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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | "Jim Kosmicki" <jkosmicki@cccneb.edu> |
| Subject | Fave albums of 2003 (that I actually heard) |
| Date | Tue, 13 Jan 2004 14:07:06 -0600 |
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As others have stated, I know that there are others that, had I heard
them, I'd like as much or more, but of the albums I purchased (or
downloaded from emusic) this year, these are the ones that I found
myself listening to the most. I find that to be an important
distinction. I don't necessarily think that these are the BEST --
Radiohead's new album is artistically better than most of these choices
and I know it, but I don't find myself listening to it very often. THESE
albums, on the other hand, I listen to a lot.
1. Beautiful South - Gaze -- I know this isn't out in the US yet, but I
got it from Amazon.co.uk this year. The reviews that I've read seem to
be disappointed in it, but I'm not. Maybe it's because we don't hear
Beautiful South all the time here in The States, but this album seems as
strong as their others to my ears.
2. Ringo Starr - Ringo-rama -- I can't believe that I'm listing it this
high, but I listen to this album at least 4 or 5 times a week while at
work, and enjoy it every time.
3. Belle and Sebastian -- Dear Catastrophe Waitress
4. Dressy Bessy - s/t -- This band is one of the definite treasures I
discovered through emusic.
5. Michael Carpenter and Kings Road - KingsRdWorks
6. Sparks - Li'l Beethoven
7. Dick Brave and the Backbeats - Dick This! -- anybody remember the
band Big Daddy on Rhino back in the 80s? Their schtick was doing current
Top 40 in the style of 50s rock bands/singers. Dick Brave and the
Backbeats are a German band that do pretty much the same thing, mixed
with some originals. As near as I can tell, this is just a German
release, but I got it anyway and listen to it a lot. Their versions of
Pink's "Get This Party Started," Avril's "Complicated" and Aerosmith's
"Walk This Way" are great cover versions. A German site has streaming
video clips of three covers at http://www.viva.tv/6600.php if you are
interested.
8. The Thrills - So Much for the City
9. Mark Bacino - Million Dollar Milkshake
10. Jet - Get Born
11. Lovetap - There's This Girl -- an album I ordered from Not Lame
because they were sort-of local (from the Omaha area), but my wife and I
found ourselves listening to this quite a bit this summer. Nothing
horribly special here, but good solid pop.
12. Pernice Brothers - Yours, Mine & Ours
13. New Pornographers - Electric Version
14. Travis - 12 Memories
15. Simple Plan - No Pads, No Helmets ... Just Balls
16. Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros - Streetcore -- didn't strike me as
much as the other two with this band did
17. Warren Zevon - The Wind -- would probably be higher if it wasn't so
sad to listen to
18. Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - Hearts of Oak -- in summer, would be Top
Ten, but I may have burned myself out on this one
19. Rancid - s/t
20. Barenaked Ladies - Everything to Everyone -- I know this one got
some negatives earlier, but I don't listen to commercial radio much, I
hadn't heard "the monkey song" to overkill, and I found myself liking
this more than any of their albums since "Maybe You Should Drive"
I really like "Hey Ya" from Outkast as well, but don't care nearly as
much for the rest of the album, causing it to fall under the Top 20. As
with most double albums, there's probably a perfect single album hiding
in this one (and I suspect most of it would be from Andre).
The Coral's new album was good as well, but didn't have that spark that
gets me to listen to it regularly.
I just discovered Firewater from emusic and suspect that had I found
them earlier, at least one of their 2003 releases would have made my
list.
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