salon.com top 10
1. "Cherry Tree EP," the National
A near perfect EP, both delicate and rugged -- like a beaten and battered but very butch butterfly. Profoundly moving, but without any big emotional gestures, any trace of sentimentality. I expect great things from this band.
2. "Funeral," the Arcade Fire
Passionate, unashamed and bold, arranged with precision and performed with joyful, sloppy fervor. A record worthy of all the hype.
3. "Real Gone," Tom Waits
It all started with Waits beat-boxing into a tape recorder in his bathroom -- how badass is that -- and out comes this clanging, clattering run-down steamroller of a record, welcome proof that Waits isn't losing his edge. His best in over a decade.
4. "Flashpapr," Flashpapr
A hushed, retiring record, all muted sounds melted together.
5. "Madvillain," Madvillain
The best of underground hip-hop in 2004, with Madlib's lush, gently counterintuitive beats, and MF Doom's hypnotic dream logic raps.
6. "La Maison de Mon Reve," Cocorosie
The atmosphere piece of the year, a cloistered, rainy-day reverie of a record made in a Parisian apartment by two sisters with the voices of mournful, aged cats.
7. "Cee-lo Green Is the Soul Machine," Cee-lo
It's a mystery that Cee-lo, one of the great producers and rappers in today's hip-hop scene, not to mention hands down the best singer, has yet to achieve greater success. An up-and-down record, but with some of the highest highs of the year, including brilliant tracks from Timbaland and the Neptunes. The best, though, were produced by Cee-lo himself.
8. "Rejoicing in the Hands," Devendra Banhart
A legend in the making, the charismatic, enigmatic young songwriter is the locus of a burgeoning new folk movement. His perfect miniatures are by turns profound, naive, mystifying and almost always touching.
9. "Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus," Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
The songwriting record of the year, an extraordinary display by a master of the craft, the poetry all banged out and burnished, and shining with the kind of workmanship that only obsessive drive combined with genius can achieve.
10. "Misery Is a Butterfly," Blonde Redhead
The most cerebral of bands gives in to long-repressed romantic urges and creates a dark, cinematic beauty.
Honorable mentions: "Medulla," Bjork; "Not Going Anywhere," Keren Ann; "Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes," TV on the Radio; "Heroes to Zeroes," the Beta Band; "The College Dropout," Kanye West; "Uh Huh Her," PJ Harvey.
