The Top Fifty Favorite Albums Of 2003 - Pt.3

The rankings are getting tough. I will push on, and I will publish with reckless abandon these next ten records. What can I say? These are all must own records, for sure. So if you don’t have them, then go buy them.

30. Daniel Johnston – Fear Yourself 72.17
Daniel Johnston and his records have been scrutinized since the early 90s when hipsters began to collaborate on his releases. Not to retread history, but in the early-to-mid-80s Johston recorded his own material on his own boombox; as he became more noticed (by those in the Austin, TX music scene) mid-profile rock stars worked with him. There has been endless debate on whether Johnston’s records are as good as his collaborators or if they are as good as his songs. I choose the latter. On Fear Yourself, Johnston’s melodies and lyrics are superbly complimented by Sparklehorse’s Mark Linkous’ instrumentation and arrangements. “Fish” is a wonderful song, simple and catchy. “Mountain Top” and “Love Not Dead” are great upbeat rockers with Johnston delivering his melodies most excellently. “Syrup Of Tears”, “Must”, and “Forever Your Love” (Johnston’s piano is absolutely radiant) are uncomfortably heartbreaking ballads. Linkous helped bring Johnston’s songs to a level never before reached.

29. Baxter Dury – Len Parrott’s Memorial Lift 74.33
The son of legendary cult rocker Ian Dury, Baxter Dury makes a debut that would make his pops proud. Baxter’s record is a weird one, most definitely. Heavy and laid-back pysch-pop recalls Beck as well as countless Nuggets 2 unheard ofs. Portishead’s Adrian Utley and Geoff Barrow collaborate on a couple tracks with “Gingham Smalls 2” being a standout cut. “Lucifer’s Grain” has to be nod to Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd (and it’s a terrific song; like Elliott Smith doing Barrett). I suppose in my younger years, I’d call this drug music, but now, I just call it good.

28. Guided By Voices – Earthquake Glue 70.57
This record really is a puzzlement. On one hand, it seems like Bob Pollard is trying to rock harder than he ought, allowing his songs to be bloated with classic rock riffs; while on the other hand, I cannot deny the melodies and hooks. It seems that Pollard is letting his Wire fan-geek shine through a bit more than usual on this record with it’s jagged, angular guitar riffs (“Useless Inventions”, “Of Mites And Men”), as well as his admiration for the Who (“She Goes Off At Night”, “Apology In Advance”, “Secret Star”). Still, the record contains undeniable Pollard genius such as the trademark GBV of “My Kind Of Soldier” and the genius “The Best Of Jill Hives.” This baby got some seriously heavy rotation when I got it, but faded into the stacks about a month later.

27. The Raveonettes – Chain Gang Of Love 71.60
“That Great Love Sound” and “Heartbreak Stroll” are monumental songs that really demonstrate the greatness that The Raveonettes have in them. But the rest of the record treads a bit too closely to Honey’s Dead-era The Jesus & Mary Chain. There is nothing that I hate more than blatantly derivative records. The reason I couldn’t write this off is the songs are very much there. Recorded with the self-imposed constraint of being in booming b-flat major, the sound had to reflect TJAMC. The melodies are entirely catchy, the hooks are so there, and the choruses are almost too damn catchy. This is terrific pop, even though it may slag too much from those noisy Scots.

26. The Delgados – Hate 76.83
While discussing this record with a friend, he remarked, “Holy shit! The strings are over-the-top, it’s as if they said, why have a ten-piece orchestra, when we could have a 100,000 piece orchestra!” Yes, the strings are the first thing you are confronted (and yes I mean confronted) with on Hate, but they aren’t the whole story. Terrific lyrics and vocals (by Emma Pollock and Alun Woodward), The Delgados have a great schtick with their sweet, slightly melancholy, melodies and downright cynical lyrics. There really isn’t a dud on the record, it’s just a bit too long.

25. Sun Kil Moon – Ghosts Of The Great Highway 71.05
Mark Kozelek makes a triumphant return from his AC/DC cover laden “solo” career with his new band Sun Kil Moon. Ghosts Of The Great Highway is not a departure from Kozeleks more well known Red House Painters, but who cares. I don’t even know why I brought it up. “Glenn Tipton” is an excellent opening track that softly segues into “Carry Me Ohio” an absolutely gorgeous track (that should have been somewhere on my Top Fifty Songs). “Gentle Moon” is a lovely tune exuding a severe “Katy Song” vibe. The garage rock Kozelek style of “Lilys And Parrots” dominates. Unfortunately, the record is pulled down by the mediocre “Si Paloma” and the indulgent excruciating “Duk Koo Kim” which impacts the AQM to be a bit lower than it otherwise would be.

24. Grandaddy – Sumday 77.75
I docked the Super Furry Animals for being too straightforward given their past; well, here I laud Grandaddy for reigning in the experimental tendencies and being more basic. First, this is one of those records I can play top-to-bottom and enjoy each song, listening, even singing along to each track. Second, Grandaddy’s songwriting has gotten much stronger over each of their releases, the melodies are nice and easy and unique enough (even though Jason Lytle’s vocals can get annoying if ingested too often). The straight pop of “Now It’s On”, the lush indie rock of “Lost On Yer Merry Way” (love the driving guitars), to the epic “O.K. With My Decay,” Grandaddy creates a record that is consistent and captivating.

23. Starflyer59 – Old 76.30
From Bandoppler Magazine, Issue One: “This is not chaos,” Martin insists. “I don’t believe in chaos in songwriting. There is an order to it. It either makes sense or it doesn’t. The chord goes into this chord for a chorus. It’s two plus two.” Well, J.Martin, math isn’t so easy for everyone as it is for you. Old is a record that finds Starflyer59 tweaking their sound once again: early on it was noisy shoegaze, in the late 90s it was indie pop, now it’s…. prog pop? Post-punk-orch-psych-pop? Whatever it is it succeeds. Shoot, “First Heart Attack” pulls out the stops full-on Pink Floyd (and not the hipster lauded Syd Barrett Floyd!). The addition of drum maestro Frank Lenz and Dicky Swift with his keyboard prowess and hot falsetto bgvs add potency to the elixir. “Underneath”, “Major Awards”, “New Wife, New Life”, “The Kissing Song”, “The Lights On” and “Unbelievers” are solid tunes. Ten year on and SF59 keeps getting better.

22. Ryan Adams – Love Is Hell Parts 1 & 2 76.40
These EPs nearly didn’t make the list. I didn’t even want to have to deal with them, I didn’t want to have to explain myself, I didn’t want to get into it over why Ryan Adams is a genius. I didn’t think it was worth it. Frankly, I just avoid the press on the man. Whatever. I know what I hear; I know that these are good songs. Most know the back-story, that Love Is Hell was supposed to be the proper followup to 2001’s Gold, but the label rejected it. As Love Is Hell: the EPs were intended to be a single full-length, I will interpret it as such. Adams has always reflected his influences and on this record, out comes the sound of the UK in the 80s. It’s a compelling blend, Adams decidedly American melodies juxtaposed against reverb-heavy-jangle, bendy guitar lines, steady backbeat, sublime riffs. The melodies, whether upbeat (“Love Is Hell”, “This House Is Not For Sale”) or downhearted (“Political Scientist”, “Hotel Chelsea Nights”, “The Shadowlands”) are still his shunning derivativeness with a classic country ticks and rock n roll tocks. It’s really pathetic that his label rejected what would have been universally hailed as a great record.

21. The Weakerthans – Reconstruction Site 73.68
This one of the those power pop records that moves – by that I mean, it is laid out impeccably with booming rockers (“The Reasons”, “Over Retired Explorer (Dines With Michel Foucault In Paris, 1961)”, “Plea From A Cat Named Virtue”), sweet classic pop tracks (“Reconstruction Site”, “Psalm For The Elks Lodge Last Call”), and tender ballads (“One Great City!” is how I felt when I lived in Des Moines, IA). Canada is giving the ultimate power pop gifts (Sloan, The Joel Pleskett Emergency, The Flashing Lights, et al) to us arrogant Americans. I am contrite and accept with open arms.