Low - The Great Destroyer
...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - Worlds Apart
The Books - Lost and Safe
M83 - Befire The Dawn Heals Us
LCD Soundsystem - S/T
Prefuse 73 - Surrounded By Silence//Hideyaface
Solvent - Think Like Us//Elevators and Oscillators


----
* technically a oh!three release, but I didn't find out about it until oh!four.

** Helped me catch up, kept me sane, introduced me to new stuff, reminded me about music I had forgotten (or tried to
forget.) Inspired me. This blog will feature mp3s.

*** As mentioned by someone... at least Milli Vanilli apologized...
and as far as I know, they never claimed to be punk rock.

**** More on this later.