top ten albums of 2004

Here, with samples, are my picks for the ten best CDs of the year. I know it's hard to believe, but I actually get a salary for making these kinds of decisions, so supposedly I know what I'm talking about. Then again, I don't even know how the can opener works.

10. Keren Ann: Not Going Anywhere
Dutch-French-Israeli-Russian-Javanese singer/songwriter with a lovely voice. This album is soooo close to being too cheesy and overly sentimental. But she manages to walk the line without crossing it. Hear the title song "Not Going Anywhere."

09. CocoRosie: La Maison de Mon Reve
Sisters from Paris making very strange noises with whatever they could find in the kitchen. I think. Hear "Terrible Angels."

08. Jonny Greenwood: Bodysong
Radiohead dude puts out his first solo album - a soundtrack to a spectacular film about... life. No dialogue. No plot. Just stunning images of humans doing what they do best: fucking, fighting, dying, all to Jonny Greenwood's music. Hear "Moontrills."

07. AC Newman: The Slow Wonder
Frontman for the New Pornographers releases a nearly flawless solo debut - part Queen, part ELO, part Kinks, part... hell, I don't know. Hear "Miracle Drug."

06. The Concretes: The Concretes
They've been at it for ten years and finally released a praise-worthy album. Playful and rocktacular in the arty way that makes you want to curl up under a blanket and drift off (as opposed to dancing like a pogo stick). Hear "Warm Night."

05. Tom Waits: Real Gone
Waits here shows how far/long you can take your art when you actually have something to say. He's a poet first, which makes it possible for him to release an album as good as anything he's ever done... and he's been at it for nearly 40 years. Hear "Hoist That Rag."

04. Juana Molina: Tres Cosas
A former standup comedian in Argentina, she had the best album of 2003 (Segundo) and follows it in 2004 with another gorgeous, brilliant gem. I saw her live in DC. She does all this stuff in real time by herself. Amazing. Hear "Filter Tags."

03. Wilco: A Ghost is Born
I'm so over people who are so over Wilco. It used to be cool to like them when they were alt-country. Then they got all experimental and it was even cooler to like them. Then EVERYfuckingBODY started listening to them and suddenly it wasn't cool anymore. Fuck you! This album is brilliant. Hear "Handshake Drugs."

02. Iron and Wine: Our Endless Numbered Days
Okay, okay. Let's all agree that soft is the new loud and just accept it until some other trend comes along. Iron and Wine's Sam Beam does it better than anyone. The overdubs (layered vocals) just radiate from this album... and while the songs sound beautiful, if you listen closely, they're really creepy. Hear "Cinder and Smoke."

01. Olivia Tremor Control: Music From the Unrealized Film Script - Dusk at Cubist Castle
Technically a reissue, but who cares? By the time I fell in love with this band, they had largely quit playing. They've since regrouped under the name Circulatory System. They've also regained ownership of their earlier work and have started rereleasing all of it. This is their best. Hear "Can You Come Down With Us."