Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Columnist Spencer Patterson: No shortage of music for top 10 list

I'll start by saying that I should probably be listing the best albums of 1998, rather than my picks from 2003.

After all, it really takes about five years to determine whether something you thought you liked initially still holds up, and gets regular action in your CD changer.

But no one really cares about 1998 at the moment, especially with this year's holiday shopping season in full swing and many lists filled with music requests.

So here are my picks for this year's Top 10 Albums, counted down from No. 10 to my choice for Album of the Year.

Keep in mind that while I've heard or sampled a couple hundred discs this year, there are plenty I have yet to check out. And remember, these rankings might look drastically different five years from now.

10. Bardo Pond -- "On the Ellipse" (ATP): Another round of mind-numbing drone-rock from the Philadelphia quintet.

9. Neil Young -- "Greendale" (Reprise): A near-classic by Young, which would be a career pinnacle for most anyone else. The live DVD is pretty sweet, too.

8. Beyonce -- "Dangerously in Love" (Columbia): "Crazy in Love" was the year's good-time anthem.

7. Mogwai -- "Happy Songs for Happy People" (Matador): Scotland's sonic experimentalists return with their most fully developed project.

6. The Strokes -- "Room on Fire" (RCA): Some say it's better than the first one, some say it's not. I say, when it's this much fun to listen to, who cares?

5. Radiohead -- "Hail to the Thief" (Capitol): Has any band become more consistent at churning out powerhouse rock CDs?

4. Dirty Three -- "She Has No Strings Apollo" (Touch and Go): Ominous, violin-driven instrumental soundscapes.

3. The White Strips -- "Elephant" (V2): The Stripes prove they have staying power with their boldest -- and most cohesive -- album to date.

2. OutKast -- "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" (Arista): Toss Prince, George Clinton, De La Soul and a healthy dose of '70s soul into a blender and you've got the rare double-album that actually works.

1. Cat Power -- "You Are Free" (Matador): Chan Marshall's voice has always been angelic, but this time her songs are just as memorable. Oscillating between haunting canticles and a few surprisingly upbeat rockers, "You Are Free" has been spinning in my stereo since February.

Honorable Mention: Allman Brothers Band -- "Hittin' the Note;" Bonnie Prince Billy -- "Master and Everyone;" Guided by Voices -- "Earthquake Glue;" Pretty Girls Make Graves -- "The New Romance;" The Shins -- "Chutes Too Narrow;" Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros -- "Streetcore;" Yeah Yeah Yeahs -- "Fever to Tell;" Yo La Tengo -- "Today is the Day (EP).

Music notes

Stocking stuffers: Beginning on page one of this section, we present a look at the year's many boxed set releases. A $50 price tag is a bit steep for many holiday budgets, however, so here are a few other musical gift ideas that won't break the bank.

For the Rat Pack fan in your family, try Reprise Records' "Ultimate Rat Pack Collection" ($25), which combines a live CD with a complete 1965 performance on DVD. Reprise also released Frank Sinatra's classic "Sinatra at the Sands With Count Basie & the Orchestra" LP in the upgraded DVD-Audio format ($20).

Anyone who enjoyed the Rolling Stones on their last tour might like "Four Flicks" ($30), a four-DVD set showcasing three of the band's recent concerts. Available only at Best Buy.

Electronica aficionados have three reasons to celebrate: two-disc retrospectives from Underworld ("Underworld 1992-2002," $18) and the Chemical Brothers ("Singles 93-03," $15) and a new installment in the Moby catalog ("18 B-Sides +DVD," $19).

Classic rockers continued to dig through their vaults in 2003. Led Zeppelin dropped its superb, self-titled two-DVD set ($30) and the live three-CD "How the West Was Won" ($25).

The Beatles' final album, "Let it Be," has been reissued in a stripped-down "Naked" form ($16). Rush released two-DVD ($30) and three-CD ($26) versions of its "Rush in Rio" concert document. And the Allman Brothers Band put out another revelatory vault recording, the two-CD "Live at the Atlanta Pop Festival, July 3 & 5, 1970" ($25).

Speaking of the Allman Brothers, ABB guitarist Warren Haynes delivered a colossal live set by his "other" band, Gov't Mule. "The Deepest End" ($25) presents more than six hours of the Mule's marathon May 3 show in New Orleans over two CDs and a DVD, with guest appearances by Les Claypool, Bela Fleck and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, among many others.

Longtime Bruce Springsteen loyalists should avoid Columbia's three-disc "The Essential Bruce Springsteen" ($25). The strangely conceived set sticks to the obvious hits over its first two discs, then rounds up 12 tepid rarities on Disc 3.

Springsteen fans will likely prefer the Boss's "Live in Barcelona" two-DVD pack ($18), a complete show from Springsteen's 2002 "Rising" tour.

Jam banders have several new options this season. The Grateful Dead have unveiled "The Closing of Winterland" ($30), a two-disc DVD set, available with a bonus audio CD for those who order it directly from the band's website, www.dead.net.

Also, Phish's latest batch of "Live Phish" CD sets includes Vol. 18, a May 1994 show from Dallas' Bomb Factory ($21). The concert is revered for its "Tweezerfest," in which the band wraps the song "Tweezer" in and out of several other tunes, including Prince's "Purple Rain" and the Breeders' "Cannonball."

Four of Neil Young's albums finally saw their first CD release in 2003: "On the Beach," "American Stars 'N Bars," "Re-ac-tor" and "Hawks & Doves" ($12 each). Also reissued this year, a chunk of Willie Nelson's catalog, including "Greatest Hits (& Some That Will Be)," "Always on My Mind" and "Tougher Than Leather" ($12 each).

Universal introduced the "'Deluxe Edition" concept several years back with expanded reissues of classic albums by the Who, Marvin Gaye and Blind Faith, and now Sony/Legacy has picked up the baton.

The label's first three "Legacy Edition" two-disc releases are Jeff Buckley's "Live at Sin-e," the Byrds' "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" ($28) and Muddy Waters' "Mississippi Muddy Waters Live" ($28 each).

And lastly, 2003 saw a slew of new greatest-hits packages by artists including the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sheryl Crow, No Doubt, Counting Crows and Stone Temple Pilots.

Kudos to Cox: Southern Nevada is finally home to quality music video television again, with the recent addition of MTV2 (Channel 38) to the Cox Cable lineup.

With no traditional college radio station on the local dial, MTV2 becomes the only non-Internet source for certain genres in town. Its formatting is far from perfect, but also far more music-oriented than that of video-light channels MTV and VH1.

On sale

Britney Spears performs at the MGM Grand Garden on March 6. Tickets are $48.50, $78.50 and $98.50 and go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. at the MGM Grand box office, at TicketMaster outlets, by phone at 474-4000 and at www.ticketmaster.com.

Travis plays The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel on Jan. 27. Tickets are $33 and go on sale Saturday at noon at the Hard Rock box office and through TicketMaster.

The House of Blues at Mandalay Bay hosts a four-band bill featuring Simple Plan, MxPx, Sugarcult and Billy Talent on Feb. 20. Tickets are $16.50 and $18.50 and go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. at the House of Blues box office, by phone at 632-7600, at www.hob.com and through TicketMaster.

Dread Zeppelin stops by the House of Blues on Jan. 3. Tickets are on sale now for $15.

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