The Best of 2004 and Some Dirty Little Secrets
National Music Reviews
Top Ten Albums of 2004 brought to you by the amazingly informed and taste-conscious SLUG staff.
Angela Brown (is the biggest slacker at SLUG)
1. The Fall- The Real New Fall LP (Narnack)
2. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus (Anti)
3. Blonde Redhead Misery Is a Butterfly (Beggar’s Group)
4. Tom Waits Real Gone (Anti)
5. Purr Bats Soft Fluff (Rest 30)
6. Kaada/Patton- Romantics (Ipecac)
7. Late Night Sleep TV- S/T (Croakfrog)
8. Mothboy- The Fears (Ad Noiseam)
9. Flat Earth Society- ISMS (Ipecac)
10. Loretta Lynn- Van Lear Rose (Interscope)
Rebecca Vernon (needs some action desperately)
1. Carina Round The Disconnection (Interscope)
2. Nine Inch Nails The Downward Spiral Deluxe Edition (Epitaph)
3. Autolux Future Perfect (Anti)
4. PJ Harvey Uh Huh Her (Island)
5. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus (Anti)
6. Fantômas Delìrium Còrdia (Ipecac)
7. Purr Bats Soft Fluff (Rest 30)
8. The Cure The Cure (Geffen)
9. The Liars They Were Wrong So We Drowned (Mute)
10. Isis Panopticon (Ipecac)
Nate Martin (got fag-bashed without the benefits)
1. The Hold Steady Almost Killed Me (Frenchkiss)
2. Liars We Were Wrong So They Drowned (Mute)
3. Modest Mouse Good News for People Who Love Bad News (Epic)
4. Slim Cessna’s Auto Club Blood Tenet Truth Peace (Alternative Tentacles)
5. Rope or Bullets Call it for What You Want EP (self-released)
6. Kanye West The College Dropout (Rocafella)
7. Saul Williams Self-Titled (Fader)
8. Paper Chase What Big Teeth You Have EP (Southern)
9. Horrorpops Hell Yeah! (Hellcat)
10. The Je Ne Sais Quoi We Make Beginnings (Coalition)
Josh Scheuerman (couldn’t handle sobriety)
1. Wilco A Ghost Is Born (Nonesuch)
2. Modest Mouse Good News For People Who Love Bad News (Epic)
3. Pavement Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain: LA’s Desert Origins (Matador)
4. Elliott Smith From A Basement On A Hill (Anti)
5. Interpol Antics (Matador)
6. The Killers Hot Fuss (Island)
7. The Faint Wet From Birth (Saddle Creek)
8. The Arcade Fire Funeral Merge
9. Franz Ferdinand Self-Titled (Domino/Epic)
10. Green Day American Idiot (Reprise)
Ryan Michael Painter (has a Bowie tattoo on his ass)
1. Autolux Future Perfect (Anti)
2. The Church Forget Yourself (Spinart)
3. The Cure The Cure (Geffen)
4. Delays Faded Seaside Glamour (Rough Trade)
5. Junkie XL Radio JXL: A Broadcast from Computer Hell Cabin (Koch)
6. Morrissey You are the Quarry (Attack)
7. Muse Absolution (Taste Media)
8. Temple Cooper Clause Kick Up the Fire and Let the Flames Break Loose (RCA)
9. Trespassers William Different Stars (Nettwerk)
10. Tom Waits Real Gone (Anti)
MC Welk (is too old for his own good)
1. Autolux Future Perfect (DMZ/Sony)
2. Mission of Burma OnOffOn (Matador)
3. Bjork Medulla (Elektra)
4. Blonde Redhead Misery Is a Butterfly (Beggar’s Group)
5. Jello Biafra/Melvins Never Breathe What You Can’t See (Alternative Tentacles)
6. Nick Cave Abbatoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus (Anti)
7. Lydia Lunch Smoke in the Shadows (Atavistic)
8. Mark Lanegan Bubblegum (Beggar’s Banquet)
9. Sonic Youth Sonic Nurse (Geffen)
10. Tom Waits Real Gone (Anti)
Kevlar7 (should buy longer pants)
1. The Last Vegas Lick ‘Em and Leave ‘Em (Get Hip)
2. The Dt’s Hard Fixed (Estrus)
3. The Mooney Suzuki Alive and Amplified (Columbia)
4. The Black Keys Rubber Factory (Fat Possum)
5. The Forty-Fives High Life High Volume (Yep Roc)
6. The Catheters Howling…It Grows and Grows (Sub Pop)
7. The Hangmen Loteria (Acetate)
8. Gluecifer Automatic Thrill (SPV/Steamhammer)
9. The Hellacopters By The Grace Of God (Liquor and Poker)
10. Reverend Horton Heat Revival (Yep Roc)
John Forgash (has three illegitimate children)
1. Anata Under A Stone With No Inscription (Earache)
2. Decapitated The Negation (Earache)
3. Demonoid Riders Of The Apocalypse (Nuclear Blast)
4. Into Eternity Buried In Oblivion (Century Media)
5. Lamb Of God Ashes of the Wake (Epic)
6. Nonpoint Recoil (Lava)
7. Pig Destroyer Terrifyer (Relapse)
8. The Dillinger Escape Plan Miss Machine (Relapse)
9. The Forsaken Traces Of The Past (Century Media)
10. Vader The Beast (Metal Blade)
Dave Barratt (is going nowhere in life)
1. Effigy Grinding Metal Massacre 7″ (Crust War)
2. Hellshock Only the Dead Know the End of War (Self-Released)
3. Gauze City Rockers 7″ (Bootleg)
4. Knife Fight Burning Bridges 7″ (My War)
5. Massakro S.S. Self-Titled (Cryptas)
6. Coaccion Desorden (Cryptas)
7. Caustic Christ Government Job 7″ (Havoc)
8. Appendix Diagnosis 1982-1983 (Propaganda)
9. Totalitar Wallbreaker 1986-1989 (Armageddon)
10. Behind Enemy Lines The Global Cannibal (Antagony)
James Orme (should wash his hair)
1. Johnny Cash Unearthed Box Set (American)
2. Tiger Army III: Ghost Tigers Rise (Hellcat)
3. Social Distortion Sex Love and Rock n Roll (Time Bomb)
4. Nekromantix Dead Girls Don’t Cry (Hellcat)
5. Horrorpops Hell Yeah! (Hellcat)
6. Lars Fredrickson and the Bastards Viking (Hellcat)
7. 12 Step Rebels Go Go Graveyard Rockin (Dead Body)
8. Various Artists Kicked Outta Purgatory (Psychobilly US)
9. Various Artists Give ’em the Boot IV (Hellcat)
10. Reverend Horton Heat Revival (Yep Rock )
Mariah Mellus (doesn’t really know shit about art)
1. Iron and Wine Our Endless Numbered Days (Sub Pop)
2. Air Talkie Walkie (Astralwerks)
3. Arcade Fire Funeral (Merge)
4. Modest Mouse Good News For People Who Love Bad News (Epic)
5. Pinback Summer in Abaddon (Touch and Go)
6. Franz Ferdinand Self-Titled (Domino)
7. Black Keys Rubber Factory (Fat Possum)
8. Elliot Smith From the Basement on the Hill (Anti)
9. The Faint Wet From Birth (Saddle Creek)
10. Clinic Winchester Cathedral (Domino Records)
seven5zeroryan (has several STD’s, permanent ones)
1. Chinese Stars A Rare Sensation (Three One G)
2. Various Artists DFA Compilation #2 (DFA)
3. !!! Louden Up Now (Touch and Go)
4. Kill Me Tomorrow The Garbageman and the Prostitute (Gold Standard Laboratories)
5. Pig Destroyer Terrifyer (Relapse)
6. Wives Erect the Youth Problem (Cold Sweat)
7. Arthur Russell The World of Arthur Russell (Soul Jazz)
8. Babyland The Finger (Mattress)
9. This song is a mess but so am I Church Point, LA (Mattress)
10. Vanishing Still Lifes are Failing (Gold Standard Laboratories)
Shannon Froh (whines constantly)
1. Modest Mouse Good News for People Who Love Bad News (Epic)
2. Old Man Gloom Christmas (Tortuga)
3. Muse Absolution (Warner Brothers)
8. Immortal Technique Revolutionary Vol 1 (Nature Sounds)
9. Isis Panopticon (Ipecac)
10. Cult of Luna Salvation (Earache)
11. The Faint Wet From Birth (Saddle Creek)
8. Arcade Fire Funeral (Merge)
9. Dead to Fall Villainy & Virtue (Victory Records)
10. Various Artists Halo 2 Soundtrack (Microsoft)
Chuck Berrett (cheated on his girlfriend with Trent)
1. Sonic Youth Sonic Nurse (Geffen)
2. Interpol Antics (Matador)
3. Blonde Redhead Misery Is a Butterfly (Beggar’s Group)
4. Wilco A Ghost is Born (Nonsuch)
5. Mastodon Leviathan (Relapse)
6. TV On The Radio Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes (Touch and Go)
7. Bjork Medulla (Elektra)
8. Converge You Fail Me (Epitaph)
9. Liars They Were Wrong So We Drowned (Mute)
10. Autolux Future Perfect (Anti)
oneamyseven (is bulimic)
1. Lapsed Twilight (Ad Noiseam)
2. Kattoo Places (Hymen)
3. Orphx Circuitbreaking (Hymen)
4. Skinny Puppy The Greater Wrong Of The Right (Synthetic Symphony)
5. Fairlight Children 808 Bit (Synthetic Symphony)
6. Davantage Unholy (Black Rain)
7. This Morn’ Omina The Drake Equation
8. Mind.in.a.Box Lost Alone (Metropolis)
9. Totakeke At The Train Station On A Saturday Evening (Frozen Empire)
10. Hocico Wrack And Ruin (Metropolis)
Nick James (steals electronics from house parties)
1. Bobby & Steve Deeper In Love (Zoo Groove Stereo)
2. Lenny Fontana pres. Galaxy People Mystical Journey (Soulfuric)
3. Mayhem & Bones Feels Good (Soulpurpose)
4. Andy Holder pres. Rhythm & Soul Nothing Like Jazz (DeVice)
5. Eric Wikman feat. Donna Washington I’m A Believer (Generate)
6. Goove Junkies pres. Solara Sunshine (Morehouse)
7. Musaphia & Mayhem Fusion/Fantastico (Refunkt)
8. One Touch feat. Colin Corvez Ready?- vox mix (Purple)
9. SK Radicals Someday I Will (SwingCity)
Sarah Pendleton (shoplifts from Gallery Stroll)
1. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus (Anti)
2. Tom Waits Real Gone (Anti)
3. Isis Panopticon (Ipecac)
4. Fantomas Delirium Cordia (Ipecac)
5. Bjork Medulla (Elektra)
6. Lazarus Like Trees We Grow Up To Be Satellites (Temporary Residence)
7. Peccatum Lost In Reverie (Mnenosyne)
8. Purr Bats Soft Fluff (Rest 30)
9. Crooked Fingers Red Devil Dawn (Merge)
10. Subterranean Masquerade Temporary Psychotic State EP (The End)
Katie Maloney (is going back to rehab next month)
1. Tiger Army III: Ghost Tigers Rise (Hellcat)
2. Michael Jackson Number One’s (Epic)
3. Horrorpops Hell Yeah (Hellcat)
4. Nekromantix Dead Girls Don’t Cry (Hellcat)
5. Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards Viking (Hellcat)
6. Slackers International War Criminal (Thought Riot)
7. Beastie Boys To All Five Boroughs (EMI/Capitol)
8. Eminem Encore (Interscope)
9. Bad Religion The Empire Strikes First (Epitaph)
10. Various Artists Give ‘Em the Boot IV (Hellcat)
J. Thomas Burch Esq (is not cool enough to offset how big of a nerd he is)
1. Arcade Fire Funeral (Merge)
2. Subtle A New White (Lex)
3. Jason Molina Pyramid Electric Co. (Secretly Canadian)
4. Sonic Youth Sonic Nurse (Geffen)
5. 90 Day Men Panda Park (Southern)
6. Fiery Furnaces Blueberry Boat (Rough Trade)
7. Animal Collective Sung Tongs (Fat Cat)
8. Panda Bear Young Prayer (Paw-Tracks)
9. Blood on the Wall Self-Titled (Social Registry)
10. Death From Above 1979 You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine (Vice)
Jesus Harold (is talking about you behind your back)
1. Evening Other Victorians (Lookout)
2. Chin Up Chin Up We Should’ve Never Lived Like We Were Skyscrapers (Flameshovel)
3. Interpol Antics (Matador)
4. Brian Wilson Smile (Nonsuch)
5. Shark Pants Porno Snakehead (Recess)
6. Swingin’ Utters Live In A Dive (Fat Wreck)
7. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists Shake The Sheets (Lookout)
8. Elliot Smith From A Basement On The Hill (Anti)
9. Modest Mouse Good News For People Who Love Bad News (Epic)
10. Guttermouth Eat Your Face (Epitaph)
Jared Soper (got drunk and wet his pants at my house)
1. Tom Waits Real Gone (Anti)
2. The Hunches Hobo Sunrise (In the Red)
3. Lost Sounds Self-Titled (In the Red)
4. The Ponys Laced With Romance (In the Red)
5. Crime San Francisco’s Still Doomed (Swami reissue)
6. Battleship Presents Princess 12″ (Raw Deluxe)
7. Hot Snakes Audit In Progress (Swami)
8. Reigning Sound Too Much Guitar (In the Red)
9. The Mentally Ill Gacy’s Place (Alternative Tentacles reissue)
10. The Gris Gris Self-Titled (Birdman)
Jeremy Cardenas (usually smells terrible)
1. Drive-By Truckers The Dirty South (New West)
2. Hot Snakes Audit In Progress (Swami)
3. PJ Harvey Uh Huh Her (Island)
4. Mastodon Leviathan (Relapse)
5. Bad Wizard #1 Tonight! (Sing Ray)
6. Zeke Til’ the Livin End (Relapse)
7. Social Distortion Love, Sex, Rock and Roll (Time Bomb)
8. Wilco A Ghost is Born (None Such)
9. Ted Leo And The Pharmacists Shake The Sheets (Lookout)
10.Murdock Amplification (Cannery)
Shane Farver (is a bit overweight)
1. Rise Against Siren Song of the Counter Culture (Geffen)
2. Bad Religion The Empire Strikes First (Epitaph)
3. Mastodon Leviathan (Relapse)
4. Modest Mouse Good News for People Who Love Bad News (Epic)
5. Strung Out Exile in Oblivion (Fat Wreck)
6. Tom Waits Real Gone (Anti)
7. Social Distortion Sex Love and Rock and Roll (Time Bomb)
12. The Dillenger Escape Plan Miss Machine (Relapse)
13. The Chinese Stars A Rare Sensation (Three One G)
10. Green Day American Idiot (Reprise)
Trent Call (cheated on his girlfriend with Chuck)
1. Sonic Youth Sonic Nurse (Geffen)
2. Vile Blue Shades Dark Wizard (self-released)
3. Four Tet My Angel Rocks Back and Forth (Domino)
4.Tolchock Trio Ghosts Don’t Have Bones (Rest 30)
5. Liars They Were Wrong So We Drowned (Mute)
6. Einsturzende Neubauten Perpetuum Mobile (Mute)
7. Frank Black Frank Black Francis (Spinart)
8. David Cross It’s Not Funny (Sub Pop)
9. Le Force Le Fortress (Wantage)
10. Wilco A Ghost is Born (Nonsuch)
Rachael Scott (will sleep with you for status or lunch)
1. Le Tigre This Island (Le Tigre)
2. Lesbians on Ecstacy Self-Titled (Alien8)
3. Dresden Dolls Self-Titled (8ft)
4. Purr Bats Soft Fluff (Rest 30)
5. Ani DiFranco Educated Guess (Righteous Babe)
6. PJ Harvey Uh Huh Her (Island)
7. The Faint Wet From Birth (Saddle Creek)
8. Of Montreal Satanic Panic in the Attic (Polyvinyl)
9. I Am The World Trade Center The Cover Up (Gammon)
10. The Streets A Grand Don’t Come For Free (Vice/Atlantic)