The Notwist's Neon Golden. Has not appeared inside any list yet, so maybe i should try over here to help it.

We have reached 2003 and The Knife's "Deep Cuts" including "Heartbeats" as well as this song which is really just as great. Cool video as well. Olof Dreijer is the first guy who starts to dance and Karin Dreijer is the girl who sits down to the end.

Cool, I did not know it was Olof who was dancing !
It will be on my top 10, maybe my second favorite Knife's song behind Silent Shout.

2003 is also the year of the release of the first album of my favorite hip-hop trilogy, and more simply of one of my 2 tied all-time favorite hip-hop albums : Creature Funk by Puppetmastaz.
It's fun, inventive, gimmicky, earwormy, very versatile both in terms of flows and samples.
It could look like a parody at first, and it sometimes is, but they too often top the band they take their inspiration from to be considered just as so.
Creature Funk might be hard to find on the net and even harder on CD, since the band have had problems with their labels after the release of the album (hard to find anything about that on French or English websites, maybe german have more datas), but it's worth the search !
Very few songs available in youtube or dailymotion, so I have to go with one of my least favorite song on the LP (but I like it a lot anyway).

So now, time to meet Mr Maloke, Wizard the Lizard (who is a frog), Snuggles the Bunny, Turpid and all their colleagues.


Puppetmastaz - Pet Sound

Oops! I Did It Again, by ..... Richard Thompson!!!!

Thompson said about this song: "Taken out of context, this is a pretty nice song"

I just remembered Youngblood Brass Band's Brooklyn from seeing it as Charlie Drigg's #1, and it will be near the top of my '03 list as well:

I'm really surprised for how many Wilco fans we have that I'm the only person who's voted for Minus 5's Down With Wilco for 2003. I think all of the songs have Wilco as the backup band and Tweedy sings on two of them.

Family Gardener- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z91JbbnzzPE

Retrieval Of You- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JV_1239aolk

My favorite album of 2003 is Fabulous TRobador's Duel de tchatche.

This very idiosyncratic record probably in my all-time top 20. This is not rap, this is not chanson, this is not world music. "Duels de tchatche" means more or less verbal jousting, as in rap but also as in a lot of traditions all over the world.
This album is a mix of tradition and modernity, of local and universal. FT are a duet from Toulouse, on of the main cities in the Southwest of France.
They are very proud of their local roots, sing some songs in the Occitan dialect. But they also draw some of their influences from the foro of Northern Brazil or the North african traditions, adding rap and ragga on top of that.
Of course as in rap the words are essential. Claude Sicre, the guy who writes them, is a very talented street poet. So I have no idea as to how non-francophone people can appreciate those very funny and witty songs.
The first one is a "duel de tchatche", the second is the single.



Si tu te fais

Demain, demain

One of my favorite 2003 albums (maybe my favorite, I have some listening to do though) is Metaphorical Music by the late Japanese DJ Nujabes. It's jazz-rap with just completely solid, moderately funky beats all the way through, sometimes instrumental, sometimes not. Here's "Lady Brown" with rapping from Cise Starr:

Here is my recommandation for 2004. Daniel Darc was part of the new wave band Taxi Girl with Mirwais (who produced Madonna's Music).

This song, Psaume 23 just puts this very famous psalm into music. Beautiful result.

Daniel Darc-Psaume 23

Two of Brazil's most successful female artists of recent times, Zélia Duncan and Adriana Calcanhotto, released noteworthy albums in 2004.

Zélia Duncan's Eu me Transformo em Outras is IMO the best album of the genre called Samba-Canção. It won't be everyone's cup of tea though. Personally I think it's an excellent collection of songs, impeccably arranged. The musicians performing alongside Duncan are superb and I could listen to her deep and soulful voice for days on end. Here's a song called Deusa da Minha Rua from the album.



Adriana Calcanhotto's album Adriana Partimpim is not as sophisticated as Zélia Duncan's release but it's more fun. Calcanhotto adopts the persona of a chldren's entertainer for the album, so the songs are childlike - but they are also meticulously crafted and delightful. Here's Fico Assim sem Você from the album.

Here is an working link to Daniel Darc's song. Connoisseurs will recognize the musical borrowing of Lou Reed's "Sad Song" from Berlin.

The Organ: Memorize the City

Heather Phares, for allmusic:
While this sound comes from the legacy of '80s college rock -- at times suggesting a fusion of the Smiths' witty, bouncy melancholy and the on-the-sleeve passion of Throwing Muses -- and also has ties to some of the other bands remaking new wave and post-punk in their own images, the Organ and Grab That Gun have a freshness that isn't often heard in any kind of rock music. This is partly due to the simplicity of the band's playing; some call it amateurish, although innocent is probably a more apt description. There's also a remarkable sincerity to the band's music, a large part of which comes from singer Katie Sketch's striking vocals and lyrics.

John Clarkson, for pennyblackmusic:
Memorize the City finds her very aware of her native city’s failings and shortcomings as she wanders around it for a last time before she has to leave it ( "I walk around the streets and memorize the city/I can’t turn around until I reach the shore/Sometimes I close my eyes and you’re not very pretty" ).
With a potential new romance set to fade away before it has had the chance to bloom, she is, however, reluctant to let the city go and to walk away from it entirely ( "Although our lips barely touched/ I have never felt so much/ and I would really like to feel that way again" ).

Ok, here are words about the 2 French "anomalies" that appeared in my list :

TTC is a French hip-hop band with lot of electronic elements in their music, they had a huge critic success in France, especially their 2004 album "Bâtards Sensibles", despite crude and sexist lyrics (it's hard to top "Girlfriend" in that aspect).
There are not much other bands sounding like them, which was kind of a big deal in France given that all the bands on the previous 10 years sounded either like IAM (sort of oriental Wu-Tang aesthetic) or like NTM (closer to NWA in the sound). I think people from any country can enjoy their sound, part of it at list because I think it gets annoying through an whole album.


On the other hand you probably have to be French to enjoy Didier Super, even slightly, with his redneck (we would say "chti") voice, bad taste, cheap synthetizer and over-the-top stupid lyrics. But if you like this kind of humor, some songs are completely hilarious.


The mix of those TTC and Didier Super could give birth to Stupeflip which I forgot past year but should have been given a nod, very blunt French sort of hip-hop, at times brilliant.

And now, ladies and gents,
After Katerine,
After Les fabulous Trobadors,
Here is the French song that nicolas loves and evrybody in the forum hates, especially the French people

Les Bombes 2 Bal – La Voiture

Les Bombes 2 Bal are a girl group (well, actually there’s a guy on drums) from Toulouse. The singer is the daughter of Claude Sicre, leader of the Fabulos Trobadors. They are great on stage because they have a couple of dancers who join the audience during the concert to teach people how to dance on their forro rhythms from Northern Brazil.
The lyrics are funny, don’t miss them (I have posted a translation below).

I made the vid myself because I couldn’t fin dit on the Web, so excuse me for the poor quality, I had to hurry.


La Voiture par nickraven4





I ain’t washed the car
I left all the scratches
I didn’t do no repainting
And now the cops are there
I ain’t fastened my seat belt
I went over the white line
I was driving at a fast speed
Let’s see if they’re cool

I just woke up a while ago
My hair is not fixed right
I’m not very well rigged out
And now the cops are there
I ain’t paid the vignette (French tax on cars)
My headlights are smashed to bits
My tyres are flat
Let’s see if they’re cool

I’m unlucky these days
I got no muffler
Run away yeah but how ?
It’s too late the cops are there
My blinkers are fucked up
But I ain’t run over nobody
Just bumped into the pillar
Let’s see if they’re cool

I’ve done something foolish
I had lost part of my consciousness
I have broken my abstinence
And now the cops are there
I’m not at home in France
I haven’t paid any insurance
My licence is on vacation
Let’s see if they’re cool

They are waving me to move along
Oh my god what a luck
Anyway I ain’t done nothing
And now the cops are behind
Hey but what’s this whistle
Is that for me or am I dreaming
Well I guess i’ll have to argue
Let’s see if they’re cool

Original lyrics

La voiture, les Bombes 2 bal


J’ai pas lavé la voiture
J’ai laissé les éraflures
J’ai pas refait la peinture
Et voilà les flics sont là
J’ai pas bouclé ma ceinture
J’ai mordu sur la bordure
Je roulais à vive allure
On va voir s’ils sont sympas

Je viens de me réveiller
Je ne suis pas très bien peignée
Je suis mal attifée
Et voilà les flics sont là
J’ai pas payé la vignette
J’ai les phares qui sont en miettes
J’ai les pneus tous dégonflettes
On va s’ils sont sympas

J’ai pas de pot en ce moment
J’ai pas de pot d’échappement
M’échapper oui mais comment
C’est trop tard les flic sont là
J’ai les clignos qui déconnent
Mais j’ai écrasé personne
J’ai juste enflé la colonne
On va voir s’ils sont sympas

J’ai commis une imprudence
J’avais pas toute ma conscience
J’ai rompu mon abstinence
Et voilà les flics sont là
Je ne suis pas chez moi en France
J’ai pas payé l’assurance
Mon permis est en vacances
On va voir s’ils sont sympas

Ils me font signe de passer
Mon dieu quelle chance j’ai
Tout façon j’avais rien fait
Voilà les flics sont là
M****, c’est quoi ces sifflets ?
C’est pour moi ou j’ai rêvé ?
Bon, va falloir discuter
On va voir s’ils sont sympas….

I know that it's quite absurd to recommend a compilation, given the fact that it's not eligible, but "The Golden Apples of the Sun" is an extraordinary document of a movement (the New Weird America, Freak Folk or whatever) that was developing at this very moment and compiled by one of the main protagonists, Devendra Banhart.
01. VETIVER with HOPE SANDOVAL Angel's Share
02. JOANNA NEWSOM Bridges and Balloons
03. SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE Hazy SF
04. VIKING MOSES! Crosses
05. JOSEPHINE FOSTER Little Life
06. ESPERS Biss & Abyss
07. VASHTI BUNYAN & DEVENDRA BANHART Rejoicing in the Hands
09. CURRITUCK CO. The Tropics of Cancer
10. WHITE MAGIC Don't Need
11. IRON & WINE Fever Dream
12. DIANE CLUCK Heat From Every Corner
16. LITTLE WINGS Look at What the Light Did Now
17. SCOUT NIBLETT Wet Road
18. TROLL Mexicana
19. COCOROSIE Good Friday
20. ANTONY The Lake

From Congo, Havana and Paris

this one is from Guinea (african music anyone ?)

How is this for brilliant contrast...

I discovered Déportivo's Parmi eux because it was on Michel's list and now Old Crow Medicine Show's O.C.M.S. because it's on nicolas's list. Thanks both!



And I discovered Gonzales's Solo Piano becuase of a recommendation by Henrik and because it's on Honorio's list. So thanks to the two of you too.

(Sorry, I'm in video posting mode.)

In fact I took OCMS from John's list. Thanks John

Thanks for the Gonzales post, Dan. Wonderful.

I was just going to post a video of my favorite discovery this month, Gustavo Santaolalla's "De Usuahia a la Quiaca" from the film "Diarios de Motocicleta". Then I discovered that he released already in 1997 on his "Ronroco" album. Well, here it is anyway.

This land is your land - Sharon Jones & the... par Petite-Rigolote

Decent mod rock from some Londoner good guys:



And my favourite 2005 song. The album version is a bit longer and has a lower tempo, but this is great too:

Here's an early heads up for 2006, a year with lots of underrated gems.










Other underrated acts of 2006, but at least their works are on AM:

Studio
Regina Spektor
Ellen Allien & Apparat
Built to Spill
Destroyer

... and this great song by The Divine Comedy (Petri already has it as #1)

Mojave 3: Ghostship Waiting

Nitsuh Abebe (Pitchfork):
Puzzles Like You is another shift in sound and style, and another staying-the-same for the way Halstead writes (and presumably always will write) his songs. These tunes are as upbeat as anything the guy's ever recorded; some of them (like "Ghostship Waiting") even work up little heads of steam before racing out to an energetic finish.

James Marshall (Yahoo Music Album Review)
"Puzzles Like You" suffers slightly from an inconsistent sense of purpose and an over-reliance of a single idea that run out of steam before the album's conclusion, but such gripes and criticisms are offset when confronted with something as irresistible as "Ghostship Waiting".

For those who find it refreshing to explore cleverly constructed pop music that is both accessible and kinda arty (and not necessarily sung in English)...

Recommendations for the 2007 poll:

Underrated song for the 2007 poll...

A beautiful French song from a wonderful EP (followed by a good but not as great LP)

Not really obscure but I was kinda surprised that this was not on the AM songs list.
One of the best pop singles of 2007:

MARK RONSON feat. AMY WINEHOUSE-Valerie

I tried to post this last night but the IT gremlins caused problems, so I’ll try again...

Ahead of the 2008 poll next month, I’ve listened to more albums than usual from Latin America, Spain and Portugal. I’m really pleased I made the effort because I’ve discovered a few I really like. Here are some of them with YouTube links to a song from each album in brackets.

Isol / Zypce – Sima (La culpa)
Teleradio Donoso – Baylar y Llolar (Éramos todos felices)
Banda de Turistas – Mágico corazón radiofónico (La máquina favorita)
Marcelo Camelo – Sou (Liberdade)
Christina Rosenvinge – Tu labio superior (La distancia adecuada)
Onda Vaga – Fuerte y caliente (Mambeado)
El Columpio Asesimo – La gallina (La marca en nuestra frente es la de Caín)

I think I tried to hype Rokia Traoré with some success already in our yearly poll at the end of 2008. I'll keep my fingers crossed for a big sensation!

Perfect Timing: Drive-By Truckers par cowboycamera

What's wrong with dads ?

The Mandé Variations is a masterpiece, but a very demanding one. Listening to this album requires absolute silence, focus, for it is a mystical experience.
I've been to this part of Africa and every note feels like a sun ray (or a raindrop, depends on the season).
I can picture the red clay, the green grass that spurs in the rainy season, the people, the children everywhere.
Toumani is universal. A virtuoso, yes, but much more than that, a true artist. A magician.

Beautiful French song: Dominique A. - Immortels (thanks Andre!)



How to make a Buddy Holly song your own: M. Ward - Rave On