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Top 10 Singles, Top 10 Albums and More

by casey ward

Top 10 Singles

10. June Carter Cash And Johnny Cash, "Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone?"

9. The White Stripes, "Seven Nation Army"

8. The Darkness, "I Believe In A Thing Called Love" - A brilliant celebration of the absurdity of late-70's, capital-R rock, led by a falsetto in spandex. Actually makes me miss Freddie Mercury.

7. Belle And Sebastian, "I'm A Cuckoo"

6. Justin Timberlake, "Cry Me A River" - Thanks to The Neptunes' sharp production, Timberlake was able to get away from his embarassing boyband past, if only to situate himself squarely in the shadow of Michael Jackson. Not the worse place to be (unless of course you're a 6-year old boy).

5. The Fruit Bats, "When You Love Somebody"

4. Ryan Adams, "So Alive" - I'm praying that the rumors are true that the prolific-to-a-fault Adams surrounded this brilliant track with shit and sold it as Rock&Roll only as a malicious gesture to the execs at Lost Highway who initially shelved (and later split) his dark and melancholy Love is Hell. In all likelihood, Adams started the rumors himself after listening to Rock&Roll sober.

3. Iron & Wine, "The Sea and Rhythm"

2. Radiohead, "There There"

1. Outkast, "Hey Ya"

Top 10 Albums

10. The Shins, Chutes Too Narrow

9. The Strokes, Room On Fire - Air-tight production and a drummer that will make you swear you're listening to a machine are two reasons to buy this thoroughly enjoyable album from the band most thought (and feared) would fade into "The" obscurity.

8. M. Ward, Transfiguration Of Vincent - There is a thin line between the emulation and exploitation of folk music, but with an album this heartfelt, the debate becomes irrelevant.

7. Sufjan Stevens, Greetings From Michigan

6. Death Cab For Cutie, Transatlanticism

5. Ryan Adams, Love Is Hell Pt. 1&2 - Buy it if only for his courageous and gorgeous cover of Oasis' "Wonderwall."

4. Belle And Sebastian, Dear Catastrophe Waitress

3. The Decembrists, Her Majesty

2. Gillian Welch, Soul Journey - Further proof that country still has some soul left; another awesome album from Welch and David Rawlings.

1. Radiohead, Hail To The Thief - Not entirely successful (awful title, slight sag in the mid-section), but that said in comparison to other 'Radiohead' albums. Still the most exciting band on the planet.

Soundtrack of the Year

Kill Bill

Heartening Trend

Narrative Pop (The Decemberists, Sufjan Stevens)

Trend that I desperately wish to just die already

DancePunk (The Rapture, Junior/Senior, Electric Six, etc.)

Note: To read the "What We Loved Most in 2003" feature straight through, click here to go directly to the next article.

Issue 19, January 2004


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