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Top Ten Albums of 2003:
As Determined by Democratic Vote, Democratic in This Case Meaning a Random Sampling of People the Editors Know
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This year, the indie rock bands are on top, which may either be a tribute to the genre's ever increasing popularity or to the fact that Me Three is published in New York City, where for whatever reason most writers, who coincidentally made up the vast majority of voters, have a special affinity for just the kinds of albums that have topped this year's list.
But really, this was the year that indie rock discovered electronic music, which makes the top album in this poll all the more fitting, since its creators blazed the trail in combining the two genres.
So, counting down...
10) Grandaddy - Sumday
Sumday provides a burst of optimism to an overwhelmingly pessimistic music genre. Predominantly midtempo, traditional rock beats are a departure from earlier albums. And if this poll is any indication, the move away from vast experimentation has been good for this band.
9) Belle and Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress
Belle and Sebastian haven't by any means abandoned the formula that has worked so well for them in the past; falsetto voice, harmonizing vocals, folk inspired rock, sensitive lyrics. This album is still trademark Belle and Sebastian, but there are hints of a more diverse sound this time around. With Pet Shop Boys producer Trevor Horn working on the album, it's amazing that the band is able to keep so much of its old sound in tact.
8) Outkast - The Love Below
This double CD pushes the boundaries of what exactly constitutes an album, and what constitutes rap, for that matter. Each of the two members had free reign over one disc of the album, which makes for two CDs that are seemingly bound together only by packaging. There is no overriding theme to this album, and it turns out that this is exactly what makes it so great.
7)
The New Pornographers - Electric Version
This sophomore effort builds on the sweeping pop sounds of the the band's debut album. Infectious beats, tongue-in-cheek lyrics, and a energizingly retro sound make this album one more reason that Canadians seem so much cooler than their southern neighbors lately.
6)
The Strokes - Room on Fire
You don't want to like them. You really don't. They're young and hip and they don't give a shit, in what seems like a consciously pre-packaged way. It's so irritating. But then, you find that you just can't help yourself. Their songs are just so damn infectious. But they're so totally near to being radio-friendly! But then, when all is said and done, you find yourself burning another copy of this cd because you've worn the first one out, even though it sounds so much like the last album!
5) The White Stripes - Elephant
This is just a good old fashioned belt-it-out garage rock album, only a little different and a little better. A band with only two members means that the sound comes out crisp and succinct, and the duo has clearly matured since its previous album, here approaching the majestic. A bold statement of an album, by any measure.
4) The Rapture - Echoes
It seems unthinkable that this won't be the Brooklyn-based Rapture's breakout album. Incorporating aggressive techno-inspired beats into its already hard-hitting post-punk style, the band creates a momentum-riding ode to energy and psychological peril. And to think that they're even better live...
3)
The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
A Melodic string of fanciful songs, this album reminds me of Tim Burton movies, where everything is somehow just a little bit more magical than what you're used to. The songs seem conventional. They seem like you've heard them before even when you haven't. But that's just you mistaking wizardry for familiarity.
2)
The Postal Service - Give Up
While the Rapture draws on techno to fuel its sound, The Postal Service utilizes a more downtempo kind of electro to shape its sound. And holy shit does it work for them. Lyrical, yearning, nostalgic, synth-y songs that make you happy to have been sad enough once to enjoy them now.
1) Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
Perennial critical darlings have done it again. OK Computer was pure genius, and then the band pushed their limits, in a good way, with their next two albums. On Hail to the Thief, they have taken what they learned during these past few years of experimentation and fused it with their older, more lyrical music, creating yet another epic album that defies any simple definition.
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© 2003 Me Three