THE ROOTS The Tipping Point [okayplayer/Geffen; 2004] accusations flew. at the opening re-interpretation of sly and the family stone's everybody is a star with its soul-clap intro, a wannabe in da club, itself a dre produced anthem which, incidentally, the roots reproduced live to open their concerts on the phrenology tour ("the roots is taking over"). at the lazy wannabe r&b of i don't care which, despite this, still managed to ride one of the smoothest, most fluid bass lines of the year. at the club jam/banger don't say nuthin' which led them to claim scott storch was too ambitious with the philadelphian's infamous jam/demo sessions and had been spending too much time with beyonce. and that's just the first three tracks. but as ?uestlove assured us in his ever-cryptic, stream of consciousness liner notes, once a root always a root. adorning the cover, a portrait of a small time hustler known as detroit red on the streets of boston in the 1940s, later better-known as malcolm x. the album title borrowed from malcolm gladwell's pop sociological work the tipping point, referring to the underground going overground, penetrating the mainstream, a seemingly incremental change in fact consituting revolution - something once considered unique becoming common. and sure, to an extent the roots went commercial on this one but the results are still more interesting than radiohead going experimental. by the time somebody's gotta do it rolls around, with devin the dude adding a sweet chorus and jean grae dropping one of her patented cameo verses, and the soulful closer why (what's goin on?) almost brings an end to proceedings, you can rest assured you have been rocking with the best, the lengendary foundation crew
The Magnetic Fields i [NONESUCH; 2004] the prolific and one time bedroom synth-pop composer stephen merrit returned in his most recognisable and revered guise this year with i; an album whose sequencing is arranged alphabetically and on which all the songs begin with the ninth letter of the alphabet. this novelty - the "concept" (an attribute which is more strictly adhered to on other maggies releases) - merely masks the fact that merrit has written a further 14 love songs to append his 1999 opus, on which his original intent was to compose a century's worth. apart from the pounding disco-downbeat of i thought you were my boyfriend, there is little that hints at merrit's lo-fi beginnings. instead, in its place, we find examples of his droll humour amongst delicate chamber-pop arrangements, expertly produced and ending with his most ambitious work yet, it's only time. when touring 69 love songs and playing a mini-residency at the sadly departed and sorely missed continental cafe just days before it closed, he pointed out that his was not the sole release comprising entirely love songs that year and cited melbourne's own nick cave as an example with his boatman's call record. and i can't help but feel this reluctant tourist was inspired, even competitive, in writing his album's closer - the most stark, eloquent, honest and charming paean to the timeless nature of love he has given voice to and, dare i say it, exceeding anything on his previous effort. i look forward to the next 17...
JUNIOR BOYS LAST EXIT [KIN/Domino; 2004] so, your favourite website (pitchforkmedia.com) reviews a new cd by an unheralded canadian duo on june 16 (8.9 out of 10). the same day you receive your weekly othermusic (NYC) email update. it sounds to you, having not heard it, like the magnetic fields meets the postal service. so the quest begins. along the way you acquire a new vocabulary - it's emo-electronica, indie romanticism meets neptunes/timbaland beats. you even try borders, because it sounds, like, "literate". no luck. you wait. then on september 22 your inbox contains a further othermusic update declaring domino records have released last exit domestically to the US market. not only that but it contains a bonus disc featuring caribou (nee manitoba) and fennesz remixes. you finally purchase your very own copy on october 28. was it worth it? electro-dreampop album of the year
CASIOTONE FOR THE PAINFULLY ALONE TINKLE ECHO [Tomlab; 2004] mike nichols (director of the graduate) to robert redford upon his audition for the role that eventually went to dustin hoffman, "have you ever struck out with a girl?" to which redford replied, "what do you mean?" hello rufus wainwright, elliott smith, ed harcourt - the girls all love you cos your sensitive and fragile and deep (and pretty) but geeks can write songs too. enter owen ashworth with the best stage moniker of the year and an album composed entirely on casio keyboards. this fictional autobiography is heartbreaking in its naivety, simplicity, honesty and innocence. kate langbroek to mark E smith (from the eels) on the panel, "were you picked on at school?" his deadpan reply, "no, I was a jock."
when I commenced this enterprise, it was mainly with the intent of opining wildly and wilfully on the merits of the music i love. you see music is my thing, i just haven't managed to parlay it into a livelihood (yet). admittedly at that early point i did concede that i had things to say and the world either needed to be unaware i was saying them or choose to ignore them. my prescience has been proven unnervingly and unfortunately accurate. nonetheless, unperturbed and completely unmoved by the necessity to be contemporaneous, i present to you my top 10 albums of 2004. not having a blog last year i was unable to afflict the results of my agonising list-making upon the ignorant masses and as this blog proves ignorance is bliss. today is the first day of the advent calendar, and this list shall be succeeded by my top 10 for 2005 (i know, quelle horreur, shockingly approaching relevance there) as well as assorted editorialising along the way. so if you know a holier-than-thou indie, hispster kid (read obsessive music geek), i suggest any of the following as christmas gifts... Jason Forrest The Unrelenting Songs of the 1979 Post Disco Crash [Sonig; 2004] one time disco queen donna summer whose previous album had been issued by the kid606 affiliated violent turd reappeared this year under a name more recognisable to his mother and released a mash-up? certainly, those who encountered it would have no hesitation in labelling it as art but this goes no way toward its understanding. the least listenable entry on this list, wfmu dj jason forrest has created a dissonant piece ap(h)exing with 10 amazing years, an epic 6 minute wig-out appropriating in its course both the who and the beatles. These sounds often threaten to bump in a big-beat breakdown, but veer away from potential party-pleasers to become the perfect gift for your friends who think radiohead is fucked-up. they're not. this is
