The Floating World: 2004 (Part 2)
Continuing, then, the no-frills recounting of my personal end-of-year lists and the thought behind them. Stylus has our album list up and going strong, with my contribution coming in at #13 (although #1 in my heart). Pitchfork has theirs up as well, and I don't think I'll tread on anyone's toes if I say I like ours better and I think I would even if I didn't write for Stylus. They've got a few more of the usual suspects (let's say their #1 wasn't exactly a shocker, although ours really isn't one either), but you shouldn't hold that against the suspects. Or Pitchfork, for that matter.
Anyway, without further nonsense here's the first quarter of my albums list, with one important change from what will go up at Stylus on Friday. Each title links to the Stylus review of that album (many of them by me, which is kind of a problem).
20. Interpol – Antics
The fact that Antics snuck onto my list at the very end should be taken as a testament both to the fact that even a merely "good" album from Interpol is still pretty worth your time (although I haven't bought it nor would I) and to the number of albums I heard this year that were good, rather than any sort of about-face on my previously linked Stylus review. Yes, reviews are always the products of a given moment in time and I reserve the right to reserve my opinion, but in this case I feel comfortable standing by and even reaffirming everything I wrote about Antics. I want to look back decades from now and be able to say that this was a transitional effort, not the beginning of Interpol's boring period. And as I said, except for "Not Even Jail" what I enjoy most about Antics is the fact that it finally solidifies my feelings for Turn On The Bright Lights.
I didn't get to hear nearly as many of the talked-about records this year as I would have liked, although any ones that really interested me or seemed important have generally at least been downloaded and listened to a few times. Some of them will probably never be revisited (sorry, Arcade Fire) and some of them I still need to hear (like The Necks). If I hadn't been doing writing and school and a job, I probably would be happier with my list and Antics probably wouldn't have made it (although I can't conceive of it not being somewhere in a theoretical top 40 at least). When I say above that the fact that many of the records on my top 20 were reviewed by me is a problem, what I mean is that I had so little time this year that the list of albums I reviewed (which is not small, admittedly) for Stylus and the Ontarion comprises a pretty hefty chunk of my total listening.
19. Liars - They Were Wrong, So We Drowned
To be honest, I don't listen to this one all that often. But I do think it's great. I'm not often in the mood for the arty, post-hardcore witch tales here, but Liars were considerate enough to start the record off with "Broken Witch", which makes it very easy for me to tell if I'm in the mood for They Were Wrong, So We Drowned. I think an awful lot of the disapproving reviews of this one disliked it for the wrong reasons (which some would say only means I disagree, but what can you do?). "Hold Hands And It Will Happen Anyway" is still supreme craziness, "They Don’t Want Your Corn They Want Your Kids" is pretty fucking awesome, and so on.
If I can get past "Broken Witch", by which I mean if it sounds incantory and menacing and sad rather than senseless, I'm guaranteed to enjoy the hell out of the rest of it. The fact that I usually just find it senseless counts against Liars, but I'd rather have them be interesting and flawed than make, err, their version of Antics.
18. At Dusk – Heights
There a few bands that I've corresponded with as a result of my work in Stylus, and I always feel oddly protective towards them. The few that have then put out more records and sent them to me even more so, of course, but also a little more conflicted. So far, both of the bands in this category (the other one is Hinterlandt, whose great third album will probably be my first review in the new year) have made me feel better by continuing to improve, but I assure you had Heights sucked I would have done my unpleasant duty and pointed out that fact on Stylus.
I don't feel quite as strongly about it now as I did in September, which proves at least some of my fervor then was as a result of delighted surprise at how much better the band has gotten, but when I actually get the urge to listen to some indie rock, Heights is never far from the top of the list. The first half is good (and I don't mean to downplay it - "Come Too Far" and "We Could Do Anything" are like previous-album highlight "The Image" with added muscle and fire), but I still maintain "Act Of Violence" and "Tired Eyes" are the nicest musical surprises of the year. You can go here and download the entire album. That's how nice those guys are. And unlike a lot of cases where this happens, you should go do that, then buy the album and throw them some cash.
17. The Unintended - The Unintended
Another one I don't play terribly often; this is a "mood" record, and you really have to like echo to like it. I still maintain that "So Long Goodbye" and "The Collapse" are two of the most amazing songs I've heard all year, and in fact it was hearing this in a record shop that convinced me to buy it. Yeah, yeah, it's the Sadies (who I don't care for) backing up Rick White from Eric's Trip with a little help from Greg Keelor of Blue Rodeo, but who cares?
Thirty-five minutes of peerless atmosphere, pea-soup thick psychedelia, and though I'm glad they kept it short and sweet there's nothing bad here, even when it gets folksy ("Stay Calm") or abstract ("The Truth"). Small and perfectly formed and I honestly hope this is the only thing they ever do together.
16. The Streets - A Grand Don’t Come For Free
I maintain that only two tracks here (the opening, scene-setting "It Was Supposed To Be So Easy" and "What Is He Thinking?") that don't work as individual songs, but the fact remains that complaining that much of the material here doesn't work out of context of the story misses the point. You should be listening to the whole album and getting the story. Because that narrative thread is what makes this, although arguably not as good on musical terms as Original Pirate Material, one hell of an accomplishment. I still tear up a little at "Empty Cans" when he switches perspective, and so forth. I hope he doesn't try to replicate this sort of thing next time out, because it will almost certainly fail, but this is wonderful. Skinner would have deserved praise just for making the attempt, but he's almost totally succeeded.
Next up: 15-11, including Oneida and the record that isn't on the Stylus list.
Anyway, without further nonsense here's the first quarter of my albums list, with one important change from what will go up at Stylus on Friday. Each title links to the Stylus review of that album (many of them by me, which is kind of a problem).
20. Interpol – Antics
The fact that Antics snuck onto my list at the very end should be taken as a testament both to the fact that even a merely "good" album from Interpol is still pretty worth your time (although I haven't bought it nor would I) and to the number of albums I heard this year that were good, rather than any sort of about-face on my previously linked Stylus review. Yes, reviews are always the products of a given moment in time and I reserve the right to reserve my opinion, but in this case I feel comfortable standing by and even reaffirming everything I wrote about Antics. I want to look back decades from now and be able to say that this was a transitional effort, not the beginning of Interpol's boring period. And as I said, except for "Not Even Jail" what I enjoy most about Antics is the fact that it finally solidifies my feelings for Turn On The Bright Lights.
I didn't get to hear nearly as many of the talked-about records this year as I would have liked, although any ones that really interested me or seemed important have generally at least been downloaded and listened to a few times. Some of them will probably never be revisited (sorry, Arcade Fire) and some of them I still need to hear (like The Necks). If I hadn't been doing writing and school and a job, I probably would be happier with my list and Antics probably wouldn't have made it (although I can't conceive of it not being somewhere in a theoretical top 40 at least). When I say above that the fact that many of the records on my top 20 were reviewed by me is a problem, what I mean is that I had so little time this year that the list of albums I reviewed (which is not small, admittedly) for Stylus and the Ontarion comprises a pretty hefty chunk of my total listening.
19. Liars - They Were Wrong, So We Drowned
To be honest, I don't listen to this one all that often. But I do think it's great. I'm not often in the mood for the arty, post-hardcore witch tales here, but Liars were considerate enough to start the record off with "Broken Witch", which makes it very easy for me to tell if I'm in the mood for They Were Wrong, So We Drowned. I think an awful lot of the disapproving reviews of this one disliked it for the wrong reasons (which some would say only means I disagree, but what can you do?). "Hold Hands And It Will Happen Anyway" is still supreme craziness, "They Don’t Want Your Corn They Want Your Kids" is pretty fucking awesome, and so on.
If I can get past "Broken Witch", by which I mean if it sounds incantory and menacing and sad rather than senseless, I'm guaranteed to enjoy the hell out of the rest of it. The fact that I usually just find it senseless counts against Liars, but I'd rather have them be interesting and flawed than make, err, their version of Antics.
18. At Dusk – Heights
There a few bands that I've corresponded with as a result of my work in Stylus, and I always feel oddly protective towards them. The few that have then put out more records and sent them to me even more so, of course, but also a little more conflicted. So far, both of the bands in this category (the other one is Hinterlandt, whose great third album will probably be my first review in the new year) have made me feel better by continuing to improve, but I assure you had Heights sucked I would have done my unpleasant duty and pointed out that fact on Stylus.
I don't feel quite as strongly about it now as I did in September, which proves at least some of my fervor then was as a result of delighted surprise at how much better the band has gotten, but when I actually get the urge to listen to some indie rock, Heights is never far from the top of the list. The first half is good (and I don't mean to downplay it - "Come Too Far" and "We Could Do Anything" are like previous-album highlight "The Image" with added muscle and fire), but I still maintain "Act Of Violence" and "Tired Eyes" are the nicest musical surprises of the year. You can go here and download the entire album. That's how nice those guys are. And unlike a lot of cases where this happens, you should go do that, then buy the album and throw them some cash.
17. The Unintended - The Unintended
Another one I don't play terribly often; this is a "mood" record, and you really have to like echo to like it. I still maintain that "So Long Goodbye" and "The Collapse" are two of the most amazing songs I've heard all year, and in fact it was hearing this in a record shop that convinced me to buy it. Yeah, yeah, it's the Sadies (who I don't care for) backing up Rick White from Eric's Trip with a little help from Greg Keelor of Blue Rodeo, but who cares?
Thirty-five minutes of peerless atmosphere, pea-soup thick psychedelia, and though I'm glad they kept it short and sweet there's nothing bad here, even when it gets folksy ("Stay Calm") or abstract ("The Truth"). Small and perfectly formed and I honestly hope this is the only thing they ever do together.
16. The Streets - A Grand Don’t Come For Free
I maintain that only two tracks here (the opening, scene-setting "It Was Supposed To Be So Easy" and "What Is He Thinking?") that don't work as individual songs, but the fact remains that complaining that much of the material here doesn't work out of context of the story misses the point. You should be listening to the whole album and getting the story. Because that narrative thread is what makes this, although arguably not as good on musical terms as Original Pirate Material, one hell of an accomplishment. I still tear up a little at "Empty Cans" when he switches perspective, and so forth. I hope he doesn't try to replicate this sort of thing next time out, because it will almost certainly fail, but this is wonderful. Skinner would have deserved praise just for making the attempt, but he's almost totally succeeded.
Next up: 15-11, including Oneida and the record that isn't on the Stylus list.
You should be listening to the whole album and getting the story.Yes, yes, yes! That fact doesn't automatically make it a great album (that would be like comparing a novel to an individual story), but it does mean that Skinner's critics are too often missing the boat when they complain about the songs not working on their own.
Of course, I'm a sucker for concept albums. My all-time #1 top album is Quadrophenia.
Posted by
Justin Cober-Lake |
10:43 AM
Really? Can't say I've ever sat down and listened to the whole thing, although my dad owns it.
Not that I'd be opposed to doing so, you understand...
What's yr take on Blueberry Boat, then?
Posted by
Ian |
1:20 PM
It falls under the category of "albums I should like more than I do." It's got everything I want in an album, yet I never find myself reaching for it. I'm impressed by it more than I enjoy it (#16 on my year-end), but the more I *listened* the more I got into it.
I'll admit that the Quad love has a lot to do with biography and timing, but it's been about 8 years since I discovered it, and nothing's dislodged it from the peak in that time. Sentimental? Yes, but I think I think it's genius, too.
Posted by
Justin Cober-Lake |
2:43 PM