Anything On Your Mind?
Back to 2003! 2003 was an interesting time as I was working on a startup where I was the technical co-founder, trying to get enough of a demo put together to get funded. I was therefore working without a salary, and I was slowly digging my way into a deeper and deeper hole. Eventually, it reached the point where I couldn’t really justify continuing to work without a salary, as I’d burned through my severance from my previous job, the money I’d made from some consulting work, and frankly all my savings. And then some. As that reality set in, I kind of stopped doing much of anything. I didn’t feel like I could justify working on the startup, but I also didn’t feel like I should give up on it. I was stuck and spinning my wheels, and financially my position continued to deteriorate. I did eventually break out of the spiral, mostly by talking about it directly, and did find a regular job that allowed me to pay the bills and start digging out of the hole. It would be something like seven years before I was fully out of the damage I’d caused.
I’m not sure what lesson I learned from it, exactly. Other than to be more aware of my financial limitations, which I suppose is useful. I did end up joining a startup (as something like employee 50), and I would go from there to about a thirty person company, and then from there to being employee seven at a startup. So obviously, I didn’t learn “startups suck” as a lesson. I guess I did learn a lot about how funding works for startups, a painful lesson, but a useful one, I guess.
Looking back, that’s mostly what I remember about that year. I was working (or “working”) from home for a lot of the year, and I wasn’t getting out much, so I’m expecting this to be a year where I missed out on stuff. Let’s check the chart! Hmm, eleven, not bad. I suppose I did start working near Sonic Boom partway through the year.
What Do You Listen To From 2003, Josh?
A sampling of albums that I want to write about from 2003.
This is another one of those years where I feel like a lot of the records I might write about are kind of obvious. Like, I think Transatlanticism is by a long ways the best Death Cab album, but Death Cab opinions are a dime a dozen. And I just talked about Boris the other day, so it seems goofy to talk about Akuma No Uta (although that album rules). Hell, so does Boris At Last -Feedbacker- and…wait, what the hell is going on with the RYM page for Feedbacker?
A Beautiful EP, Clem Snide
God, I love EPs. This one is centered on their cover of Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful”. A lot of times, bands (especially punk bands) will take on a popular song and play it for irony, with the entirety of the idea being “ha ha aren’t we stinkers for playing this pop song loud and fast”. It’s a pretty limited joke. Some bands can make it work, of course, but mostly it’s a hollow move. Here, Clem Snide are playing it pretty straight, with Eef Barzelay’s inherently vulnerable singing being well-suited to the plaintive chorus. In addition to that, they add the lovely “All Green” (from Soft Spot), a Velvet Underground cover (“I’ll Be Your Mirror”), and a couple originals. “Nick Drake Tape” is a lovely acoustic number, a tune that would have sat on Your Favorite Music just fine, but the prize of the collection is the sweet and goofy “Mike Kalinsky”. A charming set of tunes.
The Ugly Organ, Cursive
Emo/post-hardcore longtimers Cursive have a lot of albums under their belts, but this is my favorite album. Coming off the painful to listen to Domestica, which documented the dissolution of Tim Kasher’s marriage, the band produced another emotional record but one that is less immediate. That slight bit of distance helps things go down a bit better, and the added presence of strings help the songs along quite a bit more. Overall, this album sounds like the Afghan Whigs’ Black Love to me, which is a strong recommendation.
Supporters’ Album #1, Einstürzende Neubauten
This is a supremely annoying release to highlight here, because this isn’t really an album any of you can easily check out. I suppose somebody has probably uploaded it to YouTube, and I’m sure it’s kicking around somewhere you could download it. Hell, it’s probably somewhere in the Internet Archive. But this isn’t one of their normal releases. It is kind of an interesting artifact, though. In 2002, Neubauten decided to try and create a new album outside of any label support, selling subscriptions to their website in order to fund the recording. In exchange, they would provide in-progress information, behind-the-scenes material, and eventually a copy of the record. The plan even called for some livestreaming, as I recall. We would call it crowdfunding today, of course, but it was the first time I’d really encountered the model. As this time period covered a time when I was not working a normal job, I was able to follow along pretty closely, getting lots of glimpses of the record along the way.
Eventually, the album did arrive, and it continued in the vein of the previous record, Silence is Sexy. It’s a more meditative, droning kind of record than early Neubauten, but no less effective for being more restrained. This material would get re-worked for a full label release with the album Perpetuum Mobile, which some people supporting the project took as a bit of a betrayal. They were happy to be supporting Neubauten outside the label system, and then to see the work they’d helped fund go to a label seemed to strike at what the project was. It didn’t stop Neubauten from continuing with crowdfuding, wtih Grundstück emerging from the same system as well as Alles Wieder Offen, which was delivered without a label, fulfilling the promise of the project.
It’s interesting to think that they were using crowdfunding six years before Kickstarter launched, and eleven years before Patreon. Recognizing the ability of the internet to directly connect with fans and disintermediate companies is something that lots of artists would eventually figure out, but Neubauten was there super early. Turns out they are as creative with business models as they are with music.
Let’s Talk More 2003
Why not cover some more 2003 records?
Shades of Blue: Madlib Invades Blue Note, Madlib
Hip-hop genius Madlib was invited by Blue Note to go into their legendary archives and use anything he wanted to make a new album. Madlib did just that, producing an album that is recognizable as both a hip-hop record and a jazz record. It’s certainly respectful of its source material, but also definitely something new. I don’t know that it really soars at any point, it’s not a record that will ever make you say “holy shit” at any point. But as a front-to-back listen, it’s an excellent time.
Wonderful Rainbow, Lightning Bolt
Among the various “two people make a hell of a racket” bands out there, nobody raised more of a racket than these two. Brian Chippendale (drums and vocals) and Brian Gibson (bass) play with an urgency and ferocity that definitely makes you forget that there’s only two of them. The timbres that they’re playing with also increases the sense of urgency, with Gibson’s distortion filling a ton of space and Chippendale’s snare slicing through it. This is their third album, and I think it’s a beautiful record, immaculately put together, and basically as good as this kind of noise rock gets. This record was a gift from my ability to visit Sonic Boom regularly during lunches, as they were playing it inside the store one day, resulting in my walking out with it.
Feast of Wire, Calexico
I know I put up a Calexico record last time, but I don’t care. This record is brilliant, so I’m going to highlight it here. Calexico’s first three records were more focused on their southwestern sounds than this record, where they incorporated more pop songwriting. Joey Burns also seemed like he’d become more comfortable taking center stage with his vocals. Both of those changes really helped them take a leap with this record. The southwestern influences are all still here, there’s just a more tuneful sensibility to go along. I don’t think they’ve ever beat this album, although their discography contains plenty of great records.
Five Random Songs
Yes, it’s the “classic” five random songs format. It’s been told before on this blog many times, but basically, on an old forum, people would post the last five songs their shuffle pulled up. I liked it, so I made it into a blog. And now, here we are.
“Frederick’s Frost”, Squirtgun
In the mid-90s, Lookout Records put out a zillion records, buoyed by people re-discovering rock music and subsequently finding their way to the pop-punk that was Lookout’s stock in trade. With a roster including people like The Mr. T Experience, Screeching Weasel, Operation Ivy, Fifteen, Crimpshrine, and others, Lookout was ready to give people what they were looking for. When the “others” above turned out to harbor a certain band called Green Day, the label really took off. Among all those records they put out in the mid-90s (this is from 1995), there are a bunch of largely forgotten bands like Squirtgun, and mostly they were pretty good to very good. I wouldn’t point to this as a lost classic or anything, but it’s a fun record, and if you like pop-punk, the whole thing is worth a spin.
“Outro”, Krallice
This is the end of one of Krallice’s 2017 albums, Go Be Forgotten, a truly grand release from them that deserves more attention than just the outro showing up here. But that’s what we got, so enjoy.
“Hold My Life”, The Replacements
The major label debut for the ‘Mats, Tim is my favorite record by them. They certainly were more professional on this record, although they weren’t exactly glossy or anything. But that extra step up works for me, letting the songs shine a little more. This is how the record opens, and it just stays at this consistent level.
“The Apt.”, Times New Viking
Do you like it when everything is blown out? Well, here, have a treat!
“Blood Money”, Stress Positions
This is from Stress Positions’ 2025 record, which is a long EP (seven songs and a few remixes). This is noise-inflected hardcore, and they’re doing some good work on this record. Recommended!
Josh, What Are You Doing Here?
I’m just writing about music. A structure like this blog helps me get my thoughts out, and it’s a way for me to explore my own music collection through various lenses. My sincere hope is that some folks out there find some new music they love. That’s all I’m up to. Sincere thanks to everybody who sends me feedback, with news that they’ve found a new favorite especially fun for me. There’s no monetization, no metrics, no ads, no promos, no nothing. Just some static web pages, some links, and my scribbling. If you want to support it, just shoot me a note! Thanks for reading.
Some Better Places To Learn About Music
Check these folks out, you’ll learn more for sure. In no particular order: To The Teeth, Wolf’s Week/Plague Rages, The Devil’s Mouth, Burning Ambulance, Lamniformes Cuneiform, Hex Records, See/Saw, Starkweather.