SWSL Top 10 Albums Of 2004

Fans of Razorlight, Keane, Kasabian and The Killers: you may want to look away now. Or, failing that, fuck off back to sixth form.

First of all, the shamefully long list of albums that might potentially have troubled the Top 10 had they assailed my ears…

THE ARCADE FIRE - Funeral
THE BLACK KEYS - Rubber Factory
BLUES EXPLOSION - Damage
THE CONCRETES - The Concretes
ELVIS COSTELLO - The Delivery Man
THE DEARS - No Cities Left
THE DELGADOS - Universal Audio
THE EARLIES - These Were The Earlies
THE EIGHTIES MATCHBOX B-LINE DISASTER - The Royal Society
GOLDIE LOOKIN CHAIN - Greatest Hits
THE HIVES - Tyrannosaurus Hives
HOPE OF THE STATES - The Lost Riots
THE LIBERTINES - The Libertines
MODEST MOUSE - Good News For People Who Love Bad News
THE RADIO DEPT - Lesser Matters
RADIO 4 - Stealing Of A Nation
RILO KILEY - More Adventurous
THE SECRET MACHINES - Now Here Is Nowhere
SIX BY SEVEN - 04
SPARTA - Porcelain
THE STREETS - A Grand Don’t Come For Free
TV ON THE RADIO - Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes
THE WALKMEN - Bows & Arrows
BRIAN WILSON - Smile

(New Year’s Resolution: seek out and buy more music.)

Next, the honourable mentions…

DAVID BYRNE - Grown Backwards
THE CORAL - Nightfreak And The Sons Of Becker
GRAHAM COXON - Happiness In Magazines
IKARA COLT - Modern Apprentice
MARK LANEGAN - Bubblegum
MORRISSEY - You Are The Quarry
QHIXLDEKX - The Twin Moon Conspiracy
SCISSOR SISTERS - Scissor Sisters
THE SHINS - Chutes Too Narrow
SONS & DAUGHTERS - Love The Cup
SOPHIA - People Are Like Seasons
WILCO - A Ghost Is Born

Of these, The Shins probably came closest to scraping in - charmingly fresh power-pop with incongruously shadowy lyrics, but after a corking start Chutes Too Narrow unfortunately tails off into a bit of a disappointment with one or two drippy tracks too many.

And now for the Top 10…

10. CLINIC - Winchester Cathedral
In musical terms the Liverpool four-piece peddle some of the most deliciously sinister pop around. Ade Blackburn's nasal whine might render the vocals almost entirely incomprehensible, but his malevolent hissing gets right under the skin. Winchester Cathedral might be business as usual for Clinic, but when business is this good that’s no reason to complain.
Key track: ‘Anne’

9. KELIS - Tasty
There may be a slump in quality over the course of the final few tracks, but for the most part this record is a classic lesson in how to precipitate salivation. Mrs Nas keeps us more than entertained with a succession of bootylicious sex jamz, ably assisted by The Neptunes. Yum yum.
Key track: ‘In Public’

8. PJ HARVEY - Uh Huh Her
After the polish, positivity and vitality of 2001’s Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea, Uh Huh Her marked a partial return to the gritty, raw and raucous sound of the early 90s, no doubt at least partially influenced by PJ's time hanging out with the likes of Josh Homme and Mark Lanegan. Nevertheless, the less immediate but more delicate and restrained tracks like 'It's You' and 'The Slow Drug' come into their own over time.
Key track: ‘It’s You’

7. THE ICARUS LINE - Penance Soiree
Obnoxious, abrasive, abusive LA brats embark upon a riotous romp through rock history like a bunch of marauding punk rock vikings. As on their debut LP Mono, The Stooges, The Jesus Lizard and The Birthday Party are vomited up to glorious effect, but this time there's also the sound of 70s rock imploding, psychotically pulverising metal and heavy-lidded doped-up Spacemen-3-esque epics. Sitting amidst the wreckage is a blast.
Key track: ‘Getting Bright At Night’

6. INTERPOL - Antics
In many ways a dream sophomore release, exuding, for the first time, self-belief and a confidence in their own musical identity. A more urgent record than 2002's Turn On The Bright Lights, Antics unfortunately retains its predecessor's lyrical deficiencies but also - thankfully - its drama, poise and dignity.
Key track: ‘Not Even Jail’

5. THE FIERY FURNACES - Blueberry Boat
Without doubt the album which rewarded the patient listener the most. Every spin revealed new facets, the record endlessly divulging its secrets one by one. The Fiery Furnaces are one in a million, and Blueberry Boat is fantastically rich in ideas, invention and wit, both musically and lyrically (how many songs do you know which start off by discussing a teenage dream of working as a typewriter mechanic?). A palatial place of refuge if you ever fear that music is lacking in imagination or ambition, or a first port of call if you're just in search of wholesome tales of piracy and lost dogs.
Key track: ‘Chris Michaels’

4. FRANZ FERDINAND - Franz Ferdinand
The Strokes sexed up and set to a disco beat. Assured and yet far from arrogant, Franz Ferdinand's electrifying debut lit a fire that burned out of control on the dancefloors of indie clubs in cities all over the place, whilst Alex Kapranos was to men's fashion in 2004 what Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeahs was to women's in 2003. "Super-fantastisch" indeed.
Key track: ‘Take Me Out’

3. SONIC YOUTH - Sonic Nurse
Their 19th studio album saw the New York legends come full circle, a natural continuation of the retreat away from the self-consciously obtruse avant-gardism of NYC Ghosts & Flowers which characterised 2002's Murray Street. Treading water for perhaps the first time in their career, then, but doing it with such style. Who could begrudge them plagiarising their own illustrious back catalogue when the results are as magnificent and melodic as 'Stones', 'Pattern Recognition' and 'Paper Cup Exit'?
Key track: ‘Pattern Recognition’

2. THE FUTUREHEADS - The Futureheads
Franz Ferdinand may have won the battle in taking the prize for best single, but The Futureheads won the war. Even on the umpteenth revolution this album bursts with an irrepressible lust for life. Impassioned and intense but above all stunningly good fun, The Futureheads' debut is one to live long in the memory - and the heart.
Key track: ‘Hounds Of Love’

1. NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS - Abattoir Blues / The Lyre Of Orpheus
Not one to dwell on departed friends (Blixa Bargeld) or rest on his laurels - which were wilting somewhat after last year's rather flaccid Nocturama LP - Nick Cave followed it up with a double album of staggering power and beauty. By turns lugubrious, angry and exultant - but, perhaps most notably (if not surprisingly for Cave afficionados), brilliantly funny. We might all be on the highway to hell, but we're gonna be grinning all the goddamn way there.
Key track: ‘Hiding All Away’

A reminder of the SWSL Top 10 Albums Of 2003:

1. THE RAVEONETTES - Chain Gang Of Love
2. THE MARS VOLTA - De-Loused In The Comatorium
3. EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY - The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place
4. MOGWAI - Happy Music For Happy People
5. THE STROKES - Room On Fire
6. YEAH YEAH YEAHS - Fever To Tell
7. RADIOHEAD - Hail To The Thief
8. HOT HOT HEAT - Make Up The Breakdown
9. CAVE IN - Antenna
10. EELS - Shootenanny!