Isis: Panopticon
Isis throws up a huge wall of sound comprised of raging guitars and distant, roaring voice, and they rarely let up during the long, slowly morphing pieces. It's a claustrophic experience, but they manage to keep upping the intensity without dumbing down the music. It's not for everybody, but those who enjoy it heavy, very, very heavy, will find much to dig into here.
Neurosis: The Eye Of Every Storm
This goes hand in hand with the above two bands - there's no legitimate reason anyone would dislike Neurosis if the liked Isis or Mastodon. But Neurosis is the king of minimalist-heavy - they practically started this style well over a decade ago, and they're still slowly pushing it forward. That's not a slight to Isis at all, for they're just as responsible for taking things to an epic level that few others achieve, but Neurosis has made an art of aggression, and their latest is the best thing they've done in years. The old guys still got it.
Best thing first issued in 2003 that no one knew existed until it was reissued in 2004 :
Menomena: I Am The Fun Blame Monster
If you were upset that Dismemberment Plan broke up, Menomena is here to fill in the empty spot in your soul with their odd song structures, funny lyrics and titles, and intriguingly mature subject matter.
Best Reissues:
Can - Monster Movie, Soundtracks, Tago Mago, Ege Bamyasi
Remastered for the first time ever and including extensive liner notes and photos. You already knew the music was incredible, now you can really hear how groundbreaking and important this weird band really is.
Megadeth - entire Capitol Records catalog
Both remastered and remixed, these reissues breathed new life into albums that were unfortunately aging rapidly. Now they're blessed with a much more natural sound, having had removed by Dave Mustaine the unfortunate effects of trendy productions styles applied to some of the most important metal music of the past twenty years.
Albums that it's simply too soon to tell about, having only bought them recently:
(meaning, I already know these are great, I just haven't had enough time for our relationship to grow - time will tell where they play out in my list, but for now I can only list them)
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists: Shake the Sheets
Pop-punk done without stealing from Green Day or any of the other pop-punk outfits you've seen everywhere. The emphasis is on the "pop," as punk takes a backseat only to keep the songs short, sweet, smart, and fun.
Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
wildly interesting and informative list Tom, thanks! Ihad no idea the Trash Cans were still around and I had almost completely forgotten Grant Lee
2 - DJRadiohead
Tom,
Interesting list- particularly Helmet. I expected so much less and was pleasantly surprised. I can't say I like the album as a whole, but there are a couple of very good songs ("Throwing Punches" has been a favorite of mine since I heard it on the 'Underworld' soundtrack).
3 - Tom
Eric: do check out both the Sinatras as well as the Grant Lee Phillips album - if you liked what they did in the past, you'll like what they're doing now, and probably more, from my perspective. They're that good.
DJRadiohead: I went into the Helmet album with low expectations, too, and still found it to be a disappointment. I'd much rather listen to pretty much anything than this, sadly. I really thought I might like it, as I even like Aftertaste, which I think is unfairly slagged by fans who might have been expecting Betty II.
4 - Henry Porter
I must say you do check out the hard, cold, strange and unusual shit. No Dick Dale and the Deltones for your funky ass. I find your tastes peculiar but your means of expression are immaculate, and I don't think I've had as much fun with a single post since I went skinnydipping with the Bundchen sisters.
5 - Bill Lamb
Fascinating list...I didn't know Einsturzende Neubauten were still around either. I'll have to look that up.
Keep listening to Arcade Fire. It is a truly beautiful album and they are starting to build a buzz.
6 - Mark Saleski
as usual, tom provides a varied list, almost none of which is on mine.
...which is a good thing because now there's more stuff to check out.
particularly that intrumental Mike Keneally cd. yummy.
i do have the Wilco cd and it's pretty cool. is is alt.country? it is music concrete? uhm, yes.
7 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
tom, excellent stuff. i never thought i'd enjoy reading about Marillion, but there you go, suprised am i, as yoda would say, if he too were reading about marillion.
I somehow managed to miss the whole Modest Mouse thing, and it was only after my own list was up that someone reccomended it. It blew me away, is what. Fantastic.
I would add the libertines, of course, to any list of best records of 2004, but thats why we all got our own, i guess.
Brilliant stuff, and whilst i'm wary of instrumental rock opera shindigs, you write about it brilliantly.
8 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
and as a fairly long-time fan of nick cave, having enjoyed pretty much all of his back catalogue, i gotta say the new record (s) is the best thing i've ever heard from the dour sonabitch.
9 - Tom Johnson
Good sir Duke, never fear, the Libertines released a much-enjoyed album, but I had to make a cut-off point somewhere. As I mentioned, it was a really tough job just picking these, and the Libs weren't the only thing I had to sadly leave out of this meandering list.
I may have a "honorable mention" list for those things that just didn't quite make the cut. I realized in retrospect there were a number of things that I really enjoyed that, for whatever reason, the listening tapered off toward the end of the year and they plum got forgotten. ANd there are things like the new U2, which came out so late in the year that I have a hard time calling it a "2004 album," as the majority of it's first full year of life will be spent not in 2004 but in 2004. Anything released in the last couple months of the year is pretty hard to list as a best-of for the entire year, I think. I know my tastes change pretty quickly, and what I favor immediately after buying may well disappear from my listening queue by year's end.
10 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
Anything released in the last couple months of the year is pretty hard to list as a best-of for the entire year
I totally agree. I left Eminem's Encore off my list, but i've been listening to it constantly for the last month. It's hard to get a handle on things overnight.