It was a mere 20 years ago but it seems like an eternity. The world was in absolute chaos. George W Bush was re-elected president, Greece won the European Championships, and a guy called Mark Zuckerberg rolled out some sort of ‘social network’ named Facebook.
Closer to home, the smoking ban was introduced, the Northern Bank was robbed and of course Bryan McFadden left Westlife. Thank God we had some decent tunes to get us through it all. Here’s my 10 albums for that year.
1. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Abattoir Blues/ Lyre Of Orpheus The first album without key band member Blixa Bargeld, and it actually became two albums in one, rather than a double. Apparently, they both have a different musical concept, but apart from having a different drummer on each, there’s very little between them.
The albums saw the Bad Seeds more away from the deep guttural blues to a more gospel and soul-tinged sound. The addition of backing vocals and big choruses really fleshed out the sound. While Blixa was great, he was very limited as a guitarist and they’re obviously relishing in their newfound musical freedom.
I saw Cave touring this at Electric Picnic in 2005 and the transformation was spectacular. 2. Arcade Fire, Funeral This hit me like a breath of fresh air when it first came out.
By 2004 the term ‘indie’ had become meaningless, but Arcade Fire seemed to single-handedly revive the dying genre with an organic sound and a unique approach. On the one hand they were paying lip-service to a lot of the better bands of the early 1980s, in particular The Bunnymen, but they were also providing a blueprint for the future of music. I was very impressed when I realised four songs were called ‘Neighbourhood’, a very new wave thing to do.
The sheer power of their live performance really hit me when I saw ‘Rebellion (Lies)’ at the Electric Picnic, bizarrely in one of the tents as opposed to the main stage. 3. Air, Talkie Walkie The third studio album saw Air return to the more electronic sound of their debut, but without the dancefloor cheesiness.
The songs are deeper and more thoughtful but still drenched in that familiar European cinematic kitsch. They still have that great underlying groove, particularly on the instrumental ‘Mike Mills’. That’s quickly followed by ‘Surfing On A Rocket’, which sounds exactly like that with its driving bass an piano, and not forgetting the obligatory Moog synthesiser.
Such is the proliferation of the Moog and its ’60s and ’70s retro sounds that one almost expects Mr Spock to walk into the room. The best is saved for last. The closing ‘Alone In Kyoto’ is breathtakingly beautiful, while ‘Alpha Beta Gaga’ is old skool Moon Safari-style Air.
4. REM, Around The Sun Largely regarded as the runt of the litter, Around The Sun is the sound of a band physically, mentally and creatively exhausted. Granted it was a disappointing follow up to Reveal, but this record deserves a bit more love and respect.
The opening ‘Leaving New York’ is quite unusual in that its use of minor chords and its swansong overtones surely should have had it closing the record. That deep melancholic feel runs throughout the record with the strings and keys taking precedent over the guitars on a lot of the songs. There’s a very DIY feel to a lot of the songs similar to the Up album but it doesn’t work as well.
Having said that, ,The Boy In The Well, is up there with their best but the rest of the album just doesn’t reach those heights. The group practically disowned the record shortly after its release, dropping all the songs from their live shows. 5.
Mark Lanegan, Bubblegum My favourite Mark Lanegan record, Bubblegum has a darker, edgier, more back alleyway vibe than the others. It’s drenched in that aggressive druggy desperation that reminds me of Lou Reed’s Street Hassle. To put it bluntly it’s a drug record, and a very good one at that.
Lanegan was clearly wrestling with his demons making this. ‘Methamphetamine Blues’, ‘Why Can’t I Come Down’ and ‘Driving Death Valley Blues’ do exactly as it says on the tin. The overall sound is a mixture of dirty blues and a more expansive desert rock.
Lanegan was a member of Queens Of The Stone Age at the time and that band are all over the record. The later Killarney resident’s voice sounds like its been dragged through a mincing machine, but it suits the record. If you haven’t heard this please rectify that situation.
6. Brian Wilson presents Smile I’m a huge fan of the Beach Boys 1966 to ’71 but I’ve always been on the fence with Smile. Originally planned as the follow up to Pet Sounds it was abandoned in 1967, mainly due to Wilson’s well documented mental health issues.
Since then it’s attained this mythical status that it could never possibly live up to. He decided to test that theory in 2003 with the help of his touring band and long-time collaborator Van Dyke Parks. While finishing the project took its toll on him mentally, the finished product was stunning.
Hard to argue when you’re dealing with tracks like ‘Heroes And Villains’, ‘Surfs Up’ and the Sistine chapel ceiling of pop music, ‘Good Vibrations’. While the album was a success, the other Beach Boys were unhappy not to have been included and promptly sued. Can’t say I blame them, to be honest.
7. Elliott Smith, From A Basement Hill I was late to the party with regard to Elliott Smith. I’d always regarded him as one of those po faced intense Other Voices type singer/songwriters, and in many ways he was, but he had a talent for songwriting that would have earned a free gaff in Laurel Canyon back in the day.
This is his final album, recorded after he’d moved to LA and while he was seriously struggling with both depression and addiction. Unfinished when he passed, it was completed by his producer and released in 2004 following his death a year previously at the age of 34. It clearly shows his talent and versatility and makes you yearn even more for the music that never got made.
In 20 years’ time people will still be listening to Elliott Smith. 8. Leonard Cohen, Dear Heather Leonard Cohen seemed to improve with age, his voice developing a deep rich maturity.
Dear Heather as an album is a great indicator of where his voice was going, especially on ‘Villarelle’ and the almost spoken word-tinged ‘On That Day’, inspired by the events of 9/11. The album, however, suffers from a lack of cohesion and direction at times. This is down to the fact that he was rehashing old ideas discarded from other albums going back as far as 1979.
Highlight of the album is a live version of ‘Tennessee Waltz’, recorded on the Various Positions tour 20 years previously. 9. The Go Team, Thunder Lightning Strike Ok, how to describe this properly, one of the most unusual records to emerge in 2004.
Its like a bizarre mix of punk, funk, Japanese pop, ’60s exotica all done using a live band, complete with DJs and sampling. Remember that TV show Rapido? Well, Go Team should have been the house band. While it sounds absolutely chaotic and all over the place, it actually works.
The album conveys that same sense of fun that the early B52s had. However, while the music is brilliant, in particular the excellent instrumental ‘Friendship Update’, the vocals can be quite annoying, which is why this record is best ingested in small doses. 10.
Bob Dylan, Bootleg Series Volume 6 Recorded live at the Philharmonic Hall in New York in 1964, this album was released as part of the Bootleg Series 40 years later. This is Dylan the protest singer, the voice of a generation, the great unwashed folk troubadour at the peak of his powers. The energy and intensity of the performance jumps out of the speakers.
This is just one man and his guitar (and harmonica), occasionally joined by Joan Baez. It’s a formula and scene that Dylan was starting to find tiresome and artistically limiting. The already iconic ‘Hard Rain’, ‘Times They Are A Changing’ , ‘Hattie Carroll’ and others are joined by newer songs like ‘Gates Of Eden’ and ‘Its Alright Ma (I’m only bleeding)’, which would herald a completely new and revolutionary musical direction and kickstart the 1960s counter-culture.
Four that nearly made it Tom Waits, Real Gone: The only Tom Waits album that bizarrely doesn’t have a piano on it. Patti Smith, Trampin’: My second cousin Tony Shanahan plays bass and keyboards on this so maybe I should have included it. Turin Breaks, Late Night Tales: One of the best of the series features tracks from Grant Green, JJ Cale, Talk Talk and Jon Barry as well as the hosts.
Planxty, Live 2004: The long awaited and much anticipated reunion recorded at Vicar Street, Dublin..
