Do you know this list was originally supposed to be done by New Year's? We were completely on track to have it done, too, despite some last-minute additions and squabblings. But it didn't get even close to done, and eventually the new deadline defaulted to April 1, which seemed fitting enough, and, one thing failing to lead to another, here we are moving into the latter third of the following year, and I'm knocking together a stopgap text-only runthrough, if only to get the '04 list done before the '05 list goes up.

People will give guff to 2004 as far as music goes (they will! I've heard them), but they pretty clearly don't know from good years. It was genuinely painful to have to rank some of 2004's albums lower than others, as staggeringly good as many of them were. I'm still waiting for some this year to really make me stagger as much as I did last year, on several non-consecutive occasions.

But anyway, on with it: a list representing almost two years' worth of languor and angry stagnancy, and what we were listening to the whole time through.

- Noah



50 OREN AMBARCHI GRAPES FROM THE ESTATE

Ambient drones and plucks with actual melodies hidden somewhere in the haze. Each of the albums four 10+ minute pieces are compositionally distinct and resolutely refuse to be dismissed as background music, except maybe the first track.

49 MONO WALKING CLOUD AND DEEP RED SKY, FLAG FLUTTERED AND THE SUN SHINED

Just another strong outing from these generic post-rockers, this time more crisp via Steve Albini production. Slightly subdued and more climative than the Mono before, Walking Cloud somewhat compares to Mogwai's Rock Action transformation from Young Team. If only the virus were this good.

48 THE OWLS OUR HOPES AND DREAMS

Librarian Rock. Quiet, sweet, smart, strong. Not too captivating, never annoying, always nice. Littered with influences but still unique. The Owls are librarians from the cool, peaceful state of Minnesota, and they play naïve melancholy pop tinged with John Lennon odes. Just sit down next to a warm fire, open your favorite book, and press play.

47 PATRICK WOLF LYCANTHROPY

No majestic royals, no polite argumetns held over cups of tea and certainly no loving strangers, Patrick Wolf's Lycanthropy portrays the grimier mud covered cobblestone streets of Britain; fueled by the self-relieant nature of Wolf's orphan youth, with lyrics which may have come from Oliver Twist's nightmares, including burnt down houses and generous yet unrelenting child molesters, Lycanthropy presents a somewhat disturbing yet endearing orphan's guide to the country.

46 FELIX DA HOUSECAT DEVIN DAZZLE AND THE NEON FEVER

An experience much akin to tapping your plastic G.I.s to a bottle rocket: fun, energizing and uplifting, but it's been done before; Devin Dazzle and the Neon Fever is a low turbulance "Rocket Ride" through that 70's disco club with flashing dance floors you've always dreamt of reviving.

45 ISIS PANOPTICON

Here's a real scoop: Isis aren't just "that metal band that crossed into indie category thanks to their artsy-fartsy label Ipecac". They are, in fact, more subtle than that: instead of the brick-headed hardness that sours up other metal, Isis dare to focus on clockwork and repetition, channeling Krautrock throughout. The sparse vocals are dispersed into just the right areas, elevating both the "wow" factor and the "this song just kicked my ass" factor. And if the death vox irk you, then allow me to direct you to Sissyville, Pussystan.

44 BJORK MEDULLA

Ms. Guðmundsdóttir's vocals are so distinctive, so unique and profound, that a proposed record made of vocal samples leads to the worst expectations. That Medúlla is flawed hasn't been controverted by anyone; its foundation is its concept. However, what is remarkable about Medúlla is just how much of it works, how much if it stands up to repeated listens, how varied it is in spite of its make-up (all vocals, the rare digital manipulation), and, in addition, how unified it feels in light of its variety and experimentalism. Picking a highlight is difficult, because so much of Medúlla stands out in a unique way, even moreso due to its unforeseen accessibility. "Oceania" treats a choir like a string section, waxing over clicking beats and Björk's pagan poetry; "Triumph of a Heart" emerges as the ultimate dance-infected anthem; and "Who Is It" finds Debut and Post's house stylings clothed in an Icelandic cave garb. Medúlla goes toe-to-toe with the best of Björk's experiments, with nothing to fear but your own expectations, and "Where Is the Line."

43 RJD2 SINCE WE LAST SPOKE

42 PANDA BEAR YOUNG PRAYER

This intensely personal and introspective album from Animal Collective's Panda Bear is the far somberer B-side to Sung Tongs-- the acoustic strum is still there but seems far less mid-day sun-drenched and more bathed in sunset. The songs were written during and about the passing of Panda's father, and the mood reflects that; rather than being caught up in celebration of youth, Young Prayer celebrates life and wisdom.

41 AIR TALKIE WALKIE

Having crated the soundtrack to a million cars-a-rockin', the soundtrack to a Sofia Coppola film, and an easily appreciated but turgid experimental second outing, Air reach their zenith, singing their songs on their own (thank god!) and bringing in Nigel Godrich to bring the music into a whole. And though we love us some post-rock (see #49), Air might just win the awards for the best two instrumentals of the year: "Mike Mills"' soaring strings flooded our hearts, and "Alone in Kyoto" ... god!

40 THE LIKE YOUNG SO SERIOUS

Okay. So Serious may not be that good of an album name, and The Like Young aren't the most creative or inventive of bands, but who really cares? Their quick hitting twenty-four minutes of sweet pop-punk will keep me crooning ooo's and ahh's for pleanty of time to come. With this album, the hard working Ziemba spouces finally started receiving some of the attention they deserve.

39 THE ADVANTAGE THE ADVANTAGE

Sure, it's not as great as an album of NES covers has every right to be, but it's still pretty essential listening, if not all the way through at once. These guys are clearly good at what they do, and they've made one of the more effectively novel novelties in recent memory.

38 MOUSE ON MARS RADICAL CONNECTOR

Mouse On Mars, moving through every emotional nook and cranny of electronic music, perennially hip, entirely cool, mocho artisans, decide they have one thing on their mind and one thing only: how much junk you got in your trunk? And we were happy to oblige, bumpin' through the drill-percussion of "Spaceship" and the practically orgasmic chorus of "Wipe That Sound". You might not hear this at a club, but fuck those guys. Seriously.

37 ON!AIR!LIBRARY! ON!AIR!LIBRARY!

Turning on the eponymous debut from the New York based On!Air!Library! is like passing into another dimension. It’s like the journey of a troubled, suburban dwelling teen lost within the dangerous downtown at night. It’s like surviving a blasting shock of lightening. It’s like a beautiful summer’s day quickly spoiled by a surprise hurricane. Dark and tense, On!Air!Library! is like a dream: reality through a filter. All nine tracks of this electronics heavy shoegaze album are distinct and memorable, and will undoubtedly make you feel lost in the most familiar of places.

36 MIRAH C'MON MIRACLE

One of 2004's most delightful surprises. Mirah was never one to sit in one place for too long, but C'mon Miracle might be her first record where she communicates clearly, writing songs succint enough to excuse her the responsibility to stay in one place. Yes, it's schizophrenic: the opening quarter of the record is a kaliedoscope of sombre folk, alterna-pop and harmless feedback. And we also have love songs, dazed psychedelics and what wrestled with "Peace Attack" for the rank of 'best protest song of 2004'. If C'mon Miracle is indie-pop, then it remains effectively separate from other popular brands -- If You're Feeling Sinister revivalists and electronic-spliced pseudo-Wilsons -- and we'll always love it more for that.

35 FROG EYES THE FOLDED PALM

Frog Eyes have managed to keep their raw, carnivalesque output up to the same quality level for three straight albums in as many years (more if you count acoustic solo albums and side projects), and if The Folded Palm doesn't quite stand up to The Golden River as an album, its singles certainly do: "The Oscillator's Hum" is possibly their best work to date, while "Ship Destroyer" and "The Fence that Felt Its Post" are crammed with enough hirsute and web-footed energy to fill their brief running times to bursting.

34 MODEST MOUSE GOOD NEWS FOR PEOPLE WHO LOVE BAD NEWS

It took half the year before I realized that Good News For People Who Love Bad News wasn't the transitional, flawed record coming after troubled times that I thought it was when I first heard it, but, rather, it was an epic work, wealthy in ideas, dramatic in scope. The type of scattershot, idiosyncratic greatness Good News achieves is most comparable to Rain Dogs in not only spirit but even in more superficial ways, such as how Modest Mouse reveal their love for the gruff-voiced Waits on circus oddities like "The Devil's Workday." It can be heartbreaking, with "The World At Large" and "Blame It On the Tetons," and then proceed to channel the Talking Heads ("The View"), and lacquer Mousean melodies in subtlety ("Bury Me With It") or chorus ("Black Cadillacs"). And to top it off, there was the anti-Death Cab For Cutie in "Float On," the summer mega-hit that will be Modest Mouse's "How Soon Is Now," in that its genesis through devil-may-care experimentation is not only immediate and spontaneous, but transcendent and, okay okay, infinite.

33 JASON FORREST THE UNRELENTING SONGS OF THE 1979 POST DISCO CRASH

Allow me to explain: boop dee boop dee boop, boop chhc hh duh duh boom DUH DUH ... WHRRR ... DUH DUH, duhdillydundillydundillydundillydun boom DUH DUH ... WHRRR ... DUH DUH, duhdeedeehundeedundun ... okay, forget it.

32 THE ARCADE FIRE FUNERAL Hipstre backlash!

31 INTERPOL ANTICS

They are playing in a major key? This shit tastes godawful!

30 OF MONTREAL SATANIC PANIC IN THE ATTIC

And the world's most inessential band gives you... something essential. Definitely one of 2004's more interesting break-outs, Of Montreal went from years of relative Elephant 6 obscurity to their own flashy psychedelia, brimming with color and originality but reaching for some nostalgia, in their most musically varied record. Satanic Panic In the Attic was the sugar-coated blotter paper that had us all seeing what we were missing.

29 LALI PUNA FAKING THE BOOKS

And so electro said to rock, "Baby, there ain't no reason we can't be together." And then Faking the Books was born in that copulation, with rock drums and guitars that spike melding with synths and programming. And then Valerie Trebeljahr stood in front of her band, sounding like a German Ice Queen. It was a lot better than it looked on paper, with the title track making us all cry in our beers and "Call 1-800-Fear," "Micronomic" and "B-Movie" holding onto our brain like it were carbon monoxide and it were a red blood cell. And we all fell over dead.

28 THE DECEMBERISTS THE TAIN

What the fuck? Right, well, from the Decemberists, that dorky band with a singer like ol' Jeff Mangum that plays dork-pop and writes songs about the Civil War and pirates comes a little bit of metal to shove up your CD player. And it's pretty good, a full EP composition that never gets boring and rests on a rising organ/guitar riff. Colin Meloy isn't Mikael Akerfeldt, but Opeth aren't the Decemberists.

27 BIBIO FI

Being endorsed by ol' Mr. I'm From Boards of Canada helps any electronic career take off, and Fi's got ideas out the wazoo, with ambient suites and unprocessed guitar riffs ("It Was Willow...") that beg you for a reason as to why we can't all like ambient music.

26 APOSTLE OF HUSTLE FOLKLORIC FEEL

This is almost worth the price of admission for the opening track, a flourish of the Carabbian instrumentation found all over Folkloric Feel with driving percussion. Broken Social Scene's Andrew Whiteman and co. layer keyboards, bass, and so forth on top of the lovely tres, only to come down on a cloud, accompanied by Andrew's gorgeous voice. The rest of the record is good, too.

25 BRIAN WILSON SMILE

Oldie-but-goodie/lost classic status aside, Smile is just a really good album.