Are we going to wait until Janurary first to do the list or can we get underway now? im actually looking foward to seeing what y'all liked compared to me and seeing what i need to put on my list.

(Edited by Superflks at 12:20 pm on Dec. 10, 2003)

Began, good sir.

I'll kick it off.

TOP 10 ALBUMS of 2003:

10 You Forgot It in People - Broken Social Scene
09 Speakerboxxx/The Love Below - Outkast
08 Elephant - the White Stripes
07 Hail to the Thief - Radiohead
06 Chutes Too Narrow - the Shins
05 Long Gone Before Daylight - the Cardigans
04 Kimi Ga Suki - Matthew Sweet
03 De Novo Dahl - De Novo Dahl
02 Electric Version - the New Pornographers
01 Think Tank - Blur

ALBUMS OF 2003 THAT I HAVEN'T HEARD YET BUT I THINK I WOULD PROBABLY LIKE :

So Much for the City - the Thrills
Welcome to the Monkey House - the Dandy Warhols
Phantom Power - the Super Furry Animals
Room on Fire - the Strokes
Rainy Day Music - the Jayhawks
1972 - Josh Rouse
Shootenanny - the Eels
Echoes - the Rapture
Heavier Things - John Mayer
Dear Catastrophe Waitress - Belle & Sebastian

(Edited by jamiecarroll at 3:45 pm on Dec. 10, 2003)

This year, I havebought two albums released in 2003. Here they are in order.

02. Elephant--White Stripes






(several spaces indicating long distance in between the value I place on #2 and #1)


01. s/t -- De Novo Dahl



Fluid Ounces' The Whole Shebang! will be released next year, but I got a copy of it last March. It would be #1 otherwise.

1. "Room on Fire" The Strokes
2. "Elephant" The White Stripes
3. "Chutes Too Narrow" The Shins
4. "Built On Squares" Starlight Mints
5. "Welcome to the Monkeyhouse" The Dandy Warhols
6. "12 Memories" Travis

Those are the only 6 albums from 2003 that I bought. This was a darn fine year for music, in my opinion. The top 4 have kept me thoroughly entertained all year. 5 was a mild disappointment, but still good. 6 is solid but I haven't listened to it enough yet. I plan on buying "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" at some point, probably.

10. Blur - Think Tank
9. The Strokes - Room on Fire
8. Andre 3000 - The Love Below
7. Ben Folds - Speed Graphic and Sunny 16
6. Eels - Shootenanny!
5. Big Boi - Speakerboxxx
4. The White Stripes - Elephant
3. The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
2. Death Cab for Cutie - Transatlanticism
1. Radiohead - Hail to the Theif

Will

What is/are this/these?

I didn't get much new music this year, even though there was some great stuff out. There is little order to this.

Belle & Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress
The Strokes - Room On Fire
The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
The White Stripes - Elephant

I'm a loser. Give me money and CD's (I mean, please, Santa/Mom?).

I haven't even gotten the Radiohead yet.

Oooh, I forgot about that one. That's going on my "wish list."

The vast majority of your picks are already on my wish list. Mom got confused, since you can't find them at Wal-Mart. I'm probably getting money.

(Edited by MissSeptember at 2:46 pm on Dec. 10, 2003)

I will do 6 albums that are my favriote.


6.metallica-Saint Anger
5.Rammstein-Sehnsucht
4.Sloan-the new one(I forgot the name)
3.The letters organize-Everybody goes yeah.......Bash
2Josh Rouse-1972
1.Radiohead-Hail to the theif
so there it is

Mr. Folds is in the process of releasing a trilogy of EPs on an internet-only basis before his next full-length is released. I'm ashamed to say that I have yet to hear the material, but I fear a downward spiral that began with Rockin' the Suburbs. Wiyum obviously likes them, though.

I'll have to jump on that before it's too late. I am truly a Folds fan.

Whatever happened with the Bens? Did that album ever get released? Or are they waiting for me to agree to be their bass player?

Are you talking about Action Pact? If so, great choice! (If you're talking about Pretty Together, I urge you to check out Navy Blues and Between the Bridges if you want to know what a good Sloan album sounds like). On the subject of Action Pact, I have yet to find an American release date, but my buddy got it cheap in Cleveland. Us southern folk have to pay the Canadian import prices.

So you seriously like the new Metallica album? I personally wasn't impressed.

Cool.

Top 10 Albums of 2003:

10 12 Memories - Travis
9 Sumday - Grandaddy
8 Sunny 16 - Ben Folds
7 Give Up - Postal Service
6 For Lack Of A Better Word... - Popular Genius
5 Vehicles and Animals - Athlete
4 The Black Album - Jay-Z
3 1972 - Josh Rouse
2 Speakerboxxx/The Love Below - Outkast
1 Welcome Interstate Managers - Fountains Of Wayne

im sure there will be edits but im comfortable with this list for now.

(Edited by Superflks at 3:00 pm on Dec. 10, 2003)

1. Room on Fire- The Strokes
2. Chutes Too Narrow- The Shins
3. Fever to Tell- Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4. Pig Lib- Stephen Malkmus
5. Microminiature Love- Michael Yonkers Band
6. Music to Climb the Apple Tree By- Beat Happening
7. Electric Version - the New Pornographers
8. Summer Sun- Yo La Tengo
9. Dear Catastrophe Waitress- Belle and Sebastian
10. Sumday- Grandaddy

Honorable Mentions:

Transatlanticism- Death Cab for Cutie
The White Stripes - Elephant
So Much for the City - the Thrills
More Parts Per Million- The Thermals

Biggest Diasappointment of the Year: Hail to the Thief- Radiohead

(Edited by ray davies at 4:01 pm on Dec. 10, 2003)

Oh yeah, I forgot about that one. Quite good.

And really? I generally trust your music judgement....maybe that's why I haven't picked it up yet.

i semi-regret buying it. it's only moments of saving grace are "2+2=5", "Myxomatosis", and "There There". As sexy sadie said: "the album just sounds like a dripping faucet."

You can buy both EPs here. I just did.

I'm not sure if they released the Bens EP outside of their Australian tour. I was given a link a few months back to the MP3s, but it's dead now. You're not missing much. In this case, the whole does not equal the sum of its parts.

Why is hail to the thief your biggest dissapointment?

yeah, you really should get back on the boat then. the EPs are both great though i lean towards sunny 16 because it seems more classic Ben folds five to me. The other one has a cover the cure's "inbetween days" and a remake of an old B-side called "Protection" which are both great.

and yeah, ill have to agree with Carl on the Bens. although i really cant stand that ben kweller punk in the first place and Ben lee is only marginally good.

01.Various Artists-28 Days Later Soundtrack
02.Outkast-The Love Below/Speakerboxxx
03.Andrew W.K.-The Wolf
04.The Letters Organize-Everybody Goes Yeah............BASH!
05.Chester Boom-Does This Sound Bad?
06.Metallica-St. Anger

Those are the only ones I've bought this year.

(Edited by Erwic88 at 4:38 pm on Dec. 10, 2003)

1 the sleepy jackson - lovers
2 the new pornographers - electric version
3 beulah - yoko
4 the white stripes - elephant
5 yeah yeah yeahs - fever to tell
6 the kills - keep on your mean side
7 grandaddy - sumday
8 the strokes - room on fire
9 postal service - such great heights

if i wasnt too poor to buy the new ryan adams cds, they would probably complete my list.

no order

four tet - rounds
broadcast - haha sound
the shins - chutes too narrow
prefuse 73 - one word extinguisher
the horribly wrong - st
the mattoid - hello
the strokes - room on fire
brokeback - looks at the bird
the unicorns - who will cut our hair when we're gone?
madvillain - bootleg

i really did not buy a lot this year. and what i did happen to get my hands on was mostly just me catching up on older stuff. so here are a few:

1. the white stripes-elephant
2. the strokes-room on fire
3. yeah yeah yeahs-fever to tell
4. the kills-keep on your mean side
5. radiohead-hail to the theif
6. whirlwind heat-do rabbits wonder? (feelings still really mixed)

albums that i've liked tracks from, but have yet to get the whole cd:

the shins-chutes too narrow
the new pornographers - electric version
beulah - yoko
pig lib- stephen malkmus
dear catastrophe waitress- belle and sebastian
so much for the city - the thrills

The Ben EPs have already been very well explained, but to add...

The third Ep was shelved. Ben said he was just going to concentrate on the new album, due by March. All of this recording has been going on in his new studio in Nashville. He has good things to say about owning his own means of production, and it shows in the music.

Sunny 16 is good, but I like it considerably less than Speed Graphic. Both have five songs. Sunny 16's highlight for me is the cover of Divine Comedy's "Songs of Love." Speed Graphic contains a new, cleaner version of my favorite "lost" Ben Folds song, "My Dog" (now just called "Dog"). It also has an even better version of the oldie "Protection," which, though less exciting for me than "Dog," is probably just about the best song Ben's ever written in my book. Round it out with an amazing cover of a classic Cure song, "In Between Days," and you've got me sold on Speed Graphic.

But both have only five songs, so I felt I could put them together, even though I also felt the need to break Speakerboxxx/The Love Below apart.

Will

(Edited by Wiyum at 11:39 pm on Dec. 10, 2003)

The Divine Comedy fucking rocks. I need to go break out Fin De Siecle right NOW. I highly reccomend this band.

1. fountains of wayne - welcome interstate managers
2. ryan adams - rocknroll
3. rufus wainwright - want one
4. the postal service - give up
5. bleu - redhead
6. the jealous sound - kill them with kindness
7. the weakerthans - reconstruction site
8. brand new - deja entendu
9. the white stripes - elephant
10. the new pornographers - electric version

honorable mentions:
the shins - chutes too narrow
lucinda williams - world without tears
aesop rock - bazooka tooth
the darkness - permission to land
death cab for cutie - transatlanticism
zwan - mary star of the sea
the thrills - so much for the city


oooh. and i really wanna check out more of beulah.

(Edited by enemyroses at 3:04 am on Dec. 11, 2003)

They're going to have to grow on me. I appreciate them right off the bat, though, for what they are- self recordings with little help from other players, which I respect.

1. Belle and Sebastian - dear catastrophe waitress
2. White Stripes - elephant
3. Grandaddy - sumday
4. The Rapture - echoes
5. The Postal Sevice - give up
6. Mojave 3 - spoon and rafter
7. The Strokes - room on fire
8. The New Pornographers - electric version
9. Paul Westerberg - come feel me tremble
10. Hidden Cameras - the smell of our own

(Edited by muck at 4:04 am on Dec. 11, 2003)

How could I forget these? Clearly my list needs revision. That'll come when I'm not dog tired.

Will

top 10 for 2003 in no particular order

Zwan - Mary Star of the Sea
Postal Service - Give Up
Perfect Circle - 13th Step
Cheap Trick - Special One
Folk Implosion - the new folk implosion
White Stripes - elephant
REM - greatest hits
Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
Vacant Cage Records Compilation
Steve Burns - Songs for Dustmites


i might amend this.............

(Edited by ghostflower at 5:36 am on Dec. 11, 2003)

Oops. Forgot about Zwan. Stupid me. And I really want the Steve Burns album.

yeah for some reason i couldve sworn that zwan was released at the end of 2002. Well put them on my list...somewhere in there. actually yeah...the postal service didnt have very much lasting quality, i replace them with zwan.

(Edited by Superflks at 9:18 am on Dec. 11, 2003)

I think it came out in Feburary. But that seems like a long time ago.

it was my biggest disappointment due to the fact that i was very much looking forward to this album, and then i hated 5/7 of it when i heard it. most of the songs just dont go anywhere.

my thoughts exactly. the first two songs are fabulous; after that the album just goes downhill.

I disagree. There's only one or two tracks I don't love. I've been saving this CD for the return of winter, so it's just about time to break it out again.

i think i just wore it out too quickly but now when i listen to it again...it sorta makes me sick and makes me think "how did i like this sugary mess in the first place."
that never happened with albums like siamese dream which i have listened to 1000+ times and havent gotten sick of yet.

it is perfect winter...music.
i think i will break it out again, too.

and i'm glad everyone is reminded how solid the zwan record is, or at least memorable.

dude, no... that is so not true... Damon and I put on Such Great Heights last night and instantly i was back in love and decided to pull the album from my book... I'll be listening to it all winter. Prehaps it will stave off the Cure + Whiskey combo that inevitably happens.

(Edited by deathscythe257 at 11:33 am on Dec. 11, 2003)

1. New Pornographer- Electric Version
2. REM- new songs
3. Beulah-Toko
4. The Jayhawks- Rainy Day Music
5. Elvis Costello- North
6. Iron and Wine- The Sea and the Rhythm EP
7. Wilco- More Like the Moon Ep (maybe not technically this year)
8. Various Elvis reissues
9. DCFC- Transablahblahblah
10. Loose Fur- Loose Fur

(Edited by iwantelvis at 12:42 pm on Dec. 11, 2003)

no particular order:

Chutes Too Narrow -- the Shins
Elephant -- the White Stripes
Electric Version -- the New Pornographers
Dear Catastrophe Waitress -- Belle & Sebastian
Room on Fire -- The Strokes
Give Up -- Postal Service

That's all the new music I got this year... I think.

MF Doom as King Geedorah - Take Me to Your Leader
MF Doom as Viktor Vaughn - Vaudeville Villain
The Strokes - Room On Fire
The Rapture - Echoes
Postal Service - Give Up
Outkast - Speakerboxxx/Love Below
The Bens EP
Aesop Rock - Bazooka Tooth
Antipop Consortium vs Matthew Shipp

1. Chutes Too Narrow - The Shins
2. Electric Version - New Pornographers
3. These Are Good Times - The High Strung
4. All Around - Oranges Band
5. Something Must be Transmitted Somehow - The Eskimos
6. Let Go - Nada Surf
7. Elephant - White Stripes
8. How We Handle Our Midnights - Glosssary
9. Wilco - More Like The Moon
10. Josh Rouse - 1972

I got the Ben Folds EPs the other day. The good news is that they came within one week of ordering with standard shipping. The bad news is that my theory seems to be holding true. I think the quality of his releases are on a steady decline. Not to say the EPs aren't enjoyable-- they just don't hold a candle to the early BFF stuff. I agree that the covers are the high points of each disc.

*Carligula's Top Ten of 2003*


10 De Novo Dahl-- s/t EP
09 Rilo Kiley-- The Execution of all Things (technically, late 2002)
08 Eels-- Shootenanny!
07 Mates of State-- Team Boo
06 Forget Cassettes-- Instruments of Action
05 Radiohead-- Hail to the Theif
04 White Stripes-- Elephant
03 DCfC-- Transatlanticism
02 SM+The Jicks-- Pig Lib
01 The Postal Service-- Give Up

Honorable Mention
Grandaddy-- Sumday
The Features-- The Beginning EP re-release (ha, beat y'all to it!)
Mattoid--Hello
Damone-- From the Attic
Travis-- 12 Memories (some amazing songs, but waaaaay too much filler)
Belle and Sebastian-- DCW (actually I've never heard it, but I assume it's fantastic)
Pearl Jam-- Lost Dogs (most of the stuff I liked wasn't really new to me, but it's a handy collection from the best band of the 90s)

Update: uggg, I forgot Forget Cassettes came out this year! They bumped off Grandaddy from my original list)

(Edited by carligula at 6:00 pm on Dec. 16, 2003)

funny, i think that Reinhold was the lowpoint of ben's career. i thought the solo album was much better and i enjoy these EPs even better than the solo album.

IMO, Reinhold had the strongest start of any of the BFF albums (Don't Change Your Plans, Mess, Magic, Narcolepsy), but went downhill fast. I would still put it over the mediocrity that was Rockin' The Suburbs. The EPs were even more mediocre. I continue to be hopeful, however, that Ben has another amazing album knocking around in his head... although I don't see it happening without Darren and Robert.

I stayed away from new rock this year. i stayed nice and warm and depressed all year (until recently of course) and listened to only about 2 or 3 records relighoiuosly...none of which ewere released this year.

but of what came out...i liked taht r.admas rocknroll album.
the thrills's o much for the city
rwainwirghts want one(Even though i wouldn't even [put HTAT at the top of my list)
hell, i even loved the new fleetwood mac album earlier this year

butttttt....my favorite was
(and technically i think it actually was released elseplaces in the world in 02...but...fuck it)
r/williams' escapology
so yeah...that was in my humble one, the best...at least for me.

I really did not like the new Rufus Wainwright that much. I was a tad bit disappointed, actually.

ithought it had a couple of yawn worthy moments..but overall...it was refreshing to me.
but mabye just cause i love him so much:-D

I guess it was just a bit too baroque for my taste. Not that that's a bad thing. He's still beautiful.....

(Edited by MissSeptember at 5:37 pm on Dec. 16, 2003)

excuse me.

yay.

ok bye.

For me, the new Rufus is too damned big. Maybe it is just me, but I liked him better when it was mostly him and a piano. I usually love orchestration and such, but I don't think it suits him... or rather, it actually suits him really well and I just don't like him as much as I once did. I dunno. I spent most of Want One wishing he'd tone it down several notches and lull me into a good narrative song again.

Will

I don't think there were 10 albums worthy of making a "best" list this year. So here are my picks:

My Favorites:
The Shins- Chutes too Narrow- took me a while, now I love it
New Pornographers- Electric Version
De Novo Dahl- s/t
The Thrills- So Much For the City - just got it, but it's already more interesting than the releases from bands I already knew
Josh Rouse- 1972- I did not have high expectations for this, and I was surprised by how much I liked it. A lot less downtempo than his other albums & a lot sillier

Ok but not "Best":
Grandaddy- Sumday
Beulah- Yoko
Radiohead- Hail to the Thief
Rainy Day Music- the Jayhawks
Sunny 16/ Speed Graphic - Ben Folds

Still need to hear:
Belle & Sebastian- DCW
Travis- 12 memories

Ben Folds' EPs are ok, but I agree with Carl that they're a step down from previous releases. I actually like RTS a lot, except for a few sucky tracks. The EPs seem unfinished or something. They were a let down because BF had said that they represented more of the music he wanted to make than what a label might find commercially viable. The BF mailing list says "The Bens" EP will come out Jan 6 if anyone cares.

From the Ben Folds mailing list today:

ben folds fans --

the bens 4-song ep will be available soon!
at last, the rare 4-song ep by the bens -- the side project of ben folds, ben lee and ben kweller -- will be available. you can go to www.attackedbyplastic.com this friday, december 19, to preorder your copy, which will be ready to ship to your house january 6! this ep features all-new artwork (that is, different from the version sold on tour in australia last march) and is not yet sold in stores. get ready to get yours this friday!

meanwhile, check out the bens on mtv and mtv2's best of: yhif- the bens!
(yhif stands for "you heard it first")
mtv
wed 12/17: 350am, 550am, 750am, 950am, 1150am, 150pm
mtv2
wed 12/17: 250pm

i dont know if any of you are into any electronic centered music (not "techno" in the least) but i made an amazing discovery today. Ive heard a few BT tracks in a couple videogames of mine and liked them. Today i picked up his new album called Emotional Technology and its just amazing. easily one of my top five. I cant really describe it but i guess a mix of electronic/jazz/and a kid with ADD. oh and the music/vocal/soundeffect ratio is dead on. beautiful.

(Edited by Superflks at 8:35 pm on Dec. 20, 2003)

haha
that is hilarious
we have his video on our target video network, and he's the most annoying to look at.
beside the point, though
we've never actually had the cd in stock and nick called me today trans target states to ask because he's never had it in, either.
it's all about some bt lately it seems.

what about polyphonic spree?