Top Albums of the Year 2003, Part 1: The Masterpieces

My Favorite Albums of 2003

(In some semblance of order)

***Author's note:  Below you will find two different rankings for this year's albums. The first is merely a list consisting of a Top Ten with a following list of "Honorable Mentions." These are my favorite albums of the year, that is, the albums to which I have formed the greatest emotional attachments. The ensuing Reviews are ordered according to my personal, more objective judgment as to their quality, that is, the "best" albums of the year. Here I have tried to order the albums reviewed according to my personal determination as to what are the "best" albums of the year from a more critical, qualitative viewpoint, that is, without as much emotional attachment as "My Favorite" albums.  

2003 offered some stunning new music from artists KAYO DOT, THE MARS VOLTA, NIL, and OCEANSIZE--all four newcomers to the prog scene. My Favorites List has albums representing quite a broad spectrum of the progressive rock sub-genres though it seems a fairly weak year in terms of quantity and quality, as I have but one (1) masterpiece, two (2)"minor" masterpiece, and ten (10) "near-masterpieces" of progressive rock music and one special mention at the top of my List. 

The Rankings
(My Favorites)

1. HANS ZIMMER The Last Samurai (Original Motion Picture Score)
2. NIL Quarante jours sur le Sinaï 

3. MASSIVE ATTACK 100th Window

4. ANTIQUE SEEKING NUNS Mild Profundities

5. KARDA ESTRA Constellations

6. SYRINX Reification

7. Colossus/Musea Records presents: Kalevala: A Finnish Progressive Rock Epic

8. FAUN Licht

9. KAYO DOT Choirs of the Eye
10. THE MARS VOLTA De-loused in the Comatorium

11. OCEANSIZE Efflouresce

12. MEW Frengers 

13. SATELLITE A Street Between Sunrise and Sunset

14. RIVERSIDE Out of Myself

15. LA MASCHERA DI CERA Il Grande Labrinto

16. FROGG CAFÉ Creatures 

17. EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place

18. AFTER CRYING Show

19. MOONGARDEN Round Midnight

20. TAAL Skymind

Honorable Mentions:

THE GATHERING Souvenirs

KBB Four Corner's Sky
DJAM KARET A Night for Baku

OSI Officeof Strategic Influence

ANATHEMA A Natural Disaster

MAR DE ROBLES MdR

ROBERT WYATT Cuckooland

ESPERS Espers

BLUR Think Tank 

ARCADE FIRE Arcade Fire

The Reviews

5 Star Masterpieces

(Ratings of 100 to 93.34)

***** Album of the Year for 2003! *****

1. NIL Quarante jours sur le Sinaï 

Line-up / Musicians:
- David Maurin / prepared guitars, flute, bass clarinet, gong
- Benjamin Croizy / synthesizer, Mellotron, church organ (St Pierre Cathedral, Annecy), Hammond, piano, MS-20, timpani
- Samuel Maurin / bass, Chapman Stick, vocals
- Frank Niebel / drums, percussion
With:
- Anne Cayrol / cello
- Hervé Franconi / soprano saxophone
- François Pernel / harp
- Roselyne Berthet / vocals, ethereal voices
- Eric Vedovati / vocals
- Samy Cyr / ethereal voices
- Audrey Casella / narrator 

1. "Act I" (36:16) (/70)
2. "Act II" (26:42) (/50)

Total Time 62:58

Mostly because of the density of this album's two songs, each covering over 26 minutes, It has been a real struggle for me to get to know this amazing album. (I've owned it for over 15 years! I just never sat with it with my undivided attention like I did, finally, today.) My overwhelming response is that progressive rock music does not get better than this--in fact, has never been better than this; this is precisely the raison d'etre for a category of music we call "progressive rock" to exist: for the cinematic/theatric musical expression of BIG human themes. 

The musical composition(s), instrumental performances, and sound production of this album, start to finish, are of the absolute highest quality. The confident use of melody and dissonance, virtuosic displays of instrumental prowess contrasted with passages of spacious simplicity shows, to me, that these band members are true masters of their craft.

Without hesitation this is a five star masterpiece of progressive rock music and the finest studio album release of 2003.

The "Minor" Masterpieces

(Ratings of 93.33 to 90.0)

SYRINX Reification

The first expression from the Maurin Brothers (plus Benjamin Croizy) as Syrinx, the media have assigned this band and its work to the Jazz-Rock Fusion subgenre but I have trouble with that  assignation due to all of the folk/acoustic work (David Maurin's contributions to the quartet are coming exclusively from an acoustic guitar) and Benjamin's proggy synth work--even many of the melodies injected into the songs feel far more proggy--or are delivered by instruments that the educated listener would consider more proggy--than what one might expect from any Jazz-Rock Fusion band. Perhaps the assignation came due to the music's sophistication and lack of vocals.

Line-up / Musicians:
- David Maurin / acoustic guitar
- Benjamin Croizy / keyboards
- Samuel Maurin / bass
- Philippe Maullet / drums

1. "Reification" (16:57) a long, proggy suite that definitely feels more aligned with prog's eclectic or crossover sub-genres than Jazz-Rock Fusion. Philippe Maullet's drumming becomes quite impressive in the Änglagård-like fifth and sixth minutes, but then we're slowed down to a cautious pace within which Benjamin uses an Ozric Tentacles-like bird-synth sound to cast talk-like arpeggi over the rest of the music. This lasts a while with Samuel Maurin becoming a bit more active with his fretless-sounding and ChapmanStick-sounding bass. Then the band falls into a pattern of alternating gentle arpeggiated acoustic guitar chord-centered theme with a more dynamic bass-and-drum-amped motif for the next couple of minutes before everybody pauses except for Benjamin Croizy's pattern of synth wash chords. The new motif that is next started has a very pretty smooth jazz feel to it as David and Samuel play off one another and Philippe supports the two with exquisite drumming. What a cool motif! All too brief! At the end of the 13th minute the band ramps back up into a more aggressive though still-upbeat motif and then starts alternating it with the pretty "smooth jazz" motif we heard before. Here both Benjamin and Samuel take it upon themselves to go into some improvisational soloing--at the same time! And it works! Both are awesome, even in "competition" with each other. Samuel maintains the solo mode much longer than Ben, eventually being faded out while Ben's dreamy synth washes carry us to the  playing the song's true, final fadeout ending. Great opener! (32.625/35)

2. "Emanescence" (8:35) a song that feels far closer to the NIL world despite the infusion of Ozric Tentacles-like "world music" sounds from Benjamin's synths. There is definitely a Crimsonian dark eclecticism and near-Math Rock feel to much of this music. A spacey interlude is positioned in around the four minute mark to give the listener a pause--to look around, I suppose--but then the full Math Rock motif is brought back and eventually speed-shifted up a notch or two for the next minute before the band falls into one of the Maurin brothers' signature patterns: that of alternative two motifs, usually one gentler and more spacious with one that is more aggressive and Crimsonian--only this time they've shown that they've matured--that they've learned from their previous albums (Nil and Thork's debuts) where they used to beat those alternating hard-and-soft motifs to death before giving way to something else. Here the yin-yang yo-yo is discontinued within a minute of its inception. The motif that finishes off the song (covering the final two-plus minutes) actually sees the introduction of a bunch of sounds that sound very much like the music that STEPHAN THELEN (SONAR) and DAVID TORN have been making together since 2017. I want more of this! (18/20)

3. "The Twentieth Circle" (7:34) here is a song that seems to be trying to figure out whether or not it wants to express a happy, optimistic perspective or one of sad resignation as the two dominating chords seem to alternate in equal proportion, back and forth, throughout the song while Benjamin's right hand and David's acoustic guitar try to help convince the Entity (is it a singular being or a collective?) to make a choice: to decide one way or the other. But then, suddenly in the middle of the seventh minute, the music stops and the band seems to come racing out of the cave of ambivalence into an assertive, action-filled motif reminiscent of  Great song. Well done, Syrinx! (14/15)

4. "Orbis Ubique" (14:43) for the opening motifs of this song David's near-Spanish/Flamenco-style acoustic guitar play steps into the leadership role--a very cool motif. Then, near the three-minute mark, David steps back, into a supporting role with some finger-picking, while Benjamin's organ and drummer Philippe Maullet's cymbal play carry the music forward. At the very end of the sixth minute another transition occurs, leaving us with a more-proggy motif that is driven by some awesome Bill Bruford-like drumming. Once a full band accord has been reached we find ourselves amidst the first truly Jazz-Rock Fusion motif of the album: with David's acoustic guitar playing some strums, riffs, and chord progressions (in tandem with brother Samuel's awesome bass echoes) that feel right in line with bands like Echolyn, Djam Karet, On The Virg, and all that the Coniguliaro brothers contribute to. Acoustic guitar, bass, and organ interplay, occasionally rearing one head to try some ascendency but usually falling back into a whole-band weave. I'm loving this! Then in the ninth minute the band slips back into a patient display of interwoven synth, acoustic guitar, and bass while Philippe expresses his own feelings through some more nice syncopated drumming. There several times over the motif switches in the last five minutes that I am reminded of Andrew Marshall's WILLOWGLASS project, but more, I find myself quite happy hearing such Bruford-like drumming. (27.75/30)

5. "The Hypostasis of the Archons" (7:00) the opening two minutes of this song seem to take the conflict between ambivalent ambiguity to another level as David guitar and Benjamin's keyboard work present two very different themes--as if to present two very different, two seemingly oppositional worldviews. The third minute sees the band joining in, drums and bass seeming to support dialogue, kind of arbitrating for civility, turn-taking, and other marks of open negotiations. I love the feel of what is being expressed (and accomplished) here: there may not be resolution of their differences but we are being left with a sense of respectful open-mindedness and awareness and consideration of the feelings and thoughts of others. (13.5/15)

Total Time: 54:49

With my third run through this album I've discovered many of the gems and jewels imbedded within along with the fabulosities that were evident upon first visit. I am now very pleased to remark upon the Maurin brother's wonderful growth and maturification since those first two albums (released in 1999 and 2000). 

91.20 on the Fishscales = A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece that has me thinking very much of my delightful discovery of Beardfish's amazing Destined Solitaire--an album that continues to grow on me and reveal new and surprising treasures with every listen. While I do believe that Reification might be better labeled "eclectic" or perhaps even "crossover" instead of Jazz-Rock Fusion, it is a great album--and the launch of a great new (though, sadly, short-lived) venture for the boys from Annecy.

2. KAYO DOT Choirs of the Eye

Kayo Dot is another monster project coming from the genius well-spring of creativity that is American Toby Driver. Kayo Dot is what has risen out of the 'ashes' of maudlin of The Well as it includes most of the former moTW members. It may, in fact, be more accurate to call Kayo Dot a natural progression of what started as maudlin of The Well.

I've just come to Choirs of the Eye after maudlin of the Well's Part the Second, after Kayo Dot's Blue Lambency, after Coyote, after Bath and Leaving Your Bodymap and I am STILL BLOWN AWAY!! Amazing music! Amazing vision and creativity! Amazing virtuosity! "Like nothing else you've ever heard"!

     Like other reviewers, "Manifold Curiosity" (10/10) is one of the most amazing songs I've ever heard by any band! Ever! This seals it for me: Toby Driver IS the future of 'progressive' music. He is pushing the envelope, finding beauty in places, sounds, and structures that no one--no one--has done before. Even from depression and suicide (Coyote).

1. "Marathon" (10:14) begins with such elusive, disparate soundings as to disarm the listener from being able to categorize it. Is this rock, is this metal, is this radio, is this jazz, is this classical? For the first two and a half minutes, all of it seems possible. Then, all of a sudden, the cemetery awakens: the coffins burst open and the voices of the dead begin shouting, playing their message, informing us of their pain, the enslavement of their addictions. Then at 4:40 the cacophony dissipates, the abrasive voices fade away and we are allowed to pass on, beyond, into a place of beautiful calm. we are, perhaps, transported into perhaps the Light, the Source, the safe and all-loving Space Between lives. Familiar, secure, yet unremembered and new. Toward the end, our guide, a former human himself, spews forth his perspective, his understanding of it all. We turn and find out that he is us; that I am he! (20/20)

2. "A Pitcher of Summer" (5:51) begins very much as Bath and Leaving Your Bodymap left off. Acoustic guitar and soft, floating voice, great use of space. At 2:40 the first notes of harsh distorted electric guitar strums seem to drive home the singer's point, after which the listener is left floating, in limbo, as if to try to process the message/information. 30 seconds to ruminate. Then guitars, dissonance, melody and harmony return all at once, all together, making the infinite emotional possibilities of major seventh chords seem small and limited! Amazing song! Awesome, powerful beauty! (10/10)

3. "The Manifold Curiosity" (14:30) opens uses pacing, electric guitar strumming and woodwinds to great, unusual effect. Gradually all fall away until we are left with the simple strumming of a single chord on an acoustic guitar. A rustle of paper introduces the reader to the writer's manifesto, "The Manifold Curiosity" which is then whisper sung in a very high register from a seemingly shy distance, until just after the five minute mark the reader takes a break and the orchestra enters to usher in its musical interpretation--avant rock-jazz-classical, yet quite poised and structured. At the seven minute mark an electric guitar is left to guide us, accompany the re-emergent reader(s), with its PAT METHENY-like arpeggios. Join in a (some?) upper register strings players, and the song becomes a serenade, a bed-time story, and, eventually (around 10:30), a cacophonous wake up call--no: a persistent nagging itch; the neighbor whose stereo is playing too loud, the rush hour traffic noise that you can't quite block out, the sudden but no longer avoidable realization that something has gone terribly wrong with the world, with our out-of-control society; the cancer that is eating away at your insides. It's out there. (31/30)

4. "Wayfarer" (10:43) opens with soft, dissonance coming from guitar, violin, and, eventually, voice. As if the violin is the butterfly flitting around the garden, the guitar the waiting spider in his web, and the voice is the wind and sun working their insidious, impersonal magic. Nearly halfway through the song the music comes together, amps up (gets backed by an organ!) as the singer moves forward, perhaps ending the deadly day. 6:00 (sunset?) and the stars begin to come out. A whole different set of instruments and sounds emerge from the twilight silence. A night time walk through the garden ensues--at first beautiful, then awesomely terrifying, jarring and awakening as the quietest, coldest, creepiest moments of night occur just before: Morning, with its majesty, simplicity, sultriness, constancy and mundane. (18/20)

5. "The Antique" (14:41) begins with strum and picking of the bass strings of a distorted (oddly- or un[?]- tuned) electric guitar. Towards the end of the third minute, other de-tuned stringed instruments begin to join the guitar. Then pitch-variant wind-whistled apparatus and drum kit join. Avant garde, Rock in Opposition at its most challenging. Is this what Robert Fripp referred to as "Cognitive Dissonance"? Not a melody or chord here makes sense; only rhythm and --until 6:15 when everybody comes together to drown out the death-growl vocals and screams of the angry/desperate vocalist. Scathing multiple guitar and piano soli duel (in different dimensions? alternate realities?) At the end of the tenth minute everything falls away to allow a HAROLD BUDD-like piano accompanying brush-kit drum and trumpet set the stage for healing and rebirth. The indecipherable, muted (like a trumpet gets muted) vocal that joins in is upsetting for the message that is blurred and goes unconveyed, uncomprehended. (Though, even the Internet provided lyrics bring little comprehension to this listener.) Not my favorite song but I can appreciate and perhaps understand the purpose. (21/30)

Despite the last song, this remains a highly, highly recommended, multi-layered treasure of musical experience. Every listen is different, revealing, awesome, amazing.

90.91 on the Fish scales = A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of innovative progressive rock music and, were it not for a flawed final epic, a veritable masterpiece of PROGRESSIVE music!

***SPECIAL FEATURE***

MAJOR CONTRIBUTION TO MUSIC IN THE FORM OF ORIGINAL MOVIE SOUNDTRACK:

HANS ZIMMER The Last Samurai

Once in a great while a film is so enhanced by its musical soundtrack as to make it bigger, better and more impactful than it would be without it. Such was the case with Hans Zimmer's amazing soundtrack to the film The Last Samurai. So many scenes were emotionally and even visually enhanced by the incredible presence of Zimmer's masterful musical contributions.