Top Albums of 2003 (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Larkin]

Not much memorable for me. These 6 are EXCELLENT however!

1. Wilco - More Like the Moon (EP)
2. The Shins - Chutes too Narrow
3. New Pornographers - Electric Version
4. Loose Fur - Loose Fur (EP)
5. My Morning Jacket - It Still Moves
6. The Wrens - The Meadowlands

 

[MikeFR]

A Perfect Circle - Thirteenth Step
Pearl Jam - Lost Dogs
White Stripes - Elephant

 

[Paul_Ptaaty]

Perfect Circle 13th Step, agreed.

I liked Dave Matthews Some Devil as well, nice recording, more bare than DMB.

White Stripes, Elephant.
Zwan.
Fountains of Wayne, Interstate Managers (catchy!)

Why can't there be more high rez, new releases :frowning: I want everything recorded and produced high rez....

 

[MattBu]

Let me be the first to trumpet my new favorite band:

The Bad Plus - These are the Vistas

 

[kamyiu]

mogwai!

(anyone?)

 

[JasonK]

PBWolf/Charizma: Big Shots cd...could make it's way into the list.

And it has. Number 2, in fact.

 

[PeterKurpiewski]

I've got to say Murder by Death - Who Will Survive and What Will Be Left of Them. Best album I've heard all year, and honestly, I don't think anything's come close. It's art, plain and simple. Some of the best lyrics I've heard in a long while, too. Particularly Devil in Mexico. If only the show they played in NJ was a public one, I so would have been there.

 

[GarySI]

Not in any particular order:
Radiohead-Hail to the Thief
White Stripes-Elephant
John Cale- Hobo Sapien
Robert Wyatt- Cuckooland
Lucinda Williams-World Without Tears
Warren Zevon-The Wind
Vaughan Williams-A Sea Symphony
Van Morrison-What's Wrong With This Picture
Outkast-Speakerboxx/Love Below
Flaming Lips-Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
Peter Gabriel-Up

 

[kamyiu]

M83 - dead cities, red seas, & lost ghosts

gorgeous, gorgeous album

 

[L. Anton Dencklau]

..

 

[TomCW]

There have been some really good albums mentioned here,
Gillian Welch, John Hiatt, Robin Ella & the CCString Band, Lucinda Williams, Colleen Sexton, Kathleen Edwards, but may I add:

Kris Delmhorst - Songs For A Hurricane
Chatham County Line - Chatham County Line
The Be Good Tanyas - Chinatown
Rosanne Cash - Rules Of Travel
Bill Chambers - Sleeping With The Blues
Po' Girl - Po' Girl
Dar Williams - The Beauty Of The Rain


Tom

 

[BrandonMLR]

No particular order (that I have bought/heard in entirety)...

The Jayhawks - Rainy Day Music
Fruit Bats - Mouthfuls (listening as I type - WOW)
Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
White Stripes - Elephant


Re-issues

The Flaming Lips - YBPR 5.1 DVD-Audio
Norah Jones - Come Away With Me SACD
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon SACD
Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde SACD Hybrid

 

[Kristian]

Favorite 2003 albums:

1. Howard Shore - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2. Puffy AmiYumi - Nice
3. Annie Lennox - Bare


Favorite reissues:

1. The Beatles - Let it Be... Naked
2. Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road Hybrid SACD
3. Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon Hybrid SACD

 

[Matty P]

Brand New - Deja Entendu

fantastic sophomore album from these "emo-alternative-screamo-whatever you want to call this genre now" rockers...

 

[Patrick McCart]

My top picks are "Weird Al" Yankovic's "Poodle Hat" and the Beatles' "Let It Be... Naked"

 

[Seth Paxton]

1 Outkast - Speakerboxxx/Love Below
2 White Stripes - Elephant
3 Chicago soundtrack - I think this was 2003 (that's how I had it). I really did listen to this endlessly so I have to put it up here.

I didn't buy much else new and haven't listened to these enough to rate as top or not...

Perfect Circle - 13th
Radiohead - Hail
you get exactly what you expect with both of those. I just haven't listened to them enough for some reason.

Jet - not a bad effort
Strokes - not as many good songs
Black Eyed Peas - Maybe my fav of the bunch
Steely Dan - Two Against Nature - A little bland to me


I think I bought more DVD-A/SACD reissues than I did actual new albums last year.

 

[Jeff Keene]

Beck - Sea Change still feels new to me, so can I count it (it's a 2002)? This is my favorite album in awhile.

Cause and Effect - The sunrise EP is pretty wonderful.

Radiohead - Hail To the Thief. Anyone who doesn't love this album can't be my friend

Venus Hum - Big Beautiful Sky is a melodic, creative pop album. Who would have thought such things possible?

 

[Nick White]

No particular order.


The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
-Simply fantastic pop songs. Best of the year.

Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Pig Lib
-Another collection of really great songs.. and in some ways I like these better than his stuff with Pavement.

The Decemberists - Her Majesty The Decemberists
-This album sounds like some sort of epic, but on a very small scale. They use an accordian to get this really great sea-chanty vibe to it. Imagine a bunch of indie kids stuck for months at sea with a group of old pirates. These are the songs that would come out of the trip.

Alkaline Trio - Good Mourning
-Not nearly up to snuff with their older material, but it's still a fun listen. I think they're drifting more and more towards the style of the Misfits: catchy pop-punk-rock songs with lyrics that have dark, disturbing imagery and are halfway tongue-in-cheek. Oh, but of course they still sing about love, too, once in awhile.

The Postal Service - Give Up
-A great combination of indie-pop with electronica. Fans of either would be into this.

The Exploding Hearts - Guitar Romantic
-Upon first listen, you'd swear this album was made in 1977. Yeah, retro albums aren't that hard to put together, but they take the dirty sound of punk and add a pop-sensibility that's just irresistable. The hooks are just catchy enough but not so catchy as to get annoying.

The biggest dissapointment about all this is the fact that 3 of the band members were killed when their van crashed this year. So even though we won't be able to hear any future work out of these guys, they left behind one great album.

OutKast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
-Rare is it that the most popular thing around deserves that notoriety without question.

The Weakerthans - Reconstruction Site

Broken Social Scene - You Forgot It In People

Belle & Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress

The Starlight Mints - Built On Squares

 

[Scott DeToffol]

I had to edit my original post to include Drive-By Truckers "Decoration Day" because it is rocking me. I had the pleasure of seeing their live show on Friday and two days later I'm still buzzing. Great show, great rock-n-roll band.

If you like live rock music make sure to go see them when they come to town. Get there early, get up close and bring ear plugs.

 

[Tony-B]

I added an album to my listing...

Forces of Evil - Friend or FOE

AWESOME ska album!