2003

Sorry I took so long.  Been busy with work, love, and lots of degeneracy, as usual, but I got some time to re-absorb this music a bit.  Maybe I dragged my feet because now we are on the final 10 articles, well, of this format.  This year was good, but I like some of the ones around it a lot more.  Still, it shows again that the 00s actually were pretty tops.

10. Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
Fans might not like this one quite as much, but as a non-fan, something about this album connects more than most of Radiohead's work.  I think it is that their dynamics had become so tight and transcendent, with the circular arrangements that remove each instrument/musicians separate identity.  Here they return to more traditional instruments so they are at their strongest in a milieu that is more rock and song-oriented.  It makes it a very enjoyable listen, even with its usual downer material.  The band has nothing left to prove at this time and that may have set their ambitions a bit lower, but still they are one of the strongest bands of their time and not everything needs to be as monumental as Kid A.  Radiohead's most all-occasion album.

9.  Deehoof - Apple O'
While they might not all make the lists, the three albums Deerhoof made with Chris Cohen (whose solo album I still need to hear) are excellent.  This one may have been my first exposure to the unique San Francisco band with their heavy and sugary sound.  This one really wails, and kicks off with a bang on "Dummy Discards a Heart," one of the definitive Deehoof tracks, even as this one has more acoustic material than usual.  Though often thought of as a noisy experimental pop group, the erratic song structures and the astonishing drumming of Greg Saunier give Deerhoof a bit of a progressive feel, compounded by this album's precise guitar dynamics.  "Flower" is one of the best examples with its metallic guitars and extra unpredictable structure in addition to the exploitation of singer Satomi Matsuzaki's high-pitched and thickly-accented voice.

8.  Lightning Bolt - The Wonderful Rainbow
The Fort Thunder duo was the hottest and heaviest thing around at the time, and with the amount of noise that their unusual rigs could muster up it was no surprise.  This album represents their peak with its relentless energy and tight yet unpredictable improvised sound, earning each member the "Brain" identity.  With unintelligible lyrics the instruments do most of the talking, and they, along with the titles say a lot.  It captures the pure energy of their live shows, a sea of ear-splitting noise with all the musicianship one would hope for from a more traditional act, yet some songs do stick out as stand-alones such as "Dracula Mountain" and the crushing closer "Duel in the Deep."  It may have already been more or less over, but this album got many to take notice of Providence's unique art and music scene.

7.  The Brian Jonestown Massacre - ...And This Is Our Music
By the end of DiG! it may have seemed like the BJM were no more, or not really anything that cool, but that is far from the truth.  This version of the band with new members including Rob Campanella and Frankie "Teardop" Emerson is as strong as the more iconic one from the film and this album goes to show that.  It may have been Newcombe's decision to go slower with the albums, but this is one of their most solid releases.  New member Matthew J. Tow takes over Matt Hollywood's role as the other guy and perhaps overshadows Newcombe with songs like proper opener "Starcleaner" and the amazing "A New Low In Getting High."  Newcombe is at his peak as well with songs like "Here To Go" and maybe the finest song of his career "When Jokers Attack."  No Hollywood, no Joel Gion, but actually the best LP to meet the Massacre.

6.  Manitoba (Caribou) - Up In Flames

Canadian Daniel Snaith made a landmark in sample-based music with this breakthrough that (un)fortunately attracted the attention of Dictators' secret weapon "Handsome" Dick Manitoba.  In both reconstructing and composing he created a new kind of shoegaze pop with all the heart and warmth of the best singer-songwriters, creating something of a new norm in both the underground and the mainstream.  His followers would seldom have the same psychedelic flavor that makes this, and much of his other work so well-loved.  Though it is largely the work of one very talented man, it includes two collaborations with Koushik - "Hendrix with Ko" and "Crayon" which I think are the best and catchiest on the album.  It is one of the timeliest albums of the year, combining modern electronics, samples/editing with great songs and psychedelic funk, almost danceable but definitely head music.

5.  The Sleepy Jackson - Lovers

Luke Steele makes his big breakthrough all over the world with this sunny slice of guitar pop.  George Harrison is clearly the biggest influence on this dense and catchy album.  Like him, Steele is grounded in the classic sound, but is willing to incorporate new and unusual sounds like the electronics on "Tell The Girls That I'm Not Hangin' Out," and the discomforting child's voice of "Morning Bird."  There is a some punk/hard rock influence on "Vampire on Racecourse," but the poppier the better in this case.  Sixties-style tracks like "Come to This" and "This Day" are two of the best examples of his timeless pop sensibility.  The dreamy opener "Good Dancers" and folk of "Acid In My Heart" further solidify this as one of the best albums of the year and one of the most interesting things to come out of Australia in many years, both before and after its release.

4.  Guided by Voices - Earthquake Glue
Following one of their weaker efforts, GbV returns with their best LP of the professional era.  It is one of their most hard-rocking releases thanks to songs like "Useless Inventions" and "I'll Replace You With Machines" and has some of their longest songs and layers of stunning guitars thanks to Doug Gillard.  This is the band's second album after the return to Matador and Pollard's long-standing collaboration with producer Todd Tobias.  With their commercial ambitions left in the dust, Pollard and his band become the hardworking live band fueled by their own passion for rock aided by the strongest sense of professionalism of their long career.  They have such indisputable classics as "My Kind of Soldier" and "The Best of Jill Hives" to show for that.  Even the classic era tendencies return in the form of the guitars on the latter track and having more than one perfect closer at the end, with the epic (4:43) "Secret Star" stealing the show.  Their best of the decade, hands down.

3.  The Strokes - Room On Fire
Certainly the most difficult album to make.  The Strokes live up to the insanely high expectations set  on their debut with a follow-up that at many times reaches the same heights.  Recorded in a rush it is possible that they could have even outdone Is This It? and the album's highlights like "12:51," "Reptilia," and "The End Has No End" suggest that is not even a bold statement.  The unusual tone on Nick Valensi's guitar (which was achieved by blowing out a certain non-traditional amp) introduces the more new wave-inspired sound that would remain and peak on Angles.  The band is a bit more collaborative here and sounds less mechanical, though this makes the dynamics even more engaging as Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr.'s interplay gets closer and the rhythms get more complicated while retaining their metronymic and droning qualities.  This is an excellent record that can only be seen as flawed compared to a masterpiece as perfect as its predecessor.  Those are mere differences, making this album more than just an attempt to make a carbon copy, ultimately proving this young band's talent at their peak of both popularity and artistry.

2.  Apollo Sunshine - Katonah
This multi-talanted trio is the greatest thing to come out of Berklee College of music, perhaps the school's most famous example of students actually using their talent and knowledge to create something great.  Seeing them open for the Apples in Stereo after the release of this album I know them to be one of the most stunning band's on Earth, with tasteful hippie vibes one other viewer said "reminds me of Phish, but in a good way."  A high-energy Flaming Lips, edgy E.L.O., or aggressive Elephant 6 would be a better comparison, but the group is too unique for such labels.  Jesse Gallagher plays bass, keys, and guitar, Sam Cohen guitar and pedal steel, and Jeremy Black drums.  Even when switching mid-song these proggy pop songs never lose their fury.  These lush songs range from the 9/11 confusion of "Happening," the sentimentality of "Sheets With the Stars" to the extended dream of "Conscious Pilot."  Some songs get into more surreal and brainy subjects like "Fear of Heights" and "The Egg," and the common favorite "I Was On the Moon" captures all these disparate talents into one song.  This can make your brain explode if you're not prepared.  I wasn't when I saw them with their projections and strobe lights hanging from their necks nine years ago.  This one of the greatest debuts of all time from the most tragically overlooked band of the last ten years.

1.  Four Tet - Rounds
This is one that is just like the voice of God.  Immediately proving its ability to transcend the cacophony of reality into divine beauty with "Hands" it has the power to play on one's emotions like a harp in a way rare in electronic music.  Primarily using samples, Kieran Hebden has a jazz-like approach in constructing this music, taking a cue from John Coltrane's A Love Supreme and maybe surpassing the saxophonist's heights.  With no need for breath, it certainly makes the religious ecstasy last longer, particularly on the nine and a half minute "Unspoken" in which Hebden's piano gives the album some of its most touching beauty.  However, it is "And They All Looked Broken-Hearted" that hits the hardest with its Celtic harp that could make anyone weep.  Regardless of their sources, it is Hebden who constructs some of the best programmed beats I have ever heard, and it is the album's exceptional rhythms that distinguishes it from other electronic records with classically-influenced transcendental aspirations.  The glitchy "She Moves She" lets its beat make its sparse Eastern more immediate while "Spirit Fingers" shows that he can even do it with a quick tempo.  Following the most life-changing evening so far, this album put the remaining acid in my system back into full-action, and with a good enough system, this one can do that any time.

Next year, the best.