Amazon.com's list of Editor's Picks for Best Albums of 2004 makes for interesting reading. It goes to show how deliciously fucked-up good music has become... and how little of it you'll hear on your average radio station.

A list including Lynn, Air, Brian Wilson, Tom Waits, Madvillain, Paul Westerberg, Björk and Kanye West is certainly a list spanning every mood-swing possible. Buy all twenty, lock yourself in your flat with them this weekend, then record the results.

My highlight has to be their pick for number 1. Picture the White Stripes getting free licence to mess with Loretta Lynn. Ah the sweet heresy! I'm off to the stores...

Read Amazon's words here, then click below for their top 20.

********************************************************

1. Van Lear Rose by Loretta Lynn

"Garage-rock hero Jack White producing honky-tonk legend Loretta Lynn? And Lynn comparing him to renowned Nashville producer Owen Bradley? Yes, we all know the world is rapidly shrinking, but now we've seen everything. Most stunning of all - they nailed it."

2. Good News For People Who Love Bad News by Modest Mouse

3. A Ghost Is Born by Wilco

4. Franz Ferdinand by Franz Ferdinand

5. Final Straw by Snow Patrol

6. Antics by Interpol

7. SMiLE by Brian Wilson

8. The Dirty South by Drive-By Truckers, Drive By Truckers

9. The College Dropout by Kanye West

10. Our Endless Numbered Days by Iron & Wine

11. Real Gone by Tom Waits

12. Abattoir Blues / Lyre of Orpheus by Nick Cave, et al

13. Medúlla by Björk

14. From a basement on the hill by Elliott Smith

15. i by Magnetic Fields

16. Talkie Walkie by Air

17. Folker by Paul Westerberg

18. Madvillainy by Madvillain

19. Trouble by Ray LaMontagne

20. Bastards of the Beat by Damnwells

The recent UK Esquire Music Issue recommends 20 Alternative Acts, and the buzz track you should check out. Note, of course you should buy the album and not burn it.

1. Joy Zipper - "Dosed and Became Invisible.
2. Ian Brown - "Time is my Everything"
3. King Creosote - "Turps"
4. Laura Cantrell - "Two Seconds"
5. Beanie Seagal - "The Truth"
6. Detroit Cobras - "Shout Bama Lama"
7. The Breeders - "Forced to Drive"
8. Neko Case - "Wish I Was The Moon"
9. British Sea Power - "Fear of Drowing"
10. Evan Dando - "Hard Drive"
11. Yo La Tengo - "Cherry Chapstick"
12. Joanna Newsom - "Bridges and Balloons"
13. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - "Easy Money"
14. Arab Strap - "Packs of Three"
15. The Walkmen - "The Rat"
16. RZA - "Ode to Oren Ishi"
17. Aberfeldy - "Tie One On"
18. Giant Sand - "Yer Ropes"
19. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - "Break of Day"
20. Tweet - "Oops (Oh My)"

The time is now, and we have nothing to lose.

It is time.

Don't think that you can get away without doing it.

You knew we'd be asking eventually. So don't go wondering how you can somehow get out of this one. Because you simply can't. This is it.

Tell me (below) five things I should rush out to Alvin's CD store tomorrow and beg on bleeding hands and knees to listen to. And then tell me why.

And we'll all feel a whole lot better.

Warmest,
-LC

Eleven head-turning albums for 2004 so far:

The Tipping Point – The Roots
Journeys By DJ Special Release – Gilles Peterson
Theme And Variation Vol 1&2 – Various
Afrobeat Sessions – Various
Madvillainy – Madvillain
Overgound House VI – Various
No Roots – Faithless
Remixes, Rarities & Classics – De La Soul
Talkie Walkie – Air
The Clarence Greenwood Recordings – Citizen Cope
The Outernational Sound – Thievery Corporation [mix]

Thirteen weeks ago, we began playing a DJ set from 8pm til 11.30pm Thursday nights in Singapore, at a new bar-cum-club called Attica.

Our House has proven to be a lot of fun, and particularly bad for my liver. Thanks to the lead of partner-in-crime DJ Samurai, we took up the theme of "eclectic", producing what we bill as a "ferrago of freaky funk, booming beats and affro ammo."

Whatever it is, it's different every time, and it certainly keeps us hopping about. Here's a description of where the set began from.

Week by week, I'll talk about some of the tracks I'm having the most fun with. I've always thought anyone who plays music should have a set-list available from time to time, just to further the cause of discovery.

Maybe the idea came from the mad protagonist of Nick Hornby's fabulous High Fidelity and his crazy "Top Five's". Who can live without "Top Five Songs for The Day of a Funeral?"

Anyhow, happy hunting, and see you down at the bar.

First written 21.7.2004

1. Sausalito - Grover Washington
Just because it’s beautiful. A mood setter, a nice breezy, summertime track that could cure even the most miserable.

2. Lady Don't Tek No - Latryx
A nice rare track, with its break-dance clap, and smoothly delivered vocal, this steps out of categories, which is the Our House style. A good early toe-tapper.

3. Mohammed Is Jesus - Deep Dish
What can you say about Deep Dish? Super smooth and soulful, this is a track you ease comfortably into, with an open message that defies the age of the track.

4. 4000 Miles - Blackalicious
From the start this is a hip hop slow-burner that moves along strong and funky, with such a sharp, low-toned delivery that the voice becomes an instrument in itself.

5. Salsa Vibes - FTL presents The Latin All Star
This is where I go Brazilian. A rich house-infused latin dancer that moves you straight onto those summer-time Rio beaches. Aye Curumba!

5. Play On - Rae & Christian Featuring The Jungle Brothers
An easy, jazzy track from Rae and Christian. A beauty straight from these British hip hop maestros. Grand Central is one of my favourite hip hop lables, British or otherwise.

6. Bay Of Plenty - Ian Pooley
This track is so joyful. A rich Balaeric summertime edge, together with a shimmering, surging bassline. This is a track I wish I’d made myself.

7. If You Really Love Me - Stevie Wonder
Norman Jay is my favourite DJ of the “Our House” music variety. This track off his Good Times collection is a classic. I do try to limit the classic soul quotient, but this one is a shoe-in.

8. Shalamar - Sutra Sonic
Of all the World Music I have, this has the funkiest bassline, incredible. A joy to play, and one of those tracks you get asked afterwards about.

9. Me Myself And I (Badmarsh And Shri Remix) De La Soul
Badmarsh And Shri have put a lovely Indian flute over this classic track. A perfect “Wow, that’s different” moment, and especially nice playing it in Singapore.

10. Mass Destruction (P*Nut & Sister Bliss Mix) Faithless
A brief bow to the charts, this has recently stormed the UK. The toughest track to play because of its rough dancehall delivery and sharp beginning and end. But worth it.

11. Sinnerman Nina Simone (Felix Da Housecat's
Heavenly House Mix)
One of the most popular tracks of my set. Felix has found the most perfectly clean, forward-moving house beat to put under Nina Simone’s delicious voice. She’s dancing to it somewhere now, I know it.

12. K-Fun (FC Kahuna mix) - Jolly Music
My electro moment. I’m always delighted to end with this, so I can go have a dance to it myself over a beer. A little cheeky and a bit sexy, it’s a good lead-in for the house set that follows us each Thursday. See you down at Attica.

– LC (aka DJ Frost)