TV on the Radio - Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes [Touch & Go]
I don't know what to say about this album, except that we've had an emotionally turbulent year together. Last Year's Young Liars EP would have ranked on the top of my list had it been a full-length, and rumors of the impending full-length release left me anxious and feeling tingly where the pee pee comes out. So here we are, 2004, and my buddy gets this album right away. Before I can even hear it, I ask him "so .... how is it?" His response? "Meh." Meh indeed. How can a band working from the core of brilliance, a band who got it SO RIGHT on their EP, somehow screw it up entirely? Well, for starters, they took a mostly electronic sound and made it into (people will argue this I'm sure) a more rock sounding album. Where's the glitchy dirtiness and distortion? Where's the low-rumble bass? Its there, but its a lot more subtle and a lot more covert. Not to say they wanted to make a real sly album or anything. This album is kind of in your face with the rock aspects. Especially when you see them live .... straight-up rock act. So I listened to this album, loved quite a few tracks, and did not like a couple. Thing is, the more I was disappointed, the more I gave it another listen. And another. And another. Turns out TV on the Radio did something between the EP and the LP that it takes some bands quite a few LPs to accomplish: they evolved. This is simply the next step in their evolution. And all the goodness is still there, just sometimes amidst poorly chosen lyrics and repetitive a cappella. Hey, even with a few flaws this is a better entry than almost anything else from the past year. Almost.
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Secret Machines - Now Here Is Nowhere [Reprise]
I first saw the Secret Machines as an opening act at the Black Cat (for Broken Social Scene .... best live show of the year), and was entirely enthused. I then promptly forgot about them until a few months later when I actually bought the album. This is, without a doubt, the BEST ROCK ALBUM OF 2004. Epic krautrock drumming, giant builds and crescendos, the use of "kickin it up an octave" vocals, occasional screaming, cooldown tracks, and ballads. This album has everything a true rock album should have, carrying the listener on a journey from start to theme, down from the higpoint, up again to the emotional climax, and back to the theme in a reprisal (yes, the CD even has a reprisal!). If Epic Rock is gonna make a comeback, the Secret Machines will be carrying the banner. This album is for listening to LOUD while driving FAST. (Note: Writer does not condone loud music or fast driving, but please stay out of his way on Route 66.)
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Junior Boys - Last Exit [Domino]
I am still learning valuable lessons about Electronica, like how its not all happy, dancey bullshit; or how there are a thousand different terms to describe a thousand different genres, and when you don't know the proper one, its always proper to make up your own, like Darktonica or Lastexitca or Junior Jangle Beat Jungle Dancetroop Silent Step Flickeronica. Point is, I don't know the fucking "proper" term for Junior Boys, nor will I make another one up. Take the lyrical stylings of any whiney brit pop artist, add in some minimalist electronica with a non-danceable backbeat and some thought-provoking, boys-don't-cry-type bullshit, and you've got a recipe for success. Another dark entry into this years top 10, this album changed the way I look at electronica entirely. I now expect more in expecting less. Alas, due to their live show (which we heard from outside while waiting to see Ratatat and Mouse on Mars - second best show of the year, incidentally) sounding nearly identical to their CD, Junior Boys rank no higher.
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