Revisiting a Half-Decade Ballot I Filed in 2004

Formative electronic dreams from the new millennium

Ever since I submitted a ballot for Pitchfork’s half-decade list just over a year ago, I’ve been wanting to revisit the one I assembled for the site 20 years earlier. Compared to many music writers, I’m not much of a list-maker—I generally only make them when asked. I do, however, like reading lists. And I enjoy revisiting documents that show where my head was at a given time, in part because what actually happened can be so different from what we remember.

In the first half of the 2000s, my listening was strongly weighted toward electronic, experimental, and ambient music of various kinds, with the occasional indie rock or pop record in the mix. From around 1998 until roughly 2007, I was in a near-continuous state of heightened excitement about what was happening in these worlds, especially at the intersection of computer software, analog synthesis, and sampling. To my ear—it seems naive to me now—it was almost as if the entire idea of what music could be was being remade. I experienced sonic texture as pure pleasure in a very “pop” kind of way. It was intense and overwhelming, and I absolutely loved writing about it.

In the years since, I’ve wondered: Was it just me? By that I mean, was the revolution in sound I perceived happening entirely in my own mind, or was there something legitimately new and important going on that others recognized? I’ve never been able to answer this question to my own satisfaction, but logic suggests the answer to the first question is yes. Even so, I can’t help but think something was in the air. Maybe the combination of ever-increasing computer power and new software along with the ubiquity of the compact disc created a sympathetic environment for a certain type of creativity. Or maybe it’s just a matter of certain trends meeting my ear at exactly the right time.

And now? A few times a year, I’ll hear an album in this broad vein that thrills me and I can’t stop listening to it—Rachika Nayar’s Heaven Come Crashing, Gia Margaret’s Romantic Piano, and William Tyler’s Time Indefinite all come to mind. But music of this ilk isn’t central to my listening these days, and that’s OK. There’s lots to explore; you never know where things are going and what the next obsession might be.

So, below is the half-decade ballot I submitted in 2004. It has shocking omissions and baffling choices made for reasons that have slipped from memory, but it also has dozens of records I enjoy as much as I ever did and put on often. Many of my current favorites from this period aren’t here, and a few I haven’t listened to in a (very) long time.

Perhaps you’ll find a record you enjoy. And if you know of something newish you think I might dig based on what I’ve listed below, leave it in the comments and I’ll check it out.

Mark’s Top 75 Albums 2000 - 2004, as Compiled in Summer 2004

1. Mouse on Mars: Idiology (Thrill Jockey)

2. Keith Fullerton Whitman: Playthroughs (Kranky)

3. Farben: Texstar (Klang Elektronik)

4. The Clientele: Suburban Light (Merge)

5. Sogar: Apikal.Blend (12k)

6. The Books: Thought for Food (Tomlab)

7. Gas: Pop (Kompakt)

8. Luomo: Vocalcity (Force Tracks)

9. Fennesz: Endless Summer (Mego)

10. Animal Collective: Sung Tongs (FatCat)

11. Boredoms: Rebore, Vol. 0 (WEA Japan)

12. Philip Jeck: Vinyl Coda I–III (Intermedium)

13. Pluramon: Dreams Top Rock (Karaoke Kalk)

14. Herbert: Bodily Functions (!K7)

15. Boards of Canada: Geogaddi (Warp)

16. C-Schulz & Hajsch: C-Schulz & Hajsch (Sonig)

17. Vert: The Köln Konzert (Sonig)

18. Ekkehard Ehlers: Plays (Staubgold)

19. The Avalanches: Since I Left You (Modular)

20. Daft Punk: Discovery (Virgin)

21. Manitoba: Up in Flames (The Leaf Label)

22. Radiohead: Kid A (Capitol)

23. Devendra Banhart: Rejoicing in the Hands (Young God)

24. So: So (Thrill Jockey)

25. The Fiery Furnaces: Blueberry Boat (Rough Trade)

26. Tim Hecker: Haunt Me, Haunt Me, Do It Again (Alien8)

27. Herbert: Secondhand Sounds (Peacefrog)

28. Matmos: A Chance to Cut Is a Chance to Cure (Matador)

29. Califone: Quicksand/Cradlesnakes (Thrill Jockey)

30. Jóhann Jóhannsson: Virðulegu forsetar (Touch)

31. Christopher Willits: Folding, and the Tea (12k)

32. Max Tundra: Mastered by Guy at the Exchange (Domino)

33. Oval: Ovalcommers (Thrill Jockey)

34. Pan Sonic: Kesto (234.48:4) (Mute)

35. Sunroof!: Sad Frog Wind (Giardia)

36. Black Dice: Beaches and Canyons (DFA)

37. Gramm: Personal Rock (Source)

38. Jan Jelinek: Loop-Finding-Jazz-Records (~scape)

39. Terrestre: Secondary Inspection (Static)

40. Electric Birds: Electric Birds (Deluxe)

41. Basement Jaxx: Rooty (XL/Astralwerks)

42. Panda Bear: Young Prayer (Paw Tracks)

43. MRI: All That Glitters (Force Tracks)

44. The Flaming Lips: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (Warner Bros.)

45. Various Artists: Hypercity (Force Tracks)

46. Múm: Yesterday Was Dramatic – Today Is OK (Tugboat/FatCat)

47. Sigur Rós: Ágætis byrjun (FatCat)

48. Deathprod: Morals and Dogma (Rune Grammofon)

49. Various Artists: Total 3 (Kompakt)

50. Various Artists: Rio Baile Funk: Favela Booty Beats (Essay)

51. Biosphere: Autour de la Lune (Touch)

52. Brian Wilson: Smile (Nonesuch)

53. Various Artists: EADGBE* (12k)

54. Air: Talkie Walkie (Virgin)

55. Tom Waits: Real Gone (Anti-)

56. Sam Prekop: Sam Prekop (Thrill Jockey)

57. Erlend Øye: DJ-Kicks (!K7)

58. Junior Boys: Last Exit (Domino)

59. B.J. Nilsen/Hazard: Live at Konzerthaus, Vienna 06_12_03 (Touch)

60. The Go! Team: Thunder, Lightning, Strike (Memphis Industries)

61. M.I.A./Diplo: Piracy Funds Terrorism, Vol. 1 (self-released)

62. Random_Inc.: Walking in Jerusalem (Mille Plateaux)

63. Deadbeat: Something Borrowed, Something Blue (~scape)

64. Triola: Im Fünftonraum (Kompakt)

65. Guided by Voices: Half Smiles of the Decomposed (Matador)

66. DJ /rupture: Special Gunpowder (Tigerbeat6)

67. Two Lone Swordsmen: Tiny Reminders (Warp)

68. Windy & Carl: Consciousness (Kranky)

69. Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Nonesuch)

70. Trans Am: Red Line (Thrill Jockey)

71. Modest Mouse: The Moon & Antarctica (Epic)

72. Susumu Yokota: Sakura (Leaf)

73. Polmo Polpo: Like Hearts Swelling (Constellation)

74. Neina: Subconsciousness (Mille Plateaux)

75. Labradford: Fixed::Content (Kranky)

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Also:

Last week I reviewed Big Thief’s Double Infinity for the WSJ, and I liked a great deal. I also reviewed a reissue of the Stars of the Lid’s Music for Nitrous Oxide for Pitchfork.