Actually Useful 2003 Roundup Thread

Marc covers/reinterprets a slew of Russian songs from throughout the twentieth century, often in collaboration with the original artists. Elegant, romantic, passionate and distinctly different from everything he's done yet in an already varied career.

"The Storks"
"Oh, My Soul"
"Two Guitars"

Tick-tock-tick-tock-tick-tock

Neptunes 'Clones'

'Light your ass on fire'
'Frontin'
'Popular Thug'

track 1
track 4
papaya

(sorry this came as a promo (hahah) with no details)try papaya.

Effectively a 'back to mine' but why should that put you off when the choices are THIS good (not always as obvious as you may think but still accessible and fun to dance to) - a solid, consistent compilation

My Bloody Valentine 'Soon'
Cristina 'What's A Girl To Do'
Codec & Flexor 'Crazy Girls Make My Heart Go Boom'

American robots take the Factory Records template and rock out. Awesome.

Tracks:

Futureworld
Wasteland
Skeletons

Hard Drive
All my Life
Rancho Santa Fe

Better than anything by The Lemonheads.

Freak
Monkeylips
Snot

Rave music. Does not fuck about.

They tried to tell us the 'No New York' revival was this year's big thing. But the shimmering pop-funk-latin-disco on this expanded Ze reissue made those artists and their '03 copycats sound very flat and ordinary indeed (OK there's a bit of overlap, e.g. James Chance, but you know what I mean). Also, you can't have too many mentions of Cristina on this thread.

Lizzy Mercier Descloux - 'Fire'
Aural Exciters - 'Emile (Night Rate)'
Cristina - 'Blame It On Disco'

Deliriously happy pop music with first-rate production.

Collaboration between two Norwegian Greats. MP incidentally lets jazz-influences surface in earlier individual songs (one album's even called Angels and Deamons at Play) but on this one with the horn-section of Jaga Jazzist (a band mixing jazz in the broadest sense of the term with electronica) they take it a step further, and in another direction altogether. A mixture of jazz, rock, folk, fusion and spacerock, to give an idea of what it sounds like (or not). Laidback and intense simultaneously. Prolly not very ILM at all, but I think some of "you" will enjoy it. I do, a lot.

It's just 5 songs in total, but my 3 picks are:
Bombay Brassière
Pills, Powders and Passion Plays
Tristano (the furthest out there. also: 20 mins long, just to warn downloaders)

Cardigans go AOR in all the right ways.

Sideways melodies, interesting rhythms, superior programming.

Simple, evolving loop-based melodies. Steve Reich meets Susumu Yokota.

Unrecorded
Run Into Flowers
In Church

laptop MBV update - i'm often eager to hear records when i hear they're MBV-influenced, and am left disappointed. Not so here - mysterious, melancholic and beautiful.

Kompakt house + Factory Records indie + unst-unst industrial + gushy dreampop + gristly techno

An odd but great psychedelic pop album. A bit folky here, a bit shimmery and soundscapey there, one track sounds a bit like Neu!. When the sun is out, I put this on and it never fails to put me in a good mood.

"Underwater's Where The Action Is"
"Perpetual Night"
"Are You Electric"

(and you can get the first two as mp3s from his website too!)

"You Can't Hurry Love"
"Lovin' Kind"
"Diana Ross"

Somewhere between Thee Headcoatees, Mazzy Star, and the E-Street Band lies the Concretes. Unpolished female vocals and interesting instrumental choices from a revolving cast of eight.

1. Duk Koo Kim
2. Carry Me Ohio
3. Pancho Villa

Runjamesrun
Can You See The Sunrise?
Black Arts In The Town Hall

Eccentric, melodic but oddly wibbly Beahc Boys/Beta Band-fixated spacepop from former Salako fella. Guest starring Simon from Fonda 500, what more do you need? This is fab.

1."Belo Horizonte"
2."Response"
3."Days Of The Liar"

High quality funky groove-centered house/techno. Think Underworld meets Detroit. Most danceable album of the year and without any filler at all.

"Lord Anthony"
"Stay Loose"
"Piazza, New York Catcher"

Why? It's better than the last one.

Mid-80s alternasynth-pop by an Ethiopian-born nu-dadaist filtered through the Neptune's secret weapon. Plenty of thump, plenty of songcraft, plenty of WOW.

"Hellbent"
"Vexed And Glorious/Better Control"
"Yeneh Ababa (Rose)"

That's a hollow compliment if ever there was one.

"Lacuna"
"Shoot"
"Monument"

Violent and delicious music which goes straight for the emotional jugular; tangential melody, warped rhythms and ambitious arrangements leaven the brew.

I Need Your Love
House of Jealous Lovers
Sister Saviour

Lacy sets Beat poetry to spiky chamber jazz. Euro-philes will dig Irene Aebi's rolled r's and Dagmar Krause-esque diction. Jazz-freaks will swoon over George Lewis's contrapuntal 'bone lines.

"Wave Lover"
"A Ring of Bone"
"In the Pocket"

Perfect DJ/MC coalition which sounds like "Bizzare Ride II The Pharycde", except it doesn't.

Tha Only One
Don't Do Drugs
What You Sittin' On?

I tried to write something to justify this record, but it kept coming off really defensive and apologetic. Anyway, I really like this album, I think it's the best thing he's done and might appeal to even people who hate him for his reputation and/or other records. Definitely in my top 3 for the year.

"The Wayback Machine"
"Stamina"
"Cex At Arm's Length"

Because it's the future, fool.

(Alternately: because it's the release that made me sit up and go what-the-fuck the most this year. While still maintaining a groove.)

"Birds In Da Sky"
"Grimey"
"Playa"

Retreat! The Most Familiar
Surprise, It’s Easter
A Thief Detests The Criminal Elements Of The Ruling Class

Think Dexy's meets Roxy meets Love meets Eno meets Camper Van Beethoven meets Beach Boys meets Sparks. Ambitious arrangements, great harmonies, amazing melodies, and, most important, the skill to pull it off so that it doesn't sound like some sloppy indie rock indulgence. For their record release show in Chicago, not only did they cobble together an 18-piece mini-orchestra, there was a bassoon among them. And a gong.

"Curb That Byrd"
"80 Steps to Jonah"
"The True Wheel" (Eno cover)

Liking this (and related like Dego's mix for Goya's Selector Series) makes me feel like I am one step away from liking acid jazz and nu-soul and Fabio-jungle and Kirk Degiorgio-techno, but the combo of slicked-out 2-step with big fucking basslines and rainstick atmospherics gets to me in the worst way.

"Tromboline"
"Having Your Fun (4Hero Remix)"
"Looking For Love (Bugz Remix)"

Ottawa rock&roller playing alarmingly fun music. Modern Lovers-obsessed, pop culture references galore, but also bravely open-hearted without being terribly sappy. But most of all, it really cooks. Nothing fancy, nothing particularly edgy or innovative even, but it makes you believe that the right chords have magical powers.

"Martha"
"Cover It Up"
"Bahamas"

What could have potentially been an embarrassing foray into cross-pollination for both elderstatesmen results in the most laid back, effortless and transcendent 'blues' album of the year.

"Bamako"
"Jackie-ing"
"Malijam"

Another album: the Stills - Logic Will Break Your Heart

"Lola Stars and Stripes"
"Changes Are No Good"
"Still In Love Song"

A short, lovely little record of gentle guitar-driven R&B, evenly matched with his other two. Effortless and inviting like pretty much every other guy with a Buckley-esque falsetto isn't.

“Say It Ain’t Soul”
“(I Was A Teenage) Symphony To God”
“Lately I Want You”

Nostalgia a go go from the outset, but since Superchunk arent likely to make another brilliant album any time soon, I have Ted Leo.

"Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone?"
"Ballad of the Sin Eater"
tracks 3 and 4...i forget the names.

Alt-metal/chamber-pop/post-rock gods. Toolishness and Lowishness and everything inbetween.

Download:

Older
Wood
In Gratitude

Mysteriously not gushed over on ILM, cause it's loaded with great big, sleazy disco/electro grooves. Imagine a Metro Area that believed good taste matters less than tastes good.

"Don't Be a Bad Boy"
"Give It to Me Baby"
"Logarhytmic"

Spanish Indiepop + Mayfield/Philly Soul + more Philly Soul = nice

"Glory Glory"
"Wouldn't You Keep It"
"Looking For Another"

ambitious hip-hop duo conquer the world with their version of ummagumma's second platter, with just as much reefer in tow. not perfect, but amazingly compelling given its scope and length.

"spread"
"the rooster"
"a life in the day of benjamin andré (incomplete)"

The Takeover - "This aint the Streets this is LSK and I was doing this back in the day"
70's 80's Child - Anti-Thatcherism lives on....until she dies (soon)
Walking in the Sunshine - Has anyone else ever covered a Bad Manners song?

Not sure where you can download the above from but LSK did sing a different version of 70’s 80’s child with Nightmares on Wax.

romantic and mel(odic)ancholic late techno full of expert build-ups and tear-downs in a familiar yet inimitable style

untitled-03
untitled-08
untitled-10

Incredibly engaging sometimes jazzy, some times electro, sometimes country pop ode to Michigan.

"Flint (For the Unemployed and the Underpaid)"
"For the Widows In Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti"
"Detroit, Lift Up Your Weary Head!"

Because you can have your mope-rock and still hate Deathcab.

"Consequence"
"One Step Inside Doesn't Mean You Understand"
"Pick Up the Phone"

P.S. Do what the man says and buy that Ex Models record.

Techno that you can listen to unmixed in your bedroom or car, but also works like a charm on the floor and mixed into sets.

1."Belo Horizonte"
2."Emtech"
3."You Think You Know"

listen to the whole thing (in eeeevil ra) here:

http://www.kanzleramt.com/newka/music.php3?action=detail&id=142

Fairytale hardcore splintery digi-whimsy, big-hearted histrionic ultra-soary madrigals of desolation and redemption for ukelele, accordian, laptop, ghostchoir and handclap.

"Paris"
"Don't Say No"
"A Boy Like Me"

The Kills, Keep On Your Mean Side

There's an electrifying, all-consuming chemistry between them; their vocals are like staring contests. For those into sex and power.

"Cat Claw"
"Fried My Little Brains"
"Wait"

Remember Me
Fear Of Drowning
Carrion

Wistful, arch, post-punk-inflected indie rock. Images of the sea and English countryside abound.

Because it's intensely passionate indie rock that makes a strong case for why Pitchfork is still worth reading after all.

Because as soon as I heard "Happy" the first time I made ten comp cdrs for my friends specifically so they could hear it, too.

Because after a week of non-stop listening, "Hopeless" suddenly clicked and may have become my favorite track of the year. I particularly love the piano climax at the end.

Because the synth strings on "Thirteen Grand" remind of Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me-era Cure without making the song sound kitsch at all.

"Happy"
"Hopeless"
"Thirteen Grand"

They finally surpassed EP+2. In my opinion, this is the most undeservedly ignored album of the year. Stunningly gorgeous.

"Kids Will Be Skeletons"
"Hunted By A Freak"
"Golden Porsche"

Utterly boring

"Watch This House"
"Broken Language"
"Telling Lies Will Get You Nowhere"

Very laid-back, but not in that awful Eagles way. The main instruments here are jazz piano and a gypsy-ish guitar, and Howe's vocals are like Lou Reed crossed with Leonard Cohen crossed with a stiff breeze. (If I have one complaint about his voice, it's that he lays on the Lou Reed a little thick sometimes.) The album doesn't really go anywhere or resolve anything, but that's it's strength. It's like a long quiet conversation that you don't want to end.

"Torque (Tango de la Tongue)"
"Felonious"
"The Nashville Sound"

Stew - Something Deeper Than These Changes

I know ILM dislikes the term "singer-songwriter," but when we're talking about an earnest man with a bluesy voice plinking out sad little acoustic numbers with generalized lyrics ("This song's about a mother's love"), I think you'll find it in your heart to forgive me. A lovely chord change here, a clever turn of phrase there. Not a damn thing wrong with that.

"Love Like That"
"Clear Blue Day in Limbo"
"Tomorrow Gone"

Punk rockers with a folk "tinge" on the lash and a bit emotional, but not like that. On Fat Wreck Chords and not generic sanded-down cracker-holler, which is nice.

Cliche Guevara
You Look Like I Need a Drink
Cavalier Eternel

Featuring endlessly fascinating juxtapositions of rough and smooth, this is my favourite easy listening album of the year.

1) No Letting Go
2) Bounce
3) Metal & Steel

Kelis, Tasty

Because I've literally just finished listening to it for the first time and it's the first Kelis album I've loved all the way through immediately (and her other two are two of my favourite albums ever), and it's made even sweeter by the way I was expecting it to be a disappointment, and it has the best closing line of the year.

"Milkshake"
"Trick Me"
"Marathon"

Probably the best Wu-Tang album since Supreme Clientele. RZA tries to cleanse himself of the naughty, naughty Bobby Digital persona and doesn't quite succeed: this failure is what makes things interesting. Full of that tasty tension between being wise and being stooo-pid...

'The Grunge'
'Chi Kung'
'The Birth'

Joe Henry - Tiny Voices

While I have to admit this isn't quite as good as the last one, Scar, Don Byron's contributions here are more substantial than Ornette Coleman's were there. And that's what makes this some of the most remarkable music I've heard in the last 5 years. Jazz orchestration on top of songwriter music is of course nothing new, but avant-maestro-hornblowing is pretty unique. The production is incredibly dark, and his lyrics kill.

"This Afternoon"
"Sold"
"Lighthouse"

Dark and brooding, but in a glitteringly nasty -- not glum, pah! -- way.

"Spring Garden Drive-By"
"Our Bikes Are Silver. Her Bed Is Hers"
"In Its Mouth A Murder. Oh MNML"

Brooding, melodic, powerful, beautiful. And Jarboe sings on it.

The Package
Weak and Powerless
Pet/Lullaby

Coz, they were good, and now you can have their greatest hits and a DVD of three of their videos, well at least the Belgian import comes with one one. Were they big in Belgium? Anyway, crisp and bright classic-ish pop.

1) Let's Go Down To The Town Oasis
2) Vertical Lives
3) Hey Hey You Say

I was first alerted to this when it made Momus's list of the top 5 of 2003 so far. I won't speculate as to any similarities of this album to Momus's ouevre, but what you have here is light, playful, jazzy laptronica to warm the hearts of corny indie fuxx0rs everywhere. Instead of your typical spastic IDM dick-waving contest ("My beats are faster/weirder/harder than yrs"), Michel gives us old-fashioned pleasures (melody, hooks, impish lyrics) in a new-fashioned context. Imagine Fred Frith's Gravity as performed by the Pet Shop Boys.

"Theme Song"
"Star Spangled"
"Glide"

What Side Two of No New York should have been. Speed-spazz singing, guitar notes falling from the sky, electrobeats in a crossfire with drum beats, appliances flying everygoddamnwhere, synths building mountains and heaving blobs of fire - and an organ playing sillysoul sounds, like we're 1966 and headed for the shindig.

"Pink Motorcycle Helmet"
"When It Comes to Elements, Hydrogen Is Titz"
"Keep It on the LO-LO"

www.actiondriver.com

Universally dismissed because hey, it’s a double album from the posse of a barely platinum rapper with questionable fashion sense, but seriously, this record is almost too insane not to love. They take the Roc soul loop formula to its breaking point while rapping about beating women and comparing themselves to the Taliban. Key quote: “we talk real shit, man...well, not all the time...we talk some bullshit too.”

“I Really Mean It”
“Who I Am”
“What’s Really Good”

-- Al (hoteloper...)

http://dipset4eva.blogspot.com