The Coolest Things of 2003, Addendum

Sneaking in just under the wire, it's the White Stripes with Elephant, an explosive triumph of drums and guitars that's been killing my headphones since I picked it up at Cleveland's best record store on Christmas Eve. Props as well to Nada Surf's Let Go, which would have been my favorite album of the year if Ryan Adams and Jack White hadn't come along, and to Guided By Voices for releasing their Hardcore UFOs, a chock-full-of-goodness box set laden with hits, rarities, live cuts, and DVD extras that should keep me occupied until next January. Meanwhile, one of the coolest things of 2003 certainly WASN'T Cyndi Lauper, who, instead of staggering out into the wind-blown fields of eighties' pop rejects and dying quietly in the snow, rang in 2004 by dancing spasmodically and wailing a couple of her atrocious new numbers and an abominable cover in a Times Square "sing-along," demonstrating that, (a), you can't have a sing-along when no one's ever heard your songs before, and (b), you can't have a career after fatally embarassing yourself in front of millions of people, most of whom put "Kill Cyndi Lauper" on the top of their lists of New Year's Resolutions immediately after your performance.

For the record, my new year was brought in with friends and fine champagne, which is exactly how it should be.