I would caution against Medúlla as your first Björk album. It's not a particularly easy listen compared to some of her other stuff. It's got some good stuff on it, for sure, and the voices only nature of the album is certainly very interesting, but it's not that immediate.

I'd say you'd be much better starting off with her first solo album Debut (1993), or it's follow-up Post (1995), or my personal favourite Homogenic (1997). Those are much easier introductions to Björk's music for the neophyte.

Favorite albums of 2004

#7 – Dave Alvin – Ashgrove

Ten years later and Dave Alvin is back. If Alvin had explored his more contemplative side in "King of California" this time he dives a bit further in to his blues roots. The title of the album and the title track pay tribute the Ashgrove, the famed L.A. nightclub where Alvin saw a myriad of blues and folk greats as a teen. That continues on the song "Nine Volt Heart" which looks at the power of music at a young age. And we get some songwriting collaborations with some great contemporaries in Tom Russell on "Rio Grande" and David Hidalgo and Louie Perez of Los Lobos on "Somewhere in Time." Just another great album that highlights Alvin's gifts as a songwriter.

H-Bomb's Coup de métal... this EP kicks ass. H-Bomb didn't record a ton of stuff before broke up, but this EP and their 1984 Attaque LP are some blistering French metal. This gets my highest recommendation if you're even slightly interested in metal from '83.

The Sisters of Mercy's The Reptile House E.P. -- goth rock is distinctly not my thing, but I can listen to it. This EP, however, was slow. Really slow.

United Mutation's Fugitive Family... it always used to amuse me how metal bands came up with their names. It was like they scribbled down a bunch of badass words and drew them from a hat. Now I'm thinking that hardcore band names may be even more amusing. Then again, based on some of these guys' lifestyles some of these names may not be a joke. This is a pretty cool hardcore record that is notable for its vocals. The grunting sounds close to Sakevi from G.I.S.M. Not sure if that was an influence.

Amebix's No Sanctuary... these guys would go on to become crust punk legends. Here, they were just starting out. Sounds a bit like early Killing Joke.

Mindless Sinners' Master of Evil... Mindless Sinners were a short-lived Swiss group that played fairly typical Euro metal. Worth checking out if you're on a Diamond Head kick and feel like unearthing a largely forgotten band with a similar sound. 

3 Teens Kill 4's No Motive... quirky record from New York City's No Wave scene. The band only released this single EP. Very artsy, for want of a better word. Having read some Hip Hop Family Tree recently it's impossible not to notice the hip hop influence. 

Discharge's Warning: Her Majesty's Government Can Seriously Damage Your Health EP... there's no beating around the bush with this EP title. There's also a lovely drawing of Mrs. Thatcher on the cover. Their fans see this as a drop-off from their previous material, and they would continue to drop further, but I liked this well enough. It's slower and has more of a metal sound, but I'm ok with that.

The Nurse's Nurse... all-girl Japanese hardcore band. Like you're gonna resist. It's fairly catchy as you can imagine. Worth checking out if you like Shonen Knife or the 5.6.7.8's.

Adrenalin O.D.'s Let's Barbeque... very suburban sounding hardcore record. I don't know if really was a bunch of neighborhood teenagers jamming together but that's the aesthetic.

Vixen's Made in Hawaii... how could beautiful, serene Hawaii produce this pulsating speed metal record? Wasn't a big fan of the female vocalist, but the guitar sound was awesome.

Gotham City's Black Writs... decent Swedish metal, but the vocalist had no chops. 

Wretched's In nome del loro potere tutto è stato fatto... Christ almighty, you have to be brave to listen to this one. It felt like a pair of arms were climbing out of the speakers and shaking me senseless. 

The Nits' Kilo... this band keeps confusing me. I love some of the singles I've heard from them, but it doesn't seem to come together on their records. At least not for me.

Francesco De Gregori's La donna cannone... nice change of pace. Basically, Italian singer-songwriter doing contemporary folk. Nice break from all the hardcore EPs from '83.

The Embarassment's Death Travels West... okay, now here's a bit of a discovery for me. And I really mean for me as others like Robert Christgau have championed this short-lived group. Really upbeat, enjoyable post-punk record. Probably owes more to the late 70s than being a true 1983 record, but it made me want to listen to the rest of the group's output. The discovery of the week.







 

Yeah, not bad at all. I quite liked the track "King of California" that you posted a while back from the 1994 album of the same name and these two tracks are also good. "Ashgrove" is more blues-flavoured than that earlier track, but it rocks along nicely.

I don't know Dale Watson's music, so I can't compare how much slicker this is than his other stuff, but that track "Fox on the Run" sounds like vintage Flying Burrito Brothers to me. I like it a lot. "Honky Tonkers Don't Cry" is fairly enjoyable too, with some nice fiddle and pedal steel -- and I dig that twangy guitar solo. Overall, I like the retro country-rock vibe of these songs.