your favorite MOMENTS of 2003 so far...

"if you're not mad you're not paying attention!" + riffage

So: Just after the second chorus on Lambs

The first 10 seconds of Blue Summer

The bit in The Drinker where the lyrics go "And I say" and then a guitar solo takes over, and it distinctly feels like it's saying a sentence that evaporates when I try and look at it closely.

Also:

The bit on Visitor by Luomo where she sings "I doubt you wanna make me burn" for the first time and the bass bubbles away underneath, where you realize there's no kick drum and there ought to be but at the same time it is better that there isn't.

Corny variety: Seeing Fleetwood Mac perform "The Chain Live."

College throwback variety: Attending Phish's summer tour opener -- best show I've seen them play in 9 years.

Otherwise: Hearing David Banner's Mississippi for the first time (Eat a dick, bitch!!!!!).

E-mailing Howe Gelb back and forth.

And rushes via disc: DBT's Decoration Day -- "Rock n roll means well/But it can;t help telling youg boys lies"; Robert Lockwood Jr.'s '73 disc Contrasts (amazing!!), and putting Fog's "What a Day Day" on repeat and noticing it gets stronger after each listen.

the mass lezzing up of tatu at mtv video awards.

The key change in Luomo's "What Good," which sends a ripple down the spine of the track--the most purely ecstatic moment I can recall since pick-your-fave-from-Discovery. Also the moment when he starts cutting up "I-I-I ain't g-g-got an-an-anything else" in "So You"--rapture eruption in excelsis

from the same song, Ja Rule ad-lib/shadowing "some may hate" by saying "hate on me"

In Girls Aloud's "Girls Allowed": the bit at the end where it momentarily becomes a minimalist, bassy club track, then switches back to high-octane disco. Also in "Some Kind of Miracle" the line "I kinda smile as if the whole thing's so passe", replaced with "I roll my eyes as if I don't care anyway" in the subsequent verse.

In Sean Paul's "Samfy I": "Well I've been a lot of places and I've seen a lot of faces and I've had a lot of ladies on a REGULAR REGULAR basis!"

Definitely second the duet in "Rock Your Body".

Oh and R. Kelly: "LIKE TWO GORILLAS IN THE JUNGUUUUULLLL, MAKING LOOOOOOOVE!" and then the hypnotic beat comes back all by itself without the attendent flute riffs.

"Ladies and Gentlemen - Miss Grace Jones" Being two feet away from Grace Live in Glasgow when she came down to the audience.

Gossip Folks - "why dont you buff these pumas' for 20 cents so your lights don't get cut off/ ya saggy assed cow stomachs"

Seeing the James Orr Complex @ Stereo

Michael Dracula - "Just walk right up to him, and tell him you HATE HIM... Tell him you HATE HIS GUTS"

Nina Nastasia asking for an audience member to get her a whisky to calm her down one song in at King Tuts.

"it feels like somethin's heatin up, can i leave wit' you" / "I don't know but i'm thinking bout really leavin' wit' you"

"Love is an object kept in an empty box"/ " how can something be in an empty box?" from (smog)'s Truth Serum

"you know i gave that horse a carrot so he'd break your foot" it's true that we love one another

"its a motherfucker, dont you know?" yo la tengo's cover of nuclear war

hot in herre?

"i am lost... i am lost..." The Moment Paddy Macaloon starts singing on the new
prefab sprout elpee

he sings "come closer" my morning jacket

Hearing "feeling good" at optimo the weekend after NINA died

the whole of the present lover

the way that jay-z being so bad makes beyonce sound so, so good

seeing people dancing to fuck u sign at a dancehall night, flipping the bird rhythmically to the line "show them the fuck u sign"

jumping out of my seat upon hearing bagpipes in ward 21's "badda than dat"

the weird hollow bass noise, like blowing into the top of a beer bottle, in ward 21's petrol being exactly the same sound that drives a huge amount of grime garage...

luomo's remix of dub talor and vital...

the litle baby gurgle before the bassline kicks in on luciano's "amelie on ice"

reviving getting away with it by electronic as my favourite all-time end-of-the-night djing track

- Noriko Tujiko?s voice eking out from behind the wash of bubbles in ?White Film?: ?you?re so beautiful?;
- 2:32 into ?Losing Grip? and the guitars drop and her voice is just the prettiest thing and (?why should I care??) then it all collapses again (chk-chk);
- ?I?m standing on the bridge, I?m waiting in the dark... there?s nothing but the rain, no footsteps on the ground...?;
- ?Don?t hold your self like that, cos you?ll hurt your knees. I kissed your mouth and back...?;
- The real tentative (scared reticent child-like scared) xylophone intro to Closer Musik?s ?Departures?;
- ?Twist an MC like David Platt?
- ?We be hollerin? YOO-HOO, we be hollerin?...?;
- Then they completely dropped the serenity in favour of rhythm but not just silly drum-led rhythm but big stabby synthquake rhythm, bishy-bashy riffs and sexy hypnotic vocals: ?Strict Machine?;
- ?I?m in love, I?m in love, I?m. in. love. with your Strict Machiii-iiine?;
- That moment when I was walking up the grassy knoll that leads to my house (it always sends me into needing the toilet this walk) and I started thinking that Jaylib?s ?The Red? was about boys being alright with having sex with menstruating girls (wtf?) (?y?all niggers ain?t up to the red?);
- The first perfect harpsichord (geddit?) of Koji Kondo?s ?The Legend of the Hero? unfolding out into the point (previously an asymptote) (now a standard) where the medieval meets the Neptunes in Japan at a conference on Gamelan;
- ?uh-ohhhhhhh, uh-ohhhhhhhhhhhh, uh-ohhhhhhhh?;
- ?If you don?t have credit on yr cellular, you are WRONG!?;
- ?This is Hotness, making you drop this, making you rock this, living la vidaaaaaaaa?;
- ?So take a look at me now, there?s just an empty space?;
- John?s ?Ignition (Remix)? thread;
- and ?Ignition (Remix)?;
- every last second of it;
- and all the first seconds of it;
- Roll Deep?s mystery elegy (?I luv girls, I luv sex... I wish I didn?t think so much...?) being the most beautiful thing;
- ?Get Busy? never really starts and never really stops;
- ?This ain?t a game, it?s too good to be a game? becoming my argument tactic of the year, perfect way to salve a hot air or an uncomfortable silence by reminding both of us (arguing) that this is all too good to be game, really;
- &c. &c. &c.

- The pistol-cocking sound in the "Pulp fiction" remix

- The xylophone kind of thing in Roscoe's "Smooth sailin'"

- The road-drill bit in the "Satisfaction" video

- When the verse segues straight into the chorus on Get Busy so's you don't notice at first

- "You think I'm a puuuuuuuunk"

Wait, wait wait.....does he really sing this???? "Like Two Gorillas In the Jungle, Making Love"????? Song title, please!!! I simply MUST hear this!!!

-the first mentasm-esque riff on redeemer's 'hardcore owes us money'

Senior saying "and all your troubles will be dead and gone!"

the whistling at the end of Electric Six's "Synthesizer." This is as good a place as any to note I'd like this song to be played during my funeral procession.

realizing Mick Jagger rhymes "messianic" with "satanic" on "Monkey Man" also when he states he's glad your his "monkey girl" (what didn't you people hear music this year that wasn't from this year?)

when those ladies rushed the stage like screaming Usher fans while I sang "Opposites Attract" at Karoake. Niiiiiiice.

Ludacris warming up to do his verse in "Gossip Folks", saying "Uh-huh, OK? Yeah" or something.

"I've Got Something to put IN You!"

Ludacris referencing Kindgarten Cop in "Gossip Folks". Rappers, please reference more things I actually know about.

"The bells ring no-no-no no-no-no no-no-no-no-noooooo...."

Everyone has their Cat Power moment...

The little girls singing on Good Woman

Thw Blow, "What Tom Said About Girls" - beatboxing precussion and the appearance, about a minute in, of cheezy '93 Dr. Dre whining keyboards like you remember from his and Snoop's old videos.

the big lumbering guitar kickign in on SFA's "Golden Retriver"

2:22 on TV on the Radio's "Satellite" when the recorders kick in.

the chorus on David Banner's "Bush"

the rogue drumbeat on Manitoba's "Skunk" unleashed on on 2:15

appearance of guitar on "House of Jealous Lovers" at 0:52

every second of Deerhoof's "My Diamond Star Car"

Elephant Man: "Take to da dancefloor like ya step on crime!" in "On Line", and the first time you realise that the chorus for "Making Money" stills the na-na-na tune from "Without Me". Also, "Elephant Man pudding & pie, kiss the girls and make dem cry, when da girls came out to play, Elephant Man.... GIVE HER IT GOOD!" And also his pseudo-falsetto backing vocals in the operatic bits in "Tall Up Tall Up".

Alex, the R Kelly tune is "Snake".

The White Stripes live. Esp. "Hotel Yorba".

kelis sassy 'my milkshake is better than yours'

- "I'm the lady sippin' Baileys while I strut like a model / If the ladies wanna hate me I just send 'em a bottle", and every other moment on Beyonce's 'In Da Club' where she effortlessly surpasses 50's version.

- the moment on the Rapture album when you first recognise the 'House Of Jealous Lovers' bassline coming in under the crowd noise and feedback that ends the previous track.

- "We got food everywhere, as if the party was catered."

- Neko Case & co gearing up for the chorus of The New Pornographers' 'Miss Teen Wordpower' - "Nobody knows the record or song..." (I may have the lyrics slightly wrong) - you can feel the euphoria building until explodes with that "THE WAY YOU DO!"

- the moment where 'Electrobix' by Scissor Sisters suddenly becomes poignant as well as superbly bitchy - "I've never felt so alone!"

(The CD has several triffic moments btw, incl a very fine Elephant Man guest slot.)

I have to agree, but also add all of his verses.

Anyone know if that Hip Hop Connection freebie is on slsk?

Lyndsey Buckingham's production on "Red Rover"
The skree solo on Ween's affecting "I Don't Want it"
The anchorless drift of Animal Collective's "Two Sails On A Sound"
Fannypack for confounding my expectations
The swirling snyths that step Sole's "Shoot The Messenger" up a gear
The way Girls Aloud's "All I Need All I Don't" sweeps in after it it's muted radio intro
Second dibbs on Borneo & Sporenburg's "Boys In Shorts", but for reanimating the Steve Reich sample The Orb used on "Little Fluffy Clouds" in a way that didn't make you think of The Orb

so much more. i have favorite moments every or every other day.
m.

- "i can't feel myself! i wanna feel myself like tweet!"
- the weird-ass "there's spiders in here!" outro in "hotness"
- beep-beep-beep-"WOO!"-and then the creepy ass john carpenter dancehall groove kicks in on jay's "la la la"
- timbaland beat boxing "she'll be comin round the mountain"
- the extended looped-chaka outro of the single version of "thru the wire" (the dj: "what the hell was that?")
- wiley's follow-the-bouncing-bongos patterns
- the melody ribbon after "...and let it go" in "birthday"
- the wedding singer outrro to "step in the name of love"
- the smeary reversed strings in track 2 of the mayer fabric mix
- the monk-in-the-echo-chamber piano at the beginning of umod's "tromboline"
- "i don't like chains, i don't like whips, i don't like pain, that's not my shit (it hurts!)"
- the splash-mercury-in-yr-eyelids snare hits on "plug it in"
- the "ooh i like it" outro beeps on "plug it in"
- "i would just like to say i feel great"
- the guitar in "my first song" (it will be looped forever when i die)
- "hi ladies." "hi elephant man!" "where you from ladies?" "we from tokyo, jap-an."

more to come today.

If I'm allowed a second moment, it would be the moment a few seconds into "Chrono" by Kraftwerk where they decide to use their snare drum for the first time after 15 minutes of pure hi-hat and bass drum, a classic Kraftwerk moment.

Frankly I get the feeling I've not heard enough new music this year. I think I'm getting old.

-"Damn right, it's better than yours"
-"He'll get a rise, you'll get a raise!" from Lene Nystrom's It's Your Duty
-"No! MORE! LIES!" - Lisa Kekaula rides the Jaxx beat like a surfer on a tidal wave
-The bit in Rufus Wainwright's Oh What A World where it segues into Ravel's Bolero - so audacious, so flamboyant, such FLOUNCE
-Carina Round, live, switching from one of her songs with no warning into a bug-eyed, hair-flailing interpolation of "I Wanna Be Your Dog"
-The way the beat and background sounds get really frenetic on the "pop that, pop that, jiggle that fat" line in Pass That Dutch
-on my mp3 of Tori Amos covering Purple Rain live for the first time ever, the moment where everyone realises what song it is and goes mental - trumped only by the way she tackles the high notes at the end
-"In a minute I'm-a take-a you oooonnnn"
-that freaky whispered "don't look at me" at the start of Xtina's Beautiful
-"You spent ten grand!" "Oh, damn!" on MC Shystie's reworking of I Luv U
-"Shake it like a Polaroid picture!"
-Lisa Maffia slipping into patois on All Over

White Stripes chanelling Queen all of the sudden - "Ahhhhhhhh there's no home for you here girl go away, there's no home for you here."

The Shins pre-echo chorus to close out "Turn A Square" - "I can't just, I can't just, I can't just stay the course"

The Noonday Underground vs Cut Copy: The part where 'The Light Brigade' invents filter 80s rock.

Simon Amstell vs The Fast Food Rockers/Simon Amstell meets Clea - "I was thinking bush."

"So chill out-whoooooaaa" (semi-serious silly moment).

Getting some great props off bar bosses for pre-graduation DJ sets.

The chorus to Blazin' Squad's 'Flip/Reverse' dumbed down for mums by a Popjustice parent: "Girl/I really fancy you rotten/And if you let me/I'm gonna shag your bottom."

Dizee: "OOIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"

Kish Kash:
The outro to the Jaxx's 'Plug It In', beginning with JC going "Just plug it in".

Every "Round, round, round we go!" bit in 'Lucky Star', plus "Lucky Star!/Right here!"

JC's intro scream/Dizzee's screams/"Yo-yo-yo-yooo" on 'Cish Cash'

X-Factor:
'Being Nobody': "Hello, my name is Michelle...hellooo (ladies), my name is Tony...and my name is Jessica *giggle*"

'You Used To': choruses: "Yoooouuuu used to (USED TA!)/Used to hold (USED TA!)/Used to hold me (USED TA!)/Used to hold me so/Tiiiii-iiigghht (You used to hold me so ti-iiight!)"
Wordy bits during long bridge: "Baby, I remember/When you used to hold me so tight (You used to hold me so ti-ight)"

'Lemon/Lime': "Right/Wrong/Elton/*BEEEP*/Ad/Vance/No/Chance/Arma/geddon/David/Sne*BEEEP*/White/Line/Good/Time"

'You Better Let Me Love You': "Sister!/I'm your Daddy!" plus "I'm you Daddy"'s liberal cut-up in the final refrain.

Bubba Sparxxx: the part in 'Nowhere' where Kiley Dean leads into 'Cry Me A River'. See also: "The damage is done so I guess I be leaving."

I'm so honoured, it "feeeels like a midget is hanging from my necklahssss!"