Nick Cave, Elliott Smith and Tom Waits named among the Best Music of 2004.

Monday December 6, 2004

From Popmatters.com:

1. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Abattoir Blues/The
Lyre of Orpheus (Anti-)

Nick Cave's magnum opus, a thrilling pasticcio of
magnanimous rock, pastoral folk, and wicked
church music, covers more ground in two discs
than most artists can in an entire career. God,
cannibals, deception, nature, divine inspiration, slaughterhouses, Johnny Cash, mythology, comfort, love, greed, sorcery, and little redemptions in the face of massive tragedies represent just the half of it. Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus is a sprawling "Song of Myself" manifesto, bubbling with piety, fear, and hope. The Bad Seeds sound like they're capable of anything; they use Cave's poetics as kindling to set fire to any stereo willing to risk its mechanical life. This year's gospel.

4. Elliott Smith, From a Basement on the Hill
(Anti-)

From a Basement on the Hill presents a rawer
Elliott Smith than we had recently become
accustomed to; its songs are rough around the
edges and frequently devoid of Smith's impeccable
bridges. Still, the final record of Smith's
career is loaded with peerless melodies that
guide the lyrics to an emotional resonance
lacking pretension. From naked acoustic tracks "A
Fond Farewell" and "Memory Lane" to the
kitchen-sink absolution of "King's Crossing" and
"Coast to Coast", From a Basement on the Hill
plays like a best-of collection filled with
previously unknown songs.

12. Tom Waits, Real Gone (Anti-)

When it comes to Tom Waits, weirder is better.
Real Gone reclaims the farmland funkmeister
thread of Bone Machine, a sloppy stew of
cacophonous percussion and Mark Ribot's Ginzu
knife guitar. "Hoist That Rag" and "Make It Rain"
groove with weathered authority and knowing
futility -- eyes rolling into the back of the
head, James Brown singing Kurt Weill, real gone
funk stuff. Waits is the undisputed heavyweight
of surrealist blues.

popmatters.com

Elliott Smith Artist Page
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds Artist Page
Tom Waits Artist Page