Countless end-of-year wrap-ups have been considered, initiated, discarded. It's hard even to talk about last year, not least because my circumstances have changed so radically for '03 (Oh no! No computer! OH NO!), but I'm gonna try to concoct
something at
some stage. Last year was great for music though: lots of good albums, two of which are as good as anything in my collection, and an absolutely insane amount of brilliant songs. But mainly great moments: the "Billie Jean" section of the 2 Many DJs album, Zed Bias dropping the beat in "Ring The Alarm", the umpteenth langorous shiver-riff in Luomo's "The Present Lover", Nelly saying "I think my BUTT gettin' big!", Dizzy Rascal comin' down like snow, every succession of great moments in DJ Shadow's "You Can't Go Home Again", Missy saying "I'm ready!" and the crowd saying "I'm ready!!!" back, that big hearted (and perhaps bosomed) soul diva whooping "baby, baby, baby, bab-baby!" in the Richcraft Remix of Amerie's "Why Don't We Fall In Love?", the bongo loop in Kylie's "Love At First Sight", Eminem infesting in yer kids' ears and nesting, Beyonce getting Carrie-fever in "Bonnie & Clyde '03", Justin saying "DRUMS!" in "Like I Love You", Mike Skinner getting paranoid (and saying "and I was like "what the fuck is this?"", and making a song for when shit goes pear-shaped, and.... and.... and....), the Spanish guitar in Saint Etienne's "Shower Scene", Flo Dan burnin' that wit' da fire, Khia rapping over "I Dream of Jeannie" and Brandy singing over the X-Ecutioners and Latrelle thinking she's David Bowie and Avril getting transported back to the 80s and of course the Sugababes making dogs electric, Noreaga assuring us we did it his way, Ms. Dynamite whispering the outro to "Ramp!", Elephant Man biting a DMX chorus on a 4/4 garage tune, Codec & Flexor's "boom-b-dum-b-dum-dum", every single riff of "Take Me With You" or "At Night", Lady Stush telling me to buy her CD, that totally indistinguishable but amazing moment in Martini Bros' "Girl/Boy" when the bassline suddenly becomes
so right, the unnecessarily epic coda to Ashanti's "Rescue", the point where Thomas Fehlmann's "Superbock" turns from house to shuffletech with devastasting grace, Aleesha (?) bursting into MC action in Mis-Teeq's "B With Me", the water-drop beats in Horsepower Productions' "Django's Sound", the flaring strings in Astrobal's "Magic Lady", the MC coughing in Sticky's "More Weed", The Modernist deploying his chugger-Moroder groove underneath Autobianchi's "All Around", "Beat Connection" switching from minimal disco to glam stomp, the stabbing slo-mo beats underneath tablas in the Basement Mix of Artful Dodger's "Ruff Neck Sound", Michael Mayer's amazing mix settling into romantic slowburn, Trina waitin' for that bitch to leave, MRI's "Deep Down South" building to its glorious peak, Daniel Bedingfield not wanting to run away... And maybe more to come.
