Best Of 2003

Hey, people !

 

Christmas is coming, time to treat yourself and your loved ones with a little something nice. Here's my little run down the musical year, a 'best of' list to hopefully inspire you.

 

So I don’t know what happened in 2002. It was just a ‘waking up’ year for me.

But 2003 rocked harder and now is this time again, when you’ve got to sort out the ‘clever’ records from the ones that really mattered. So yeah, this list may be at odds with previous ratings, but it just shows I’ve also evolved over the course of this year...

Objective criteria would have to include the number of spins given to each CD, average volume listened to, number of tracks skipped, or number of times the ‘Volume Up’ button has been pressed during the course of a listen. Yet I’m not so fond of stats, so you’ll have to make do with my subjective feelings of now. And I keep tinkering with the table until the last minute, one last listen, there really isn’t that much to decide between places 5 to 15.

Anyway, enough rubbish, let’s begin the countdown !

 

20) Stellastarr*. You have to start your list somewhere. A few albums that may even be better than this one just miss out. Why ? Because this one possibly is a name to remember for the future. They’ll have to update their sound a bit, but they may well be on to something.

Standout track: Homeland. Effortlessly cool...

 

19) The Hidden Cameras : The smell of our own. They may be gay, write seriously dodgy lyrics (Jacko’s leftovers perhaps ?), but don’t let that put you off the music : they’ll still bring some sunshine to the world. Beach Boys/Polyphonic Spree-type vibes are high on the agenda, acoustic and summery sounds. Not very now then, but still worth an entry here.

Standout track : Ban Marriage. This one’s got a bit of a rhythm going for it.

 

18) The Faint : Danse Macabre. Technically released in 2002, but available here in 2003 only. Electronic pop-rock with a definite Cure twang. What’s this with people trying to sound like Robert Smith this year ? Still, it will make you want to dance silly, which is all you need sometimes !

Standout track : The Conductor.  Erm, driving !

 

17) Tom McRae : Just like Blood. Singer songwriter. Only not so boring. The first album I could connect with this year. Then forgotten. Played it again recently. Still liked it. Quiet feeling. Especially enjoyable live on a sunny afternoon lying down in St Cloud.

Standout  track : Walk 2 Hawaii. Suddenly the sea doesn’t seem that far away.

 

16) The Cardigans : Long gone before daylight. Reliable. Swedish pop. Still lovely after all these years. A bit far away now, but it stood out as highly enjoyable and meaningful at some point this year.

Standout track : Please Sister. Yes, they do sad songs.

 

15) Outkast : Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. Hip-hop. Maybe. Or something completely different. A great double CD. Makes you realise that there’s something beyond guitars and rock’n’roll. And it can be great fun too. Party time !

Standout track : Hey Ya ! Well, that’s just to choose one. Apparently very popular in Stockholm too !

 

14) Yeah Yeah Yeahs : Fever To Tell. Another one that I bought on that frantic trip, raiding the record shops of London in May. Lost in the confusion then. Tried it again. They rule ! If Siouxsie had stayed punk and were from NYC. Slightly ma-a-a-a-a-d.

Standout track : Pin. Jut put it on, right ?

 

13) Hot Hot Heat : Make up the Breakdown. Pop’s not dead. Great fun, bags of energy, like a cross between XTC and The Cure at their poppiest (funnily enough ‘In Cairo’ is their least Cure-sounding track). Yes, another one for the dancefloor ! Hooray !

Standout track : No, not now. Why not ?

 

12) British Sea Power : The decline of BSP. So there’s a few good bands coming out of Britain again this year. Actually if you look at my list, you’ll find that they’re the only new British Band in there. Quite possibly inspired by the countryside (but definitely not country), and influenced by Bowie (for the singing), one of the main discoveries of 2003.

Standout track : Carrion. I even inadvertently took some vocal inspiration from it !

 

11) Mew : Frengers. New band from Denmark. Just Rock’n’roll with a melodic edge. Ice is nice. Turn it up. Possibly the most enthralling opening 3 tracks of the year. And a brilliant closer. So we’ll forgive the lazy tracks in the middle.

Standout track : 156. ‘Don’t you just love goodbyes ?’

 

10) Tricky : Vulnerable. The return of the trickster. May not be his best album (I’m sticking with the creepy Pre-Millenium Tension), but possibly his most satisfying. I can listen to it when it’s hot, I can enjoy it when it’s cold. Put it on when I feel horny, play it when I am lifeless. I don’t know, this just feels like a very pleasant and varied journey.

Standout track : Car Crash. Just soothing.

 

9) Mogwai : Happy Songs for Happy People. Mogwai doing happy pop ? Not at all : creepy song titles with dodgy spelling, whatever they’re mumbling about. But they still seem to improve with every album. Would be worth the money for only one song, but the rest isn’t bad either. It’s just that track 4 always makes me turn the sound up a few notches (and drive recklessly....).

Standout track : Killing all the Flies. Best song of the year ?

 

8) The Sleepy Jackson : Lovers. Genius from down under. I’m sticking to my initial impression there : an instant classic. Just a record you put on for the first time, and it’s like it’s been there with you all your life. Brilliant to experience live too. Luke Steele, we salute you !

Standout track : Come to this . Cool sounds, impeccable singing, harmonies,‘girl, it’s a long time without loving’.

 

7) Clearlake : Cedars. Second album, still underrated, and still sounding very unique (like from a different, but not necessarily ancient, time). This offers probably the best album finale you’ll hear all year (slow build-up, climax and peaceful release), and also a great reminder that, indeed, ‘The Mind is Evil’. A firm personal favourite.

Standout track : Treat Yourself With Kindness. A recurrent theme apparently. Surely they know someone who’s done themselves a lot of harm. So please just follow their advice !

 

6) The Kills : Keep on Your Mean Side. Girl/boy duos are very on this year. Here it’s VV and Hotel, NY vs London, US v England coming out all PJ Harvey meets the Velvet Underground or something. Invigorating. Cat claw ? I’m surprised I haven’t got the scars on my cheek. The best thing to come out of Toe Rag this year, if you see what I mean...

Standout track : Hitched. Probably the coolest song you’ll have heard all year. Yeah, keep, keep on your mean side !

 

5) Cursive : The Ugly Organ. Underground hardcore. With a cello and a melodic twist. One of these albums that was released early in the year and I thought ‘great!’. Well, I just put it on again, and I still think it’s fab’. So well worthy of a place high in this list. The underground still has something to offer then.

Standout track : Art is Hard. Hard to choose that is : there’s really 4 or 5 equally excellent ones here.

 

4) The Strokes : Room on Fire. Hype. Is right sometimes. Put it on and stagger your way to the dancefloor. The album sounds a little tame after the gig, but is still deliriously enjoyable. They keep it short, and they know how to please. I had to leave all my usual circumspection behind !

Standout track : Reptilia. They opened their concert with it, and it was still one of the top two tracks of the evening.

 

3) Black Rebel Motorcycle Club : Take them on, on your own. The same black ethics as for their first album. Only now they really raaaawwk ! Relentless on the first three tracks, they then settle into their stride but finish with a bang. So now you can take on the world : c’mon if you think you’re hard enough !

Standout track : Stop. Despite its title, kicks off proceedings in quite some style

 

2) The Raveonettes : Whip it On/Chain Gang of Love. Danish duo. Two very short LPs released this year = one deserved entry in the best of list. B flat Minor or Major, they’ve rendered the Jesus and Mary Chain rather unnecessary (and at least they are a girl and a boy !). Feedback and sleaze. Some exhilarating tracks, especially on the Major side. So don’t tell me I’m cheating, I think just the second album would have made it up here anyway ! Thrilling rock stuff, possibly happiest album of the year, I mean : 13 Major tracks in succession, you’re bound to feel something !! I do.

Standout track : Untamed Girls. The soundtrack for a fun evening out. But play it loud, don’t just leave it at the back of your head !

 

1) The Cooper Temple Clause : kick up the fire and let the flames break loose.

Choosing a number one is not easy, especially in this year where I feel spoilt for choice. I know that the date of release may have an influence (you’ll always remember the albums from the second part of the year better than those from the first part), and this is not uniformly great. But this has got some fantastically edgy stuff. Epic numbers, consuming riffs, and lyrics that started to make sense at some point this year (check ‘Talking to a Brick Wall’ and ‘Blind Pilots’). Possibly to date the album I’ve listened to the loudest in my car, and trust me that’s something (volume up to 24 anyone ?). So maybe it’s not the best this year, maybe I’m already growing out of it now. But with its quality and flaws, I think it just sums up my year, and therefore is my number one.

Standout track : Talking to a Brick Wall. Music, lyrics, this has got it all (and no, I am not anymore !).

 

 

So here you go, that was 2003 ! And yeah, no White Stripes : let’s face it, there were a few decent tracks on this year’s Elephant, but no, I’m sorry, it just wasn’t good enough.

 

A few admittedly very good albums didn’t make it, because they just failed to make my world click. I was gonna say a few kind (or less kind) words about them, but now that would be cheating !

So all other albums in my possession from 2003 have been deliberately omitted from the list for a reason or another !

 

Oh yeah, one last mention : gig of the year goes to Queens Of The Stone Age @ Elysée Montmartre 11/6. It was hot outside, it was scorching inside. Fantastic !

 

Ok that’s all folks, enough critical listening. Now go out and spend, and don’t forget : there’s a few more records to enjoy out there. And they’re not all from 2003 !

 

Take care all !

 

Ollie