# Best Albums of 2004 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 28, 2004, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995 "2004-11-28T15:13:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/41 "2004-12-16T21:28:11Z")
> [@cheddarsnax](#): > > These are the three best albums of 2004: > > **The Blood Brothers - Crimes > The Arcade Fire - Funeral > Xiu Xiu - Fabulous Muscles** > > This thread is over. “Crimes” and “Fabulous Muscles” are definitely up there, but can you defend “Funeral?” When I listen to it, I hear nothing but uninspired aping of the most superficial aspects of the sound popularized by the Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev. ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/42 "2004-12-16T22:31:41Z")
Camper Van Beethoven, _New Roman Times_ ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/43 "2004-12-16T22:52:43Z")
The Unicorns - Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone (This was released around March right?) ---
**Author:** ![Ooner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c67d28/32.png) [@Ooner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ooner)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/44 "2004-12-16T23:01:34Z")
Everyone has already said a bunch of stuff, but I’ll add a couple: **The Unicorns - Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone?** The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow Blonde Redhead - Misery is a Butterfly Animal Collective - Sung Tongs Cake - Pressure Chief **Deerhoof - Milk Man** Possibly not the best albums of the year, but they’re some of the best I’ve heard. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/45 "2004-12-16T23:29:18Z")
I guess I’ll be the pariah here: Modest Mouse sucks ass. I tried. I really did. But I find them grating and annoying. I’d rather pound my nuts flat with a wooden hammer than listen to them again. I can’t stand this band. And I’ve never come across anyone more overrated. YM, of course, MV. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/46 "2004-12-17T00:31:03Z")
Glad to see my little thread resurrected. > [@](#): > > The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow Definitely one of the best albums of **2003**. > [@](#): > > “Crimes” and “Fabulous Muscles” are definitely up there, but can you defend “Funeral?” When I listen to it, I hear nothing but uninspired aping of the most superficial aspects of the sound popularized by the Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev. I’ve never been one to dismiss one band just because they sound something like another band. If the worst thing you can say about an album is that it reminds you a bit of the Flaming Lips, how bad can it be? That said, I think _Funeral_ is fantastic, and I really don’t consider it very derivative of anything. I can’t say it ever reminded me of the Flaming Lips, aside from the fact that I really like them, too. (I’m not a big enough Mercury Rev fan to comment.) I can understand why it might not grab someone–music like this tends to either hit me or miss me. This one hit me. I have not heard either of the others. That’s why I love these year-end lists–they let me go back and listen to what I missed. By the way, the Onion AV Club’s Best Albums of 2004 list is out: [http://www.theonionavclub.com/feature/index.php?issue=4049](http://www.theonionavclub.com/feature/index.php?issue=4049) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/47 "2004-12-17T01:51:15Z")
Is it just me, or was 2004 a much weaker year for music than 2002 and 2003? I look back to the music from last year and the year before… **2003** Outkast - _Speaker Boxxx/The Love Below_ The White Stripes - _Elephant_ Warren Zevon - _The Wind_ Fountains of Wayne - _Welcome Interstate Managers_ Ryan Adams - _Rock N’ Roll_ 50 Cent - _Get Rich or Die Tryin’_ Radiohead - _Hail to the Thief_ _The Cold Mountain Soundtrack_ **2002** Eminem - _The Eminem Show_ Beck - _Sea Change_ Wilco - _Yankee Hotel Foxtrot_ The Flaming Lips - _Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots_ Bruce Springsteen - _The Rising_ The Dixie Chicks - _Home_ Coldplay - _A Rush of Blood to the Head_ Queens of the Stone Age - _Songs for the Deaf_ Nora Jones - _Come Away with Me_ The White Stripes - _White Blood Cells_ It just doesn’t seem like 2004 had anywhere near the quality of the previous two years. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/48 "2004-12-17T01:52:23Z")
I mean, aside from a handful of great albums like _Van Lear Rose_ and _Smile_, both of which were instant classics. But the depth of great music wasn’t there this year. Or maybe I’m just getting older. ---
**Author:** ![buns3000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c89c15/32.png) [@buns3000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buns3000)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/49 "2004-12-17T02:00:21Z")
**Fennesz** - _Venice_ **Tortoise** - _Its All Around You_ ---
**Author:** ![Kid\_A\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Kid\_A\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kid_A_1)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/50 "2004-12-17T02:00:23Z")
**Sam** , I agree with you. I’d said it in Post 4 and still feel that way. Especially now that I’ve seen your lists of albums. As much as I enjoyed the albums that I bought this year, I don’t really feel like any of them were classics. Or even in the same league as _Hail to the Thief_ or _White Blood Cells_, to pick two off your list, ---
**Author:** ![Nightime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Nightime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightime)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/51 "2004-12-17T02:13:13Z")
I haven’t heard as much music this year as I usually do, but these are some of my favorites. Top 3: Nick Cave - Abattoir Blues / Lyre of Orpheus Animal Collective - Sung Tongs Joanna Newsom - The Milk-Eyed Mender No particular order: Tom Waits - Real Gone PJ Harvey - Uh Huh Her Stereolab - Margarine Eclipse Mouse on Mars - Radical Connector Deerhoof - Milk Man Brian Wilson - Smile Secret Machines - Now Here is Nowhere Caetano Veloso - A Foreign Sound Blue Nile - High ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/52 "2004-12-17T03:05:12Z")
Mike Keneally: The Universe Will Provide ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/53 "2004-12-17T03:09:34Z")
My vote for the Talking Heads reissue double-live LP The Name of This Band is Talking Heads has nothing whatever to do with my having created a Doper thread announcing its release. 😉 I’m a confirmed used-bin rummager and don’t buy much new music at full retail, but I can add a few new entries: Candidate: Under the Skylon Keren Ann: Not Going Anywhere Jon Brion: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind O.S.T. Tanya Donelly: Whiskey Tango Ghosts Another vote for Mark Lanegan’s Bubblegum, too. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/54 "2004-12-17T05:20:14Z")
More famous… **Van Lear Rose** - Loretta Lynn **Cemetery Shoes** - Johnny Dowd **Peace, Love and Death Metal** - The Eagles of Death Metal **Blanche** - If We Can’t Trust The Doctors **Grab That Gun** - The Organ Less famous… **Pier-ic Victory** - [Ford Pier](http://www.moregoatthangoose.com/interviews/fordpier.htm) **The Pro’s and Con’s of Collaboration** - [Carolyn Mark](http://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/m/markcarolyn-pros.shtml) **The Road To New Orleans (Pts. 1 and 2)** - [Hank Pine & Lily Fawn](http://www.hankandlily.com/main.htm) **The Pink Mountaintops** - [The Pink Mountaintops](http://www.jagjaguwar.com/jagjaguwar/catalog/jag67.htm) **Ready, Set… Do!** - [The Doers](http://www.thedoers.com) ---
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/55 "2004-12-17T07:47:30Z")
> [@DoctorJ](#): > > I’ve never been one to dismiss one band just because they sound something like another band. If the worst thing you can say about an album is that it reminds you a bit of the Flaming Lips, how bad can it be? Oh, I have plenty more problems with the record, that’s just a sort of gestalt under which I can throw them all. I was also put off by the terrible production, boring and nonthreatening songwriting, and the frankly fraudulent, unconvincing “emotion.” Loved the lyrics, though. Man, that Onion AV Club list…it’s like they don’t even listen to music! ---
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/56 "2004-12-17T10:31:51Z")
I haven’t gotten all that many 2004 releases yet, since most of it is on my Christmas list. However, I have heard _[Endangered Species](http://www.alternativetentacles.com/product.php?product=737&sd=5r1ckMxH5N22WofzWAs)_ by eX-Girl, and it’s excellent – spastic space rock that manages to be quite sincere and never contrived. ---
**Author:** ![slu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/74df32/32.png) [@slu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slu)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/57 "2004-12-17T16:55:05Z")
Not yet mentioned, but this is the album that I have listened to most that was released in 2004: **Grant Lee Phillips** - _Virginia Creeper_ I can’t say enough about this record. I love the mood of the entire album. I’d recommend it to any fan of Grant Lee Buffalo’s _Mighty Joe Moon_ (especially if you like songs like “Mockingbirds”, “Happiness”, and “Honey Don’t Think”). ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/58 "2004-12-23T05:18:08Z")
The folks at [Pitchfork Media](http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/) have their top 50 lists up. They have a tendency to be rather hipper-than-thou, but their top 50 CDs list seems pretty cool. One CD I loved that I haven’t heard mentioned in anyone’s list–Ben Kweller’s _On My Way_. After perusing many lists here and elsewhere, I picked up CDs by Kanye West, The Walkmen, and The Fiery Furnaces today. I can’t find a copy of that Animal Collective album anywhere in town, though. ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/59 "2004-12-23T05:46:38Z")
> [@DoctorJ](#): > > The folks at [Pitchfork Media](http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/) have their top 50 lists up. They have a tendency to be rather hipper-than-thou, but their top 50 CDs list seems pretty cool. > > One CD I loved that I haven’t heard mentioned in anyone’s list–Ben Kweller’s _On My Way_. > … Ben Kweller didn’t make it on my list for the reason that it didn’t make others - it took itself way too seriously. Kweller was great, well, perfect, on his debut but his sophmore release just didn’t do much for many. Maybe I’m alone on this one. ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/60 "2004-12-23T05:58:21Z")
[hijak] Oh, and Doctor J, have you checked Best Buy on Wendover or the various places downtown like the shop on Tate or the one on Spring Garden? I serioulsy doubt Best Buy would have it but I want to say I saw it - call I suppose. [/hijak] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995.md?page=4)