Rough Trade's Top 100 Albums of 2003

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

there were not 97 better albums than the brunettes.

1. belle and sebastian - dear catastrophe waitress
2. outkast speakerboxx / the love below
3. sufjan stevens - michigan
4. the white stripes - elephant
5. king creosote - kenny and beth's musikal boat rides
6. bonnie prince billy - master and everyone
7. cat power - you are free
8. smog - supper
9. the broken family band - cold water songs
10. willis - come get some
11. gillian welch - soul journey
12. 22-20's - 05 / 03
13. fat truckers - fat truckers
14. yo la tengo - summer sun
15. pitman - it takes a nation of tossers
16. gary jules - trading snakeoil for wolftickets
17. mogwai - happy songs for happy people
18. les georges leningrad - deux hot dogs moutarde chou
19. kings of leon - youth and young manhood
20. evan dando - baby i'm bored
21. the concretes - the concretes
22. yeah yeah yeahs - fever to tell
23. ulrich schnauss - a strangely isolated place
24. grandaddy - sumday
25. richard hawley - low edges
26. raveonettes - chain gang of love
27. dizzee rascal - boy in da corner
28. fruit bats - mouthfuls
29. the postal service - give up
30. matmos - the civil war
31. the be good tanyas - chinatown
32. four tet - rounds
33. the shins - chutes too narrow
34. the kills - keep on your mean side
35. the strokes - room on fire
36. nick cave - and the bad seeds nocturama
37. the fiery furnaces - gallowsbird's bark
38. m83 - dead cities,red seas and lost ghosts
39. joyzipper - the stereo and god
40. the boggs - stitches
41. american analog set - promise of love
42. british sea power - the decline of british sea power
43. calexico - feast of wire
44. colder - again
45. detroit cobras - seven easy pieces
46. dirty three - she has no strings apollo
47. my morning jacket - it still moves
48. spiritualized - amazing grace
49. the darkness - permission to land
50. the rapture - echoes
51. the gossip - movement
52. radiohead - hail to the thief
53. m ward - transfiguration of vincent
54. the go betweens - bright yellow bright orange
55. joe strummer - and the mescaleros streetcore
56. mugison - lonely mountain
57. desert sessions - desert sessions 9 and 10
58. robert wyatt - cuckooland
59. manitoba - up in flames
60. the coral - magic and medicine
61. peaches - fatherfucker
62. broadcast - haha sound
63. jayhawks - rainy day music
64. ed harcourt - from every sphere
65. joss stone - soul sessions
66. the fall - formerly country on the click
67. kraftwerk - tour de france soundtracks
68. the handsome family - singing bones
69. dm and jemini - ghetto pop life
70. various - the neptunes present clones various - the neptunes present clones
71. black keys - thickfreakness
72. goldfrapp - black cherry
73. adam green - friends of mine
74. jeffrey lewis - it's the ones who've cracked that the light shines through
75. nina nastasia - run to ruin
76. tindersticks - waiting for the moon
77. glass candy and the shattered theatre - love love love
78. mountain goats - tallahassee
79. super furry animals - phantom power
80. animal collective - spirit they're gone, spirit they've vanished / danse manatee
81. alasdair roberts - farewell sorrow
82. trachtenburg family slideshow players - vintage slide collections from seattle volume 1
83. the thrills - so much for the city
84. alva noto & riyuchi - sakamoto vrioon
85. erase errata - at crystal palace
86. blur - think tank
87. the books - the lemon of pink
88. arab strap - monday at the hug and pint
89. rhythm and sound - the artists
90. the sleepy jackson - lovers
91. melt banana - cell-scape
92. susumu yokota - laputa
93. the dirtbombs - dangerous magical noise
94. i monster - neveroddoreven
95. daniel lanois - shine
96. mojave 3 - spoon and rafter
97. relaxed muscle - a heavy night with relaxed muscle
98. the brunettes - holding hands, feeding ducks
99. ween - quebec
100. daniel johnston - with sparklehorse fear yourself

― keith m (keithmcl), Sunday, 7 December 2003 00:39 (twenty-two years ago)

wasn't tallahassee 2002? If not I have about a thousand boards to visit and edit my best of '03 lists.

― dieblucasdie (dieblucasdie), Sunday, 7 December 2003 00:45 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, I always thought "Summer Sun" was leagues ahead of Dizzee.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Sunday, 7 December 2003 00:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Quebec NINETY-NINE!?!?!?!?

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Sunday, 7 December 2003 01:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Lists this large are ridiculous. After a certain point (30?), the numbering system becomes completely arbitrary.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Sunday, 7 December 2003 01:14 (twenty-two years ago)

well OF COURSE Belle & Sebastian are at number one!

How much is the sore involved with the label, anyway?

There was a new Joy Zipper this year? I didn't realize that band was still together.

― Kate Silver (Kate Silver), Sunday, 7 December 2003 01:17 (twenty-two years ago)

store. store. not sore.

― Kate Silver (Kate Silver), Sunday, 7 December 2003 01:17 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm very glad to see You Are Free high on this one!

― Josh Timmermann (Josh Timmermann), Sunday, 7 December 2003 01:19 (twenty-two years ago)

I agree with this list completely, and am satisfied with every pick.

― Sonny A. (Keiko), Sunday, 7 December 2003 01:21 (twenty-two years ago)

The Trachtenburgs' album? C'mon.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Sunday, 7 December 2003 01:23 (twenty-two years ago)

if anything this was a good way for me to refresh my memory about what came out this year, though my number one isn't on it.

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Sunday, 7 December 2003 01:28 (twenty-two years ago)

...though my number one isn't on it

I'm at the edge of my chair here, man.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Sunday, 7 December 2003 01:30 (twenty-two years ago)

What a pity that no jazz albums were released in 2003 and therefore the whole genre was ineligible for this list.

― Nom De Plume (Nom De Plume), Sunday, 7 December 2003 02:28 (twenty-two years ago)

You can always make your own list, y'know. The closest thing to jazz on mine is the Jimi Tenor record, but that's really more of a spy movie swing jazz orchestra thing.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Sunday, 7 December 2003 02:34 (twenty-two years ago)

Dave Douglas gets on mine.

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Sunday, 7 December 2003 02:40 (twenty-two years ago)

Mine as well -- he's great. Also Sylvie Courvoisier, Wayne Shorter, Andrew Hill, and Paul Dunmall rounding out the top five.

― Nom De Plume (Nom De Plume), Sunday, 7 December 2003 02:44 (twenty-two years ago)

nice to see the sufjan stevens record get a high placing, at least.

― Mil, Sunday, 7 December 2003 02:46 (twenty-two years ago)

Re: Jazz >> not to be missed: December 5th/ Jazz on 3 show on Radio 3

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/jazz/jon3/jon3.shtml
Jez will be joined by John L. Walters and Kevin le Gendre to pick the best jazz and free improv releases of the year...

John L Walters [The Guardian's jazz critic], Kevin le Gendre [Jazzwise magazine writer]

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Sunday, 7 December 2003 02:55 (twenty-two years ago)

kelley stoltz's "antique glow" was at the top of my list (mainly because I played it the most of anything all year, but not really because I think it's better than anything else I picked). otherwise almost everything else was in rough trade's list (they didn't pick colleen's "everyone alive wants answers" though and I did).

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Sunday, 7 December 2003 02:59 (twenty-two years ago)

M Ward should be much higher

― yaeger, Sunday, 7 December 2003 03:33 (twenty-two years ago)

there are quite a few rough trade releases on the list, aren't there? fiery furnaces, belle and sebastian, strokes(are they on rough trade?), british sea power, adam green, alasdair roberts

― keith m (keithmcl), Sunday, 7 December 2003 05:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Ah, Outkast as the token rappers, Dizzee covering grime, but no dancehall, afropop,Latin(be it salsa, tex-mex, or whatever) or experimental. Now if they can list a commercially popular rap outfit like Outkast and rockers like the Strokes and White Stripes why can't they do the same for country or other genres? Yea yea, I know Rough Trade has always specialized in indie rock---so in that case why list Outkast at all?

― Steve Kiviat (Steve K), Sunday, 7 December 2003 05:54 (twenty-two years ago)

Young Brit Joss Stone doing ol' r'n'b covers produced by Betty Wright, but no other r'n'b...

― Steve Kiviat (Steve K), Sunday, 7 December 2003 06:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Is this based on sales?

I have 5 of them, all of which I'm not that sold on.

― jel -- (jel), Sunday, 7 December 2003 12:42 (twenty-two years ago)

surprised they rated their own fiery furnaces comparatively low (#37!)

― geeta (geeta), Sunday, 7 December 2003 13:31 (twenty-two years ago)

don't worry. if I bother I'll waste paper printing this and go to the shop and demand answers from the staff.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 7 December 2003 14:09 (twenty-two years ago)

I get the sense from the website that it /is/ based on sales (it's described as a 'chart', for one).

― cis (cis), Sunday, 7 December 2003 14:10 (twenty-two years ago)

oh I thought the staff voted for it.

anyway: I'll print this bullshit list and demand anwers from the customers.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 7 December 2003 14:14 (twenty-two years ago)

Fiery Furnaces = ranking way too low on this and everyone else's list.

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Sunday, 7 December 2003 14:40 (twenty-two years ago)

i have a tough time imagining that the b&s lp is actually good.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Sunday, 7 December 2003 15:08 (twenty-two years ago)

After a certain point (30?), the numbering system becomes completely arbitrary.

isnt the entire exercise fairly arbitrary (which is not to say worthless)?

― amateur!st (amateurist), Sunday, 7 December 2003 15:09 (twenty-two years ago)

I wouldn't call Outkast token rappers on that list, especially because it has both Pitman and DM and Jemini on the list, two hip-hop acts that aren't exactly top 40 regulars.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Sunday, 7 December 2003 15:14 (twenty-two years ago)

The Belle & Sebastian record is good, but not that good. Personally, I really like about half of the songs, but the rest of them I don't like much at all.

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Sunday, 7 December 2003 15:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Make it so Julio!

― jel -- (jel), Sunday, 7 December 2003 16:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Oops, didn't realize it was sales at the store. Outkast have both critical and mass pop cred--more than Freeway, or David Banner, or indie/undie rappers who haven't placed on this list(or who have)--so it's understandable where Outkast would fit in sales at Rough Trade.

― Steve Kiviat (Steve K), Sunday, 7 December 2003 16:38 (twenty-two years ago)

"i have a tough time imagining that the b&s lp is actually good. "

that's because it isn't

― D Aziz (esquire1983), Sunday, 7 December 2003 17:33 (twenty-two years ago)

[rewind.. the date of that jazz on 3 show: is December 12th]

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Sunday, 7 December 2003 18:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Fiery Furnaces = ranking way too low on this and everyone else's list.

I finally got this record! I think it will be making an appearance somewhere on my year-end list.

― o. nate (onate), Sunday, 7 December 2003 22:11 (twenty-two years ago)

wow this is awful.

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Sunday, 7 December 2003 22:14 (twenty-two years ago)

i only even own 5 of these. (that's a good thing.)

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Sunday, 7 December 2003 22:14 (twenty-two years ago)

indie record store in bigging up indie records shocker

― the surface noise (electricsound), Sunday, 7 December 2003 22:20 (twenty-two years ago)

hmm i like far fewer of these records than i would have thought

― the surface noise (electricsound), Sunday, 7 December 2003 22:21 (twenty-two years ago)

any list with the coral, kings of leon and the sleepy jackson in it is instantly worthless, whether joy zipper are on it or not.

― the surface noise (electricsound), Sunday, 7 December 2003 22:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Is Sleepy Jackson the guy who sings on the Outkast record? No wait that's Sleepy Brown, right?

― o. nate (onate), Sunday, 7 December 2003 22:24 (twenty-two years ago)

rough trade don't just sell indie. they sell reggae, avant garde, jazz, soundtracks, japanese reissues, electronic music, microhouse.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 7 December 2003 22:25 (twenty-two years ago)

they'd want to if they wanted to remain solvent i would think

― the surface noise (electricsound), Sunday, 7 December 2003 22:26 (twenty-two years ago)

im always just surpised than anyone can think of 100 great or even half decent albums in a year.

― jed (jed_e_3), Sunday, 7 December 2003 22:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Wait, but isn't this just their list of top sellers?

― o. nate (onate), Sunday, 7 December 2003 22:30 (twenty-two years ago)

the placement of that outkast album sure is telling

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Sunday, 7 December 2003 22:34 (twenty-two years ago)

Jess if you ever come to London I think you'd actually quite like the Covent Garden Rough Trade shop. They have sort of reverse indie guilt in that their top 100 is full of indie indie indie indie indie and then every time you go into the shop it's sweary dancehall or harsh electronics or microhouse or hip-hop. The other shop off Portobello is exactly like the list mind you.

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Sunday, 7 December 2003 22:38 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah, i think i was mostly surprised by the list because the rough trade i was familiar with (from the website) was full of stuff like greensleeves riddim albums and sections marked "brinkmann/kompakt/et al"

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Sunday, 7 December 2003 22:47 (twenty-two years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.