Pitchfork Top 50 Albums of 2003

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it's up...

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/top/2003/

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Friday, 19 December 2003 14:56 (twenty-two years ago)

Pitchfork Top 50 albums of 2003...

[a summary list, from Scott would be cool]

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Friday, 19 December 2003 14:58 (twenty-two years ago)

aaaaaaarrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhh!

for the sake of fuck, rename this place ILPFM.

― glen (worrysome-man), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:00 (twenty-two years ago)

pitchfork servers are overloaded..

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:05 (twenty-two years ago)

someone inform ryan pitchfork

this page will not load...
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/top/2003/index5.shtml

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:07 (twenty-two years ago)

Patience is a virtue DJ M.

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:08 (twenty-two years ago)

tico do you know the number 1? yet

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:10 (twenty-two years ago)

girls aloud

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:11 (twenty-two years ago)

ha try again

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:12 (twenty-two years ago)

valance?

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:12 (twenty-two years ago)

john mayer - heavier things

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:13 (twenty-two years ago)

no, not that

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:13 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh come on DJ M stop kidding us.

Wait! I've got it!

Jamie Cullum.

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:14 (twenty-two years ago)

i don't know ..yet

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:15 (twenty-two years ago)

r kelly - chocolate factory

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:15 (twenty-two years ago)

where is scott p, just post the summary list..here

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:16 (twenty-two years ago)

someone get his pills

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:17 (twenty-two years ago)

I'll send it to ya, martian. I guess the server is being re-booted or something. (girls aloud placed No. 51.)

― scott pl. (scott pl.), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:18 (twenty-two years ago)

well there goes my remaining faith in humanity

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:19 (twenty-two years ago)

thanks, scott

there is still time for an exclusive scoop !

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:21 (twenty-two years ago)

fiddo - you had faith in pfm?

― scott pl. (scott pl.), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Yesterday and today are like at the end of some horror movie where the monster is dead and the survivors embrace in tearful relief before OH NO IT MOVED and the beast arises even stronger than before!

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:22 (twenty-two years ago)

ha, oh wait: Fiddo, I thought you saw the final list and was appropriately disturbed -- girls aloud didn't place 51st, it was a joke. They only got a vote from one staffer.

― scott pl. (scott pl.), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:24 (twenty-two years ago)

(actually, it's not that terrible a list - there is one glaring ommission that makes me lose my faith in humanity, tho!)

― scott pl. (scott pl.), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:24 (twenty-two years ago)

Scott, thanks for the exclusive scoop.

http://djmartian.blogspot.com/
summary list up

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Ive seen the number one ...

Clue.

"Let's all SING!!!"

― mark grout (mark grout), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:26 (twenty-two years ago)

The Rapture - Echoes

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:26 (twenty-two years ago)

finally loaded
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/top/2003/index5.shtml

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:27 (twenty-two years ago)

The world can breathe again.

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:27 (twenty-two years ago)

you're like one of those snoopy little bastards who goes through his parents closet to find out what his presents are, aren't you?

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Half the bands in that Top 10 are made up, right?

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:30 (twenty-two years ago)

50 Supersilent: 6
49 Cyann & Ben: Spring
48 Saturday Looks Good to Me: All Your Summer Songs
47 George: The Magic Lantern
46 M. Ward: Transfiguration of Vincent
45 Ms. John Soda: No P. or D.
44 Alejandra & Aeron: Bousha Blue Blazes
43 Fiery Furnaces: Gallowbird's Bark
42 Broadcast: Haha Sound
41 The Darkness: Permission to Land
40 Animal Collective: Here Comes the Indian
39 Angels of Light: Everything Is Good Here / Please
Come Home
38 Califone: Quicksand/Cradlesnakes
37 DM + Jemini: Ghetto Pop Life
36 Junior Senior: D-D-Don't Stop the Beat
35 The Decemberists: Castaways & Cutouts
34 Cat Power: You Are Free
33 My Morning Jacket: It Still Moves
32 Menomena: I Am the Fun Blame Monster
31 The Decemberists: Her Majesty
30 Aesop Rock: Bazooka Tooth
29 Postal Service: Give Up
28 TV on the Radio: Young Liars EP
27 Ellen Allien: Berlinette
26 Ted Leo/Pharmacists: Hearts of Oak
25 Viktor Vaughn: Vaudeville Villain
24 The Clientele: The Violet Hour
23 Lightning Bolt: Wonderful Rainbow
22 Outkast: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
21 Songs: Ohia: Magnolia Electric Co.
20 King Geedorah: Take Me to Your Leader
19 Non-Prophets: Hope
18 The Wrens: The Meadowlands
17 Jay-Z: The Black Album
16 Deerhoof: Apple O
15 Four Tet: Rounds
14 Exploding Hearts: Guitar Romantic
13 Mu: Afro Finger & Gel
12 Dizzee Rascal: Boy in Da Corner
11 The Strokes: Room on Fire
10 The Unicorns: Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone
09 Broken Social Scene: You Forgot It in People
08 M83: Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts
07 The Shins: Chutes Too Narrow
06 Prefuse 73: One Word Extinguisher + Extinguished
05 Manitoba: Up in Flames
04 Radiohead: Hail to the Thief
03 Sufjan Stevens: Greetings from Michigan
02 The Books: The Lemon of Pink
01 The Rapture: Echoes

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:31 (twenty-two years ago)

can I be the first to compalain that Kish Kash (despite being my #1) didn't make it? Grrrr!

― scott pl. (scott pl.), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:32 (twenty-two years ago)

What's up with PFork's server? Is it getting clobbered by all the indie minions trying to look at their album list?

― o. nate (onate), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Here is my haul...

That's it.

― mark grout (mark grout), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Wow, that's not a very pop list, is it?

― o. nate (onate), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:34 (twenty-two years ago)

it's not very ILM no Basement Jaxx and Killing Joke

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Is Killing Joke really an ILM favorite? I always thought it was mainly just Alex In NYC.

― o. nate (onate), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:36 (twenty-two years ago)

check the user stats, alex in nyc - was recently top poster by volume ;-)

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:36 (twenty-two years ago)

actually this list totally DOES restore my faith in humanity and the world and the fact that we're not living through-the-looking-glass and everything is gonna be okay, after all.

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:37 (twenty-two years ago)

Spoiler alert.

Okay, the Strokes @ 11, the Shins @ 7, Manitoba @ 5, and Radiohead @ 4 = asinine. Room on Fire is a bad case of the sophomore slump; why won't anyone fess up? The Shins are dull. Radiohead is drowning, fast, in a sea of tunelessness. And Manitoba's okay, but #5? None of these are as good as TV on the Radio. And where's Pig Lib? It kicks ass. (And where's Iron Maiden, btw?) I expected better from them.

― otto, Friday, 19 December 2003 15:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Also, New Pornographers got the shaft.

― o. nate (onate), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:39 (twenty-two years ago)

No Mars Volta ! this is not Martian friendly !

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:40 (twenty-two years ago)

And no White Stripes or Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

― o. nate (onate), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:40 (twenty-two years ago)

pig lib didn't even place in the top 100. New Pornos finished around 60. Of others left out, the "new rock" was in the 50s: libertines, yyys, and white stripes, and basement jaxx was way the fuck back in the 80s, behind even the two albums in my top 10 that I thought had no chance at all of placing (fabric 13 and wired for sound) (I can't complain too much, the rest of my top 10 made the list)

― scott pl. (scott pl.), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:42 (twenty-two years ago)

no White Stripes or Yeah Yeah Yeahs. ...praise the lord ! Pitchfork are no longer Indie Rockers!

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:42 (twenty-two years ago)

*Among others*

― scott pl. (scott pl.), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:42 (twenty-two years ago)

Martian that is not the exact conclusion I'd draw from this list.

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:43 (twenty-two years ago)

Where is zee Ulrich Schnauss?

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:44 (twenty-two years ago)

To be honest, The Shins and King Geedorah could be ragga jungle for all I know.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:44 (twenty-two years ago)

i know..tico..a bit of friday humour ;-)

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:45 (twenty-two years ago)

it's fun to talk funny talk.

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:45 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah, this is one of the only lists I've seen that actually places Radiohead in the top 5...most mags seem to be apologetically sneaking into the bottom end of the top 10.

― Al (sitcom), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:49 (twenty-two years ago)

that sufjan stevens album is v. v. v. good.

― griffin doome, Friday, 19 December 2003 15:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Radiohead are top of this one ...
http://www.quicksilvershapeshifter.com/2003.html

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:51 (twenty-two years ago)

01. Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
02. Jonny Greenwood - Bodysong OST

Hmmmm. Wonder who voted for this one?

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:53 (twenty-two years ago)

haha wtf...mya?!

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:54 (twenty-two years ago)

Good lord it *is* actually Melissa's list!

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:56 (twenty-two years ago)

Jay-Z ahead of OutKast and Aesop Rock - that's just so fucking ludicrous. I don't know what to say.

― Jay Kid (Jay K), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:57 (twenty-two years ago)

It's not even one of his best albums.

― Jay Kid (Jay K), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Which makes total sense

― Manual Göttbling (Andy K), Friday, 19 December 2003 15:57 (twenty-two years ago)

I rather like that I haven't heard of most of the stuff in it, and that only one of my personal Top 10 is even in their Top 50; 'The Lemon of Pink' by The Books, nice and high in their number 2 spot.

― Momus (Momus), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:00 (twenty-two years ago)

I like that there are so many albums I haven't heard or even heard of in there. Shame that most of their endorsements fail to pique my curiousity, but I'm sure there are some worthwhile records in there.

― Al (sitcom), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:05 (twenty-two years ago)

it seems like the authors--perhaps because many are writing about their pet albums--feel compelled to be 100 percent enthusiastic, not expressing any reservations at all. which makes me suspicious--can there really be 50 flawless albums in one year? it would be more interesting to read a more toned-done evaluation than these sort of breathless celebrations in some cases at least.

but yeah i think its a cool list and like momus i dont know a lot of it which is encouraging....

― amateur!st (amateurist), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:06 (twenty-two years ago)

except for the shins review because that album is basically perfect for what it is

― amateur!st (amateurist), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:06 (twenty-two years ago)

I rather like that Momus hasn't heard most of the stuff in it, too.

That's about my extent of the like, though. Basement Jaxx is a ridiculous omission (and, via omission, once again gets placed behind that mediocre Outkast record leeching all its praise). The White Stripes not being on the list would be unprecedented and ridiculous for an indie-rock-happy site, though a bit less so considering their review of it ("Brent Dicrecenzo, Blues Purist"). Maybe they fear the Eye Jammy.

I won't fess up to the Strokes' "sophomore slump" because I'm not a filthy liar.

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:19 (twenty-two years ago)

I was glad to see TV on the Radio...I love that EP (and actually checked it out based on a Pitchfork review)....I don't see it popping up on many people's year-end lists...

also....I'm beginning to think I like Room on Fire better than Is This It....

this also reminds me for the millionth time that really really need to get the Exploding Hearts...

― Matt Helgeson (Matt Helgeson), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Scott P plz check your email.

― Mark (MarkR), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Looking over that list, I can't stop thinking that they have the fucking worst taste ever even if I like about 1/5th of the list a lot. The remaining 4/5 is just DIRE.

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Would either of you two who stuck up for the Strokes mind recomending me an entry point? I would appreciate it. I want to like it, I'm trying, I really am, but so far it's not happening.

― otto, Friday, 19 December 2003 16:28 (twenty-two years ago)

i think this is a good list! i mean obviously it's not perfectly in tune with my tastes (%age of overlap between my top 10 and this one: 0, and i still think that strokes record is pretty monotonous in a video game music way) but shit, all of the records are decent, and at least they didn't fall into the 'third-best white stripes album is the best album of the year' trap

― maura (maura), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:31 (twenty-two years ago)

I wonder if they conversely haven't even heard of the stuff on my list, or if it's languishing at 104? Dorine_Muraille's 'Mani', on Fat Cat, for instance? Any Forkers care to tell me?

― Momus (Momus), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:32 (twenty-two years ago)

I like the new Strokes disc better than the first one, also...but that's not saying much, as I rarely listen to either of them. "What Ever Happened?" is great, as are "The End Has No End" and maybe "Under Control." If those don't do the trick, it's lost on you.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Props for leaving the White Stripes off...that'll be the only 2003 list on Earth that does.

― Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:33 (twenty-two years ago)

(actually only one of my top 10 is even in their top 50! but i still am curious about the bands i haven't heard about. jeez, why do i feel like i'm at a closing-of-the-musical-mind convention or something. the 'i've never heard of this ergo it must not exist/be good' complaint is so tiresome)

― maura (maura), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:35 (twenty-two years ago)

i thought most people were heartened by the fact that they haven't heard most of it.

i am familiar with the majority of the bands/records on the list; i just think most of them suck.

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:42 (twenty-two years ago)

OMG I hadn't even seen The Strokes in the #11 slot. Aaaaaargh! This dismisses the whole list for me, interesting as it seems. What kind of brattish behaviour is it to put the fucking STROKES on that list? It also dements their whole stunt of omitting The Stripes.

― Jay Kid (Jay K), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:44 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah how dare they

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:45 (twenty-two years ago)

That whole fucking Strokes fetich that pervades music 'journalism'! It's like a childish tantrum, trying to assert value to something that's completely and utterly redundant, just because it represents some rock ethic/aesthetic that once was great. You can't unlearn the last 25 year's developement in music, motherfuckers!!!

― Jay Kid (Jay K), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:48 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah, you got us.

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:48 (twenty-two years ago)

i just can't get enough of that rock music.

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:48 (twenty-two years ago)

mmmm chewy canon nougat.

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:49 (twenty-two years ago)

i love rock, too, but this is ridiculous.

― Jay Kid (Jay K), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:49 (twenty-two years ago)

I still don't know what their music sounds like, but I'll pretend I will by saying "Television" and I'll put Room On Fire on my list because I have to meet Mandated Rockcrit Quotas, dontchaknow.

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:50 (twenty-two years ago)

:( "Room On Fire" is good though.

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:50 (twenty-two years ago)

tom stop being such a slave to retro-rock marketing!!

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:51 (twenty-two years ago)

your whole aesthetic reeks of it.

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:51 (twenty-two years ago)

No it's not! 'Room on Fire' is the epitaph of the garage rock scene, you just wait and see.

― Jay Kid (Jay K), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:52 (twenty-two years ago)

I just think their guitars sound nice and stuff. :(

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:52 (twenty-two years ago)

No it's not! 'Room on Fire' is the epitaph of the garage rock scene, you just wait and see.

With a capital "E" maybe

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:54 (twenty-two years ago)

(which means six years from now Julian will produce an Atmosphere record)

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:55 (twenty-two years ago)

i guess that the production is pretty flawless, but that whole thing is just going nowhere fast. if the strokes had the guts, they could be a great band. as of now, they are all about coolness. great for getting chicks, but musically ... extremely dire.

― Jay Kid (Jay K), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:55 (twenty-two years ago)

((the cars / (the cars' hooks / 3)) + video game music + fuzz on the vocals = the strokes

― maura (maura), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:55 (twenty-two years ago)

maura i love you

― Jay Kid (Jay K), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:56 (twenty-two years ago)

bust that paradigm!

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:56 (twenty-two years ago)

this makes me wonder if they originally had another draft of this list and were told "be less indie" and "push the more indie things back a few notches." this is a very indie list of course, but the white stripes omission (and i don't even like them!) is just too glaring considering the demographic that came up with the list. seems like a desperate cred grab.

― joday (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:57 (twenty-two years ago)

joday OT fucking M

― Jay Kid (Jay K), Friday, 19 December 2003 16:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Lemme guess....no Killing Joke, right? Thought so.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Alex's work here is done.

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:01 (twenty-two years ago)

a shocking omission.

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:01 (twenty-two years ago)

nate do you find the position of vaguely defending pfork to be as odd as i do?

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:01 (twenty-two years ago)

jody logic explains the belle & sebastian omission too.

― dan (dan), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:02 (twenty-two years ago)

OK Alex, I have never in my life (knowingly, at least) heard a Killing Joke song. But I have seen you gacking them up about 7.000 times here. So - where should I start? What would be the best way in for the complete outsider?

― Jay Kid (Jay K), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:04 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes, which is why I'm disguising it as not-vaguely defending the Strokes

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:04 (twenty-two years ago)

Jay: start with "Stay One Jump Ahead"

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:05 (twenty-two years ago)

no, the belle and sebastian omission is explained by the fact that they made an asshat record.

― Jay Kid (Jay K), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:05 (twenty-two years ago)

don't do it jay.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:06 (twenty-two years ago)

on the real?

― Jay Kid (Jay K), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Gacking?

Listen to their first one, listen to NightTime and maybe spin their new one. If you don't like it, don't throw yourself off a cliff...it's not everyone's cup o' hemlock, obviously.

Jay: start with "Stay One Jump Ahead"

Gah! Now I AM gacking!

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:06 (twenty-two years ago)

It was a straight vote. Nobody knew what was gonna be #1 - I'm not sure any member of the staff even shared a #1 pick.

― dleone (dleone), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:06 (twenty-two years ago)

mwa-ha-ha

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:06 (twenty-two years ago)

this makes me wonder if they originally had another draft of this list and were told "be less indie" and "push the more indie things back a few notches."

We weren't.

― Chris Dahlen (Chris Dahlen), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Manitoba in the top 5? Somewhere in New York, Mr. Eddy is laughing.

I'm excited to see The Books at #2.

― Kate Silver (Kate Silver), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:07 (twenty-two years ago)

Gacking! That is pretty funny, IMHO! Should've been backing, of course. I'll check them out. If they can bring forth that level of encouragement in you, they gotta be doing something right.

― Jay Kid (Jay K), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:08 (twenty-two years ago)

this makes me wonder if they originally had another draft of this list and were told "be less indie" and "push the more indie things back a few notches."

It was just a straightforward vote. Most ppl listed 50 albums, a few picked only 30, and points were alloted with 50 pts. going to everyone's No. 1 no matter how many records they listed, 49 pts. for the #2, etc. The results weren't manipulated after they were tallied.

― scott pl. (scott pl.), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:10 (twenty-two years ago)

ilm in conspiracy theory shocker.

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:11 (twenty-two years ago)

too slow! (fwiw, a couple of No. 1s were shared between more than one person - and four individual No. 1s didn't make the final list.)

― scott pl. (scott pl.), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:11 (twenty-two years ago)

the white stripes omission (and i don't even like them!) is just too glaring considering the demographic that came up with the list. seems like a desperate cred grab.

well, this still makes sense.

― Jay Kid (Jay K), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:11 (twenty-two years ago)

although, i must say that apart from The Strokes and Jay-fucking-Z this list looks pretty interesting. but where is bubba sparxxx, kevin blechdom and erykah badu? did anyone vote for them?

― Jay Kid (Jay K), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:13 (twenty-two years ago)

bubba sparxxx was my no. 17, and I think Rollie may have voted for him as well.

― scott pl. (scott pl.), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Never heard the White Stripes record (thought the last one was just OK) but that omission shows the influence of Brent D. Seems like once he said it was nothing special other Pitchfork writers didn't take it seriously (or maybe it really is nothing special!)

x-post: I've never heard any blechdom product I liked, is the Kevin record a big improvement?

― Mark (MarkR), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Biggest suprise to me is that Sufjin Stevens record. I downloaded it when I saw the Pfork list & it hasn't grabbed me yet. And I spent 22 years exploring every corner of the Great Lake State. Still absorbing it, though.

― Mark (MarkR), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:17 (twenty-two years ago)

a lot of it is stuff i would never buy, but some of it i would listen to if somebody made me. that m.ward album is that the guy who sounds like fahey? i might have him mixed up with someone else.

― scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:18 (twenty-two years ago)

mark,
the kevin record is a VAST improvement. i strongly recommend it, it is sonically much more together, less anally-themed, genuinely funny and actually pretty solid all the way through (that was a pleonasm, though, wasn't it?).

― Jay Kid (Jay K), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:20 (twenty-two years ago)

(to follow up: bubba sparxxx was on three ballots and finished 75th.)

― scott pl. (scott pl.), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:23 (twenty-two years ago)

That Matt Ward record is wonderful! Yeah, there's a big Fahey influence there (like the title fer starters!), but it's much more apparent when you see him play live, it's buried by lots of other stuff on the album. The track 'Dead Man' is written for JF I think, and I guess he must have known him from Portland anyway. If you like the Iron & Wine album or Giant Sand you might like it, who knows.

Deerhoof is a real head scratcher for me on that list. That record is patchy as hell. Nice to see Supersilent in there though.

― NickB (NickB), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:27 (twenty-two years ago)

I like bubba lots....I also like Manitoba, which seems to be very hated in ILM land. It's pretty.

― Matt Helgeson (Matt Helgeson), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:27 (twenty-two years ago)

This list is kind of boring - exactly what I would expect a PFork end of year list to look like. The only things I'm excited by in the top 10 are the Prefuse 73 and maybe the Unicorns (I heard one of their songs on the radio and it sounded interesting).

― o. nate (onate), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:28 (twenty-two years ago)

No jazz, no improv, no modern composers or classical music, no artists from outside of North America or Europe. Philistines.

― Nom De Plume (Nom De Plume), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:53 (twenty-two years ago)

No jazz, no improv

I'll say it again, it's nice to see Supersilent in there... ;o)

― NickB (NickB), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:57 (twenty-two years ago)

how many people on the PF staff voted this year?

― Al (sitcom), Friday, 19 December 2003 17:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Wow, missed the Supersilent inclusion. Very nice -- how the fuck did they get in there? A chink in the PMG monolith.

― Nom De Plume (Nom De Plume), Friday, 19 December 2003 18:04 (twenty-two years ago)

I must say the Wire Top 50 is a much more recognisable landscape for me. Still no Dorine_Muraille, though.

― Momus (Momus), Friday, 19 December 2003 18:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Momus -- haven't heard of that one -- enlighten, please.

― Nom De Plume (Nom De Plume), Friday, 19 December 2003 18:12 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.almostcool.org/mr/d/pics/d77mu.jpg

http://www.almostcool.org/mr/d/d77mu.html

http://www.stylusmagazine.com/review.php?ID=632

― Momus (Momus), Friday, 19 December 2003 18:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Thank god for a list that does NOT have Basement Jaxx, White Stripes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, etc. Personally I'd rather see a year end list that focused on albums I'd never heard of rather than a list that talks about stuff I already know, even if I think it deserves top ten placement. What's the point of that? So I can point and say "see, they've got my back on this one"?

Maybe PFM has some shite writing scattered throughout, but any site that leads me to M83, TV On the Radio, Supersilent, and Viktor Vaughn ain't bad at all. I wish more people listened to some of their recommendations.

Fight the real enemy, i.e. that Rolling Stone top 50 of 2003. Sting and John Mayer made it on there, for the love of fuck.

― Gear! (Gear!), Friday, 19 December 2003 18:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Fight the real enemy indeed.

― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Friday, 19 December 2003 18:33 (twenty-two years ago)

OK, since neither Scott nor Mark's #1 made it on the list at all, i demand individual lists from scott, mark, dom, and andy.

― Felcher (Felcher), Friday, 19 December 2003 18:53 (twenty-two years ago)

I think it's nice The Non-Prophets made the list.

I really don't like [i]Echoes[/i] or [i]Chutes Too Narrow[/i] at all.

― ben welsh (benwelsh), Friday, 19 December 2003 18:56 (twenty-two years ago)

I've never heard any blechdom product I liked, is the Kevin record a big improvement?

wow, you didn't even like Kevin's Inside Story? I do wish they'd managed to stay together long enough to do a record that was on par with their live shows, where their two completely different styles sometimes managed to blend perfectly. I think their best work lies ahead though, Blevin's recent live shows have evolved into something wonderfully baffling.

I agree that Dorine_Muraille CD is beautiful too.

― (Jon L), Friday, 19 December 2003 19:16 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm pleasantly surprised that Sufjan placed that high.

― Colin Beckett (Colin Beckett), Friday, 19 December 2003 19:21 (twenty-two years ago)

wow, you didn't even like Kevin's Inside Story?

This kind of reminded me of Asmus Tietchens' Sky Records stuff.

― dleone (dleone), Friday, 19 December 2003 19:30 (twenty-two years ago)

I hear that, only just intonation instead of equal temperament. asmus was stuck with that memory moog, and kevin built that record from scratch with her own MSP patches. just intonation pop, finally.

btw, also happy that alejandra & aeron album made the list.

― (Jon L), Friday, 19 December 2003 19:38 (twenty-two years ago)

since neither Scott nor Mark's #1 made it on the list at all

What was Mark's #1? I assumed it would be Manitoba, maybe?

― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 19 December 2003 19:39 (twenty-two years ago)

I was surprised by no Blood Brothers. Did everyone forget? As I remember it, the review was quite favorable.

― Ryan WS (fffv), Friday, 19 December 2003 19:40 (twenty-two years ago)

he said in another thread that it was pluramon's "dreams top rock"

― Felcher (Felcher), Friday, 19 December 2003 19:40 (twenty-two years ago)

correction, he said it was his favorite album of the year, not that he put it at #1 for his PF list, but even if he did some political rearrangement, it shouldve still been ranked high

― Felcher (Felcher), Friday, 19 December 2003 19:44 (twenty-two years ago)

No, the Pluramon it is, #1 is favorite is #1, same for every list.

― Mark (MarkR), Friday, 19 December 2003 22:06 (twenty-two years ago)

so when are we gonna see the #2-50?

― Felcher (Felcher), Friday, 19 December 2003 22:18 (twenty-two years ago)

The Cat power review is unusual:
"It got to the point where I had to ban myself from reading her interviews and concert accounts, so fed up was I becoming with her slow-motion helicopter wreck of self-pity and amuck pharmacology. But maybe it takes someone this annoyingly tormented by personal demons,"
Annoyingly tormented. Funny.
The singles list was way better, both in the writing and the selections. But nice to see such a Canadian top 10.

― sym (shmuel), Friday, 19 December 2003 23:13 (twenty-two years ago)

I actually just read the whole list and I like it....there's at least a lot of record that I haven't heard on it that I might want to check out.

― Matt Helgeson (Matt Helgeson), Saturday, 20 December 2003 00:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Good lord it *is* actually Melissa's list!
:(

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Saturday, 20 December 2003 00:48 (twenty-two years ago)

since i love beating dead horses, "group" lists are always boring, bringing out the LCD. individual lists are always much more fascinating. Taking an average of choices is always just average.

― jack cole (jackcole), Saturday, 20 December 2003 01:26 (twenty-two years ago)

I love how the Jay-Z blurb is just, "Pitchfork writer Mullah Omar says this, this, and this... but, um, hes, like, wrong!"

― robert crunkgau, Saturday, 20 December 2003 01:55 (twenty-two years ago)

i think it's a very solid indie list but definitely lacking in mainstream hip-hop (no David Banner, no Bubba, no Freeway) and I was kind of surprised to see there was no love for Drive-By Truckers as well, I love My Morning Jacket too, but you can't tell me that It Still Moves is a better Southern Rock record than Decoration Day

― Josh Love (screamapillar), Saturday, 20 December 2003 02:36 (twenty-two years ago)

i demand individual lists from scott

uh, ok, here's what I voted for. Were I to do it all over again, Tatu and Sufjan would be much higher, Kylie would be much lower, and I wouldn't have completely forgot about David Banner. The top 35 or so (plus the ones praised above) are the ones I felt strongly about.

01. Basement Jaxx: Kish Kash
02. Dizzee Rascal: Boy in Da Corner
03. Michael Mayer: Fabric 13
04. the Rapture: Echoes
05. the Clientele: The Violet Hour
06. Soundmurderer: Wired for Sound
07. the Darkness: Permission to Land
08. the Strokes: Room on Fire
09. Broadcast: Haha Sound
10. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists: Hearts of Oak
11. Junior Senior: D-d-don’t Stop the Beat
12. Coloma: Finery
13. Luomo: The Present Lover
14. Goldfrapp: Black Cherry
15. Libertines: Up the Bracket
16. Tobias Thomas: Smallville
17. Bubba Sparxxx: Deliverance
18. Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Fever to Tell
19. George: The Magic Lantern
20. Sean Paul: Dutty Rock
21. Girls Aloud: Sound of the Underground
22. Saturday Looks Good to Me: All You Summer Songs
23. Richard X: Presents His X-Factor, Volume One
24. Fiery Furnaces: Gallowsbird’s Peak
25. Alexander Kowalski: Response
26. Soundmurderer + SK1: Rewind Records
27. Jay-Z: The Black Album
28. Super Furry Animals: Phantom Power
29. M83: Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts
30. Archigram: Crydamoure Presents Waves II
31. Enduser: 15 Tracks
32. Kylie Minogue: Body Language
33. Freeway: Philadelphia Freeway
34. Villalobos: Alcachofa
35. Tatu: 200km/hr in the Wrong Lane
36. Tok Tok vs. Soffy O: Tok Tok vs. Soffy O
37. Exploding Hearts: Guitar Romantic
38. Radiohead: Hail to the Thief
39. Manitoba: Up in Flames
40. Sugababes: Three
41. Sufjan Stevens: Greetings From Michigan: The Great Lakes State
42. Bugz in the Attic: Fabriclive.12
43. British Sea Power: The Decline of British Sea Power
44. Four Tet: Rounds
45. Ellen Allien: Berlinette
46. Matthew Dear: Leave Luck to Heaven
47. Vybz Kartel: Up 2 Di Time
48. Colleen: Everyone Alive Wants Answers
49. Erol Alkan: One Louder
50. Missy Elliott: This Is Not a Test!

― scott pl. (scott pl.), Saturday, 20 December 2003 02:43 (twenty-two years ago)

em. this list is good - it gives me lots of avenues to explore for what that's worth.

― jed (jed_e_3), Saturday, 20 December 2003 03:09 (twenty-two years ago)

that reading of the jay album is so wrong anyway. i was thinking about it vis a vis the s. carter tape and it hit me -- the whole point is he isn't changing up the game but keeping it in the same place.

(which is why omar leveled his crit at dre from outkast and NOT jay)

i have plenty of gripes with the voice article on jay (in a friendly way) but it nailed how the black album IS for audience expectations:

http://villagevoice.com/issues/0348/berry.php

also i've come around to jay liking coldplayish stuff because it hit me that Dido's White Flag is totally for my singles list this year.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Saturday, 20 December 2003 03:18 (twenty-two years ago)

"(which is why omar leveled his crit at dre from outkast and NOT jay)"

mullah on jay-z:

Remember last year, that track on the Missy album, and Jay's verse was okay on that declawed hyper-referential Mad Skillz kinda tip, but then the chorus was all "remember back in the day, blah blah blah, hiphop has chaaa-aaanged"? Thats what this is like, except its not the chorus, it's like Jay set out to reverse the old Meth rap critic dis and decided that its how critics talk should dictate his life more than the fans or the streets or himself. His lyrics are all about making records, and then VH1 confessional stuff. In the 1970s some people made singer-songwriter folk guitar records, and rock critics liked them, I think because they were about the singer-songwriter's life and because they were "true" instead of some universally-appealing artifice and (this is an undeserving parenthetical, and really I should avoid biting the hand that meagerly feeds me, but I was assigned the Eminem-produced track based on my "personality", what is this bullshit?! Embarrassingy Jay and Em both fell out my must-listen top five a long time ago and now I really can't get amped up by either, though at least Em doesn't hate hiphop) making thug rhymes or returning to the streests, because no this isn't a "return to the streets" for a damn minute, if he wants to be so gully why is he making moody, introspective home-listening songs? The whole retirement gimmick is fine with me too maybe if Jay's rock critic-happy ass stops making "albums" he'll actually make some club tracks and write some tight rhymes again instead of this total cop-out.

― Rob Mitchum, Saturday, 20 December 2003 04:27 (twenty-two years ago)

my number one was MU Afro Finger and Gel. not that Ryan counted it...

― Beta (abeta), Saturday, 20 December 2003 04:36 (twenty-two years ago)

No "Phantom Power"? No Blood Brothers? WTFF?

― Simon H., Saturday, 20 December 2003 05:26 (twenty-two years ago)

the darkness is on this list, enough said.

next.

― reo, Saturday, 20 December 2003 05:44 (twenty-two years ago)

haha that omar blurb just convinced me about jay listening too much to rockcrits. a close reading of the voice article is partially making the same argt -- re. his defensiveness w/r/t "change clothes" and etc.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Saturday, 20 December 2003 06:06 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah maura what the hey i thought a bunch of us said how happy we were not to have heard of a lot of the stuff on the pfk list!

― amateur!st (amateurist), Saturday, 20 December 2003 10:22 (twenty-two years ago)

I have 3 of them.

― jel -- (jel), Saturday, 20 December 2003 13:11 (twenty-two years ago)

Though to be pedantic, I coulda sworn that I got the MS John Soda album in 2002.

― jel -- (jel), Saturday, 20 December 2003 13:13 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah, ethan makes a good case usually, which i conceded in the draft i turned in. but i do think the "rock critic appeasing" criticism is *way* more valid for outkast dre than it is for jay-z, as The Black Album has had pretty unanimously positive reception from the hip-hop fans i know.

anyway, just wanted to clarify where i got that assertion.

― Rob Mitchum, Saturday, 20 December 2003 16:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Hey Melissa it wasn't meant to be a dig! I like a lot of that list.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Saturday, 20 December 2003 18:44 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh, okay. It just read a bit derisively.

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Sunday, 21 December 2003 00:17 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.an-irrational-domain.net/images/80s.GIF

No Killing Joke, though, eh? Damn fools....they'll get theirs....!"

― Mr.Punch (vassifer), Sunday, 21 December 2003 00:32 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.artofthemix.org/FindAMix/GetContents.asp?strMixID=64522

― WHERE'S BRIGHTEYES?! (benwelsh), Sunday, 21 December 2003 01:04 (twenty-two years ago)

are all the hip-hop fans you know rock critics!?

(haha, sorry)

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Sunday, 21 December 2003 03:31 (twenty-two years ago)

If anyone cares here was my list:

1. Pluramon: Dreams Top Rock (Karaoke Kalk)
2. Sogar: Apikal.Blend (12k)
3. The Books: The Lemon of Pink (Tomlab)
4. The Clientele: Violet Hour (Merge)
5. Animal Collective: Here Comes the Indian
6. Manitoba: Up In Flames (Leaf)
7. Alejandra & Aeron: Bousha Blue Blazes (Lucky Kitchen)
8. Califone: Quicksand/Cradlesnakes
9. Fennesz: Live in Japan (Headz)
10. So: So (Thrill Jockey)
11. My Morning Jacket: It Still Moves
12. Tim Hecker: Radio Amor (Alien8)
13. Random_Inc.: Walking in Jerusalem (Mille Plateaux)
14. Polmo Polpo: Like Hearts Swelling (Constellation)
15. Jan Jelinek: La Nouvelle Pauvrete (~scape)
16. Mu: Afro Finger and Gel
17. Twine: Twine (Ghostly International)
18. Soundmurderer: Wired For Sound (Violent Turd)
19. Deadbeat vs. Stephen Beaupré: It’s a Crackhaus Thing
20. M83: Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts
21. Kill Memory Crash: When the Blood Turns Black (Ghostly Inteznational)
22. Lowfish: 1000 Corrections Per Second (Suction)
23. Jóhann Jóhannsson: Englaborn (Touch)
24. Fonica: Ripple (Tomlab)
25. Christopher Willits/Taylor Deupree: Invisible Architecture #9 (Audiosphere)
26. Markus Guentner: Audio Island (Ware)
27. Cul de Sac: Death of the Sun (Strange Attractors)
28. Lithops – Scrypt (Thrill Jockey)
29. Luomo: The Present Lover (Force Tracks)
30. (Smog): Supper (Drag City)
31. Oren Ambarchi: Triste (Idea)
32. Basement Jaxx: Kish Kash (Astralwerks)

― Mark (MarkR), Sunday, 21 December 2003 03:46 (twenty-two years ago)

where does one buy this pluramon record? i can't find it anywhere...

― amateur!st (amateurist), Sunday, 21 December 2003 13:15 (twenty-two years ago)

What cracks me up is how many albums got absolute raves from PF, but didn't make the year-end list. The Constantines, the aforementioned Basement Jaxx, The Polysics, Deadly Snakes, Xiu Xiu, Need New Body, Blur, The Notwist (I suppose you could count that last one as '02, but then you should do the same with BSS and the first Decemberists record). And I could go on.

― dieblucasdie (dieblucasdie), Sunday, 21 December 2003 16:03 (twenty-two years ago)

The Notwist were actually #7 on last year's list - we reviewed it as an import.

I think there are more people upset about our not including Xiu Xiu than about any other band, including the Yeah Yeah Yeahs or the White Stripes.

― Chris Dahlen (Chris Dahlen), Sunday, 21 December 2003 16:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, I was surprised about the lack of Missy, too. The sweating of Missy has been my main grievance in my nigh-on two years of PF-bashing. What am I to do now?

― dieblucasdie (dieblucasdie), Sunday, 21 December 2003 18:11 (twenty-two years ago)

i wonder how much the non-placement of Xiu Xiu, Constantines, and Blood Brothers has to do with Ott's departure, as those were records he championed originally. and if Ryan had never gotten around to actually listening to Sufjan Stevens and re-running the review with his 'approval', would anyone have read Brandon Stosuy's review and actually pursued it in the first place?

― Beta (abeta), Sunday, 21 December 2003 18:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, that Sufjan Stevens record just doesn't excite me. Too bad, a singer/songwriter concept album about Michigan is normally the type of thing I'm a sucker for.

― dieblucasdie (dieblucasdie), Sunday, 21 December 2003 18:20 (twenty-two years ago)

amateur!st are you in the US?

pluramon
http://www.forcedexposure.com/artists/pluramon.feat.julee.cruise.html

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Sunday, 21 December 2003 18:45 (twenty-two years ago)

Constanties almost made it anyway - were Ott to have voted, I suspect they'd be in. Almost nobody voted for the Blood Brothers from what I recall.

Re-running the Sufjan review must have really helped - no doubt about it. I'd have guessed that having a sizeable % of the voting staff w/ties to Michigan helped, too, but Mark already said that he didn't get into the album, so maybe that's not true at all.

― scott pl. (scott pl.), Sunday, 21 December 2003 18:50 (twenty-two years ago)

dj m - and a british release date for the pluramon record please?

― cozen (Cozen), Sunday, 21 December 2003 19:25 (twenty-two years ago)

cozen, many of the UK online music stores have it stocked, try

Norman Records
http://www.normanrecords.com/details.php?item_id=10794

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Sunday, 21 December 2003 19:29 (twenty-two years ago)

27th October 2003

http://www2.hmv.co.uk/hmvweb/simpleSearch.do?pGroupID=1&simpleSearchString=pluramon&primaryID=1

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Sunday, 21 December 2003 19:30 (twenty-two years ago)

i can't find it anywhere : ( i'll find it.

― cozen (Cozen), Sunday, 21 December 2003 19:31 (twenty-two years ago)

distributed by baked goods so your local glasgow indie, monorail should be able to order it easily.

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Sunday, 21 December 2003 19:32 (twenty-two years ago)

i'm on it. (haha i bet it's actually already in mono!)

― cozen (Cozen), Sunday, 21 December 2003 19:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Another missing album that got a Pitchfork rave was Dorine Muraille. Their review was where I first heard about it, so it was odd just now to see Momus wondering whether anybody at PF even knew about it.

― Curt (cgould), Sunday, 21 December 2003 19:46 (twenty-two years ago)

Actully I'm still pretty new to the Sufjin record, so the jury is still out. But it didn't do much for me on the first couple listens.

― Mark (MarkR), Sunday, 21 December 2003 21:21 (twenty-two years ago)

that's how i feel about the Books.

― Beta (abeta), Sunday, 21 December 2003 22:17 (twenty-two years ago)

this was my 50, Felcher. Beta's on the prowl.

1 Animal Collective: Here Comes the Indian
2 Angels of Light: Everything is Good Here/Please Come Home
3 Värttinä: Iki
4 Alejandra & Aeron: Bousha Blue Blazes
5 Ami Yoshida: Tiger Thrush
6 Deerhoof: Apple O'
7 George: The Magic Lantern
8 Volapuk: Where is Tamashii?
9 Bob Drake: 13 Songs & A Thing
10 MU: Afro Finger & Gel
11 Charalambides: Unknown Spin
12 Alamaailman Vasarat: Kaarmelautakunta
13 Toshimaru Nakamura/Tetuzi Akiyama: Meeting at Off Site Vol 3
14 Lightning Bolt: Wonderful Rainbow
15 Ellen Allien: Berlinette
16 Richard Chartier: Archival 1991
17 Soft Pink Truth: Do You Party?
18 Otomo Yoshihide: Blue
19 Mileece: Formations
20 Ellery Eskelin: Arcanum Moderne
21 Sachiko M: Derive
22 Supersilent: 6
23 Science Group: Spoors
24 Gary Lucas: Edge of Heaven
25 Alexander Kowalski: Response
26 Luomo: The Present Lover
27 Broadcast: Haha Sound
28 Gaji: 9pm at GFM
29 Ibrahim Ferrer: Buenos Hermanos
30 Hedningarna: 1989-2003
31 Thinking Plague: History of Madness
32 Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Quintet/Tatsuya Oe: ONJQ+OE
33 Books - Lemon of Pink
34 Sylvie Courvoisier/Abaton: Abaton
35 Toshimaru Nakamura: No-Input Mixing Board 3
36 Hoahio!: Peek-Ara-Boo
37 Tetuzi Akiyama: Don't Forget to Boogie
38 Taku Sugimoto Guitar Quartet: s/t
39 Richard Chartier: Other Materials
40 Haco/Sakamoto Hiromichi: Ash in the Rainbow
41 Dave Douglas: Freak In
42 Jóhann Jóhannsson: Englabörn
43 Pachora: Astereotypical
44 Tujiko Noriko: From Tokyo to Naiagara
45 Robert Wyatt: Cuckooland
46 Tokyo Zawinul Bach: Vogue Africa
47 Satoru Wono: Sonata for Sine Wave and White Noise
48 Barbara Morgenstern: Nichts Muss
49 Susanne Brokesch: So Easy, Hard to Practice
50 Hecker: Sun Pandämonium

― dleone (dleone), Monday, 22 December 2003 02:36 (twenty-two years ago)

Actully I'm still pretty new to the Sufjin record, so the jury is still out. But it didn't do much for me on the first couple listens.

After my first few listens I found the music kind of samey and Stevens' voice, unaffectingly even; but what hooked me on it (when I got the blurb assignment and started to pound away on it) was the ambition, and how much he got from thinking about his home state. The record reminds me of taking a trip home (for the holidays, say) and realizing the place has gone to shit - then reflecting on it for an hour and in the end, not reaching much of a conclusion. He doesn't get anywhere but he dredges up some powerful stuff.

Plus, that "Detroit" song is a winner, and I dig how Mitchum and I both thought it sounded like the stool-making song from Waiting for Guffman. (Which is probably a better pitch than the Elliot Smith-meets-Stereolab comparison.)

― Chris Dahlen (Chris Dahlen), Monday, 22 December 2003 03:11 (twenty-two years ago)

love this sentence re: 'Echoes':

"Like Yankee Hotel Foxtrot before it, the record had leaked to file-trading services in June and blown up dancefloors all summer long."

wilco blows up the dancefloor!

― geeta (geeta), Monday, 22 December 2003 06:23 (twenty-two years ago)

the stool-making song from Waiting for Guffman. (Which is probably a better pitch than the Elliot Smith-meets-Stereolab comparison.)

Both of those comparisons sound like the BEST THING EVER! I'm on it, chief!

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 22 December 2003 08:40 (twenty-two years ago)

I mean, are you kidding? "From the parlor to the pool room..."

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 22 December 2003 08:41 (twenty-two years ago)

so of course the same day i wondered why i couldnt find the pluramon lp, i found it, but it was 20 freaking euros so forget it

― amateur!st (amateurist), Monday, 22 December 2003 10:49 (twenty-two years ago)

thx mark + dleone for putting MU in yr top 20's.... that record's fucking INSANE. well done.

― Dr. Annabel Lies (Michael Kelly), Monday, 22 December 2003 11:00 (twenty-two years ago)

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