please empty your brain below

I'd be tempted to list my top ten albums of the year, but I only bought two new releases, was given another for Christmas, and my Fiancé was given one too.

Not that much good stuff has come out this year, although, I did buy The Streets, and did rather like it. It actually surprised me, at how much I did like it.

Am I the only person to have bought The Streets on the strength of a couple of admittedly good singles, only to give it away as a big pile of wank?

This year, I have acquired 12 fantastic albums, 17 very good albums, 16 good albums, 10 OK albums, 5 disappointing albums and 3 terrible albums. Not counting compilations, and albums released before 2004, that is. Of the fantastic albums, I would recommend "Mississauga Goddamm" by Hidden Cameras, "Alphabetical" by Phoenix and "The Hungry Years" by Chungking.

(Oh, and Mylo & Scissor Sisters are in my "fantastic" list, but The Streets only made it to my "good" list.)

(Oh, and I agree that, albums-wise, the first half of 2004 was much, much stronger than the second half.)

The Streets and Scissor Sisters are definitely up there, but I generally remain a rock kid, meaning my Top Three are:
1. Keane - Hopes and Fears
2. The Killers - Hot Fuss
3=. Embrace - Out of Nothing
3=. Morrissey - You Are the Quarry

Hmmm, velly interesting... Scissors def and I'm with Darren on the Killers.... the rest will have to wait until I'm home and remember what else came out thi year though.

...and what about the London Calling 20th anniversarry re-issue eh?

my top 7 (* released this year):

1. pat metheny/imaginary day
you know you're getting older when you like MOR jazz like this. i AM getting older then, but i'm still not keen on the buck-teeth though.

2. felt/forever breathes the lonely word*
a re-release for the entire felt back catalogue, both from the cherry red and creation days. In the eighties, they released an LP every year, starting with the guitar genius of munter maurice Deebank, later morphed into a hammond sound when Deebank was replaced by minger Martin duffy. I reckon this is their finest LP, ok, the best of the Duffy years at least. As always with felt, they sounded better than they looked.

3. spiritualized/complete works volume 2*
not as good as volume 1. It covers b-sides and the odd rarity from the ladies and gentlemen/let it come down era. Apart from the extended heartbreaking broken heart, if you bought the singles, there's nothing new here. Not like on volume 1, where loads of extras were included. Besides, the latter dealt with Pure phase, surely Spaceman's finest LP to date. That said, it's still amazing.

4. duritti colum/vini reilly
moby/play, except 10 years earlier. not sure which of the two i'd sleep with, they're both pretty grim.

5. mylo/destroy rock and roll*
superb debut, amazing what you can do with a G4, some stencils and black spray paint. saw him at the monarch with added guitar, it was superb. He's sexy too. Actually the whole Mylo roadshow can park on my face.

6. mull historical society/this is hope*
young colin is getting whackier, but i'd still have him. There are some great songs here, and a definite political and social agenda.

7. the streets/a grand don't come for free*
i find a fair bit of this irritating, but there are some standout tracks, blinded by the lights is my fave; a perfect summary of a f**ked up saturday night in some grim club in south london. i may have even texted part of this track's lyric to a mate whilst suffering in the early hours in some such establishment, trying to pull no doubt.











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