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Urban75 Album of the Year 2004

move back further ;)
Oh, alright, I see the appeal now:
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Los Hermandos - On Another Level
Good article about this UR album here - Rewind: Los Hermanos - On Another Level · Album Review ⟋ RA

20th anniversary double vinyl remastered repress in case anyone is interested in that

im on my thrid listen of this.... enjoying it more with each.... had to tune in to what it is and about. I like this comment from discogs:
"This is what Latin influenced electronic music should sound like. There's no corny bongos, no cheesy pianos, and no nonsensical Spanish vocals. Los Hermanos don't make ripoffs of already existing Latin music, they take the feeling in the music and shoot it directly into the future. Regardless of where the target is, they hit it on this album, repeatedly and directly."

its a subtle almost ambient-techno record really, very un flashy and low key on its hooks and riffs, but not wallpaper either
 
20th anniversary double vinyl remastered repress in case anyone is interested in that

im on my thrid listen of this.... enjoying it more with each.... had to tune in to what it is and about. I like this comment from discogs:
"This is what Latin influenced electronic music should sound like. There's no corny bongos, no cheesy pianos, and no nonsensical Spanish vocals. Los Hermanos don't make ripoffs of already existing Latin music, they take the feeling in the music and shoot it directly into the future. Regardless of where the target is, they hit it on this album, repeatedly and directly."

its a subtle almost ambient-techno record really, very un flashy and low key on its hooks and riffs, but not wallpaper either
Ooh. They've changed the tracklist from the original 2005 release, adding the singles Queztal and Birth Of 3000 but loosing Lines Of Nazca.

This really is an all time top 10 album for me, easily my favourite UR album. Like you say, it's latin music in form but techno in sound. It's subtle, not in your face. It's just excellent.

It really stood out when it was released amongst the sea of filtered looped techno, mnml, electro, dubstep and dance-punk that was filling the clubs at the time and made me fall in love with Detroit techno all over again.
 
Daddy Yankee - Barrio Fino

Having made his debut aged 15 with a guest spot on DJ Playero's Playero 37 mixtape, Daddy Yankee's third album Barrio Fino was the record where reggaeton music hit the mainstream, the pivot point between a small semi-criminalised local scene amongst the Puerto Rican working class and becoming the most streamed music in the world.

 
M83 - Dead Cities, Red Seas, and Lost Ghosts.

Sort of shoegaze meets Bladerunner. Wall to wall synths, layers of reverb guitars broken by fragments of conversations and ethereal vocals voices, hints of heavenly choirs, and church organ. The odd drizzle of romance and a little pinch of melancholy made it pretty, pretty much a very satisfying 56 minutes and 51 seconds for the little bit of teenager that is in all of us.


 
65 Days of Static released The Fall of Math in 2004
One of my very minor claims to fame is that at one point in my life I was in a book club with Joe from 65DoS. I don't think I really made the connection that it was him until once I asked what he'd been up to and it turned out he was getting ready to tour Japan or something.
 
One of my very minor claims to fame is that at one point in my life I was in a book club with Joe from 65DoS. I don't think I really made the connection that it was him until once I asked what he'd been up to and it turned out he was getting ready to tour Japan or something.
15 year old me would be very impressed with this. Spent a lot of time on their boards and following them round on tour, once to Amsterdam!

I have a 65dos tattoo, and one of my friends sent me a selfie from the tapas restaurant Joe owns/manages with his cos they spotted him wandering around with the same tattoo. I was disappointed it wasn't called 65daysoftapas tbh
 
M83 - Dead Cities, Red Seas, and Lost Ghosts.

Sort of shoegaze meets Bladerunner. Wall to wall synths, layers of reverb guitars broken by fragments of conversations and ethereal vocals voices, hints of heavenly choirs, and church organ. The odd drizzle of romance and a little pinch of melancholy made it pretty, pretty much a very satisfying 56 minutes and 51 seconds for the little bit of teenager that is in all of us.



I bought this when I was on a road trip in Australia with my dad on a father/son bonding trip.

I bought it purely because NME gave it a 10/10 rating and I'd never seen that before.

Driving up the Australian Coast roads from Brisbane to I can't remember where took three days and this was the soundtrack.

Listening to it whilst driving at night was amazing. I'd never heard anything like it before and neither had my dad. I can still transport myself back there when I listen to it.

A stunning, stunning album.
 
If we're allowed DJ mixes, Sasha's Involver album was released in 2004. Wicked record.
Best mix CD of 2004 is Optimo's How to Kill the DJ [part 2].

In less skilled DJs hands such an eclectic mix could be a mess: Funkadelic, Soft Cell, Basic Channel, The Cramps, Art of Noise mixed over Ricardo Villalobos, some school kids singing Good Vibrations. 49 tracks in 72 minutes. But Optimo somehow make it all work.

 
Gwen Stefani - Love.Angel.Music.Baby

Tracks off this seemed inescapable at the time. Which is fine with me as it's a glorious mess of an album. Dr Dre, The Neptunes, Andre 3000, Dallas Austin, Jam & Lewis, Ewan Pearson, New Order - the huge crowd of people working on it pulled it in a dozen directions, but it ends up kind of coherent in it's incoherence. It puts a smile on my face and what more could you ask from a pop album?

 
65 Days of Static released The Fall of Math in 2004

I loved this when it came out - went to see them play multiple times - but I haven't listened to it in years. I might give it a spin a bit later but I've a feeling that my old bastard self is not going to be so keen as my young self was....
 
Dead Combo- Vol 1.

Debut from the Portuguese duo. Could be soundtracks to Westerns, murder mysteries , spy intrigue in Lisbon during WW2, or a thriller. Whatever it is it a great eclectic mix of fado, jazz, Western music , blues instrumentals with a southern Europe Atlantic twist . Worth a listen.





 
If we're looking at mixes n all. Then DJ Rupture vs Mutamassik - The Bidoun Sessions was all over the shop. Traditional Arab/hip-hop/reggae/ jungle and breakcore



I can't seem to find the Mutamassik disc on YT sadly
 
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Some more faves...

Bola's Gnayse album on Skam - seriously lush electronica....



Claro Intelecto's debut album Neurofibio - super tasty detroit techno tinged electro...



Adam Wiltzie from Stars of the Lid's Dead Texan project - wow, this takes me back.... I probably listened to this more than anything else in 2004. Beautiful ambient...



Loscil's First Narrows - dubby ambient vibes - sublime - I think this was the first time I came across Loscil. Been a fan ever since...



Oren Ambarchi's Grapes from the Estate - droning guitar based ambient business:

 
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