A lot of music gets released each year–the major record labels release literally thousands of records. And then there are the indie labels. Compiling any year end list is a daunting task, but these are ten records from 2003 that PLAY found indispensible:
1. The Wrens, Meadowlands (Absolutely Kosher)–On Meadowlands, the Wrens accomplish what seems to be an impossible task for any rock band: returning after a hiatus of seven years — one that nearly split the band permanently — to release not only the best album of their career, but an album that might go down as one of the best albums of the year.
2. Radiohead, Hail to the Thief (Capitol)–Many will argue that Hail to the Thief is a disappointment, ranking just above Pablo Honey on their lists of favorite Radiohead albums. Yet Thief is a masterpiece to be coveted by any band, swaying manically in scope from songs like the electrified “Backdrifts” and “The Gloaming” to rock anthems like “2 +2 = 5.” Fragmented though their music may be, Hail to the Thief solidifies Radiohead’s place as the most progressive band in rock music today.
3. Broken Social Scene, You Forgot it in People (Arts & Crafts)–What happens when you mix nine different members of at least four different Canadian post-rock groups and have them record an album together? You Forgot it in People, the sophomore record from the experimental collective Broken Social Scene, answers that question. “Almost Crimes” gets the award for best indie-rock male/female duet of the year, and the sighing brilliance of “Anthems for a Seventeen-Year Old Girl” is enough to make any indie critic have innumerable sleepless nights waiting for the band’s next record.
4. Grandaddy, Sumday (V2)–Perfecting the experimentation with electronics and samples from their 2000 record The Sophtware Slump, Grandaddy have recorded a fantastic album that blends lo-fi with Flaming Lips-esque images of technology, science, and robotics. I’ll raise a toast to anyone who will agree with me that “O.K. With My Decay” will become an anthem of post-adolescent angst for the coming decade.
5. Unicorns, Who Will Cut Our Hair When We&re Gone? (Alien8)–This is possibly the best debut record by a rock band released in 2003. The duo blends elements of retropop, dancepunk, and old-fashioned guitar rock and mixes it with otherworldly experimentation and elaborate yet non-traditional song structures. The result is an extraordinarily progressive album years ahead of its time. It might be a stretch, but this might be the album that, like the Elephant 6 Collective in its heyday, gives rise to an entirely new wave of experimental rock bands.
6. Blur, Think Tank (Virgin)–We’ve all heard stories of bands traveling to different regions to record great albums; add Blur to that list. Following his stint with the part-rap, part-rock supergroup Gorillaz, lead singer Damon Albarn took Blur, sans erstwhile guitarist Graham Coxon, to Morocco to record. Think Tank is the result of that journey, a blending of world music and British rock that moves seamlessly between the ubiquitous movie single “Crazy Beat” (What is it with Blur and catchy two-minute rock anthems?) and the brilliantly calculated “Moroccan Peoples Revolutionary Bowls Club.”
7. Beulah, Yoko (Velocette)–When a small band whose last three albums combined have sold less than 100,000 copies releases an album named after a woman who, upon entering the lives of the four members of the greatest rock band ever, was instrumental in dissolving the band, and then tells their listening audience that they won’t break up if their album goes gold (that is, sells 500,000 copies), the expectations are pretty high. Yet Beulah satisfy on Yoko. Maybe it won’t go gold, but the record is the best album of the band’s career, not to mention one of the best albums to come out of the Golden State in recent years.
8. Outkast, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (Arista)–After 2000’s Stankonia, Atlanta-based Outkast placed themselves years ahead of competing rappers. Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, a double album on which Andre 3000 and Big Boi record separately, signals their bizarre yet bright future; they experiment with funk and soul and create two independent albums that, were they not under the label Outkast, might be completely unrelated. And they had the two best singles of the year, the ubiquitous “Hey Ya!” and “The Way You Move.” (Pictured above.)
9. M83, Dead Cities, Red Seas, and Lost Ghosts (Gooom)–This French import pushes new boundaries for electronic music, blending equal parts of Boards of Canada and My Bloody Valentine to create an album whose warmth, emotion, and radiance can be felt through instrumentation. This record is nearly flawless, ranging from the crazed “America” to the beatific “Run Into Flowers.”
10. The Rapture, Echoes (Universal)–Dancepunk is reborn with Echoes, an instantly engaging record on which the Rapture create impossibly complex bass-driven songs. And if their live show is any testament, yes, you can dance to it. Listen to it once and see if you don’t find yourself dancing in the comfort of your own abode singing, “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven / I’m floating in a constant heaven.”
