lucksmiths - naturaliste
Every time I hear The Sandringham Line, I think of driving on the highways of the Mississippi Delta, going 75 heading towards a setting sun, the black of the asphalt a stark contrast to the deep greens reaching up from the ground to the trees. All of them had ivy moving its way up towards the sky, and it was so hot and strange, and I could smell the plants growing.

I wasn’t originally going to include this album in the tops of my list of the year, but when I was struggling to find other things to include, I put this back in and started listening to all the slightly overdriven bass and kick on the tracks and realized how much I’d listened to it this year. How can a band take babysteps for 10 years and still have something refreshing to offer release after release? I don’t know, but I do know that if “What You’ll Miss” doesn’t make you get a little sentimental like that first paragraph, I don’t know what will.

The Lucksmiths | The Sandringham Line

weakerthans - reconstruction site
Regardless of length, I want an album to stay in my car for weeks at a time while still remaining somewhat fresh, and this did just that. Rich with literature and poetic intelligence, tracks in iambic pentameter, reference to Raymond Carver and Michel Foucault, and a cat’s unabashed championing of its owner. All hidden well under catchy pop songs and diverse production.

The Weakerthans | Plea From A Cat Named Virtue

ted leo and the pharmacists - hearts of oak
I don’t care what people say about the live show not holding over to the album, this record shakes shit up like crazy and I won’t hear otherwise. I listened to “Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone” on headphones for the first time the other day, and heard the bass panned pretty far to the right and the drums on the left, and right at the breakdown the song just builds on every bar with another vocal track alternating from the right to the left. Besides that badass subtlety, the record contains more intelligent and political lyrics without the weight of conscientious whining or trite political incorrectness as rebellion.

Ted Leo and the Rxs | Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?

postal service - give up
I worked the night/swing shift for months, and every night between 12 and 130 am, I would head home and listen to this album. While not as disarming as the dntel/gibbard track on life is full of possibilities, there are moments that come close, the last two tracks, mostly. Really though, I think one of the most valuable things about this album is its timing, what with all the retro-rock revival going on, a blip-pop album hits the spot. And having said that, I completely took out all the blip and recorded a cover of it, because it was fun: brand new colony.

death cab for cutie - transatlanticism
I wonder how uncool it is to have two albums with the same guy on your favorites list? I don’t really care though, seeing as I tried to be honest about what was going up here, and Transat spend a lot of time in my car CD player this year. I’ve already gone over a lot of what I did and didn’t like about this album, but when it comes down to it, I can still sing along to every song. Go figure.

outkast - speakerboxxx/the love below
Nothing to say that hasn’t been said already. I bought this when I was in Bellingham in September and someone popped it in the CD player and I couldn’t figure out what it was at first. Later, when “Hey Ya” came on, we all flew around the Brandon’s kitchen washing the dishes and cleaning the counters. A month later it never made its way out of the CD player, even first thing in the morning, driving to work at 5 a.m., I thought about listening to NPR to catch up on the news, but “Ghettomusick” started playing right when I got in and I couldn’t take it out. Best damn way to wake up in the morning.

other albums that I listened to, but am too lazy to write something up on:
the strokes - room on fire, jay-z - the black album, explosions in the sky - the earth is not a cold dead place, nada surf - let’s go, exploding hearts - guitar romantic

probably would have made my list if i got off my lazy ass and bought them:
non-prophets - hope, sun kil moon - ghosts of the great highway, the shins - chutes to narrow

things on everyone else’s list that i couldn’t get into:
the constantines - shine a light, broken social scene - you forgot it in people,
my morning jacket - it still moves.

Seeing as it’s way past my bedtime and there’s no way I’m going to finish this list today, I’m going to save other list items for the next few days. More stuff I liked in 2003, including film, television, food, and randoms! Coming soon!

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