An Ear For An Era: 2003

2003 was a year of the heavy hitters. The big dogs. Massively massive albums. The year of over selling things.

I turned 20. That was pretty neat.

It was also the first year I really started getting into the "ranking the albums of the year" practice that I have obsessed over since. The year I recognized years as the next unit up from album. This year was way better than that year. The basis for this whole thing, I guess, kind of came from these exercises. So all of these albums I'll talk about, let's just say they could all be called album of the year. Maybe. We'll see how this goes.

The #1 Dance Punk or Whatever Album of 2003:
Pitchfork ranked the #1 album of 2003 as Echoes by The Rapture. I wonder if they have any regrets about that. It seems like they were trying to capture the band that most exemplified the most NOW sound of those days. Or something. The whole dance punk craze. But damn it, it is an amazing album. Does it outrank the other ones I'm going to talk about? I guess Pitchfork thinks so. What is it about this album? I have no qualms calling it the best entry in that whole dance punk world. DFA production. Passion upon passion. It really is punk rock. I think I probably got into this around 2004. But maybe that all ages dance night I went to would play "House of Jealous Lovers" and I got really good at dancing listening to that song. When I started going to Lipgloss (the 21+ "hipster or whatever" dance night) in 2004 it was possibly my #1 jam.

The Rapture "House of Jealous Lovers"

Lesser dance punk entries (I guess I can use this format):

• Metric- Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? Right before they really hit their peak, this debut album is a good taste of the good stuff.
• Electric Six- Fire. Kind of ridiculous. I still enjoy about 3 of the songs but it feels pretty dated compared to the rest of the crop.
• Ladytron- Softcore Jukebox. Can I put a mix tape here? Ladytron demonstrated their impeccable taste with this mix including My Bloody Valentine, Pop Levi, and a bunch of people I haven't heard of. And closed it off with Nancy & Lee!
• Ima Robot- Ima Robot. They were pretty fun. I saw them live at the Larimer Lounge (I bet Black Black Ocean opened up the show) from the front row. Good times!
• Les Savy Fav- Inches. Okay, there is nothing at all "lesser" about LSF. They are kings of this stuff. Inches was a compilation in reverse chronological order of a series of singles they put out over the years. Behold! De-evolution! But a good third of those singles were from 2003 anyway. So this album just kicks off with a series of amazing dance punk tracks of pure energy and pandemonium. Possibly my favorite 6 tracks by the band.
• Black Black Ocean- Operacion and Vultures for Permanent Fix. They were my favorite local Denver band. Always getting uncomfortably close. I'll talk about them more when I talk about their final album.
• The couple songs LCD Soundsystem put out in 2003 were great. "Give It Up" is still an all-time favorite. I kind of want to do that song karaoke some day.
• Let's put Polysics here! Neu is such a masterpiece in their new wave psycho psycho punk style, probably their best. Before Myspace Records or whatever discovered them, they were just a crazy Japanese band that Asian Man imported. I had no reference for this sound, as much as they insisted Devo were their major influence. It just sounded out of this world to me. This album in particular, it is a little more nuanced than Hey Bob! My Friend! It has some slower songs that build energy and the whole album is just pure joy.

Polysics "Black Out Fall Out"

The #1 Album of I Still Listened to Some of The Same Bands I've Always Listened To:
I'm sure much of the indie/emo crowd ranked the #1 album of 2003 to be The Ugly Organ by Cursive. If I'd been honest at the time I probably would have as well. I probably had it way up there. One of the first albums I pre-ordered from the record label for mailorder. I got it at my place in Boulder. And listened to it on vinyl. A lot. It was just so brutally honest about the artistic process and other personal things that just came crashing out. Such a good sound of chaos as well, with minor chords being played on said organ. Yet promising. The cello (this is their only full album with that cello!!) just brings in the hope and the sadness. I just think of the end of the song "A Gentleman Caller." When the cello comes in. Here, just listen to it (listen to the whole song):

Cursive "A Gentleman Caller"

The cello is what I associate with the line "the worst is over..."


Honorable albums of I still listened to some of the same bands I've always listened to (?):

• The Lawrence Arms- The Greatest Story Ever Told. Probably their most concepty album. And I loved it from the first notes I heard of it. This was when they were my favorite band. It just kind of felt like a celebration of how awesome they were.  And the three years between this one and the next one made it feel like some sort of final statement on the "middle" era of the band. They were very productive up until this point. Anyway, this was probably easily in my top 5 at the time.
• Alkaline Trio- Good Mourning. Such a complicated relationship I have with Alkaline Trio. I loved their first couple, hated Infirmary, and then quite liked Good Mourning, but not enough to buy anything they've put out since. I listened to this one like 6 times in a row once I got it and I got quite fond of it. Good personal songs, good sadness.
• Mike Park went solo (officially) on For the Love of Music. Less ska, very personal acoustic music. Gotta dig it.
• The Smoking Popes went Christian (officially) with the band Duvall. I liked the songs that were less obvious about being preachy. I saw them live. It was great and I thought it would be my only chance to see members of the actual Smoking Popes live.
• Ted Leo & The Pharmacists- Hearts of Oak. For some reason I didn't get into them as much as my peers at the time but now I know better. This is some great punk rock.
• The Honor System- Rise and Run. They brought a lot more energy into their sound here while keeping the passion and poetic political lyrics. Fantastic!
• The Weakerthans- Reconstruction Site. All of his albums are so great. All.
• Black Eyes- Black Eyes. Holy crap. I need to listen to this one over and over again. I didn't get this album until they'd broken up even though I got their second one. Another case of things being hard to find back in the day. But this is one of the best hardcore albums I own that I haven't listened to enough.
• The Suicide Machines tried to redeem themselves with A Match And Some Gasoline. I liked it okay. It sounded just like their first two albums, which were the ones I liked.

Officially The Best Acoustic or Something Music of 2003:
I didn't know anything about Sufjan Stevens until Illinois, but the start of his 2 States Project was Greetings From Michigan: The Great Lake State. A lovely album of sadness and sorrow and some hope as well, a very personal album and a great showcase of his arranging skills. You can just hear the love he has for the state all over this album.

Honorable Acoustic or Something:

• Songs: Ohia put out the album Magnolia Electric Co and it was fantastic stuff.
• The Handsome Family- Singing Bones. Hey, it has that True Detective song on it! 
• Jose Gonzalez- Veneer. Because it is the one.
• Cat Power- You Are Free. This showed her starting to branch out and incorporate different styles/arrangements. I haven't given this one its fair shake but I've been obsessed with everything she's put out since, and listening to this recently I could tell why. Here's another one for the obsession.
• Nina Nastasia- Run to Ruin. This was the Nina Nastasia album it took me forever to track down. But I've been a fan of hers since right around this time. She was probably the first female solo artist for me to get into. I just love how she puts her voice up and down like a rollercoaster on "I Say That I Will Go."

Nina Nastasia "I Say That I Will Go"

The Greatest Hip Hop Album of The Entire Year of 2003:
This is another one that is obviously well regarded a dozen years later. Or should I say another TWO? That's right, I'm talking about Outkast. Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. Because my ex girlfriend was obsessed with Outkast I was able to be aware of this when it was new. Also there was the fact that nobody on this planet was going to escape "Hey Ya!" the earworm that would not go away but would not get old. The Onion mini-headline "Outkast Universally Accepted" kind of said it all. We were all cool with Outkast at this time. I feel like everything's been said about this. Big Boi's Speakerboxxx is a crazy accomplishment in that it is a full album where it's all bangers, no bar is wasted, it doesn't let up. It gets overlooked because of its game-changing accompanying disc, but on its own it could be the #1 hip hop album of the year or more. And then Andre 3000's The Love Below is a crazy good experiment that went right. Channeling Prince, it's not really hip hop at all. Just brilliant experimental pop music. I don't know, have you heard "Hey Ya" before? It's a pretty catchy tune!

Honorably Hip Hop:

• Kid Koala- Some of My Best Friends Are DJs. A DJ album! All scratches! I discovered him through the fact that he worked with Deltron 3030. And then I found out he had solo material. This is so like nothing else I'd ever heard. Jazz music created by turntables. Far out, man!
• Madlib- Shades of Blue. Then this similar idea but way different execution. Madlib remixing/reimagining the Blue Note catalog!
• Jaylib- Champion Sound. The album with Jay Dilla rapping! And Madlib! The two most respected producers in early '00s hip hop (don't quote me on that) working together to mixed results. Hey, I like the song with Talib Kweli!
• Hieroglyphics- Full Circle. I don't know this one as well as their other one but they are quite a crew.
• Jay-Z- The Black Album. It took me longer than perhaps it should have for me to discover this one. I finally did before he came out of retirement, so I did get to experience it as his "final album." Such a great final statement for an artist to make, all-encompassing, his autobiography. And "99 Problems." Of course. The whole thing just sounds like victory.
• Ludacris- Chicken N Beer. This one holds a special place in my heart because it's the first Ludacris album I actually bought. It's a bit ridiculous but has a couple songs I still like quite a bit, particularly "Hip Hop Quotables."

The Probably One Of The Most If Not The Most Loved Album 12 Years Later Album of 2003:
In retrospect, this might be the real #1 album of 2003 as a universal truth. Depending on your opinions of Outkast and The White Stripes and whatever. But this one has really stuck around. I'm talking of course about Give Up by The Postal Service. One of those albums I can completely agree with my wife on (although The Ugly Organ also shares that distinguishment). Sure, "Such Great Heights" may have been overplayed but these days it is still a treat to hear. Ten tracks that all kind of have the same feel, but it's such a great feel. Tamborello's production toed the line between cold and comforting, distant and embracing. Something completely organic produced by something completely digital sounding. Gibbard's vocals were completely on point, his lyrics relatable and familiar, it's just a lovely unassuming record that accomplishes so much. A little side project that may have been the best work either of them ever put out.

The Postal Service "Nothing Better"

And Finally! My Officially Declared Album of 2003 As Declared In 2003 So It Doesn't Matter What I Think 12 Years Later:
When I got De-Loused in the Comatorium by The Mars Volta I didn't know what prog was. I thought it was something boring like jazz. I only knew that this was a crazy ambitious album with lots of long songs, arranged like a crazy symphony. It was the guys from At The Drive-In with all the vision and to me it was the most amazing thing I'd ever heard. I remember listening to it once and thinking, "why do I even listen to pop music? I should start only listening to music like this." I thought it was so beyond everything else out there. So I had to call it my #1. Someone else on my message board put it a little lower on his list saying he didn't rank it higher because he doesn't actually listen to it enough. I chided him (slightly) and said that was his problem, not the album's. Of course, now I know what he meant. It's not like your personal ranking can't take personal subjectivity into account. Anyway, looking at all the other stuff that came out this year, I can't say I still think this is the best of 2003 but it's a hell of a ride all the same. They had a way with energy, these guys. It translated well from At The Drive-In because they were able to harness crazy amounts of energy and then unleash it in such a beautiful way.

The Mars Volta "Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)"

The Rest of the Honorable Mentions:

• Hail to the Thief by Radiohead was the other album I put up on top of my list at the time, maybe at #2 or 3 or 4. The other one I listened to when I wanted to get away from all the "pop" stuff. Good and political and stuff. I liked the politicalness of it.
• I don't know where to put Feast of Wire by Calexico. It is awesome and probably deserving of being #1 on some list somewhere. #1 Calexico? Maybe!!
• Early Okkervil River! I got a song off of Down The River of Golden Dreams once upon a time because I liked their name. I liked that song. I looked for their stuff everywhere and eventually gave up. The song was "The War Criminal Rises and Speaks." I still love that song. Eventually they got very popular and I became more of an official fan.
• Is Apple O' Deerhoof's best? I think of it as quintessential Deerhoof-from-before-I-knew-them.
• Janelle Monae's debut Audition gives just the faintest hint about what she would go on to achieve.
• Poodle Hat was Weird Al just throwing it all out the window. That's what I felt when I heard what the album would be called and saw the cover. Is that his most random cover? Might be. Just might be. In general it may be a slightly lesser Weird Al album, but that might just be my opinion. But there are some gems, especially "Bob." Doing an artist parody of Bob Dylan and making every line a palindrome is one of the most poetic things one could do. I still can pull out random lines from that song to demonstrate palindromes. A Toyota's a Toyota. Do Geese See God? Do Nine Men Interpret? Nine Men, I Nod.
• Yeah, Goldfrapp was neat too.
• So was The National!
• And Beaulah. Yoko was their last album! It was funny, it took me forever to get Yoko even though I loved the band because I'd found an exclusive indie record store "demos" version of it, so I already had and knew all the songs, just in demo version. When I finally got the album, I think I decided I liked the demo versions better...
• Hey, early Dirty Projectors!
• Where else do I put Elephant by The White Stripes? This seems so wrong to put them way down here! But they did get their due. I remember tons of magazines and such put this as their #1 album of 2003 so who cares if my little blog throws it down here? I didn't really get into The White Stripes until their next album. "Seven Nation Army" is a classic tune though. And it seems like they're having fun. Expanding their palate a bit. 
• Oh, if I only had known about TV On The Radio in 2003. The Young Liars EP came out and would have blown me away. I waited until they had a full-length album before finding out about them though.
• The New Pornographers - Electric Version. Because they are fun!
• Is Transatlanticism the best Death Cab for Cutie album? Please discuss.
• Elvis Costello doing piano based love songs! North is the name of the album. Pretty good, but I like everything he does.

What Happens Next?
I'm glad you asked! After 2003 comes 2004. 2004 includes music from the likes of Annie, Arcade Fire, Battles, Black Black Ocean, Black Eyes, some album from Brian Wilson called Smile, CocoRosie, Descendents (!), DeVotchKa, a double Elvis Costello release, The Ex, Franz Ferdinand, The Go! Team, Jens Lekman, some kid named Kanye West, Le Tigre, Madvillain, Modest Mouse gets huge, Scissor Sisters, TV On The Radio, and !!!. Among other things.