best music of 2004, reductionist stylz

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My Favourite albums released in 2004, in no particular order.

OREN AMBARCHI
Grapes From the Estate (Touch)



Ambarchi’s latest features four astoundingly pretty suites
which would serve as interludes on CDs not composed
by Brian Eno. I have not heard a more beautiful or
precise arrangement for percussion than in “Remedios
the Beauty,” in which one cymbal is as expressive as
Coltrane. A good set of headphones and an ear for
detail is recommended.

MP3: Oren Ambarchi - Remedios the Beauty

ANIMAL COLLECTIVE
Sung Tongs (Fat Cat)



When ancient cultures were sick with the plague, groups
of travelling ecstatics would attempt absolution through
trance music, chanting, sexual excess, and religious
martyrdom. These carnivalesque monstrosities would
dance and sing their way through every nearby village,
bringing hope to the terrified masses in times of great
turmoil. With joyful abandon and deconstructionist glee,
Animal Collective is the post-9/11 answer to the
Children’s Crusade.

MP3: Animal Collective - Who Could Win A Rabbit

DEVENDRA BANHART
Rejoicing In the Hands (Young God)



Banhart is the kind of musician your great grandfather
mythologizes at the dinner table. He sings little parables
of almost religious mystery with the legitimacy of
depression-era gospel and blues artists. His guitar
playing evokes the entire canon of american folk song,
but DB is too witty for simple mimicry. This is not a new
tradition for folk, but rather its alternate history.

MP3: Devendra Banhart - The Body Breaks

FENNESZ
Venice (Touch)



This is not the best album Fennesz has released. That
being said, it’s about time that North Americans tuned in
to the capabilities of one musician and their laptop. This
glorious release from Vienna’s posterboy for post-
everything is about as challenging a record as any you’ll
hear this year. And yet under the many layers of noise
and granular frequencies, a haunting melodicism can be
heard.

MP3: Fennesz - Château Rouge

MADVILLAIN
Madvillainy (Stones Throw)



MF Doom and Madlib are two of the most respected
names in hip hop. When the duo met earlier this year,
the world learned of the most dastardly evil musical
project it has ever known. Rhymes flow as smooth as
always with Doom, who is backed by cartoon samples
proclaiming his sheer evilness as well as Madlib’s
typically jazzy production and herb-smoked beats.

MP3: Madvillain - Raid (feat. M.E.D. aka Medaphoar)

PAN SONIC
Kesto (EMI)



This release is probably the most decadent major label
debut in music history. EMI packaged four CDs rather
sparsely, thankfully leaving the music to speak for itself.
Those unaware of this Finnish duo’s sound should
picture the mathematical beats that their appliances
would dance to while malfunctioning. Fans of typically
obscure European techno should rejoice in the
knowledge that some mainstream ears are beginning to
pay attention and support the scene without
compromising the music.

MP3: Pan Sonic - Rähinä II (Mayhem II)

RE
Alms (Constellation)



Noisy, brash, deviant, and sometimes self-serving, this
piece of aural constructionism from Montreal’s
prodigious musical community somehow manages to
evoke both the chaos of technological dependence and
the apathetic uncertainty of our learning to cope with an
increasing amount of political violence in 2004. Rock
freakout meets electronic production and news
soundbyte collage.

MP3: Re: - Radio Free Ramadi

TRAPIST
Ballroom (Thrill Jockey)



When electronic and acoustic instruments get processed
in the digital realm, good things can happen as new
sounds and textures are created which physical
instruments cannot reproduce. Trapist are a trio of
improvisers who render a discussion of the implications
of this ‘virtuality’ in a real time form. While seemingly
academic, in practice Ballroom rocks like few records of
2004, as aggressive drumming and incessantly rhythmic
bass patterns keep the listener’s head moving.

MP3: Trapist - Time Axis Manipulation (part 1)

XIU XIU
Fabulous Muscles (5RC)



Sad songs can be easily sentimentalized to the point of
being overdone. Xiu Xiu is pretentiously and hopelessly
romantic, and like the best of The Smiths or Magnetic
Fields, this spirit can be used to critique much of the
human condition. The band’s experimental-pop nature
might turn off some ears, but hopefully they can
understand that truly memorable pop requires a bit of
work to achieve.

MP3: Xiu Xiu - Fabulous Muscles

YELLOW SWANS
Bring The Neon War Home (Narnack)



War is a messy affair. Yellow Swans convert the media
remnants of the mess of conflict into the opposite of a
CNN headline. The beats harken back to industrial
angst; the sound generating guitars refer to technology
out of control. Voices are shredded and distorted until
lyrical information become washes of noise and only
subjective impressions remain. Noise is the new punk.

MP3: Yellow Swans - Neon War