After twelve months spent listening to more music than humanly possible, this is this time of the year again. It seems like yesterday when we were crowning Animal Collective’s Campfire Songs as album of the year, but as the proverb says, time flies when you’re having fun. And fun was had this year again. So much so that we nearly forgot to put together this list for you. Fear not though, it is as exhaustive as we want it to be.

It was the Nordic Year for us, with no less than eight Scandinavian acts in our top 20, and let's face, only a handful of British artists.

2004 has been our most successful year to date, with our readership now well over 50,000 per month, but let’s not stop there… here’s to 2005!

1. DEATHPROD Deathprod
RCD2036 - Rune Grammofon

Although this box set features two previous released albums, they were until now so rare that they might as well be new releases. This superbly presented release retraces the ten years or so since Deathprod’s first foray into electronic music as a solo artist, and demonstrates why Helge Sten is one of the most respected musicians around today.
What we said then 10’04
Despite having his name attached to many projects, Helge Sten’s solo work remains truly at the centre of his wider body of work and appears to define the basis for the rest of his contributions.

2. MAX RICHTER The Blue Notebooks
CD1304 - 130701/Fat-Cat Records

Released at the beginning of 2004 on Fat-Cat’s 130701 sub-label, Max Richter’s The Blue Notebooks captured the imagination of many with its subtle mix of contemporary classic and delicate electronics. A True masterpiece.
What we said then 02’04
Although the melodies and orchestrations appear minimal and bare of any frivolities, the addition of discreet environmental sounds, mostly recorded around London, give this album an incredible range of textures and depth. As these develop in the background, the main musical themes carry the dense emotional structure of this record, creating once again a cinematic piece of work.

3. COCOROSIE La Maison De Mon Rêve
TG254 - Touch & Go

This is about as lo-fi as it gets. La Maison De Mon Rêve, first album from American sisters Sierra and Bianca Cassidy, AKA CocoRosie, was recorded in a small Parisian apartment during a rainy summer, is at once melancholic, fragile and incredibly dense.
What we said then 05’04
La Maison De Mon Rêve is one of these records that you either love or hate. Nothing can really prepare for the dilettante approach adopted by CocoRosie here, and the decidedly amateurish finish of a record that has far more to offer than can be appreciated at first. If the term lo-fi needed to be defined, it would be by this album.

4. SUSANA & THE MAGICAL ORCHESTRA List Of Lights & Buoys
RCD2034 - Rune Grammofon

Partly produced by Deathprod, this first album from singer Susanna Wallumrød and Morten Qvenild is a truly delicate piece of ethereal pop. List Of Lights & Buoys kicks off with radical revisions of Leonard Bernstein’s Who Am I and Dolly Parton’s Jolene and keeps up the challenge all the way through. List Of Lights & Buoys is a timeless record.
What we said then 08’04
Kicking off your debut album with your own version of two classic songs is nothing short of suicidal. This is however exactly what Rune Grammofon’s most recent signing have gone and done by opening A List Of Lights & Buoys with a cover of Who Am I, taken from Leonard Bernstein’s Peter Pan musical, and Dolly Parton’s Jolene. This is, in this case, a bold statement and sets the bar extremely high for the rest of the album.

5. PAN SONIC Kesto (234:48:4)
BFFP180BOX - Blast First / Mute

First album in three years for Finland’s most established electronic act, Kesto is a staggering quadruple album, yet as Pan Sonic take their audience through a variety of detailed soundscapes and atmospheres, they progressively reveal their most endearing work to date.
What we said then 07’04
A mammoth release spread over four albums and towering at well over four hours, this album is Pan Sonic at their most experimental. Yet, Kesto is also the pair’s most inspired and evocative piece of work. [...] So perfectly crafted is this journey that each album is totally unique – one could choose to listen to them independently –, yet is integrant part of the complete piece.

6. LARS HORNTVETH Pooka
STS079 - Smalltown Supersound

Taking a break from Jaga Jazzist, which he formed ten years ago, Lars Horntveth released an impressive first solo album this year. Although remaining close to his band’s usual sonic playground, he introduced some flavours all of his own.
What we said then 08’04
This solo album bears some trademark Horntveth moments, but also shows a slightly different side to his talent. A visceral musician, it is only a matter of time before he becomes truly recognised for his work.

7. ARVE HENRIKSEN Chiaroscuro
RCD2037 - Rune Grammofon

One of the most respected jazz musicians of his generation, Arve Henriksen finally unveiled his second solo record, three years after the beautiful Sakuteiki. Here, he explores a far wider range of sounds and ambiences
What we said then 11’04
One of the most talented musicians of his generation, Arve Henriksen creates here a stunning series of superbly crafted vignette. A true innovator, he takes his sound further into uncharted territories and constantly redefines the musical scope in which he evolves.

8. SECRET FREQUENCY CREW Forest Of The Echo Down
SCH045 - Schematic

Could Secret Frequency Crew be one of the revelations of this year? First album from this enigmatic trio hailing from somewhere on the other side of the Pond, Forest Of The Echo Down is a luscious piece of work. Totally unique, it combines wonderfully warm analogue electronic with guitars, pianos, bass and trombones.
What we said then 11’04
Combining beautiful warm analogue electronics with guitars, pianos, trombones and bass into an incredibly eclectic soundtrack, SFC create a strangely unique and enchanted series of landscapes on which sounds and melodies flourish out of nowhere to develop into beautiful constructions or imperceptibly weave themselves into existing ones.

9. 808 STATE Prebuild
CAT807CD - Rephlex

If ever there was a long overdue release, Prebuild it is. Five years after re-releasing 808 State’s original album, Newbuild, Rephlex publish this excellent collection of rare and previously unheard tracks from the band, all recorded prior to Newbuild. Collected by Graham Massey, Prebuild documents the birth of the acid house movement in the UK in the late eighties. This is hot stuff.
What we said then 10’04
This is the work of a band who had found their niche; the sound of a band before they got anywhere near reaching so-called maturity; the sound of three lads from ‘up North’ who were making music as if their lives depended on it.

10. DANGER MOUSE The Grey Album
No catalogue number / label

Most controversial album of the year by a long shot! Answering the call from hip-hop superstar Jay-Z, Danger Mouse revisits his Black Album by adding a soundtrack based on the Beatles’ White Album. Originally due to be released, The Grey Album was pulled out at the very last minute following an injunction from EMI due to uncleared sample used. This resulted in the Net community turning the web grey for a day during Grey Tuesday, with thousands of sites across the world offering the album to download for free.
What we said then 03’04
Playing on the touchiness of the music industry toward copyright issues and the ever more controlling way the five major companies increasingly bully their customers and artists, Danger Mouse not only ensured that the album would be much talked about, but also that it would revive the debate about copyright in general and the way majors deal with music as a product as opposed to an expression of artistic sensibilities, in particular.

THE REST OF THE BEST

11. FENNESZ Venice (Touch)
12. AUTECHRE & THE HAFLER TRIO æ3o&h3æ (Phonometrography)
13. GREG DAVIS Curling Pond Woods (Carpark Records)
14. YUICHIRO FUJIMOTO Komorebi (Smalltown Supersound)
15. BIOSPHERE Autour De La Lune (Touch)
16. cLOUDDEAD Ten (Big Dada)
17. BJÖRK Medúla (One Little Indian)
18. MÚM Summer Make Good (Fat-Cat Records)
19. WIBUTEE Playmachine (Jazzland)
20. ANIMAL COLLECTIVE Sung Tongs (Fat-Cat Records)

BEST SINGLES

1. ANIMAL COLLECTIVE Who Could Win A Rabbit
2. COCOROSIE By Your Side
3. cLOUDDEAD Dead Dogs Two
4. SIGUR RÓS Ba Ba Ti Ki Di Do
5. LARS HORNTVETH The Joker
6. KIM HIORTHØY The Hopeness
7. BLUE STATES Across The Wire
8. NEW ORDER Blue Monday/Confusion Acid House Mix By 808 State (1988)
9. MILANESE 1 Up
10. MÚM Dusk Log