Albums 15 – 6

15. Kanye West The College Dropout (Roc-a-Fella)
The College Dropout, much like Speakerboxxx/The Love Below last year, is the year�s de facto �top album.� While certainly not the year�s best, its ability to transcend taste barriers, its pop culture ubiquity and near-unanimous critical acclaim will find it at the top of virtually every newspaper critic�s top ten. And why not? Above and beyond his already-established genius as a producer, Kanye reveals himself here as the poster boy for the dichotomy mainstream hip-hop has become: cocksure but self-conscious, optimistic but restless, animated but cynical. And while it feels bloated at times, so does its creator�s ego—its colossal length only makes it feel more honest. It�s hard to remember what radio was like before this.

14. Dizzee Rascal Showtime (XL)
Props to Mr. Mills for not spending too much time contemplating his follow-up to the classic Boy in da Corner. Coming just over a year after his debut, Showtime finds the fearsome twenty year-old documenting his transition from the gutter to the spotlight with more clarity than most albums of its ilk. The beats are a marked improvement over Boy in da Corner�s, sounding less cheap and blippy without sacrificing Dizzee�s matchless ferocity. At his best, he reveals his thirst for success as naked, seething desperation: in one song, he threatens �you people are gonna respect me if it kills you.� Well gosh, Dylan, when you put it like that�

13. The Libertines The Libertines (Rough Trade)
Sometime pretty soon, Pete Doherty will overdose and die, immediately turning The Libertines into the stuff of legend, a legend that will, in time, surpass the quality of the music they made, if not exist completely separate from it. Nonetheless, their self-titled sophomore album demonstrates that, despite the direst of circumstances, the band still had an exciting and intelligent album in them, one that, in encompassing the band�s admittedly intriguing real-life soap opera as well as the foibles of 21st century English living, feels perfectly at home in its ragged, barely-there arrangements. They seem destined to be remembered as greater than they were, but what they were in the first place seems pretty excellent anyway.

12. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus (Anti)
Given the notoriously spotty nature of double albums (especially those by singer-songwriters) as well as the notoriously spotty catalogue of Nick Cave, such an undertaking for him left myself, and probably a lot of other people, apprehensive when it was announced. It�s a surprise, then, that Abattoir Blues and The Lyre of Orpheus working both collectively and as independent pieces, are surprisingly bereft of filler, and rank easily with the Dark Prince of Mope�s best material. Abattoir, generally the noisier of the two albums, consists of bluesy stomps and eerie gospel send-ups, while Lyre is a more subdued affair, with Cave even writing an unironic love song or two. It�s one of the strongest double albums to be released this decade, and that Cave is able to deliver this consistently at age forty-seven is quite a marvel.

11. Drive-By Truckers The Dirty South (New West)
Drive-By Truckers are songwriters in the most outdated sense; each song on The Dirty South tells a direct, linear story the kind no indie band has told since the day a young Charles Thomspon started barking about being molested in parking lots. Even more unusual is the band�s musical and lyrical allegiance to its Southern roots: they play an updated, ever-so-slightly punk influenced take on classic Skynyrd and Allman Brithers, and tell vivid but desperately unhip tales of Bible Best history and culture. The Dirty South is their third consecutive near-classic, and I�d put my money on it not being their last; this is a hard formula to get tired of.

10. The Futureheads The Futureheads (679/Sire)
To those who haven�t heard them, The Futureheads probably seem like yet another boring, overhyped nu-wave flavour-of-the-month � the familiar list of post-punk influences, the �the� name, that stupid album cover � but to those fortunate enough to have given their debut a chance, the first 10 seconds of opener �Le Garage� did all that was necessary to dispel such notions. The Futureheads is a concise set of 15 killer songs, by a band having too much fun to realize that Gang of Four and early-era Beach Boys probably shouldn�t mesh. This is the kind of album people sing along to the first time they hear it. And for a band that sings Kate Bush covers and songs about robot love, all in the thickets English accents imaginable, that�s something of a minor miracle.

9. The Walkmen Bows + Arrows (Record Collection)
Whenever I deejay at parties, especially when I�ve a couple Stellas in me, I�m known to sing a long loudly and obnoxiously with whatever I choose to put on. Usually, as in the case of my disgraceful Damon Albarn and Morrissey impressions, it inspires little more than snickers and contempt. But whenever I attempt such an act while playing a track off of Bows + Arrows, people seem strangely sympathetic. The Walkmen are the natural heirs to the Replacements, howling about dissatisfaction and interpersonal angst in an inebriated bliss that hides their considerable tightness as a group. They�ve made a striking record here, and one that makes a strong promise of even better things to come.

8. The Streets A Grand Don�t Come for Free (Vice/679)
Like the Beasties proved with the completely sterile but completely addictive To the 5 Boroughs this year, certain artists, most often rappers, have an intrinsic likeability that can transcend even their laziest work. Mike Skinner is one such personality, which makes his refusal to rest on the laurels of his babbling British charm on the stunning A Grand Don�t Come for Free all the more commendable. It�s a rare concept album with an actual concept, and even rarer, one that actually carries its concept out without either non-sequitor tracks or dull concessions to plot and theme. Skinner�s tale of lost cash and lost is touching, even if it makes its narrator seem woefully unobservant, if not completely idiotic. How Skinner will follow A Grand� is speculative, but its hard to imagine he�ll top the unbelievable focus on unity and theme he demonstrates here.

7. Madvillain Madvillainy (Stone�s Throw)
It seems almost extra-terrestrial: the ethereal accordion loops, the way one song leaps into another without so much as a warning, that absolutely terrifying cover. Perhaps it�s the ignorance of a semi-initiated hip-hop fan, but as fascinated as I am by Madvillainy, I�ve never once felt like I�ve completely �gotten� it. Here, MF Doom more than lives up to his reputation as hip-hop�s most eccentric emcee, rhyming about weed, imperialism, infidelity, �why hoes need Kotex,� and some subjects too abstract to even begin discussing here. In short, it�s 2004�s best rap album, and maybe the only one whose greatness hip-hop fans and indie kids alike can agree on.

6. The Go! Team Thunder, Lightning, Strike (Memphis Industries)
�Fun� music isn�t exactly a hot commodity for indie kids in 2004, if it ever really was in the first place. The times are tough, and we seem understandably inclined to connect with narcissistic mopers, be they Jeff Tweedy, Thom Yorke, or for boring people, Chris Martin. Making interesting party music in this day in age takes a certain courage, which is why I�ll stick it out here for The Go! Team. Thunder, Lightning, Strike is the kind of album that could make Tom Ridge smile; it cartwheels between punk, hip-hop and electronica without ever once stopping to give a shit about what it�s cartwheeling between. Put this on when you feel your Christmas party starting to die down and your guests will still be there an hour after it�s finished. Burn it for the saddest person you know. And if you haven�t heard it yet, do yourself a favour.