December 20, 2004
ROB'S BLOG PRESENTS: THE 2004 NIMA AWARDS
And now it’s that time of year. That most wonderful occasion when we look back upon 2004’s entertainment; evaluating and comparing how everything fared for the past 11 months and some odd weeks.
But what was needed was a name. A name worthy of signifying greatness in the field of excellence. A name that boldly stated “hey, these works of art are the champions of winnings”. And then it hit me like a 20 oz Dr. Pepper from beyond: my friend Nima is a champions of winning. And so from herein, my best of year end lists will be known as the NIMA awards for awesome accomplishment in the field of winning.
So without further ado, I present the lists:
The Reilly Brennan Honourable Mention List
Aeroc- Viscous Solid (Ghostly)
Alter Ego- Transphormer (Klang/Playhouse)
William Basinski and Richard Chartier- Basinski+Chartier (Spekk)
Taylor Deupree And Christopher Willits -Deupree+Willits (SubRosa)
Fennesz-Venice (Touch)
Flashpapr- Flashpapr (Ypsilanti)
Four Color- Air Curtain (12k)
GD Luxxe-Between Zero and Eternity (Ersatz)
Go! Team- Huddle Formation (Memphis Ind.)
Interpol-Antics (Matador)
Irritable Colon -Songs (CD_R)
ISAN- Meet Next Life (Morr Music)
James Cotton-Dancing Box (Spectral)
Phoenix-Alphabetical (Astralwerks)
Putsch ’79- Putsch (Clone)
Ricardo Villalobos-Thé Au Harem D'Archimède (Playhouse)
Superpitcher-Here Comes Love (Kompakt)
Taylor Deupree-January (Spekk)
Three Chairs-Three Chairs (3Chairs)
TV On The Radio- Desperate Youth (Touch & Go)
Vladislav Delay-Demo(n)tracks (Huuume)
The Will Calcutt Records of Distinction:
10. Advantage-Advantage (5rc)
9. Growing- Soul of the Rainbow (Kranky)
8. Matthew Dear-Backstroke (Spectral)
7. Max Richter- Blue Notebooks (Fat Cat)
6. Legends- Up Against the Legends (Lakeshore)
5. Eluvium-Accidental Memory (Temporary Res.)
4. Saturday Looks Good To Me- Every Night (Polyvinyl)
3. Telefon Tel Aviv- Map of What is Effortless (Hefty)
2. Tamion 12 Inch- Let's Suffer (Ersatz)
AND THE #1 ALBUM OF THE YEAR:
Moodymann- Black Mahogani (KDJ)
His best record yet.
The Latif Peracha Lifetime Acheivement Award:
(This award is for the record I listened to the most this year, but didn’t necessarily come out as a reissue or new release).
What a treasured discovery! It's one of the cornerstone blueprints of emo from one of the best arena rock bands ever! EVERY song is the JAM. I think I listened to it more than any other album this year, probably more than my top three combined.
The Clizark Warnerland Various Artists/Reissue Awards:
VA-Archiv 1.1 (Raster-Noton)
VA- So Young But So Cold (TigerSushi)
VA- DeathDisco (TigerSushi)
VA- Kompakt100 (Kompakt)
VA- DFA Comp #2 (DFA)
VA- Thinkbox: Guitar (Thinkbox)
Rick Springfield Mission Magic (Bonus Tracks)
David Ruffin David – The Lost Album
Helmet Unsung : Best of Helmet
Talking Heads Name of this Band is talking heads
The Michael Doyle Mix Awards (sponsored by Burnlab):
Morgan Geist-Unclassics (Environ)
Claude Young-Detroit Mastermix mp3
James T. Cotton-Lost Classics Mix (Spectral CD_R)
Michael Mayer-Speicher CD2 (Kompakt)
Ryan Elliot-40 from 4am (cd_r)
THE REST OF THE BEST:
The John Fisher Two Thumbs Up Yeah Buddy Movie Award
I Heart Huckabees
Holy cow. I didn’t think my brain could hurt any more after I left the movie theater. An all star cast, a wonderful soundtrack and an investigation into the existential. It’s the kind of movie that Sartre would roll up and watch with a blunt in one hand and a 40 in the other. Simply brilliant writing, production, cinematography, score and acting.
Favorite live set: Richard Chartier/Ivan Pavlov:Chessmachine @ MUTEK
Favorite DJ set: Morgan Geist @ Oslo
Favorite festival: One that didn’t have “Movement” in the title
Favorite record label: Spectral
Favorite record company not owned by Sam Valenti: Kranky/Hefty (tie)
Favorite Book: Life as a Loser by Will Leitch
Biggest surprise: Bush got re-elected.
Biggest letdown: The Democratic Party.
Biggest shock: Karl Rove’s game plan worked.
I know that everyone saw this coming, but damn if the eternal optimist in me really tried to have hope for our country’s direction. I’m not going to waste lines ranting about this, because I think it’s pretty clear how I feel about the situation. But DAMNIT…..
The Matthew Tobey Blog of The Year Award
Every morning my browser’s home page is set to my place of employment, but it damn well should be set to this site…because I usually end up deleting that URL and typing in 1115’s. Out of the thousands of blogs out there that cover politics and are filled with the opinions of wonks and journalists, I don’t think there was one that rivaled the consistency, the freshness and the sheer vitriol that Matt and Jason spewed forth at Republicans. Quite simply, it’s amazing fucking good writing…and anyone who gives a damn about the direction of this country should be checking this site daily.
And uh...I guess that's it. So here's to 04! Tune in later for some 05 predictions.