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You're way more fun than Bob!

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Best of 2003

Room on Fire, The Strokes 22.5 pts

Deep Cuts, The Knife 20pts

Welcome Interstate Managers, Fountains of Wayne 17.5

Vaudeville Villain, Viktor Vaughn 17.5

Dear Catastrophe Waitress, Belle and Sebastian 15pts

Decoration Day, Drive By Truckers 15 pts

Transatlantism, Death Cab for Cutie, 12.5 pts

Boy in Da Corner, Dizzee Rascal 10 pts

Shine a Light, Constantines 10 pts

Meteora, Linkin Park 10 pts

Rounds, Four Tet 10 pts

Speakerboxx/The Love Below 10 pts

You Forgot it in People, Broken Social Scene 7.5 pts

Michigan, Sufjan Stevens 7.5 pts

The Decline of British Sea Power, British Sea Power 5 pts

This Is Not a Test!, Missy Elliott 5pts

It Still Moves, My Morning Jacket 5pts

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Aug 7, 2023Liked by bradluen

That "Plugged In" session really is a miracle. Individually, Cristale and TeeZandos both released freestyles in the "Daily Duppy" series a few days ago.

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Aug 11, 2023Liked by bradluen

Thanks, here's my 2003 P&J:

Don Allred, your votes have been recorded.

Your Pazz & Jop albums ballot was submitted as follows:

1. Johnny Cash - AMERICAN IV:THE MAN COMES AROUND - American (10 points)

2. Miles Davis - THE COMPLETE JACK JOHNSON SESSIONS - Columbia/Legacy (10

points)

3. Dysrhythmia - PRETEST - Relapse (10 points)

4. - THE SOUL OF A MAN - Columbia/Legacy (10 points)

5. Essential Logic - FANFARE IN THE GARDEN - Kill Rock Stars (10 points)

6. James Chance - IRRESISTIBLE IMPULSE - Tiger Style (10 points)

7. - NEW YORK NOISE - Soul Jazz (10 points)

8. Groovski - GROOVSKI - Groovski Records (10 points)

9. Lyrics Born - LATER THAT DAY... - Quannum Projects (10 points)

10. Nancy McCallion and the Mollys - TROUBLE - APN (10 points)

And my 2003 Nashville Scene ballot, also 10 points each (if you don't want to double-count a couple of choices already on P&J, that's okay!)

ALBUMS:

1.Johnny Cash: AMERICAN IV:THE MAN COMES AROUND (American)

2.Dixie Chicks: TOP OF THE WORLD TOUR LIVE (Open Wide/Monument/Columbia)

3.Steve Earle: JUST AN AMERICAN BOY (Artemis)

4.Merle Haggard: HAGGARD LIKE NEVER BEFORE (Hag)

5.Lucinda Williams: WORLD WITHOUT TEARS (Lost Highway)

6.Drive-By Truckers: DECORATION DAY (New West)

7.David Allen Coe: LIVE AT BILLY BOB'S TEXAS (Smith Music Group)

8.June Carter Cash: WILDWOOD FLOWER (Dualtone)

9.Gary Stewart: LIVE AT BILLY BOB'S TEXAS (Smith Music Group)

10. Nancy McCallion and the Mollys: TROUBLE (APN)

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My guiding principle was, "What albums from that year do I still listen to with relative regularity?"

1. Warren Zevon: The Wind (20)

2. Drive-By Truckers: Decoration Day (15)

3. Victor Vaughn: Vaudeville Villain (10)

4. King Sunny Adé: Best of the Classic Years (10)

5. The Libertines: Up The Bracket (9)

6. The Handsome Family: Live at Schuba's Tavern (9)

7. Miles Davis: The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions (9)

8. Various Artists: Down in the Basement (6)

9. Bettye LaVette: A Woman Like Me (6)

10. Jason Moran: The Bandwagon (6)

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Much more regular confrontations with mortality lately have elevated the Zevon considerably.

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Aug 14, 2023Liked by bradluen

17 points each:

1 Rachel's - Systems/Layers

2 Metric - Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?

3 Viktor Vaughn - Vaudeville Villain

12 points each:

4 Dizzee Rascal - Boy In da Corner

6 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Nocturama

7 Ivan Smagghe - How To Kill The DJ (Part One)

8 King Geedorah - Take Me To Your Leader

9 points each:

8 Chris Watson - Weather Report

9 Radiohead - Hail To The Thief

10 John Zorn - Masada Guitars

11 Jay-Z - The Black Album

5 points each:

12 Rage Against The Machine - Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium

13 Linkin Park - Meteora

14 Blur - Think Tank

15 The Strokes - Room On Fire

16 Coldplay - Clocks EP

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Aug 15, 2023Liked by bradluen

This was fun.

ALBUMS

Dizzee Rascal. Boy in Da Corner. 25

Buck 65. Talking’ Honky Blues. 20

Drive By Truckers. Decoration Day. 20

William Parker Violin Trio. Scrapbook. 10

Basement Jaxx. Kish Kash. 5

Bubba Sparxxx. Deliverance 5

The Wrens. The Meadowlands 5

Fiery Furnaces. Gallowsbird’s Bark. 5

The Postal Service. Give Up. 5

Lyrics Born. Later that Day. 5

Missy Elliot. This is not a Test! 5

SINGLES

Outkast “Hey Ya”

The New Pornographers “The Laws Have Changed”

!!! “Me and Giuliani Down by the Schoolyard (A True Story)

Little Jon and his East Side Boyz, et al., “Get Low Remix”

Electric Six. “Danger! High Voltage”

Beyonce (with Jay Z). “Crazy in Love”

Warren Zevon. “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”

Elephant Man. “Fuck U Sign”

White Stripes. “Seven Nation Army”

Kelis. “Milkshake”

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Basement Jaxx: Kish Kash (20)

Constantines: Shine a Light (19)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Fever to Tell (18)

Broken Social Scene: You Forgot It in People (17)

TV on the Radio: Young Liars EP (16)

Ying Yang Twins: Me and My Brother (15)

Liz Phair: s/t (14)

Dizzee Rascal: Boy in Da Corner (13)

The Unicorns: Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone? (12)

Missy Elliott: This Is Not a Test! (11)

David Banner: MTA2: Baptized in Dirty Water (8)

T.I.: Trap Muzik (8)

Oukast: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (8)

Fefe Dobson: s/t (7)

Richard X: Presents His X-Factor Vol. 1 (6)

Strokes: Room on Fire (5)

King Geedorah: Take Me to Your Leader (4)

Manitoba: Up in Flames (3)

Electric Six: Fire (2)

The Darkness: Permission to Land (2)

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author

(technically that's eight points over, but the Procrustes Ballot Adjustment algorithm can take care of that)

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Woops! You can skim ‘em from the bottom eight.

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!! "Name as many singles as you feel like" !!

TOP 20 SINGLES (plus one more):

50 Cent - In Da Club

Panjabi MC ft. Labh Janjua & Jay-Z - Beware Of The Boys/Mundian To Bach Ke (Jay-Z remix)

Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz ft. Ying Yang Twins - Get Low

Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz ft. Ying Yang Twins & Pitbull - Get Low (Merengue Mix)

David Banner - Cadillac On 22's

Electric Six - Gay Bar

Rachel Stevens - Sweet Dreams My LA Ex

Avril Lavigne - Mobile

Dizzee Rascal - I Luv U

Rose Falcon - Up Up Up

Gene Watson - New Woman

Girls Aloud - No Good Advice

Faith Hill - One

Os Saradinhos - Uva

Johnny Cash - Hurt

A.R.E. Weapons - Don't Be Scared

Q.E.D. - Love Bites

Dwight Yoakam - The Late Great Golden State

Bubba Sparxxx - Comin' Round

Scooter - Maria (I Like It Loud)

Teco e Buzunga - Por Causa De Você [This is the "plus one more"; I couldn't confirm the date 2003]

ALBUMS SHMALBUMS:

Ying Yang Twins – Me & My Brother - 20

Gene Watson - ...Sings - 5

Dwight Yoakam - Population Me - 5

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My singles rules: if it's a radio or club hit, it's a single even if there's no official release; ditto if it's got a Music Video; if it hit in 2003 I can count it 2003 whenever it was released, though I get my choice on 2003 singles that hit as big or bigger in 2004. BUT great 2003 album tracks that weren't singles till 2004 are disqualified, which kills the decade's greatest kiddie-pop version of the romantic sublime (Hilary Duff's "Come Clean"), not to mention killing a darn good whiskey song (Toby Keith's "Whiskey Girl," which to clarify, is a good song about whiskey, not a song about good whiskey). But to compensate we get a late single from Avril Lavigne's 2002 debut. And we get "Hurt." And "Get Low." And "Up Up Up."

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Here are 11 singles from 2003 I've discovered since your poll, the first two, at least, sure to have made my ballot for you had I heard them. People's Pop Polls is doing 2003 even as we speak. Aregahegn Worash's "Beka Beka," from Ethiopia, was my nominee for the poll and the rest are tracks I discovered through the poll. "Papi Chulo... Te Traigo El Mmmm," was a big international hit, busting the door open a year before "Gasolina," but not in the USA.

1. Aregahegn Worash - "Beka Beka"

2. Lorna - "Papi Chulo... Te Traigo El Mmmm"

3. Spork - "Freeek Like Me"

4. The Mess Hall - "Lock and Load"

5. Jahcoozi - "Fish"

6. Hala Strana - "Hell Birds"

7. Freeway ft. Jay-Z, Beanie Sigel - "What We Do"

8. Magic System - "1er Gaou"

9. The Thrills - "Big Sur"

10. Justus Köhncke - "Homogen"

11. Avenue D ft. Cazwell - "The Sex That I Need"

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Narrowed the date down for "Por Causa De Você": turns out I'm off by over half a decade. Duo formed in 1993, says Discogs, so the track came into existence sometime between then and 1997, when it appeared on two compilations. I had a date of 2003 for one of their other big tracks, but that's likely a misdate, since Discogs says the duo split in 2000. (The singing sounds very freestyle - the Latino Miami-New York-Philly genre "freestyle," that is, not the idea of improvising vocals - and I'm trying to learn when that sort of singing faded from Brazilian funk; though I hypothesize, based on the sound, that singers such as MC Hariel, from my post on 2015 funk, have such singing in their ancestry.)

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Aug 23, 2023Liked by bradluen

Fountains of Wayne - Welcome Interstate Managers (25)

The Wrens - The Meadowlands (14)

The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow (12)

Amy Rigby - Til the Wheels Fall Off (9)

Liz Phair - Liz Phair (9)

Yo La Tengo - Summer Sun (7)

The Postal Service - Give Up (7)

Pernice Brothers - Yours, Mine & Ours (7)

New Pornographers - Electric Version (5)

Marshall Crenshaw - What’s in the Bag? (5)

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Aug 25, 2023Liked by bradluen

Jalen Cobeen’s Best Albums of 2003

The Wrens - The Meadowlands (24)

Fountains of Wayne - Welcome Interstate Managers (16)

The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow (14)

Brother Ali - Shadows on the Sun (13)

T.I. - Trap Muzik (7)

Outkast - Speakerboxx/Love Below (6)

Postal Service - Give Up (5)

50 Cent - Get Rich or Die Trying (5)

Jay-Z - The Black Album (5)

Lyrics Born - Later that Day (5)

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1. Dizzee Rascal - Boy In Da Corner 23 points

2. Liz Phair - Liz Phair 20 points

3. Steinski - Nothing to Fear: A Rough Mix 15 points

4. The Wrens - Meadowlands 15 points

5. Jaylib - Champion Sound 15 points

6. Hot Boy$ - Let ‘Em Burn 15 points

7. Northern State - Dying in Stereo 10 points

8. Kimya Dawson - My Cute Friend Sweet Princess 10 points

9. Outkast - Speakerboxx/The Love Below 10 points

10. Drive-By Truckers - Decoration Day 10 points

11. Lucinda Williams - World Without Tears 9 points

12. Viktor Vaughn - Vaudeville Villain 8 points

13. Lyrics Born - Later That Day… 5 points

14. Britney Spears - In The Zone 5 points

15. Radiohead - Hail to the Thief 5 points

16. Fountains of Wayne - Welcome Interstate Mangers 5 points

17. Jay-Z - The Black Album 5 points

18. The Postal Service- Give Up 5 points

19. Steely Dan - Everything Must Go 5 points

20. Buck 65 - Talkin’ Honky Blues 5 points

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