Mike Bennett reviews the latest from John Cale, Poster Children, Splitsville, The Fall and The Goldstars. Mike also presents capsule reviews of releases by Volebeats, Duvall, The Minders, Myracle Brah, The Richies, The Go, The Wannadies, Young and Sexy, The Changes, V/A: Compulation, Penny Ikinger, New Normal and Tiger Lou. Mike also has another CD-R of The Month. Gary Glauber reviews the latest from Candy Butchers, Shut Ups, Owsley and Field Trip.

We are excited to present our Best Music of 2003 issue. Below, each writer's Best of 2003 list links to an expanded list with descriptions of each recording. If you are a first time visitor, visit our About Us page.

Please scroll down for Man of the Year, Michael Lynch's column and each writer's Best of 2003 list. Click here for back issues.

____________________________________________________

Our Very Own Man (Sort of…Maybe? Well, Whatever) of the Year!

by Kurt Hernon

"No Viet Cong ever called me 'nigger.'" - Muhammad Ali

No truer statement hath ever been uttered in our American history - in either a literal or abstractly metaphorical sense. Such is the complexity of our national experience. And believe me, no Viet Cong would likely have ever slurred Michael Jackson - in his present and gruesome incarnation - that way...

MORE >

__________________________________________________________________

40 Years Of Grade-A 'Meet'

by Michael Lynch

Way, way, back a long long long time ago, last May I believe, my friend and fellow Fufkiner Gary Pig Gold occupied Fufkin space by presenting our own warped take on the endless debate between Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Their Satanic Majesties Request. I represented The Beatles' June 1967 release, while Gary...

MORE >

______________________________________________________________________

Top 20 Recordings of 2003

by Mike Bennett

Putting together a Top 20 is always a chore, albeit an enjoyable one. Really, when you get down to it, great records are great records, and a ranking isn't entirely meaningful. This year it was tough, in that there was no obvious masterpiece. Had I waited for Sparks' Lil' Beethoven to come out in the United States, it would have easily been my number one record this year, as it was last year.

Which isn't to say that...

1. Ted Leo/Pharmacists – Hearts Of Oak (Lookout) 2. Radiohead – Hail To The Thief (Capitol) 3. John Cale – Hobo Sapiens (EMI) 4. Frisbie – Period. (Hear Diagonally) 5. Outkast – The Love Below/Speakerboxx (Arista) 6. The New Pornographers – Electric Version (Mint/Matador) 7. Chris...

__________________________________________________________________

2003: A Bountiful Treasure of Musical Pleasure

by Gary Glauber

In my opinion, 2003 had some of the best music in years. Though I tried hard to listen to as much as possible, I realize there may be gems I've missed. My apologies to those overlooked artists, and also to those I had to exclude when winnowing down my list. With every close call, I opted to recommend someone you might not know. I remain partial to melodic rock (guitar...

1. Bleu, Redhead, (Columbia/Aware) 2. Fountains of Wayne, Welcome Interstate Managers, (S-Curve/Virgin) 3. Sukilove, Sukilove, (Hidden Agenda/Parasol) 4. Rooney, Rooney, (Geffen/Interscope) 5. Lazy, Essentially, (Slumbertone) 6. Lynchpin, Hand-Picked Words, (Self Released) 7. The C...

__________________________________________________________________

2003: The Records!

by Kurt Hernon

Then there were those records - complete albums that kept creeping back into my life with startling regularity this year. Whether that means these records were simply that good or that there just weren't that many other good records remains to be seen (or heard), but the pleasures I derived from this batch of records will...

Static Transmission: Steve Wynn; Enjoy Your Life Poolside: Stereo 360; The Strangest Things: Longwave; Love & Death: The Sun; Youth and Young Manhood: Kings of Leon; Ele...

_________________________________________________________________

Top Ten Garage/Psychedelic Reissues of 2003 (not really in any order)

by Kurt Sampsel

1. The Gurus
The Gurus are Hear!

(Sundazed 2003)

http://www.sundazed.com/artists/gurus.html

"Highly anticipated" is putting it mildly when describing this recent release from Sundazed. The Gurus were based in New York City and released two amazing singles for United Artists...

1. The Gurus The Gurus are Hear! 2. The Grateful Dead Birth of the Dead 3. October Country (Self-Titled) 4. The Palace Guard (Self-Titled) 5. Bob Dylan Highway 61 Revisited 6. The Free Design Kites are Fun 7. The Co...

_________________________________________________________________

Ten You May Have Missed in 2003

by Gary Pig Gold

In that tipsy-turvy year when Triumph the Insult Comic Dog's Come Poop With Me outsold labelmate REM's latest Best Of by a margin of twenty-to-one in most key retail markets, and the RIAA's legal staff seemed the only entity who can claim to have made actual musical hay in the bazaar that was the 2003 Record Biz, I merrily continued to seek sonic...

1. Johnny Dowd Wire Flowers: More Songs from the Wrong Side of Memphis(Munich) 2. Jeremy Pop Dreams (Jam) 3. Tom Jones Mr. Jones (V2 Music) 4. The Last L.A. Explosion! (Bomp!) 5. Jack Pedler D.T. Delinquent (Race) 6. The Playmates Listen! (K.O.G.A.) 7. Jason...

_________________________________________________________________

Best Music and Comedy of 2003

by Nick A. Zaino, III

Okay, so I can't follow directions. "Pick ten albums you thought were the best of 2003," they said. Once I started wading through the waist-high pile around what passes for my desk, I couldn't just make one list of ten. So I've made two lists of ten and one list of five (for comedy, since this was a good year for it). The first two lists are the "Hype Worthy" and the "Underplayed". I felt I couldn't penalize a band or artist just because you could predict with near certainty they were getting the cover of Magnet next month. But if...

1. Crazy: The Demo Sessions - Willie Nelson; 2. Yours, Mine & Ours - Pernice Brothers; 3. Terroir Blues - Jay Farrar; 4. The Wind - Warren Zevon; 5. Decoration Day - Drive-By Truckers; 6. Rainy Day Music - The Jayhawks; 7. Spea...

_________________________________________________________________

Best Music of 2003

by Bill Klutho

2003 saw the country fascinated by Stacy’s Mom, stripping a Beatles’ experiment and a world still dealing with the aftermath of an American tragedy through music. With that said, my Top Ten CDs come from almost every corner of the world. Some you have heard quite a bit, some not at all. That is the purpose of these lists. Affirm...

1. Babel Fish – Coming Up For Air; 2. Fountains of Wayne – Welcome Interstate Managers; 3. The Jayhawks – Rainy Day Music; 4. Bleu - Redhead; 4. Guster – Keep It Together; 5. The Effection - Soundtrack To A Moment; 6. Chris von Sneidern – The Wild Horse; 7. Mini...

__________________________________________________________________

Best Music of 2003

by Eric Sorensen

Year Of The Rhinos - The Rhinos. Rickenbacker 12-string guitar riffs abound throughout an album that sounds like Velvet Crush under the guidance of Roger McGuinn. Jangly, Byrdsian...

1. Year Of The Rhinos - The Rhinos 2. Full Tilt & Swing - Walter Clevenger & the Dairy Kings. 3. All Wrongs Reversed - Marc Carroll 4. Dog Dreams - Robert Crenshaw 5. Taking Northern Liberties - Three 4 Tens 6. There's This Girl - Lovetap 7. Si...

_________________________________________________________________

Best Music of 2003

by John Borack

1. Fountains of Wayne - Welcome Interstate Managers (J-Curve)

OK, this may not be the most imaginative choice for a numero uno, but show me any record that has this many grabby tunes and cheeky-smart lyrics and I'll show you...

1. Fountains of Wayne - Welcome Interstate Managers; 2. Soul Engines - Closer Still; 3. Walter Clevenger and the Dairy Kings - Full Tilt & Swing; 4. The Singles - Better Than Before; 5. The Blondes - Swedish Heat; 6. Farrah - Me Too; 7. The Win...

_________________________________________________________________

Top Ten Albums of 2003

by Kevin Mathews

As a music critic, sometimes I wonder just how I can justify selecting just ten albums out of the deluge of releases each year and then proceed to tag them as the 'best' I've heard in twelve odd months. Truth is, there are often many factors going on when attempting to put together a list like this. As a writer, you try hard to be consistent, you...

1. Grandaddy Sumday (V2) 2. The Long Winters When I Pretend To Fall (Barsuk) 3. Beulah Yoko (Velocette) 4. Guided By Voices Earthquake Glue (Matador) 5. Splitsville Incorporated (Houston Party) 6. Watashi Wa The Love of Life (Tooth and Nail) 7. The Ja...

_________________________________________________________________

Top Ten of 2003

by David Fufkin

1. Pernice Brothers Yours, Mine & Ours; 2. Ryan Adams Rock N' Roll ; 3. Death Cab for Cutie Transatlanticism; 4. Belle and Sebastian Dear Catastrophe Waitress; 5. The Thrills So Much for the City; 6. Ladyb...

__________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________

Thanks for visiting. Please explore, and we hope that you make us your virtual

Home.

________________________________________________