TimeOut's best music of 2004

1. FRANZ FERDINAND: FRANZ FERDINAND

(Domino/Sony)

British art-school sophisticates make guitar music to dance to on album that was floppy fringe and shoulders above the rest

Franz Ferdinand had much counting against them even getting noticed, let alone having their debut acclaimed as the best album of the year from here to hometown Glasgow. After all, it was a year when if you rocked with traces of early 80s Britain you were likely to be from the other side of the Atlantic (see Interpol next page) and a year when the best Blighty music was blasting, sans guitars, from the Brit-hop's dead-end streets (ditto The Streets, Skinnyman).

And the year we were meant to be interested in London headline-grabbers The Libertines because they kicked their drug casualty out as they delivered an album about a band falling apart. It got them noticed but didn't make their album any better.

But Franz Ferdinand got in early with a perfectly formed album that was all dark panache, fey humour, and twitchy grooves which echoed those post-punk years. They sounded like natural heirs to the British art-school likes of early Roxy Music, the Smiths and Britpop-era Pulp.

And with their songs of unbuttoned blazers, fumblings in The Dark of the Matinee, objects of desire named Jacqueline and Michael, they sounded sexy but dead sophisticated, arty but catchy.

2 SJD: SOUTHERN LIGHTS

(Round Trip Mars)

Whip-smart local electronica astronaut on his second journey through inner space

In a year which spawned terrific local singles but sometimes less than convincing albums from those same artists, Southern Lightswas an exceptional, integrated piece of work full of nuance and texture, discreetly off-kilter musical ideas and arrangements, and understated, evocatively poetic lyrics.

It wasn't without its radio-play tracks such as Superman, You're Crying which, with sensitive, adult reflectiveness and a tight metaphor was given added resonance by the death of Christopher "Superman" Reeve. And of course it wasn't about that Superman at all but spoke with sympathy to all those heroes of childhood rendered inconsequential as we grow older.

Despite a guest cast of heavy hitters, this was always Sean James Donnelly's album.

His subtle electronica with quasi-psychedelic touches, strings, a guitar sample from the Clean for the ambient rocking midpoint, and elevating sweeps of keyboards was a showcase for his astute ears. It also included many of the most memorable songs of the year from someone who is a songwriter first and can bring as much gorgeous Al Green soul to play as classical-inspired electronic sounds. A classy and world-class album for this and any other year.

3 THE STREETS: A GRAND DON'T COME FOR FREE

(Atlantic)

Geezer attitude and literate wit meets revolutionary music

Mike Skinner is more street poet than rapper and A Grand Don't Come for Free was more a concept than an album. With his 2002 debut, Original Pirate Material, Skinner annoyed more people than he inspired. The clever, quirky album's mix of cheeky yarns and garage beats grew irritating after a while. On A Grand Don't Come For Free he challenged the listener more - this time it worked because Skinner perfected the music he invented with a sparser, and relaxed approach. When he lamented "dry your eyes mate", he was to talking to loser-in-love blokes everywhere.

And you couldn't help being won over.

4 KINGS OF LEON: AHA SHAKE HEARTBREAK

(RCA)

Southern US family make rude, rockin' knees-up album

Like their on-tour antics - something they weren't scared to tell us about on their second album - the Kings Of Leon music is the sound of one wild party.

Debut Youth and Young Manhood from 2003 was a rollicking good time. But last year's Aha Shake Heartbreak was less hick with more big-city and big wide world refinement. Though, thanks to Caleb Followill's yelp'n'yodel and the band's shindig delivery, it's still rooted somewhere south of the Mason Dixon line.

The ease with which you get into this album is matched by how easily the band put it out. There was no woe-isme, our first album was so good, we're struggling with the second. Just bang, hoe-down.

5 EVERMORE: DREAMS

(WARNERS)

Young fraternal Feilding trio make gripping album on first go. And go rudely ignored at home

Out on the road this summer with the feelers, Evermore (the three Hume siblings Jon, Peter and Dann) are finally getting a chance to establish themselves in the minds of local audiences.

Their debut hasn't exactly lit up local skies since its release a few months back.

While they've made a dent in Australia it seems we're still waiting for the trio to pay their local dues. Too bad, the album is still terrific. Yes, its influences could poke out at times. But it was captivating with its run of songs of luminous tune, heartfelt chorus and wide-eyed charm.

6 NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS: ABATTOIR BLUES/ THE LYRE OF ORPHEUS

(Mute) The 12th and 13th albums by the Aussie cult icon and his loyal posse and band shows that sometimes bigger is better

Just when it seemed Nick Cave was happy to rest on his laurels as one of rock's more literate figures, he went and stretched himself to a double album which just may be among his best work.

They might have had separate titles but the double collection felt like one cohesive whole - this was a very deep Cave to delve into with the man himself swinging from perverse verse to heartfelt chorus on a run of songs which were variously apocalyptic, romantic and sometimes deliciously grotesque.

7 LORETTA LYNN: VAN LEAR ROSE

(Interscope)

Country Godmother makes gritty album with White Stripes whippersnapper

Lynn has never been anything less than unashamedly honest. In the light of her long life (she's almost 70) these sessions with White Stripe Jack White were just another step in a long journey.

But the brittle music, her faux-autobiographical lyrics and the courage she showed in allowing her voice to be set against sometimes Led Zeppelin-sounding thrash took her to a new audience.

Lynn and White stepped artfully between pure hillbilly country and raucous rock, but mostly the sound was simple and rough-edged. As with the best country music, these were songs of death and revenge and cheatin' husbands. But there was also timeless faith and sassy feminism here, and everywhere the sound of a singular artist in the supportive company of a fan still shy of half her age.

8 INTERPOL: ANTICS

(Rhythmethod)

New York gloom merchants offer a better class of rock melancholy on sophomore release

This four-piece out of the Big Apple managed to pull a few familiar styles together for their terrific second album of brooding but oddly elevating pop-rock. As with their 2002 debut, at times they may have sounded as if they had been on a steady diet of dramatic Brit-gothpop from the likes of Joy Division, Jesus and Mary Chain, and Echo and the Bunnymen.

Yet, in the wiry sound and insidious guitar lines, they also connected with the classic NYC new wave art-school attitude of Television and Talking Heads. With some slow-burning songs they bring dark intensity to an album which has the feel of a cult classic while giving them a platform for the great leap to star status.

If they have gone past you so far, this cathartic, intense album of lapel-grabbing moodiness is essential listening.

9 TRINITYROOTS: HOME, LAND AND SEA

(TrinityRoots)

Wellington's roots genre-splicers craft a gorgeous love letter to home, family and Aotearoa

Having impressed on their 2002 debut True, Home, Land and Sea saw the capital city trio getting more ambitious, creating something which was, in places, a near psychedelic trip and, in others, a brooding, roots-reggae experience. There was a sonic geography at work, also.

Spaces were left so wide clouds could drift through, and harmony vocals (like those on The Dream) come off like a breeze along a deserted West Coast beach. A pity then, that having marked out such a wide territory the band have decided to call it a day.

10 KANYE WEST: THE COLLEGE DROPOUT (ROC-A-FELLA)

Chicago beat master turns his skills to the mic

Honest, analytical and self-deprecating, the uber R&B producer marked his lyrical debut as the most interesting MC of the year.

On one hand, a survivor - Through the Wire was performed when West's teeth were wired shut after a serious car accident - on the other, a social commentator, West even made room for his gangster antics and his thing for the ladies. And even more so than the album's acclaimed guests, which included Jay-Z, Ludacris, Mos Def, Talib Kweli and Common, this extraordinary album found fans in the mainstream and underground.

AND THE REST ...

11. SECRET MACHINES: NOW HERE IS NOWHERE (Reprise)

The first album by the NY-based Texas-bred art-rock trio delivered an interstellar mission of an album, a psychedelic rocket powered by ominous bass-throb, heady guitar dramatics and dreamy tunes which echoed everything from Pink Floyd to 70s Krautrock.

12. KATCHAFIRE: SLOW BURNING (Mai/Shock)

Not a reggae-pop hit like Giddy Up in sight but if you're looking for a summer soundtrack the second album from the local roots-rock-reggae outfit was your best bet. Simple, skanking, bliss.

13. SKINNYMAN: COUNCIL ESTATE OF MIND (Samurai Distribution)

This loosely autobiographical tale from the Londoner about life in and out of jail wasn't all doom and gloom. This hip-hop head had soul.

14. FINN BROTHERS: EVERYONE IS HERE (Parlophone)


The Finns won attention with an album about life, love, death and the bits between across finely crafted melodies.

15. GREEN DAY: AMERICAN IDIOT (Warner)

From the hyperactive upstarts who brought us Dookie came the musical narrative of an Average Joe living under the Bush Administration. U2 should be jealous.

16. BJORK: MEDULLA (Polydor)

She might have basked in the mainstream spotlight of the Olympics opening, but Bjork's 2004 album was a left-turn for the Icelandic icon, doing away with instruments and relying on multi-tracked vocals to produce a strangely spellbinding, sonically entrancing affair.

17. THE ICARUS LINE: PENANCE SOIREE (V2)

Swirling, noisy and intense, the LA outfit's debut was like a reckless stampede through town where you get up to no good and gloat about it in the morning.

18. DYNAMITE MC: WORLD OF DYNAMITE (Samurai Distribution)

Roni Size's right-hand man took us on a tour of Bristol nightclubs, broadening his drum'n'bass horizons with this high-octane blat. Massive, innit?

19: TOM WAITS: REAL GONE (Shock)

Clank'n'grind sonics, bucket-bottom percussion, dark narratives and growled delivery. So business as usual in Waitsworld, but this felt very much the Tom for our dark, confused and disturbing times.

20. LLOYD BANKS: THE HUNGER FOR MORE (Universal)

Not as charismatic as his bullet-ridden mate 50 Cent but just as smooth, Banks brought understated rhymes to the G-Unit cache. Said it best on I'm So Fly.

21. SCISSOR SISTERS: SCISSOR SISTERS (Universal)

The best pop album of the year for its sheer flamboyance on tracks such as the delightful Laura, the flaunt-it Take Your Mama, and the lewd Tits On the Radio.

22. P-MONEY: MAGIC CITY (Dirty/FMR)

Further proof that NZ hip-hop's resident man on the decks also has an ear for hypnotic beats, naggingly addictive samples and a pop hook.

23. NORAH JONES: FEELS LIKE HOME (Blue Note/EMI)

The chanteuse sensation of two years ago doesn't change much from the low lights formula of her debut but this was much more intelligent with hints of country, soul, humid swamp-funk, bluegrass, lite alt.rock and, yes, jazz.

24. PASELODE: TAMING OF THE WASPS (Wildside)

This dirty little beast of an album beat the pants off the Datsuns' second album and made Paselode natural heirs to Head Like A Hole.

25. MYLO: DESTROY ROCK & ROLL (Breastfed) The debut of Scottish boffin Myles MacInnes collided beats, laddish humour and hoary samples to deliver a timely Heimlich manoeuvre to the wobbly world of house music.

26. GWEN STEFANI: LOVE, ANGEL, MUSIC, BABY (Universal)

Breaking away from her ska-punk roots, the pop star/fashion icon/actress indulged her passion for 80s electro on this kooky, stylish tribute to her musical heroes. Say hello to the new Madonna.

27. SHAPESHIFTER: RIDDIM WISE (Truetone)

Hard and heavy yet lush and warm, jazz-trained Chch d'n'b kings served up the floor-thumping intensity of their live act.

28. KASABIAN: KASABIAN (BMG)

Taking in guitar-pop ditties like Processed Beats through to the scorching anthem Reason Is Treason, this was a fresh Britrock sound.

29. RJD2: SINCE WE LAST SPOKE (Definitive Jux)

A more challenging, moody and eclectic offering than his Deadringer, the Ohio-based producer mashed together samples from sleazy lounge to indie rock and 70s funk.

30. ELVIS COSTELLO, THE DELIVERY MAN (Lost Highway)

Another return to form by an old soldier, recapturing the angry, malcontent attitude which made his best music.

- Russell Baillie, Graham Reid, Rebecca Barry, Scott Kara, Alan Perrott