Best of 2004 compiled by Al James*:

1. Tenlons Fort " The Pain is Still Alive " (Self Released CD-R) - Jack G. is Portland, Oregon's man who does everything (film, music, performance) and this is his pysch-pop statement of the year (give him a few weeks then he'll drop another one). I'd call it lo-fi, but Jack's message is too immediate to classify with terms like that, it 's just raw pyschic waves from creator to listener. This record has never been officially released by a label, but one track will be on Gus Van Sant's "Last Days" film, to come out in the Spring.

2. The Misunderstood " The Lost Acetates 1965-1966 " (Ugly Things Records) - Mike Stax of Ugly Things Magazine has been writing a series of articles about this pysch-garge band from California. After years of research that took him half way around the world, one of the members revealed lost recordings and Stax released them through his UT imprint.

3. The White Stripes " Under Blackpool Lights " DVD (XL) - I've always wondered wether the Stripes were blues or pop, but after watching this hour and half live set with Meg dry humping her kit and Jack's huge buldge (always on the red side of his trousers) I am covinced that they 're a legitimate blues outfit.

4. Joanna Newsom " The Milk Eyed Mender " (Drag City) - I'm still extremely suspicious of the others that she gets lumped in with, but I believe she's a very original songwriter and performer. The disc isn't nearly as magnetic as her live performance, but once I saw her live, the disc just served as a sweet reminder.

5. Caveh Zahedi " Tripping with Caveh " DVD (Self Released DVD-R) - In which experimental LA filmmaker Caveh Zahedi takes mushrooms with songwriter Will Oldham at an Austin, Texas retreat center. Caveh wants to get deep into Will's head and creative self image, Will just wants to ride go-carts.

6. GRAILS " Red Light " (Neurot) - This Portland collective gets better with each release. "Red Light" smashes any sort of impotent "Post Roc" or "Dirty Three" comparisons that the feeble-minded have erroneously made in the past with inspired polvo-guitarsploshions and minor key NEU! grooves.

7. Richard Buckner " Dents and Shells " (Merge) - I've never been let down by any of Richard's albums. In this one The Buck seems to see the light at the end of the tunnel after the previous "Impasse". His voice is still one of the most unique instruments in modern storytelling.

8. Elliott Smith " From a Basement on the Hill " (ANTI) - What I realized on this album was that he used to play guitar and piano lines that sounded like The Beatles or The Zombies and now they sound like Elliott Smith. Although Elliott always drew heavily from the past, he always interpreted the past with his own original sonic vision. R.I.P.

9. Madvillian " Madvilliany " (Stones Throw) - This should actually be higher on the list. No hooks, No choruses, No name calling. All other emcees are just riding the breeze from MF DOOM 's wake.

10. P.G. Six "The Well of Memory " (Amish Records) - Was 2004 the year of harp? Well it's weird that two of my top ten are harpists, but P.G. Six is so much more than just harp. It's true modern-folk in the midst of a heap of NYC hippie-posers.

 

[*aka Dolorean]