Subject of the Year

Okay, so my first award wasn't particularly cared about, but Stylus revealed its own labels of the year today, and they agreed with me (and, no, I didn't vote for that article). On to the awards...

Subject of the Year: John Vanderslice
He wouldn't quite be my artist of the year (Kanye) and didn't quite produce my top rock album of the year (Funeral), but he's been the most interest artist I covered in 2004. I started with a review of the outstanding Cellar Door, and later reviewed a show he did with Pedro the Lion. I also wrote on Time Travel Is Lonely for PM's feature on the state of the album.

Besides creating his own excellent albums, he's also been a top-notch producer, running his own studio, Tiny Telephone, and working with artists like the Mountain Goats and Death Cab for Cutie. If all that isn't enough, he's got plenty of his music available free at his website, including nearly all of his MK Ultra stuff.

After 2004 had a new album, a remix of the new album, a tour with Pedro, and a tour with the Mountain Goats, JV is back in the studio already working on the new MG album as well as a solo disc.