December 25-31, 2003

music

No, These Are the Best Albums of 2003!

Our scorned critics politely disagree.

Dressy Bessy

Dressy Bessy

(Kindercore)

We're going to hell. Sad songs move us in a way happy ones rarely do, so we hope our favorite artists stay miserable. Healthy relationships and satisfying careers can be songwriting poison. Cheers to Dressy Bessy, then, for packing their third full-length with great tunes for good moods. "Baby Six String" and "The Things That You Say That You Do" prove happy doesn't have to mean dumb. That's cause to celebrate.--M.J. Fine

Explosions in the Sky

Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place

(Temporary Residence)

Earth opens like a widescreen nature DVD on a plasma TV, beginning with a building, melancholic riff and climaxing in a crash of cymbals, feedback and said lone sad riff. In five songs and 40 minutes, Explosions in the Sky capture sadness, pain and redemption better than any emo record crowding the buzz band rack at Best Buy. Say hello to the new Mogwai and goodbye to post-rock pretension.--Andrew Parks

Goldfrapp

Black Cherry

(Mute)

Felt Mountain fans weren't prepare to groove to Black Cherry's death disco beat, but that just leaves more room at the party. Will Gregory's retro-futurist beats and Alison Goldfrapp's decadent purr go together like gin and vermouth, with a dash of something a bit more hallucinatory.--Sam Adams

Rosanne Cash

Rules of Travel

(Capitol)

It was a damn long wait, nearly 10 years, but Rosanne Cash finally put out the record everyone waited for: melodic and meditative without being overly artsy. Assisted by hubby/producer/multi-instrumentalist John Leventhal and great guests (Steve Earle among them) Cash tackles the biggies -- love and death -- with style, heart and smarts. Plus, she handed dad Johnny what turned out to be his rip-your-heart-out swan song, "September When It Comes."--Nicole Pensiero

Pretty Girls Make Graves

The New Romance

(Matador)

Handclaps have a way of making everything better. Midway through the opener "Something Bigger, Something Brighter," Pretty Girls Make Graves may very well have won you over already with the introductory instrumental swell, or with the way Andrea Zollo's trembling siren voice switches to tart holler when the vibe crosses into spirited angular punk. But three minutes and 12 seconds in, most of the band drops what they're doing to clap a 4/4 beat while multi-instrumentalist J Clark bangs out a dirty keyboard melody. It lasts maybe 10 seconds, but it carries the cut to a higher level, and The New Romance follows in kind. A half-hour later, you still won't want it to end.--John Vettese

John Fahey

Red Cross

(Revenant)

Red Cross is a fitting epitaph to the late American guitar legend. Over four decades, Fahey's music ebbed and flowed regardless of the trends around him, and the song cycle that makes up Red Cross is no different. Soaked in haunting echo, Fahey's originals are transcendent, while his cover of Irving Berlin's "Remember" seems all too poignant.--Paul Burress