The Top 20 Albums of the '00s: Number 12

Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand (2004, Domino)

Franz Ferdinand's perfect guitar pop debut was the album that signified the rebirth of British indie rock at the mid '00s. Read more about it in our 2004 review and in this review from Pitchfork.

Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out

Counting Down The '00s: The Best Of 2004

Our countdown of the '00s continues with 2004, a year that was particularly good for new bands. Among the top 10 albums of the year we find the debuts of Franz Ferdinand, TV On The Radio and Arcade Fire, three of the best new acts of the decade. Franz Ferdinand's self-titled LP played like a greatest hits compilation, as each and every song on it sounded like a potential number one single in an ideal hit parade. As a result, the album claimed the top spot in our end of the year list and this is what we had to say about it at the time: "...Scotland's Franz Ferdinand offer the latest classic debut of the '00s, following in the footsteps of The Strokes and Interpol before them. 11 songs with hit single potential, taking punk’s energy, '70s glam and '80s new wave and magically transforming them into 21st century power-pop splendor."

The other top album of the year, though, came from a seasoned veteran. Nick Cave started one of the most prolific periods in his illustrious career with the amazing double album "Abattoir blues / The lyre of Orpheus". Other heroes from the past who made triumphant comebacks in '04 included Morrissey (with his best solo effort in ages), Sonic Youth, Mark Lanegan and the Beastie Boys with one of the best hip-hop albums of the '00s, the New York-centric "To the 5 boroughs".

Among the best releases of the year we also find the excellent "Good news for people who love bad news" from the consistently brilliant Modest Mouse (the album that finally gave them some of the commercial success they deserved), "Louden up now", the punk-funk dynamite of !!!, "Pawn shoppe heart", the garage-pop masterpiece of The Von Bondies, "Antics", the sophomore Interpol album that solidified their position as one of the best bands of the decade and "Misery is a butterfly", a magnificent album that hinted that for Blonde Redhead the best was yet to come.

Top 30 Albums of 2004

1. Franz Ferdinand - FRANZ FERDINAND
2. Abattoir blues / The lyre of Orpheus - NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS
3. Good news for people who love bad news - MODEST MOUSE
4. Louden up now - !!!
5. Desperate youth, blood thirsty babes - TV ON THE RADIO
6. Pawn shoppe heart - THE VON BONDIES
7. Antics - INTERPOL
8. You are the quarry - MORRISSEY
9. Funeral - THE ARCADE FIRE
10. Sonic nurse - SONIC YOUTH
11. Misery is a butterfly - BLONDE REDHEAD
12. Bubblegum - MARK LANEGAN BAND
13. No cities left - THE DEARS
14. To the 5 boroughs - BEASTIE BOYS
15. Hot fuss - THE KILLERS
16. The power out - ELECTRELANE
17. Bows + arrows - THE WALKMEN
18. You're a woman, I’m a machine - DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979
19. Tyrannosaurus Hives - THE HIVES
20. Uh huh her - P.J. HARVEY
21. More adventurous - RILO KILEY
22. The Concretes - THE CONCRETES
23. Thunder, lightning, strike - THE GO! TEAM
24. The Futureheads - THE FUTUREHEADS
25. The royal society - THE EIGHTIES MATCHBOX B-LINE DISASTER
26. Audit in progress - HOT SNAKES
27. This island - LE TIGRE
28. The college dropout - KANYE WEST
29. American idiot - GREEN DAY
30. Shake the sheets - TED LEO + THE PHARMACISTS

Top 30 Singles of 2004

1. Float on - MODEST MOUSE
2. The rat - THE WALKMEN
3. Staring at the sun - TV ON THE RADIO
4. Take me out - FRANZ FERDINAND
5. Slow hands - INTERPOL
6. C’mon c’mon - THE VON BONDIES
7. Theme from Sparta FC #2 - THE FALL
8. Mono - COURTNEY LOVE
9. Somebody told me - THE KILLERS
10. Lost in the plot - THE DEARS
11. Equus - BLONDE REDHEAD
12. An open letter to NYC - BEASTIE BOYS
13. Irish blood, English heart - MORRISSEY
14. Nature boy - NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS
15. Reptilian - THE STROKES
16. Mister mental - THE EIGHTIES MATCHBOX B-LINE DISASTER
17. Johnny Cash - SONS AND DAUGHTERS
18. Single again - THE FIERY FURNACES
19. The letter - P.J. HARVEY
20. Beat your heart out - THE DISTILLERS
21. American idiot - GREEN DAY
22. Good reason - SEAFOOD
23. You can’t hurry love - THE CONCRETES
24. This deed - ELECTRELANE
25. Meantime - THE FUTUREHEADS
26. She’s hearing voices - BLOC PARTY
27. Hello? Is this thing on? - !!!
28. Absolute affirmation - RADIO 4
29. Ladyflash - THE GO! TEAM
30. Come to this - THE SLEEPY JACKSON

Albums of the Month: January 2009

The first cool releases of 2009 are finally here! C.M.C.'s top 3 album for January are the following:

1. Telepathe - Dance Mother

Brooklyn based dance-pop experimentalists Telepathe have just released their excellent debut “Dance Mother”, produced by the multi talented David Sitek of TV On The Radio. Last year’s brilliant singles, the playfully trip-hopin’ “Chrome’s on it” and the hauntingly beautiful “Devil’s trident”, showed the band progressing from the drone-pop experimentation of first efforts, 2006's “Farewell Forest” EP and 2007's “Sinister Militia” 12”, towards an elaborately structured, hook-laden, dark pop sound. Leftfield hip-hop beats, trip-hop atmospherics, tribal drumming and late ‘70s feminist punk aesthetics (“The Slits meet trip-hop experimentation” was my first impression of their sound upon my initial introduction to the band, seeing them live in New York last year supporting Foals – review here) are some of the elements that combine to create a truly unique sound and a genuinely inventive avant pop masterpiece that could easily find its way to the top of our “Albums of the Year” list, come the end of 2009.

Telepathe - So Fine

2. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

If you’re in the mood for even more far-out noise pop experimentation, here’s the latest effort from mad sound-scientists Animal Collective. Beach Boys harmonies form the melodic core of their sound sculptures, where electronic noise envelops tribal off-kilter beats. "Merriwether Post Pavilion” is perhaps their most accessible work to date, with well-structured psychedelic pop gems emerging from the hazy post-modern soundscapes. See the sounds and hear their colors for yourself - here’s the video for "My Girls":

Animal Collective - My Girls

3. Franz Ferdinand - Tonight: Franz Ferdinand

And if, after all this unconventional sonic experimentations, you have a craving for some good old-fashioned, down and dirty indie pop shenanigans, here’s the much anticipated third effort from Scottish pop sensations Franz Ferdinand. Their ambition this time is to make an album for the dancefloor, the soundtrack to an epic night out, a mission which they accomplish successfully, with seemingly effortless cool. Get ready for the floor with first single “Ulysses”:

Franz Ferdinand - Ulysses