SA: This is great actually, why didn't I vote for it? Really rockin' scrappy drumbeats and really childlike songs that stop and start and play with the
listener. Yeah!
.
CS: So much joy, so much love like a big pink heart actually bursting in front of you. Fresh like running naked into a 6 foot all watermelon at 5000mph. I wish I had made this album. The reason I didn't is because I am crap and Deerhoof aren't. PS - Check the Sonic Youth Corporate Ghost DVD for an appearance from Chris from Deerhoof as a teenager.
.
JGR: Giovanni Ribisi's favourite band, says he in the latest issue of FHM. No higher level of praise or recommendation required.
.
SP: Musically, this is totally wonderful - slightly deranged and twistedly sinister, like the audio equivalent of a Gottfried Helnwein painting. But please, what the hell is going on with the cover? Is it a deliberate reaction against po-faced Mille Plateauxesque clinicalism? Is it conscious undesign? Or sincere design? Whatever, it upsets me, but not in a good way.
.
JGO: Hit and miss. One of the best live bands I've seen all year, and the first track, 'Milk Man', is probably the best song I've heard all year. But there's too much studio arseing around and not enough pop-rocking. When they find a tune though, they can sure find a tune.
.
JC: If I'd remembered that this album existed, it would have ranked about #6 in my favourite albums of last year.
.
MS: I haven't heard this as I am not yet done with Apple O. Deerhoof were often recommended to me but I'm afraid I assumed them to be one of those crazy Dave S/Ollie noise bands. Luckily I went to see them live and was delighted to discover they were a crazy noise band but one with a tiny female singer yelping about pandas and lollipops and dancing with plushy fruits so I needed no more convincing of their awesomeness. The cover art for this record is possibly the worst I have ever seen though so I'm not sure if I can bring myself to purchase it.
.
DS: Less rough around the edges, jagged bits and stupid asides; more pop, and still genius. In my rough'n'ready-loving ways, I think it's not as good as the last one, but ultimate kudos due for being diskant favourites two years running.

Yes yes, it's that time of year when a bunch of us diskant types feel the need to share with you our thoughts on what the Best Records Of Last Year were. The following albums were decided upon by collecting a large shortlist (if that's possible) of our individual favourites, which were then voted on using a mathematically-watertight selection formula. 2004 seemed to be an odd year for albums - both myself and many other people I spoke to bought far fewer than normal. Whether this is due to some kind of odd musical natural selection, or a lack of decent releases, it's hard to say... but the albums below are - despite a few conflicting opinions - all worth your attention.
Who we are: Steve Ansell (SA), John Coburn (JC), JGram (JGR), Jon Goodwin (JGO), Simon Minter (SM), Simon Proffitt (SP), Marceline Smith (MS), Dave Stockwell (DS), Chris Summerlin (CS).

http://www.diskant.net/articles/albums2004.htm