Friday, November 15, 2024
	Search Neumu:

Tuesday, January 16, 2007 Jim Connelly's Favorite Recordings Of 2006 Monday, January 15, 2007 Jesse Steichen's Favorite Recordings Of 2006 Friday, January 12, 2007 Bill Bentley's Favorite Recordings Of 2006 Wednesday, January 10, 2007 Tom Ridge's Favorite Recordings Of 2006 Thursday, January 4, 2007 Lee Templeton's Favorite Recordings Of 2006 Tuesday, January 2, 2007 Anthony Carew's 13 Fave Albums Of 2006 Monday, March 27, 2006 SXSW 2006: Finding Some Hope In Austin Tuesday, February 28, 2006 Letter From New Orleans Saturday, February 18, 2006 Jennifer Przybylski's Fave Albums of 2005 Tuesday, January 31, 2006 Music For Dwindling Days: Max Schaefer's Fave Recordings Of 2005 Wednesday, January 18, 2006 Sean Fennessey's 'Best-Of' 2005 Thursday, January 12, 2006 Lori Miller Barrett's Fave Albums Of 2005 Wednesday, January 11, 2006 Lee Templeton's Favorite Recordings of 2005 Thursday, January 5, 2006 Michael Lach - Old Soul Songs For A New World Order Wednesday, January 4, 2006 Found In Translation — Emme Stone's Year In Music 2005 Tuesday, January 3, 2006 Dave Allen's 'Best-Of' 2005 Monday, January 2, 2006 Steve Gozdecki's Favorite Albums Of 2005 Tuesday, December 20, 2005 Johnny Walker Black's Top 10 Of 2005 Monday, December 19, 2005 Neal Block's Favorite Recordings Of 2005 Thursday, December 15, 2005 Jenny Tatone's Year In Review Tuesday, December 13, 2005 Dave Renard's Fave Recordings Of 2005 Monday, December 12, 2005 Jennifer Kelly's Fave Recordings Of 2005 Thursday, December 8, 2005 Tom Ridge's Favorite Recordings Of 2005 Tuesday, December 6, 2005 Ben Gook's Beloved Albums Of 2005 Monday, December 5, 2005 Anthony Carew's Fave Albums Of 2005 Thursday, November 10, 2005 Prince, Spoon And The Magic Of The Dead Stop Monday, September 12, 2005 The Truth About America Monday, September 5, 2005 Tryin' To Wash Us Away Monday, August 1, 2005 A Psyche-Folk Heat Wave In Western Massachusetts Monday, July 18, 2005 Soggy But Happy At Glastonbury 2005 Monday, April 4, 2005 The SXSW Experience, Part 3: All Together Now Friday, April 1, 2005 The SXSW Experience, Part 2: Dr. Dog's Happy Chords Thursday, March 31, 2005 The SXSW Experience, Part 1: Waiting, Waiting And More Waiting Friday, March 25, 2005 Final Day At SXSW's Charnel House Monday, March 21, 2005 Day Three At SXSW Saturday, March 19, 2005 Day Two In SXSW's Hall Of Mirrors Thursday, March 17, 2005 Report #1: SXSW 2005 And Its Hall Of Mirrors Monday, February 14, 2005 Matt Landry's Fave Recordings Of 2004 Wednesday, February 2, 2005 David Howie's 'Moments' From The Year 2004 Thursday, January 27, 2005 Lori Miller Barrett's Fave Recordings Of 2004 Thursday, January 20, 2005 Noah Bonaparte's Fave Recordings Of 2004 Tuesday, January 18, 2005 Kevin John's Fave Albums Of 2004 Friday, January 14, 2005 Music For Those Nights: Max Schaefer's Fave Recordings Of 2004 Thursday, January 13, 2005 Dave Renard's Fave Recordings Of 2004 Wednesday, January 12, 2005 Neal Block's Top Ten Of 2004 Tuesday, January 11, 2005 Jenny Tatone's Fave Albums Of 2004 Monday, January 10, 2005 Wayne Robins' Top Ten Of 2004 Friday, January 7, 2005 Brian Orloff's Fave Albums Of 2004 Thursday, January 6, 2005 Johnny Walker (Black)'s Top 10 Of 2004 Wednesday, January 5, 2005 Jennifer Przybylski's Fave Albums (And Book) Of 2004 Tuesday, January 4, 2005 Mark Mordue's Fave Albums Of 2004 Monday, January 3, 2005 Lee Templeton's Fave Recordings Of 2004

Matt Landry's Fave Recordings Of 2004 In no particular order: Broken Social Scene, You Forgot It in People (Arts & Crafts): Toronto's Arts & Crafts collective, transformed from a hipster's online PBR whisper to a masterful musical monolith. From the dreamy romantic waltz of "Lover's Spit" to the driving drama of "Cause=Time" and "Almost Crimes" to the curious "Anthems for a Seventeen-Year Old Girl," no band today is constructing music as enthralling as this. Interpol, Antics (Matador): They did it again. While not much of a departure from their debut, Antics is the natural next step forward for the chic East Villagers. The strength of this record is the middle — "Slow Hands," "Not an Exit" and "Public Pervert," all get to the center of why this band is so good: dense, dynamic compositions that "make a man want to pick up his guitar." ISIS, Panopticon (Ipepac): 2001's Celestial took us into space and beyond the Milky Way. 2002's Oceanic wedged us deep into the light and dark of the deep. With Panopticon, ISIS reflect on Foucault's blackened conceptualization of power, which is appropriate given Aaron Turner's purposefully indecipherable lyrics. ISIS might be the only band in the world who can condense and focus their sound, and not one song on Panopticon weighs in at less than 6 minutes and 47 seconds… Jay-Z, The Black Album (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam): Shawn Carter executes the best retirement trip around the bases since Ted Williams; Kanye West, Just Blaze, Eminem, Timbaland and even Rick Rubin come along in supporting roles. H.O.V.A. leaves the game to start and end careers in the executive chair at Def Jam, but I've got a feeling that he'll be back like MJ to win a few more titles. Mastodon, Leviathan (Relapse): Any time a metal band from Atlanta assembles a concept album around the story of Moby Dick you run below deck… and stay there. The first cut, "Blood and Thunder," begins with the line, "I think someone is trying to kill me/ Infecting my body, destroying my mind," and you believe it. Propelled by the octopus drumming of Brann Dailor, this record is simple, unrelenting punishment. Pixies, Amherst MA 11-30-2004 (DiscLive): Kim's the only one with any hair left, but they ran through 29 of the best songs in rock on a world tour no one saw coming — including the Pixies. Charles Thompson/Frank Black/Black Francis maintained the vocal chops to pull off all the grunts and yelps; in spite of everything Kim still sounds like an angel with a smack problem; Dave Lovering is just happy he isn't pulling rabbits out of hats in Vegas or Atlantic City; and Joey Santiago gets a college fund for his kids — not a bad way to spend a year. Read Yellow, Radios Burn Faster (Fenway Records): You've heard it before. Fugazi meets Social D meets At the Drive-In meets whatever… Read Yellow specializes in tight songs that don't always go where you anticipate; aided by the dynamic production from Boston legend Paul Q Kolderie (Radiohead, Pixies, Hole, Mighty Mighty Bosstones), Radios Burn Faster is the kind of album mall-punk fans should be buying. Featuring a dual guitar attack, with a monkey behind the drum set and a sharp, chick bass player and you've got Boston's best hope for an international impact since… Los Pixies. TV on the Radio, Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes (Touch & Go): Oh, Williamsburg… how we hate and love you so. TV on the Radio = Barber Shop/Doo Wop meets CBGB's & RISD. While this record is imperfect, nothing else sounded as fresh in 2004. Live, this band was unparalleled; Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone's harmonies were lucid and lively, they added a tight rhythm section that fleshed out the album's cold recording, and David Andrew Sitek's guitar was loud as fuck. I walked out of the show feeling like I had just seen The Ramones in 1975 — the next album from these guys might change music. Dillinger Escape Plan, Miss Machine (Relapse): It really doesn't matter who sings for Dillinger Escape Plan, whether it's original singer Dimitri Minakakis, pinch-hitter Mike Patton or current seatholder Greg Puciato. Singing is merely another element of the DEP hurricane to survive. Miss Machine is an indescribable musical car crash, featuring more time changes in the first two songs than on the last three Metallica albums. I recommend it highly for mall shopping; it has a way of making the chaos much more… calming. * The Walkmen, Bows & Arrows (Record Collection): "The Rat" is the song of the year. The first time I heard it, I bought the record the same day, especially after loving their debut, Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone. But after a few listens, the rest of the CD just didn't match up to the blind and bored blister of "The Rat." Still, I kept playing the record, and I continued to play it, over and over and over. I warmed up to it, enjoying the nuance of the slow ballad "Hang On, Siobhan" and the determined, angry shuffle of "No Christmas While I'm Talking" and the title track. Too often in our iPod/Napster/RealRhapsody world we don't give a record time to breathe; Bows & Arrows was an investment worth making. Five That Didn't Make It, But Should Have Dear Leader, All I Ever Wanted Was Tonight (Lunch Records): Aaron Perrino from the Sheila Divine is back. He can still out-sing anyone, and he writes a good pop tune too. Kanye West, The College Dropout (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam): Super producer gives hip-hop a conscience and it sells like crazy. Any time Freeway and Mos Def share the same mic, as they did on "Two Worlds," you've got something worth hearing. Madvillain, Madvillainy (Stones Throw): Madlib and MF Doom put their blunts together to create hip-hop's first ADD comic book. Oceansize, Effloresce, (Beggar's Banquet): Quiet, loud, influenced by Radiohead, Jeff Buckley, My Bloody Valentine and ISIS, Effloresce was the most atmospheric rock debut of 2004. Pretty Girls Make Graves, The New Romance (Matador): They stayed together and took another tiny step towards becoming punk's modern version of The Pretenders. The InsiderOne Daily Report appears on occasion.