2003
Noah’s Barks pages covering things relating to the year 2003.
-
The Dresden Dolls – “The Dresden Dolls”
Much, much better than expected. The main thing here is that despite The Dresden Dolls founding their own sort of punk cabaret rock they don’t rely on it for the songwriting, which is the main problem with most dark cabaret albums. The amount of variety in tempo and rhythm between songs is a fantastically pleasant… (read more)
-
Lost in Translation
Conceptually, Lost in Translation is a brilliant movie. Capitalizing on alienated people looking for romance by placing them in a culture they can’t connect to as another country, and the cinematography further empathizing crowdedness and the disorienting size of the world around them. Technically expressive, but the dialogue, including most of the leads’ interactions consists… (read more)
-
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Fever to Tell” (2003)
Rebellious girl rock is such a great concept with me, so why do I have the damndest time finding any I truly can’t resist? On Fever to Tell, Yeah Yeah Yeahs sound like X-Ray Spex with less balls. Fortunately, they use that extra space to get their groove on with some repetitive dance rhythms; but there’s never… (read more)
-
Oldboy
Park Chan-wook‘s mixed influences have never been so fine a solution: a neo-noir that finds absurd dreamlike fantasies in the isolated, manic delusions of its central characters, where it prunes the most desperate motivations of the subconscious to mine intense hatred and brutality rarely seen in a revenge plot. Dae-su’s alienation and confusion come to… (read more)
-
Boris – “Akuma no Uta”
Public service announcement: I have recently removed the PX-102 copy of Akuma no Uta from my library to add the PXLP-102 copy. This PXLP-102 copy is the one known by the more popular album cover—that is, Atsuo sitting on a stool holding his guitar across his lap. Of course, we all know that this album… (read more)
-
Sweet Trip – “Velocity : Design : Comfort” (2003)
Velocity : Design : Comfort is quality, spacey, happy, dreamy IDM with a lot of sudden glitch beats. Pleasant female vocals for about half of the album that sound exactly like Mary Hansen of Stereolab, both in voice and inflection. Despite what the genre tags may say, this is absolutely not shoegaze. Don’t go in expecting… (read more)
-
Wax Poetic – “Nublu Sessions” (2003)
Nublu Sessions brings a breath of fresh air that trip hop really needed, but unfortunately long after the scene had died. Still, great music exists out of time. Norah Jones sings on two sublime, more traditional, soothing trip hop tracks. The rest of the album is a bit more adventurous, diving into some African influences.… (read more)
-
Massive Attack – “100th Window” (2003)
Both 100th Window and Heligoland have been growing on me lately. They’re more lowkey than their predecessors and definitely slow burns. Where earlier albums like Mezzanine crushed the listener with the oppressive power of its heavy bass and toyed with them using its twisted dark soundscapes and distorted guitars, an album like 100th Window is much more gentle. The dark tone… (read more)
-
Killing Joke – “Killing Joke” (2003)
Killing Joke 2003 is one of the most aggressive, genuinely angry albums I’ve ever heard. Very cathartic. When I’m in a shitty and pissed off mood, I find it difficult to enjoy music. But rarely, this and Big Black still work for me. For all its fury, Killing Joke is the world’s loudest pop rock album and… (read more)
-
Fire Emblem
The first localized game in the ‘Fire Emblem’ franchise enters the English world with a bang in what is potentially its greatest entry ever. (read more)