"2004 – That was the year that was. According to Bill."
"2004 – That was the year that was. According to Bill."
What did 2004 bring us? What will be the lingering sounds and visions from the last twelve months? This may well go down as the year guitar based rock music made a noticeable and welcome comeback. In general the most memorable music of the year has been almost without exception guitar driven. Muse, Kasabian, Morrisey’s new album, Kings of Leon, Snow Patrol, U2, The Zutons and of course the all conquering Franz Ferdinand…… well, need I say more.
I didn’t get to many gigs in the last year, I will endeavour to get out more in 2005, so my choice is relatively easy. The Gomez show with The Zutons at the Melkweg in early June was my best live concert. (Read the full review on this site.) So I’ll do a bit on TV/ Movie and general entertainment instead.
Best Films (Not really in any particular order.)
Cold Mountain. Beautiful cinematography, top yarn and Nicole Kidman’s bare bum. The Bourne Supremacy. What James Bond movies should be like. Brilliant car chase. The Butterfly Effect. Dark and creepy. That baby/post box bit still makes me squirm! Pirates of the Caribbean. Thoroughly entertaining. Great escapism. Shaun of the Dead. A good old fashioned British zombie movie!! Football Factory. Best ‘blokes movie’ of the year. Funny and sickening.
(May Marlon Brando rest in peace.)
Jools Holland continues to front the best music show on television, annually climaxing with the excellent Hootenanny at New Year. A British music institution. This was the year when Top of the Pops lost it’s primetime slot. Sorry to see the demise of the show that probably introduced me to pop music but….. well, to be succinct, in recent years it was mainly dross!
Friday nights in are no longer the same without Jonathon Ross’s weekly chat show and it has to be said some of his musical guests in 2004 were outstanding. U2 and Morrissey produced excellent three song sets and in the main, very entertaining interviews. Ross himself I must admit has always succeeded in irritating me with his mix of smarmy David Letterman and bluntly shocking Howard Stern, but to his continuing credit he gets top ‘A’ list Hollywood stars on his sofa week in week out and pulls off most interviews in some style. Maybe it is the overt flirtiness and sharp suits that swing it, but you would never find Charize Theron in that short skirt on Frank Skinner’s settee!
Talking of skirt, the year began with revelations about David Beckham’s adulterous private life propelling top, posh Euro-totty Rebecca Loos into the media spotlight. Her sexy SMS nipple hardening stories in spring on Channel 4 not only gave her the exalted position of the world’s most famous kissing and telling ‘bit on the side’, but also resulted in her being offered many pilots on a number of European TV networks. Without much success. Getting turned down by SBS6 really is a good measure of her talents! With Bernie Clifton’s hired help she may have swiftly become relatively rich and famous but ironically we saw 2004 end with Rebecca wanking off a pig on Channel 5’s reality docu-soap "The Farm!" Wonderfully cringe worthy, suitably degrading and humiliating, and an excellent TV moment! Not the best though. The best sporting moment and therefore the best TV of 2005 was undoubtedly Wayne Rooney’s fantastic debut hat trick for Manchester United against Fenerbahce at Old Trafford in September. Many more to come in 2005 I trust.
Anyway back to music.
Best albums:
Franz Ferdinand; Franz Ferdinand. U2; How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. Scissor Sisters; Scissor Sisters. Elliot Smith; From A Basement on the Hill. Snow Patrol; Last Straw.
Best Singles:
Snow Patrol; Run. U2; Vertigo. Muse; Hysteria. Eminem; Mosh Band Aid 2004; Do They Know its Christmas 2004.
Now I’m assuming a few readers have raised eyebrows at present. This is a hip indie/alternative music site after all and as if U2 and Scissor Sisters aren’t mainstream enough I’ve picked Band Aid 2004 as one of the best singles! So as way of explanation:
Worst Singles:
Band Aid 2004: Do They Know its Christmas 2004. Phil Collins: ………..(I heard, shuddered with nausea and then blocked out anything I heard from this creature on the radio so if you know the titles fill them in yourself.) By the way I’m not sure all the above were actually released in 2004 but do you care? The first time I heard them was in 2004! Some of them are political choices anyway! (Not Eminem’s best but hey, it’s anti-George Bush! Can you have enough anti Bush sentiment? I think not —well done Marshall!)
You see, I was 18 in 1985, when Bob Geldof, Midge Ure, Bono et al took direct action, shook the world and brought the plight of Africa‘s starving millions to our attention. I remember it all vividly. I was a penniless student, totally alien to charitable acts being a cheap lager connoisseur but even I felt compelled to buy even cheaper lager to watch the Live Aid concert with, so I too could donate! It was and is a event with enormous subsequent impact. It is a shameful abomination on my generation that Sir Bob, Midge, Bono and ‘et al a la 2004’ have to do this all again. The earthquake and subsequent tsunami on Boxing Day in South East Asia only make the song and its ideal more poignant. Surely another concert is almost a certainty. The song itself I don’t really mind, I liked it first time around and here Dizzee Rascal, Justin Hawkins, Miss Dynamite and Joss Stone all shine in freshening up the concept. I love the fact they all tried the sought after ‘…and tonight thank God it’s them instead of you" Bono piece, yet they ended up recording a new Bono piece and using it on the final mix! I salute the song’s original integrity and recognise its immense worth so it is one of the best singles of the year.
It is the worst single because even for its pleasant moments it is a pale imitation of the original and because this time around the sense of optimism that followed the 1984 release hasn’t materialised. Geldof seems tired. Maybe people are more world wise in 2004. Our planet’s most sophisticated and powerful democracy re-elected a proven aggressive war criminal as President for a further four years in 2004. One of our planet’s newest struggling democracies saw the popular candidate poisoned and the vote count rigged. Again enormous public direct action was needed to restore a sense of order.
The rich nations get greedier and the poor nations get needier. Bob Geldof realises more than most that another Live Aid is sadly needed.
In fact in retrospect it is strangely ironic that the soundtrack of this turbulent year includes so much raw, on the edge guitar based rock music. Maybe not like the punk movement and heavy metal’s subsequent revival in the late 70’s but nevertheless you can feel a change in the air. Lets face it Rap music has been carrying the vital rebellious youth aspect of pop music for far too long. It is certainly ironic that John Peel, a lifelong search for continued innovation and musical integrity never quite completed, was sadly taken from us in such a vibrant year and as we look forward to 2005 with bands like Razorlight, The Futureheads, The Killers, Bloc Party and The Bravery promising much more in that very same vein. May we all strive to keep John Peel smiling benevolently down us from the heavens!
Happy New Year One and All.
Words : Bill McMullan