Top Five Albums 2004

Here are my top five albums for 2004. I admit I'm doing this a little early, as who knows what great albums might come out in the remining two and a half days of the year.

Number 5. Morrissey, You are the Quarry. This gets the nostalgia vote, but it's also quite a good album. Some of the songs are a little slow, but "Irish Blood, English Heart" and "First of the Gang to Die" are as solid as anything Morrissey has done.

Number 4. Thievery Corporation, The Outronationalist Sound and Armend Van Helden, New York City: A Mix Oddyssey. These two albums rekindled my passion for the mix cd by doing exactly what a solid mix cd is supposed to do. Both CDs introduced me to new tracks and both CDs created a solid defined sound.

Number 3. David Holmes, Oceans Twelve. OK, technically there are a half dozen songs or so on here not by David Holmes, and they are all good too. But this is a David Holmes joint, and it rocks with his ultra cool vibe (Particularly on the awkardly named "7/29/04 the day of"). Better in many ways than the movie itself, which although enjoyable, was kind of a cheat.

Number 2. U2, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. A bit of a silly title, but still a solid performer, with a lot of energy, a lot of fire and a lot of love. Particular standouts include "Vertigo" and "Crumbs from your Table" which the band apparently wrote while drunk.

Number 1. Fatboy Slim, Palookaville. At some point we all need to grow up and realize that Fatboy Slim, despite a silly name and a party vibe is making some of the best music around right now. "Don't Let the Man Get you Down," "Put it Back Together," and "The Journey" are solid enjoyable smart tracks.

Honorable mentions include Bebel Gilberto's eponymously named second album, Bjork's Medulla, The Prodigy's Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned, The Cure's eponymously named 13th(?) album, Zero 7's When it Falls, and West Indian Girl's eponymously named debut album. Also rereleased this year was The Name of this Band is Talking Heads, by Talking Heads, which captured the original live double album and expanded it by at least 10 cuts, very well worth checking out.