McQ's Favorite Albums Of 2004

HIGHEST RECOMMENDS

1. A Grand Don't Come For Free - The Streets: Time changes one's perspective on music, it always does.  At the end of 2004, most critics would have told you Arcade Fire's Funeral was the album of the year, and I, myself, was all over Mark Lanegan's bleak junkie lament Bubblegum. I still hold both those records in tremendous regard, but as the year's have past, I've come to view this record, Mike Skinner's follow up to his grime-rap breakthrough Original Pirate Material, as 2004's best. A pitch perfect depiction of character, time, and place, this hysterical, lo-fi narrative journey through a few rough months in a young London slacker's life delivered some of the funniest (It Was Supposed To Be So Easy, Fit But You Know It) and tenderest (Could Well Be In, Dry Your Eyes, Empty Cans) rap songs of the Aughts. A one of a kind record!
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2. Bubblegum - Mark Lanegan
3. Franz Ferdinand
4. Funeral - Arcade Fire
5. The College Dropout - Kanye West

STRONG RECOMMENDS

6. American Idiot - Green Day
7. A Ghost Is Born - Wilco
8. Love Songs For Patriots - American Music Club
9. Final Straw - Snow Patrol

SOLID RECOMMENDS

10. The Libertines
11. Good News For People Who Love Bad News - Modest Mouse
12. Get Lifted - John Legend
13. Seven Swans - Sufjan Stevens
14. From A Basement On The Hill - Elliot Smith

MILD RECOMMENDS

15. Thunder Lightening Strike - The Go! Team
16. Hopes And Fears - Keane
17. Hot Fuss - The Killers
18. The Dirty South - The Drive-By Truckers
19. Let It Die - Feist
20. Uh Huh Her - PJ Harvey
21. Antics - Interpol
22. Smile - Brian Wilson
23. How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb - U2
24. Trouble - Ray LaMontagne

2004 Albums Of Critical Note I've Yet To Assess In Full

Abattoir Blues/The Lyre Of Orpheus - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Aha Shake Heartbreak - Kings Of Leon
Anniemal - Annie
Blueberry Boat - The Fiery Furnaces
Bows & Arrows - The Walkmen
Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes - TV On The Radio
Destroy Rock & Roll - Milo
Dimanche A Bamako - Amadou & Miriam
La Mansion De Mon Reve - CocoRosie
Last Exit - The Junior Boys
Leviathan - Mastodon
Louden Up Now - !!!
Madvilliany - Madvillian
Medulla -Bjork
Misery Is A Butterfly - Blonde Redhead
More Adventurous - Rilo Kiley
Our Endless Numbered Days - Iron & Wine
Real Gone - Tom Waits
Rejoicing In The Hands - Devandra Banhart
Rubber Factory - The Black Keys
Scissor Sisters
Showtime - Dizzie Rascal
Sung Tongs - Animal Collective
Ta Det Lungt - Dungen
Talkie Walkie - Air
The Delivery Man - Elvis Costello
The Futureheads
The Grey Album - Danger Mouse
The Milk-Eyed Mender - Joanna Newsom
The Pretty Toney Album - Ghostface Killah
Van Lear Rose - Loretta Lynn
Want Two - Rufus Wainwright
You Are The Quarry - Morrissey