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11. Blood Brothers - Burn, Piano Island, Burn- intense and chaotic noise that falls into the vague
genre of post-core and is coupled with helium soaked vocals that somehow work. Reminds
listeners what it was like when guys with afros and guys without afros made music together
instead of separately.
10. Every Time I Die - Hot Damn! - leaving their Converge complex in the dust (well, almost)
ETID bring to the table ten tunes of loose blues, looser women and delusions of literary grandeur.
Like a 300 level English class with bourbon breath breakdowns and no, I am not talking about Dr.
Bort.
9. Aesop Rock - Bazooka Tooth- 70 minute hip-hop epic that busts open a Pandora's box of
paranoia, politics and unadulterated "word murdering." Oh and you can dance to this shit too.
Cins.
8. Postal Service - Give Up- Gibbard and Tamborello sway from their separate, cozy, indie niches
for experimentation in synthesizers and to test post 9-11 mail reliability; a side project that
deserves to be brought into center focus.
7. Fountains of Wayne - Welcome Interstate Managers- simple three chord pop that wears it's
heart on it's sleeve and gets away with it due to the comical orchestration and sheer talent of
songwriters Schlessinger and Collingwood. A release for those who don't always want to think as
hard as they say they do.
6. The Mars Volta - De-loused in the Comatorium- an exertion of originality laced with technical
abandon that was conceived through the scope of four crazed eyes and 100 plus effects pedals
that put Sparta to utter shame. Yes children, aliens do exist and they have amazing stage
presence.
5. Radiohead - Hail to the Thief- not the return to the guitar focused rock that made them critical
darlings but for every four or five laptop blips and bleeps, Radiohead treated us to a slice of the
distorted euphoria that made us buy Pablo Honey in the first place.
4. Nada Surf- Let Go - written off as victims of Buzz Bin syndrome in 1996, Nada Surf proves
that third time's a commercial charm with the comeback, catch-rock record of 2003, Let Go.
Haphazard lyrics, simple melodies and Beach Boy-esque harmonies help Nada Surfgeniusly
crawl out from the Alternative Nation grave were we all hope Kennedy is still residing.
3. Iron and Wine - the Sea and the Rhythm EP - in the extended version of Almost Famous,
Russell Hammond points out that good music is not so much about what you decide to put in as it
is what you decide to leave out. With two sets of strings, dollar store production and one voice,
Sam Beam proves Hammond's theory perfectly producing five whispered tales that lie on the
brink of a breakdown and express more with a sigh than most albums do with a single.
2. Chris Cubeta - Sugar Sky - hometown boy makes good with solo debut for his grass roots label,
Galuminumfoil. With help from label mates Danny Lanzetta, John Passineau and a weathered
sage by the name of Frank Carillo, Cubeta shines on every track with his honest blend of country
inspired rock that represents a more than positive direction for the local singer/songwriter.
1. Ted Leo/Pharmacists - Hearts of Oak - most thirty something men living at home with their
parents don't have much to show for their lives. Then again, most men aren't Ted Leo. Hailed by
critics as the, "new Elvis Costello" Leo channels sarcasm, wit and charisma to produce an upbeat
album that touches on everything from politics to hangovers. In a world gone mad. Hearts of Oak
does not provide much solace but instead flashes a smart-alec grin in the direction of all ears open
to it.
Shows of 2003
Movies of 2003
POOP 2003 Kevin M.Falahee
23. The Bronx- s/t
22. Lucinda Williams- World Without Tears
21. Kings ofLeon- Youth and Young Manhood
20. Burnt by the Sim- Perfect is the Enemy of the Good
19. 0utkast- the Love Below/Speakerboxxx
18. Elvis Costello- North
17. Ryan Adams- Love is Hell part 2
16. My Morning Jacket- It Still Moves
15. The Strokes- Room on Fire
14. Coheed and Cambria- In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
13. The Shins- Chutes Too Narrow
12. The White Stripes - Elephant- hype leads to hope and with their fourth release many were
hoping that the White Stripes would fall short and perhaps this "back to the garage" movement
would finally end. Instead they delivered one of their finest collections yet and Jack White even
learned how to accept the bass. Too bad Meg still hasn't learned how to play drums.
Built to Spill@Irving Plaza
The Mars Volta@North Six
J Mascis and the Fog@North Six
Galuminum Foil Showcase@the Rio
Elvis Costello@Central Park
Belle and Sebastian@ProspectPark
Lucinda Williams@Toads - where Lucinda showed her disgust for the great American pastime
by flipping off the audience and leaving the stage after fans were caught paying more attention to
game 5 of the BoSox vs. the A's than they were to her encore. My kind of girl.
Mystic River
Finding Nemo
The Magdalene Sisters
Freddy vs. Jason
Kill Bill vol. I
Pieces of April
A Mighty Wind
21 Grams
Lost in Translation
The Full PoOP 2003
Our Fearless Leader's Annual Analysis 2003
THE CONTRIBUTORS
Richard Allen
´01 ´02 ´03
Ken Beck
´01 ´02 ´03
Kent Benziger
´01 ´02 ´03
Paul Cangelosi
´01 ´02 ´03
Brennan Cavanaugh
´02 ´03
Duncan Clark
´01 ´02 ´03
Damian Cleary*
´01 ´02 ´03
Kevin Ferris
´01 ´02 ´03
Jim Finnigan
´01 ´02 ´03
Eric Fine
´01 ´02 ´03
Bob Fino
´01
RoseAnn Fino
´01
Michael Fix
´01
John Greak
´01 ´02 ´03
J.T. Habersaat
´01
Bruce Handschuh
´01
Kathena M. Hasbrouck
´01
Kevin Hodgkiss*
´01 ´02  ´03
Michael Hodgkiss
´02 ´03
Andy Jacknick
´02 ´03
Rick Lange*
´01 ´02 ´03
John Lefsky
´01 ´02 ´03
Susan Lyne
´02 ´03
Andrew Martin
´01 ´01
Rich McBride
´01
Jim Meyers
´01
Mike Miller
´01 ´02 ´03
Matt Nerney
´01 ´02 ´03
Irv Rosen
´01 ´02 ´03
Kerri Rosen
´02
Mark Rosen
´01 ´02 ´03
Raissa St. Pierre
´01 ´02 ´03
Jeff Schwartz
´01 ´02 ´03
Praveen Sharma
´01
Dave Squillante
´01
John Stewart
´01 ´02 ´03
Bill Still*
´01
Dan Wilmer
´02 ´03
Mark Zip
´01 ´02 ´03
* = pictures (larger files)
Parnassus Records
(our hosts)
Rhino
(for no real reason)
Zip's Ziggurat
Shameless link to a messy site - which will change, soon