Best Albums of 2004

[€uroMeinke]

Since I wasn't so much in the mood to post this in the other site, and I need a playful distraction...

What CDs did you pick up last year that you loved to listen to?

I had a few:

Jem - Finally Woken - Puts a smile on my face when ever i slip it into my Car's player

The Real Tuesday Weld - I, Lucifer - Goofy and ironic lyrics, mostly bouncy music, great fun

Dresden Dolls - The Dresden Dolls - Another find from Lisa for me, Goth friendly to be sure - but with cabaret sensebilities

Air - Talkie Walkie - Another good one from Air

There wee more good find this year, but those four got a lot of airplay in my car this year

[Not Afraid]

Cold Play
Interpol
Nick Cave

I don't remember album names people!

[FEJ]

The Ditty Bops (http://www.thedittybops.com)-The Ditty Bops
Wax Apples (http://www.waxapples.com) -Wax Apples
Matt Costa (http://www.mattcosta.com) -Matt Costa EP
U2 (http://www.u2.com) -How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
Josh Ritter (http://www.joshritter.com) -Hello Starling

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Franz Ferdinand, and Jem, definitely.

I don't buy enough music.

[Stan4dSteph]

U2 (http://www.u2.com) -How to Dismantle an Atomic BombHell yeah!

[Grumpy4]

William Hung!!! He's sex-ayyy!

[Gemini Cricket]

U2 - How to Dismantle...
Morrissey - You Are the Quarry
Green Day - American Idiot
Lindsey Lohan - Speak


(Guess which one I'm joking about...) :D

[AllyOops!]

Lindsey Lohan - Speak
(Guess which one I'm joking about...) :D

Okay, laugh away but I was way stunned when I heard it and gulp! Actually enjoyed it! :eek:

Gwen Stefani~ Love, Angel, Music, Baby

Nelly McKay~ Get Away From Me

G.A.N.-Ghetto Azz Niggaz~ Faithful to The Streets

(Okay, now guess which one I'm joking about!) :D :p

[UvaGirl]

I'm loving the new Gwen Stefani album - good stuff:)

[Eliza Hodgkins 1812]

I'm not great with album titles either, so:

The Killers
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Tom Waites
Franz Ferdinand
Pink Martini
Kings of Convenience

Edited to add:

Garden State (soundtrack)

[Tref]

I only bought four new CDs all year ... and I still haven't fully listened to two of them (Elliot Smith and The Hang Ups) but I love the new album by Brian Wilson, SMiLE.

[Not Afraid]

I should add:

Scissor Sisters
Paris Combo

[NirvanaMan]

Clay Aiken

[Flubber]

I only bought four new CDs all year ... and I still haven't fully listened to two of them (Elliot Smith and The Hang Ups) but I love the new album by Brian Wilson, SMiLE.

Yes. Brian Wilson presents Smile.

Jem - Finally Woken

Joss Stone - Mind, Body & Soul

Even though they were last year I listened to the Love Actually soundtrack and Ludacris - Chicken and Beer quite a bit.

[MouseWife]

Jet~Get Born
The Killers~Hot Fuss
311~ Greatest Hits
Spiderman2 Soundtrack
Los Lonely Boys
Maroon 5~Songs About Jane
Thornley~ Come Again
Green Day~American Idiot
Velvet Revolver~ Contraband

Each of these cd's is one of my favorites. Ooh, how cool. I just realized, out of the 9 artists, I went to shows for 6 of them! Cool!

[Eliza Hodgkins 1812]

I'm not great with album titles either, so:

The Killers
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Tom Waites
Franz Ferdinand
Pink Martini
Kings of Convenience

Edited to add:

Garden State (soundtrack)

Oh, fie, edit function?

I meant to add Green Day's, as well, 'cause it's maybe the best overall album I've heard in a long, long time.

[Eliza Hodgkins 1812]

I only bought four new CDs all year ... and I still haven't fully listened to two of them (Elliot Smith and The Hang Ups) but I love the new album by Brian Wilson, SMiLE.

I've heard such good things about Wilson's album from my friend Mike, who knows more about the Beach Boys than anyone should know, or force their friends to listen to, since they (meaning me) don't really know anything about them other than I like a lot of their music.

[Claire]

Shocker....

Howie Day.....Collide is the most perfect song evah.
Pink Martini....I love Hang On, Little Tomato!
Sarah McLachlan.....the concert CD/DVD is my new mainstay.
U2....best album in eons from them.


I didn't buy a lot of CD's this year. I listened to a lot of older stuff in 2004. In 2005, I'll get around to listening to the 2004 stuff.

MW--I loooove Jet. They have a BIG sound....almost Beatles big, definitely kicking Oasis's ass. ;) I heard the full CD last month and my friend is burning hers for me.

edit: DOH! Los Lonely Boys! I bought the CD for myself for Thanksgiving... :D They opened for Howie Day in December and I fell in love with them. They have some range!

[Scrooge McSam]

Howie Day....

Seen him live?

I got to see him open for Tori in Tampa last time I hit WDW. If you get the change, GO!

[Claire]

HAHAHAHAHA!!!! :D I can imagine MickeyD reading this and laughing her butt off. :D

Um, yes. I've seen Howie many times.....averaging about 4 times a year for the last 2.5 years. I've met him several times and his stage manager Chris recognizes me and my friend Dawn. I first saw him open for the Goo Goo Dolls 2 and a half years ago. For some reason, he comes to Portland every 2-3 months and for that I thank God. He didn't even have a big following when he started coming here....but now he does. :D

I did online promo for him and earned a freaking Tshirt I'll never wear. I also got free CD's, but I already had them, so I gave them away as gifts last Christmas. I declined the offer to "work" his booth last February. No thanks!! Those days are long gone for this girl.

I saw him open for Tori two years ago, too. It was a great show!!! No one was there to see him open, so it was my friend and I in the first six rows by ourselves.....he pretty much sang to us....we were in heaven.

I haven't seen him live in almost a month. I'm having withdrawals..... :D

[Claire]

Sam, I'm so glad there's someone else here who appreciates Howie, by the way. If you do a search on Howie at MP or Fab, I've probably mentioned him a hundred times. I love him. :p

I got to see Joseph Arthur twice this year, and he was Howie's inspiration for the looping he does. I love a good looping! :D

[Gemini Cricket]

Scissor Sisters

Yes. Yesyesyesyesyes. I'm so glad you did a promo for us in your car of them. They are really cool. I have them on mu iTunes and I play them often. I must say though, that they don't sound as good on my stereo as on your stereo and iSm's. :)

[MickeyD]

HAHAHAHAHA!!!! :D I can imagine MickeyD reading this and laughing her butt off. :D


You obviously are a mind reader, woman!! I seriously started laughing out loud...someone from another office even poked her head in to see what I was laughing about......

To say that Claire has seen him live would be an understatement. :D (or an overstatement, depending on your meaning.) ;)

Claire, I also thought of you when I was reading Entertainment Weekly a couple weeks ago...they named Joseph Arthur's new album one of the best of 2004.


Best albums I bought in 2004 (I didn't buy a lot)
Jet ~Get Born
Kenny Chesney ~When the Sun Goes Down
Flogging Molly ~Within a Mile of Home

I didn't like Velvet Revolver's Contraband enough to make the list, but no one tell MouseWife I said that, ok?

And I haven't listened to American Idiot by Green Day from start to finish yet, or else I'm sure that would make my list too...because I've liked every song that's come up in my shuffled playlist.

[Scrooge McSam]

Sams bows reverently in Claire's direction.

I was unprepared when I first saw him. The experience made quite an impression on me.

[Claire]

Sams bows reverently in Claire's direction.

I was unprepared when I first saw him. The experience made quite an impression on me.

Me, too, baby. Me too. ;) He's got a big stage presence. Most people I know are blown away by him. The very first time I saw him.....my friend Dawn and I were enthralled. Almost made us forget Goo Goo. And because his album at the time was called Australia, we thought he was Australian. :rolleyes: So we talked to him after the show and he pulls out this Yankee accent. We were dying.

I forgot to mention that the three albums I listened to the most in 2004 (although all were released before 2004, sorry!) were:

Damien Rice's O
Dido's Life for Rent
Geoff Byrd's Candy Shell

And Modest Mouse played a big part of my musical life this year. Good stuff.

[MouseWife]

MickeyD~ LOL I saw them in concert before I was able to hear the cd and I loved the show but that is because they kicked my booty!

But, when I played the cd, I didn't like it at first. I would play the songs I did like and that was it. But, like someone who has been made to eat their veggies, I knew I had to listen to it throughly. It didn't seem quite so harsh? Angry? Slammed together?

Green Day, that cd as well is one you have to have patience for. I think so anyways. Some of the tracks are many blended together so you can't just zip through it. I love 'Holiday'.

Claire~Modest Mouse was a great listen '04!

[MickeyD]

MickeyD~ LOL I saw them in concert before I was able to hear the cd and I loved the show but that is because they kicked my booty!

But, when I played the cd, I didn't like it at first. I would play the songs I did like and that was it. But, like someone who has been made to eat their veggies, I knew I had to listen to it throughly. It didn't seem quite so harsh? Angry? Slammed together?

Green Day, that cd as well is one you have to have patience for. I think so anyways. Some of the tracks are many blended together so you can't just zip through it. I love 'Holiday'.

Claire~Modest Mouse was a great listen '04!

I think I felt bad about not really digging Contraband because for about a year before it came out, I wanted to like it....but then I got it and it was just eh....

I'll give it another try....maybe the problem is that I've never been forced to eat veggies....I've always like veggies. :eek:

[Kim]

Not sure about cd titles but the bands we bought cd's from this year:
Green Day
Franz Ferdinand
The Killers
Duran Duran (yep, still a geek)
U2

[UvaGirl]

Claire, I've got to agree with you on Life for Rent ~ it spends a lot of time in my CD player. I could listen to Dido almost forever:)

[MouseWife]

I think I felt bad about not really digging Contraband because for about a year before it came out, I wanted to like it....but then I got it and it was just eh....

I'll give it another try....maybe the problem is that I've never been forced to eat veggies....I've always like veggies. :eek:

Wow, I felt that way, too. I was sooo looking forward to supporting them and then not clicking?

I love my veggies, too.

Did I mention the Killers? ADD. Sorry.

[Eliza Hodgkins 1812]

Wow, I felt that way, too. I was sooo looking forward to supporting them and then not clicking?

I love my veggies, too.

Did I mention the Killers? ADD. Sorry.

MF, is that photo you? That's the cutest school picture ever.

[Claire]

Duran Duran

Snaps! I forgot double D!! :eek: I LOVE the new CD.

Two more months and I'm groovin' with Simon LeBon in person....:D

[mamabot]

The Killers
Jet
Duran Duran, new and old
John Mayer Room for Squares
The soundtrack for Wicked!
And how can I not mention the first new music from The Beastie Boys in 6 years: To The 5 Boroughs. My favorite line:

I'm a freaky streaker like Winnie the Pooh
A T-shirt, no pants and I dance the bugaloo
(Yes I am a freak for the Beastie Boys).

[Claire]

John Mayer Room for Squares
The soundtrack for Wicked!


Crap! Ditto. Ditto. Crap! I really didn't think I listened to much current music this year. :D

[Kim]

Snaps! I forgot double D!! :eek: I LOVE the new CD.

Two more months and I'm groovin' with Simon LeBon in person....:D

Don't. Get. Me. Started.









Ok, I'm started. Whoo-Hoo~March 2nd and he's singing for me!!!!!!! Trying to talk my husband into the Sacramento show too, but that one's on his birthday. Don't think he'd be too happy if I skipped out on that. Uh-oh, maybe I should go post again in Baileykat's thread in the lounge. :eek:

[MouseWife]

MF, is that photo you? That's the cutest school picture ever.

LOL, yep, that is me. First grade. I think I remember brushing my hair....Thank you. :)

I looked and looked for a decent shot of me these days and I think I'd better stick to when I was a kid. A small kid for that matter. :o

[Claire]

Don't. Get. Me. Started.









Ok, I'm started. Whoo-Hoo~March 2nd and he's singing for me!!!!!!! Trying to talk my husband into the Sacramento show too, but that one's on his birthday. Don't think he'd be too happy if I skipped out on that. Uh-oh, maybe I should go post again in Baileykat's thread in the lounge. :eek:

Didn't you see them last year, too? I'm green with envy......sigh......

[mamabot]

For those of us in Southern California, the Duran Duran concert is February 26 - a Saturday! Woo Hoo. Now I know what to put on my birthday list!

[Kim]

See that bright light? It's the utter nerdiness shining through.


I saw them in '03 in San Francisco. It was amazing to see the original five back together. They put on a great live show. It will be a real treat to see them again. I've been counting the days since we bought our tickets back before Christmas.

Mamabot~They are playing at Staples Center as well as doing a show in San Diego. Not sure which stadium they are playing there. If you get a chance, get the tickets. They're a great live band. I wish the NorCal dates were weekend dates. It would be so much easier to work out babysitting. Although my 4 y/o wants to go. Unfortunately, if the SF show was any indication, Duran isn't a show for young kids.

[blueerica]

Oh there has been much good music for 2004 IMO...

Of my favorites:

Scissor Sisters
Black Eyed Peas: Elephunk
Tomoyasu Hotei: Electric Samurai
The Polyphonic Spree: The Beginning Stages of the Polyphonic Spree
The New Pornographers: Electric Version
Papas Fritas: Pop Has Freed Us
D:Fuse: Begin
Muse: Absolution

There are more, but that's off the top of my head some of my favorite albums of 2004

[mousepod]

Nick Cave (whenever he puts out a new album, it's on my top 10 list)
Fiery Furnaces - Blueberry Boat
They Might Be Giants - The Spine
Tokyo Jihen - Kyoiku
Libertines - Libertines
Arnaldo Antunes - Saiba
Rufus Wainwright - Want Two

...I'm sure I'm leaving some stuff off, but I wiped my iPod on New Year's weekend, and my early '04 faves are buried somewhere deep in a pile of cds.

I saw the Scissor Sisters at the HoB @ WDW right after Thanksgiving. Although their CD might have been tops, they (particularly Ana Matronic) spent way too much time Disney bashing. Lose her, and they're on top again.

[Not Afraid]

Nick Cave (whenever he puts out a new album, it's on my top 10 list)


I'm right there with you. I ADORE Nick Cave.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Okay, rather than start a new thread, I thought I'd resurrect this one because I've just discovered an awesome album from 2004. Josh One's "Narrow Path". I suppose it's hip-hop, but it's far more than that. It's got a definite funk/soul style to it. Josh One is a DJ, but this album is a production involving electronic music as well as a wide range of live instrumentation. I guess the single "Contemplation", which is on the album, got some exposure so some people may know of it. I was really taken aback by how much I like this album. Yay, always good to run across new music (thanks KCRW!).

[mousepod]

Thanks for restarting the thread.
We just saw Polly Paulusma on Monday. Wow!
(Heather discovered her on KCRW, too)

[Not Afraid]

YAY for KCRW! I've subscribed for YEARS - and all music knowledge and book knowledge comes from there.

I've been listening to Elliott Smith and now I am comtemplating suicide (j/k - almost), Leonard Cohen (Dear Heather) and Keane. I think I need to lighten my load a bit.

[mousepod]

I've been listening to Elliott Smith and now I am comtemplating suicide (j/k - almost), Leonard Cohen (Dear Heather) and Keane. I think I need to lighten my load a bit.

As long as you're in a melancholy mood, you've got to give Lou Reed's 'Berlin' a spin before you lighten up. It's a musical version of hitting bottom. After that one, there's nowhere to go but up.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Also from KCRW, I listened to an album from Psapp yesterday. Quite good.

[Not Afraid]

As long as you're in a melancholy mood, you've got to give Lou Reed's 'Berlin' a spin before you lighten up. It's a musical version of hitting bottom. After that one, there's nowhere to go but up.

Oh God! You really DO want to go to a funeral, don't you?

I'm considering - get this - "Kings of the Wild Fronteer". I am certifiable today.


Don't tread on an ant. He's done nothing to you. There might come a day when he's treading on you. Don't tread on an ant, you might end up black and blue. Cut off his head, legs come looking for you.