Inspired by noctos, I will try to list my favorite releases of 2004. Here goes:
#1: Four releases by the artist formerly known as Rocky Dennis.
2004 was the year when Jens Lekman released "Rocky Dennis In Heaven", "When I Said I Wanted to be Your Dog", "Julie EP" and the CD-R "I killed a party again". On top of this he put out splitsingles and launched the Department of Forgotten Songs. All of this would of course mean nothing if it weren't for the fact that practically all of this material was completly brilliant. Simply put; this country has never seen an artist like Jens Lekman.
I wrote something similar to this here(in Swedish).
#2: Alejandra & Aeron - "Lost Cat"
2004 was the year when I my dedication to the work of an American/Spanish couple became somewhat obsessive. A good portion of the records I bought this year was in one way or another related to Alejandra Salinas & Aeron Bergman. "Lost Cat" was released by a danish art school and saw the duo digging deeper into the form of "audio narrative" that they have explored on releases like "The Tale of Pip". As someone who understands Danish and Swedish, "Lost Cat" became a bit difficult for me at first. I did not realise that the story would be told in these very familiar languages and this initially somehow got in the way of the mystery. In doing so, the record made me listen to the music and the sound in new ways. So, thank you Alejandra & Aeron. Keep creating a beautiful world of your own.
#3: William Basinski - "The Disintegration Loops"
Ok, there's no point to beat around the bush; I still haven't purchased these four CD's. If you were to ask me why this is, I would tell you that they're not awfully easy to get ahold of and that in 2004 all my US mailordering have been devoted to the artists found at number two in this list. This is a very poor excuse. In 2004 no release was quite as remarkable as this one. I would explain it in detail if I only could. Some things are not to be explained. Let me just end this by quoting E. E. Cummings:(i do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens; only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
#4-10 in no particular order:* The Embassy - "Wearing our Pop Art Hearts on our Sleeves"
* Fennesz - "Venice"
* Mokira - "FFT POP"
* Hood - "The Lost You"
* Kings of Convenience - "Riot on an Empty Street"
* Stephan Mathieu - "On Tape"
* Max Richter - "The Blue Notebooks"
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