Too much music ... and it's only February ...

When last summer rolled around, I had only heard a scant number of 2004 releases, and I considered only one of them ("Fabulous Muscles") to be truly great (I had not yet fully appreciated the brilliance of the Felix da Housecat album, but still, that's only two albums instead of one). But the year's best releases always seem to be backended in Oct/Nov, so I was only mildly concerned.

However, I can't ever remember a year in which I heard so many outstanding albums before Valentine's Day -- or even before the onset of spring! Granted, some of these albums haven't seen their official release yet, but all of them will be out by April or so, which still makes for an outstanding crop of early-year releases.

I've already gushed about my love for the Low and M83 albums, and you can add the fantastic New Order album to the list. Roots Manuva's newest is outstanding, it includes a new single ("Colossal Insight") which is more or less his take on disco, and "Babylon Medicine", which arguably outdoes Timbaland at his own game. Rhythm and Sound dropped "See Mi Yah", which is to dub reggae as the M-series was to minimal techno. On vinyl, it's a series of seven 7" singles, while the CD version (which is what I have heard) offers ten tracks with ten different vocalists. One rhythm, ten vocalists, all versions slide seamlessly from one to the next, like a rotating cast of singers taking their shots at the mike over a hypnotic locked groove that doesn't come close to wearing out its welcome, even after forty minutes.

Last week, I sat slack-jawed listening to the bizarre new Books album. I'm currently dreaming my way through the new Styrofoam. Eventually, I'll get to the new Readymade (Stylus' album of the week), as well as A Guy Called Gerald's latest.

Changing the subject, the Grammys are tonight and I will likely watch but I'm not up to writing a blow-by-blow account like I have done with other awards shows. I will probably write some short comments about whatever makes the deepest impression on me, and I'm not ruling out some live ranting on ILM or something.