Game of Lists: The 3s

It's the last week of November which means that the season of making music lists is upon us! The process has already started for Cool Music Central as well and the listening / brainstorming sessions that will produce our "Albums of the Year" list are well under way.

As usual, though, the "final" version of this list will not be posted until late December / early January to give a chance to the "late" arrivals to be heard properly. One such case is "Purgatory / Paradise", the new art book / CD by Throwing Muses, the band's first new album in a decade, which I've just listened to and immediately made me reconsider my under-construction Top 20. It also reminded me that their last album was among my top choices for 2003 and, as one thing leads to another, it led me to revisiting all my old lists from 20 and 30 years ago.

As the game of the 2013 list is just beginning, here is a reminder of what went on in previous years ending with a 3. What all these Top 10s have in common? Some pretty wild guitar music that is becoming rare in 2013 as electronics take the upper hand, and awesome albums by The Fall who are certain to make an appearance somewhere in this year's list as well:

Top 10 of the 1983 games:

1. Fire dances - KILLING JOKE
2. Perverted by language - THE FALL
3. Before Hollywood - THE GO-BETWEENS
4. Violent Femmes - VIOLENT FEMMES
5. Murmur - R.E.M.
6. Over the edge - WIPERS
7. Mommy’s little monster - SOCIAL DISTORTION
8. Burning from the inside - BAUHAUS
9. Hex breaker - THE FLESHTONES
10. Power, corruption and lies - NEW ORDER

...more from 1983 here.

Top 10 of the much-talked about this year 1993 of the grunge era:

1. Rid of me - P.J. HARVEY
2. Siamese dream - SMASHING PUMPKINS

3. New west motel - THE WALKABOUTS
4. Saturation - URGE OVERKILL
5. Independent worm saloon - BUTTHOLE SURFERS
6. Gentlemen - THE AFGHAN WHIGS
7. In utero - NIRVANA
8. Volume war - TRASH CAN SCHOOL
9. The infotainment scan - THE FALL
10. Giant steps - THE BOO RADLEYS

...more from 1993 here.

Top 10 of 2003 - the early '00s guitar renaissance:

1. Coral fang - THE DISTILLERS   
2. Elephant - THE WHITE STRIPES   
3. Throwing Muses - THROWING MUSES   
4. Take them on, on your own - BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB
5. Fever to tell - YEAH YEAH YEAHS
6. Echoes - THE RAPTURE
7. Room on fire - THE STROKES
8. You are free - CAT POWER
9. The new romance - PRETTY GIRLS MAKE GRAVES
10. The real new Fall LP (formerly ‘Country On The Click’) - THE FALL

...more from 2003 here.

The 2013 games are just starting - here's a sample from a brand new entry:

Throwing Muses - Sunray Venus

2 Different Ways: Factory Floor vs. Wipers

Different ways, different decades, two different but equally awesome songs:

Factory Floor's "Two Different Ways" was one of our Top 10 Singles of 2011 and it is currently on heavy rotation once again as it is one of the standout tracks on the London band's excellent self titled debut:

Wipers' "Different Ways" is one of the many highlights of the tremendous output of Greg Sage's legendary punk rock band from Portland, Oregon. It is taken from "Land of the Lost", their fourth album from 1986, apparently a highly sought after, collectable record. Sorry, but my vinyl copy is not for sale any time soon: