Well its been a while since I've written something for this thing, which is a situation that I need to improve.  So for the first entry of the semester I figure that I need to pull something big out of my cap, thus I present you with my picks for the top 25 Albums of 2004.

25.  Sonic Youth - Sonic Nurse
       After 25 years and 19 albums, the now middle-aged Sonic Youth prove that they are still capable of producing good music.  With their signature layered guitar sounds, this is one of the stronger works of their career.

24.  Brian Wilson - Smile
       This was 37 years in the making, but the former Beach Boy has managed to finally release Smile to great anticipation and expectation.  The album was able to satisfy both.  Reaffirming why Brian Wilson is one of the greatest songwriters ever, this proves to be the perfect followup to the Beach Boy's legendary album Pet Sounds, which is probably one of the ten best albums of all time.

23.  Hope of the States - The Lost Riots
       Drawing inspiration from Radiohead, Coldplay, and the Doves, there are just enough hooks buried amongst the layers of guitar and piano to make this album memorable.  Quite good indeed.

22.  American Music Club - The Patriot's Love Song
       After a 10 year absense, AMC returns with a new album, making middle-aged former college dj's cheer and and the current generation reason to listen in.  Over the moody guitar and piano, Mark Eitzel proves why he is a true barstool prophet, crafting one great song after another.

21.  Razorlight - Up All Night
       These guys are causing a big stir in their native Great Britain , receiving major attention and radio play over there.  Somewhere between the Libertines and Blur, their sound is infectious and their songs are catchy as hell.  A good fun album.

20.  Sparta - Porcelain
       The second album from Sparta, who are made up of 3/4 of the members of the band At The Drive In, this is the best punk/emo album of the year, bar none.  Not even Green Day can match up to this.  Awesome.

19.  The Futureheads - The Futureheads
       Drawing inspiration from Gang of Four, The Jam, and XTC, the Futureheads come as a breath of fresh air in an emo over-saturated market.  Their blend of post-punk, new wave, and modern rock is just what was needed this year.  Very good indeed.

18.  Caviar - The Thin Mercury Sound
       Rising from the ashes of Fig Dish in 1999, their brand of electronic-tinged modern rock combined with great songs equal a fabulous record.  If you like 1990s era modern rock, you'll love this.

17.  Secret Machines - Now Here Is Nowhere
       Big guitars combined with bigger drums and plenty of synth effects make for one loud, heavy rock album.  This is one of the best rock records to come from a major label in a long time (Reprise Records).

16.  Autolux - Future Perfect
       Featuring Greg Edwards, formerly of the band Failure, this is a dark, heavy album of space rock not unlike the kind of stuff Failure made in the early to mid 1990s, but is very good.  One of the very best new bands of 2004.

15.  Guided By Voices - Half Smiles of the Decomposed
       The final album from the Kings of Indie Rock, this may not be as good as 2003's Earthquake Glue, but it is still a very fine record.  This is a very appropriate way for one of the most influential bands of the last 25 years to make their exit.  Guided by Voices, we will miss you.

14.  The Like Young - So Serious
        High energy rock with traces of pop and traces of punk, the married duo of joe and Amanda have created one of the most fun albums of 2004, despite only being 24 minutes in length (and she is a far better drummer then Meg White).

13.  Joseph Arthur - Our Shadow Will Remain
       Taking a bit of a darker turn on this album, Joseph Arthur creates a work of immense beauty, full of emotion and vulnerability.  Layers of guitars and keyboards combined with his flickering voice define Arthur as one of the premier songwriters of our time. 

12.  The Delgados - Universal Audio
       Known for their extravegantly produced (but not over produced) albums, the Delgados took a step back on this one, but the result is no different.  This is a wonderful record of scottish pop.

11.  Gomez- Split the Difference
       Gomez for years carried the label of a progressive/experimental band, but for this release they instead decided to make an album full of several good rock songs with some southern-influences and plenty of crunchy guitars. Very good record indeed.

10.  Elliott Smith - From A Basement On The Hill
       The final album from the late Elliott Smith, this affirms his position as perhaps the greatest songwriter of our generation.  Rest in peace Elliott.

9.   Wilco - A Ghost Is Born
       The band that is constantly reinventing themselves, Wilco moves about as far away from their alt-country roots as they ever have and creates probably their most electric album to date.  Another masterpiece from the indie rock giants.

8.   Keane - Hopes and Fears
      The best britpop release since Coldplay's first album, Keane's ultra catchy songwriting and soaring lyrics have them on the fast track to super stardom. 

7.  Trent Dabbs - Quite Often
      The best new songwriter I have heard in a long time, Trent Dabbs has created a beautiful album of mostly slower acoustic guitar songs with a few upbeat rockers thrown in for good measure.  I think I have listened to this one more then any other record this year.

6.  Helio Sequence - Love and Distance
     Electronic layers, swirls, pops, and clicks, combined with guitar, drums, bass and a lot of sonic experimentation is probably the best way to describe the Helio Sequence.  But in the end, the catchy songs are what keep you hanging around for more.  Fans of Modest Mouse should enjoy this. (Drummer Benjamin Weikel played with Modest Mouse for a while last year)

5.  Ken Stringfellow - Soft Commands
     Stringfellow, formerly of the band The Posies, has had a sucessful solo career following the bands breakup in 1998.  The pinnacle of this solo career is this, an album full of great pop-rock songs that is beautiful, bold and poignant. 

4.  Drive By Truckers - The Dirty South
     It doesn't matter that this is perhaps the best southern rock band since the heyday of Lynyrd Skynyrd in the late 1970s, but very few bands can boast having three extraordinarily talented singer-songwriters (Mike Cooley, Patterson Hood, and Jason Isbell).  This is best, smartest, and most souful hard rock band to emerge in a long time and their songwriting is second to none.

3.  Morrissey - You Are The Quarry
     After seven years Morrissey returns to prove to the world why he is one of the most important voices in the history of alternative rock.  Full of grandeur and passion, this serves to engrave Morrissey's name deeper into the face of rock and has introduced him to a whole generation.  A very good album indeed.

2.  Ryan Adams - Love Is Hell
     Ever since the 2000 release of Heartbreaker, his first solo album after leaving Whiskeytown, Ryan Adams has been under scrutiny to produce another album of the same exact caliber.  But such a prolific songwriter like himself can never be pinned down.  This is a tremendous display of Adam's songwriting capabilities and is perhaps his best effort since Heartbreaker.  The blend of attitude and atmosphere not only temper the album, but allows him to bring us several great tracks.  Truly one of the best songwriters of our time. 

1.  Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
     It may be a bit cliche to put this one hear, but the plain truth is that this album has no week points, has many great songs, and comes at a time when the outlook of rock music was at an all time low.  This is without a doubt, the best record of the year. 

So there you have it, my top 25 records of the year.  Any questions about any of these artists or albums, just ask.

The stories of my life are grossly and incredulously exaggerated.  Believe it or not, the adventures of my life are not all that spectacular, although I know that the rumors seem to run rampant everywhere I go.  Some have painted me to be this giddy somelier running about with a big wide happy smile on my face.  Others though paint me to be some sort of devil, as if I was the son of Danzig, worshipping evil beings and being just a nasty ass person.  Well folks, I gotta tell you that neither one of those rumors are true.  I know that you are all immensely disappointed by this new revelation, but I tell you, I'm just your average joe kind of person.  In fact, if you get to know me you would either think of me as wildely fascinating in an average joe kind of way, or you would find me rather boring.  Either way, I suggest that people try to get to know me, especially all you ladies out there.

This makes for a good transition into my next topic of discussion: I have friends who tell me that both my everyday discussions and instant messanger conversations are rather awkward.  So now every facet of my being has degenerated into awkwardness that compares to that of a bumbling sidekick in some crappy saturday morning cartoon.  Apparantly I need to talk about more ninjas, at least according to them.  You'd think with the way they talk to me that its amazing that I somehow managed to make it this far through life.  Hell, the way they act its amazing that I can put one foot in front of the other successfully.  No doubt that this entire entry will be pointed out as awkward tomorrow.

Anyway, I'd like to finish by wishing my friend Ryan and his girlfriend a belated one year aniversary.  Congrats man.

Currently Playing Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes By TV on the Radio see related

Zdybak went out one afternoon, his head filled with two different thoughts: gyros and skyways.  Gyros, for he was larger then average man i suppose you could say.  Now he's not the type that people would call fat, but I suppose a touch husky would be more appropriate.  And besides, who doesn't like a damn good gyro.  As for skyways, well he had obviously been playing a futuristic computer or console game of sort that somehow had incorporated skyways into the equation.  Hell, if I could build a skyway or find one someplace that I could go and hang out on, would I refuse? Of course not, so really his thoughts were not abnormal by any means, just two thoughts out of many that will come to a person throughout the typical day.  But as he was going along, he came across a pack of ninjas, eating some combos, pizzaria style.  Zdybak immediately reached for his kendo stick and in a furious battle proceeded to take out his vengence on these ninjas.  But just as he was about to claim victory, one of them caught him with a violent uppercut, sending him sprawling to the ground.  It looked like he was done for until I drove up on my 1960s Triumph motorcyle and, welding a mac 10, blew those ninjas away.  When Zdybak rose, he smiled and cried, "Now thats Action Satisfaction!"  I agree my friend, I agree...

In real life, I learned today that life may throw you for a loop, but when you're down for the count, just think about the rhymes of DMX and all will be made better.  That and cheese manicotti is damn good.  Listen to 91.3 FM WTSR on Thursday, we count down our top 100 albums of the year, and its hosted by me.  Later.

By the way, thunderstorms in december suck my ass.

Currently Playing Daydream Nation By Sonic Youth see related

Why is it that my stomach sinks everytime I hear about how an old friend has changed or how they've picked up some strange new tastes, habits, ideas...you get the point.  I don't know why I should feel like someone has knocked the wind out of me, just for that moment.  After all, its not like these changes have any direct or in most cases an indirect impact upon my life or the way I do things.  So I shouldn't worry about these sorts of scenarios at all.  But maybe its because I look at my life and realize how much that I have not changed; how that despite all the different turns my life has taken I have bascially remained the same.  Maybe I care because I feel like I'm not progressing at all: just marching through life, getting by on the status quo.  Or maybe I'm just overthinking all of this...ok ok ok, enough already.

I have friends who complain about two things.  1) That I don't update this thing enough, to which I suppose that they have a point.  2) They complain that the things I write about are boring and completely irrelevant with anything that goes on in their lives.  They want to hear about high velocity adventures that involve car crashes and high stakes poker games and ninjas.  Well sorry guys, but you've come to the wrong place.  I'm not a high impact kind of person: anybody who knows me will tell you that much.  Unless of course, they want to hear the adventures of the free poker game on the fold up poker table, with the dallas-seattle football game on in the background and muchies provided by me out of generosity.    Lets go around this table shall we....

To my left is Jason, Jay to his friends, or even sometimes Booger.  Big guy with a beard, can resemble a bear at times, and will usually call your bluff.  Play with caution around him.

Across from me to my left is Zdybak, the man who beat Half Life 2 only two weeks after purchase.  Zdybak is more lucky then he is nasty at poker, but be warned for if you let his guard down he will 1) start talking about ninjas and 2) bust you at the first possible chance.

Across from me to my right is Ryan, a broad shouldered guy who plays on the school rugby team.  Perhaps the most unpredictable at the table, he will either find himself very hot or very cold when it comes to getting cards to fall.  Be warned, do not toy with.  Has threatened to kill me on several occasions, but then laughs it off like it was nothing.

Finally to my right is Mate, not from the college, rather is a longtime friend of both Jason and Zdybak.  Mate usually plays with fairly reckless abandon, which serves him well cause more often then not he will walk away from the table having at least earned back all he put in...which will be $2....which he borrowed from Jay....

On this night, as the Dallas Cowboys somehow come from behind to overcome the Seattle Seahawks, the game boils down to a standoff between Ryan and Jason.  After several rounds, Ryan emerges victorious having pulled off a slightly better full house then Jay for the win, with the edge coming one card better on the low end of the boat.  The drama was intense, the tempers were flaring, but in the end the man from Eickoff came out the victor, and celebrated with a victory smoke with Mate outside of New Res. 

Now if that isn't enough drama for you, then i don't know what is.

Currently Playing No More Songs About Sleep & Fire By Poster Children see related