Hey Paul, you made the year end list in the Contra Costa Times!
www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/entertainment/columnists/tony_hicks/10486447.htm?1c TONY HICKS: MUSIC CRITIC
Risk-takers hit all the right notes
To "Smile" or not to "Smile"?
At first glance, it's confusing. Brian Wilson's "Smile" should have been one of the best records of 1967, instead of 2004. Either that says a lot about the music industry now, or a lot about Brian Wilson's talent.
Probably the latter. Typical complaining aside, 2004 was a pretty good year in music. Maybe it was that artistic motivation was pushed by war, a presidential election, or the emergence of more independent artists and the freedom that comes with giant record companies having no monstrous, dominant musical trend on which to fall back. Which might have made it a perfect year for "Smile" to emerge.
Or maybe it was just because Limp Bizkit stayed out of sight.
But 2004 was good enough that people like Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen made good records that sort of got lost in the shuffle. Hold your breath that 2004 isn't remembered for an iPod commercial that introduced an otherwise good U2 record. Instead, we should remember it as a year in which even popular bands such as Green Day felt they could still take risks.
This list of 2004's so-called "best" records makes the argument that 2004 was stronger than people might remember (trends, or lack thereof, make it harder to focus). The year was good enough to forgo a "worst" list. Of course, one never has to look far to find bad music, but I'd prefer to name some disappointments, all of which I had real hope for.
The best
1. "American Idiot," Green Day: While not exactly the "punk opera" that it was proclaimed, "American Idiot" was even better. It lacked the filler of concept records, while slamming the senses with great song after great song about suburban isolation and fighting the power. The sequencing was perfect as well, with one song setting up the next -- thematically and musically. The great bands get better as they go and, a decade after "Dookie," Green Day joins their ranks.
2. "A Ghost Is Born," Wilco: In some ways, it's even better than their career gem "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot," as far as emotion and song structure. To think that one came on the heels of the other is pretty amazing. Wilco has shed the alt-country label and just become a band free to put quirky warm songs, unpredictable guitar playing and long, structured epics on the same record. Few bands have this much freedom of expression, and it's a joy to hear.
3. "Smile," Brian Wilson: What else can be said about this? Somehow it's nearly as revolutionary as it might have been when it was supposed to emerge in 1967. While at times it's inspirational and gorgeous, it's also a bit choppy. Chalk that up to quirkiness and embrace what Wilson had to go through to give "Smile" to the public. While it's not quite the best record of the year, it's clearly the best effort.
4. "Sonic Nurse," Sonic Youth: This is the continuation of 2002's superb "Murray Street," where the Youth found the right combination of soaring guitar and cold bottom groove. Here's another band that has the freedom to do whatever it wants and, two decades in, is still as creative as ever, without having to react to the absurd music scene around it. They can grab you with a subtle hook, then demonstrate how multiple players actually play with and respond to one another.
5. "The Clarence Greenwood Recordings," Citizen Cope: If only more hip-hoppers actually emphasized songs and feelings. Though not strictly that style, or any style, Citizen Cope wraps melancholy stories into whatever laid-back folk, blues, soul groove fits best. It's music that paints a picture through the ears and resonates.
6. "Escondida," Jolie Holland: At first listen, you think Jolie Holland made this record in the 1940s in somebody's Mississippi basement. It's about as far away as one can get from modern musical hype, with vivid yet simple imagery of the South bathed in patiently gorgeous melodies.
7. "Pawn Shoppe Heart," the Von Bondies: No wonder Jack White beat up Von Bondies singer Jason Stollsteimer last year. The Bondies are almost as good as White's fellow-Detroit band the White Stripes. Similarly, the Von Bondies stay rooted in blues/rock but are more than willing to stray some. The hooks are enough to make this band mainstays on alt-rock radio.
8. "Album of the Year," the Good Life: Well, it's close. Maybe the best album by an alt band or something. I don't know what else to call it. The music here is sometimes pop, sometimes rock, sometimes slow and reflective And sometimes TGL sounds like a band playing behind a merry-go-round. But all the songs have good ideas behind them, good changes and aren't confined to a tight formula.
9. "No Be an Arsonist," the Bludlows: Some days you just need to hear sloppy, yelling, punk comedians that are as much Neil Young as they are straight stoner rock. This is real garage rock with enough heart not to try emulating anyone else. It's loose, it's good, and any band that does a song about a loser called "(Expletive) Larry" has to be good. And it has easily the best album cover of the year.
(TIE) 10. "Final Straw," Snow Patrol: Sometimes it's OK to play seriously grand music. Snow Patrol arranges big, emotional songs that fall just to the dramatic side of bands like Coldplay. And they do it well.
10. "Real Gone," Tom Waits: This is the sneaky way to jam 11 CDs in a Top 10 list. It's a Tom Waits record. As has been the case the past decade, it's not up to earlier material when songwriting took precedence over weird noises and growling. But there are still a few surprises. And I'll take a mediocre Tom Waits record over anybody else's best just about any day.
Honorable mentions: Loretta Lynn, "Van Lear Rose"; Kanye West, "The College Dropout"; Probot, "Probot"; Velvet Revolvers, "Contraband"; U2, "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb"; Hanoi Rocks, "Twelve Shots on the Rocks" (released in the United States in January); Leonard Cohen, "Dear Heather"; Mission of Burma, "OnoffOn"; Blanche, "If We Can't Trust the Doctors"; Bad Religion, "The Empire Strikes First"; Mark Lanegan, "Bubblegum"; Ted Leo, "Shake the Streets."
The disappointments
1. "Astronaut," Duran Duran: Some people waited two decades for Duran Duran's comeback. I'm still waiting.
2. "Honkin' on BoBo," Aerosmith: A great idea, having Aerosmith go back to its blues roots. But some of us foolishly expected the rawness of "Mother Popcorn" or "Reefer Head Woman." We instead got a record that, while generally better than the average "modern" Aerosmith CD, was produced and arranged no differently than all the plastic crud Aerosmith has churned out for 20 years.
3. "Size Matters," Helmet: So maybe I was one of seven people waiting for Helmet's comeback. The vicious genius of "Meantime" is gone.
4. "Folker," Paul Westerberg: Westerberg was one of alt-rock's greats, even for a couple records after he disbanded the Replacements. Now he just sounds uninterested.
5. "Gold Medal," the Donnas: This isn't too bad, but aren't the Donnas supposed to be better than this by now?
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Tony Hicks is the Times pop music critic. Reach him at 925-952-2678 or thicks@cctimes.com.
