Best of 2004

What do I do with this thing? Okay, okay, one more drink and I'll remember…

"Hello, hello (hola!) I'm at a place called vertigo" - The Jesus of Dublin

Hand me another fucking nail, time to seal this godforsaken year up forever. As a matter of fact, give me ten more nails. I don't want to chance this bastard known as two-thousand fucking four never getting out of this box! Jesus…

How are you my friends? I hope as well as I am, now that the past year has evaporated into the morning dew of 2005. It's amazing what the turn of a clock hand and the flip of a calendar page can do for a beleaguered soul. And it's even more amazing what a night of Scotch (and vodka, and gin, and beer…) and the few good rock and roll records that 2004 shat out can do for a dying spirit. This is the last I'll speak of the year that was - that, my friends, is an absolute vow. Twas nothing severe that happened in my life, and I ain't here to bitch about nothin' at all - it was merely the exhaustion of a year that, well, sucked ass. Especially in the music department (although I do realize that such foul attitudes about the sounds of a particular year are shaped by an attitude in general. But, you see, I've always leaned on the best music in my most dire moments).

But that's all neither here nor there…and nobody out there gives a damn 'bout my personal demons. Ya'll want a year in review and that's what ya'll are gonna get. But, I'm warnin' you right here and now…my tastes have gone the way of my mood lately, so it's tough to recommend many of these records to anyone other than sadists or manic depressives (then again, I've always felt that these lists were never meant to be a reflection of the highest quality of music over the past 12 months, rather they reflect the psyche and sensibility of the person spewing forth about the records therein).

So indulge me once again my fair readers…ease your misery by scoring it against mine (how? Listen to the list…then be glad you're not me!). Viola! Here is thy year two thousand four, a heard through the ears of a sad man; a mad man; a man just glad to be back here and ready and willing - for anything.

Favorite Records of this past Season (the order is somewhat arbitrary - sort of, a little. YOU figure it out!)

1. The Solution - Communicate! (Psychout): Scott Morgan is the ultimate true-believer. Believer in R&B; believer in soul; believer in the legacy of his home turf - Detroit; believer in the spirit of rock and roll, forever. The exclamation point at the end of the title is ABSOLUTELY necessary. Beautiful!

2. The Violents - Baby EP (self-released): Three girls make like they stumbled onto a copy of New Day Rising and heard it for the pop record it truly is. Here they decipher their thoughts on the subject - and I've fallen in love again. This time, with three girls…where do we go from here?

3. Tommy Stinson - Village Idiot Head (Sanctuary): It's hard to tell whether this record is so damn good because all of Westerberg's are so damn bad or if it's holding up so well on its own merits. Either way it wins - because it is the best post-Replacements record to date.

4. The Tubes - Now (Acadia): Sure it's a mess. But it's a glorious, hilarious, beautiful, arty-as-hell mess. Long ago deleted from A&M's catalog, this pretending-to-be-ambitious-because-we-aren't-at-all-ambitious-and-we-hope-this-masks-this-little-probem re-issue will make you smile through all of the wincing.

5. U2 - How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (Interscope): Finally a U2 record I can dig all the way through. And, at long last, finally the proper follow up to The Bends that Radiohead was too frightened to deliver. This is pop music Mr. Yorke.

6. The Ike Reilly Assassination - Sparkle in the Finish (RockRidge): Hip-hop bastardizing Dylan-wannabe-ing hipster? Sure as shit that's what he is! And…he's damn near flawless at it.

7. Prince - Musicology (NPG Records): His live show was the musical event of my lifetime - for many different reasons - and this just happens to be the record that came with the package.

8. Thelonious Monster - California Clam Chowder (Lakeshore): Bob Forrest is a brilliant jackass. Then again, so am I. No wonder I love his "see the world through my eyes" posturing. The funny thing is that he's spot on!

9. Todd Snider - East Nashville Skyline (Ohboy): The most valid political record of this, the most political of years. Quite simply, however, this makes the list on the strength of one song and one song only (all of them are wonderful, but…) - "The Ballad of the Kingsmen" is ludicrously simple and more than somewhat obvious, but it bears repeating - again and again.

10. The Mountain Goats - We Shall all be Healed (4AD): At first I thought I couldn't even listen to this stuff. Then I couldn't ever turn it off. Try for your own damn self!

11. Elvis Costello & The Imposters - The Delivery Man (Lost Highway): Who is the imposter now? Which Elvis is it? People asked me that question for weeks on end when this came out - I didn't have a decent answer except to say "buy it your own damn self". Now, after a hundred listens or so - I hope someone took me seriously.

12. Steve Earle - The Revolution Starts….Now!(E-Squared/Artemis): Because he was so cool to talk to; and because he's Steve Earle goddamn it! And I'm a pimp for my man Steve.

13. Loretta Lynn - Van Lear Rose (Interscope): On which Jack White courts hip-cred to the max, then slaps that bitch in the face and let's Loretta romp like she hasn't romped for years. Nice.

14. The Mice - For Almost Ever Scooter(Scat): Some of you already know local (to Cleveland) hero Bill Fox from his sublime pop solo work. Now you NEED to know him as the best power-raunch-pop frontman since Peter Case. Ahh The Mice - the real pride of Cleveland. (inspirational homemade bumper sticker from back in the 80's "Cleveland doesn't need the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, we have The Mice!"

15. The Libertines - The Libertines(Rough Trade): "Can't Stand Me Now" is the song of the year indeed. The rest of this mess is spot on also. The soundtrack of my year.

Songs to Remember!

Phoenix - "If it's Not With You": This song saved my mental state this past year. It is beautiful in execution and sentiment. What new new wave SHOULD always be.

Travis Morrison - "Change": Wow, was it! Former Dismemberment Plan front man changes all over the place and creates the best song of his career.

Maxi Geil & Playcolt - "Please Remember Me": A great, great Stiff Records single - 25 years late.

La Bionda - "Wanna Be Your Lover": Stupid? Yep! Catchy? Hell yes! Great? Undoubtedly!

Gwen Stefani - "Luxurious": There are three viable tracks on Stefani's sexed up new wave opus for this list (the rest suck), but this one is the smoothest and the most playful. Sexy, too.

"FunkyColdMedilkshake" - the only mash-up I've heard that I wanted to hear again.

John Wesley Harding - "Nothing At All": Reminds me very much of The Grapes of Wrath's finer moments - which is a good thing because when the Grapes were on, they were spectacular. Harding is spectacular here too.

And that's all I have peeps…a year condensed into, well, a short capsule that reflects the quality of a season that begs to be forgotten. Reaching for another icy glass of Dahlwinnie, I begin the process…

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