Well, the roads here are cleared now but nobody wants to do anything so I'm kinda stuck here at home tonight so maybe all of you lurkers out there can submit your best of list '03 and see if it meets my approval

My list is all off the cuff so may change at any time

10. Fruit Bats - Mouthfuls This is a Daveydot discovery and I sure am glad I got exposed to it. Mostly 70s-sounding acoustic pop which proved to be quite infectious. Kinda like a Jersey version of Gorky's Zygotic Mynci

9. Earlimart - Everyone Down Here This one took a while to grow on me. Sort of a slowed down, more somber Grandaddy

8. The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow Acoustipop done right

7. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Pig Lib Malko goes 70s guitar-god here. Not as hook-laden as his s/t but great as always and retains much of that Pavement sound

6. The Decemberists - Her Majesty - The Decemberists Much more challenging than Castaways & Cutouts but just as rewarding

5. Radiohead - Hail To The Thief Harder edged than their last few with a welcome return to more guitar-based songs. It may not break new ground but isn't quite like anything else they've done either

4. Super Furry Animals - Phantom Power Welsh indie-esque pop with a nod to Pink Floyd. Great stuff!

3. Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism A bit darker than some of their previous albums but definitely of the same ilk. They can do no wrong to my ears

2. Grandaddy - Sumday Just an amazing album. Much more power-pop than their more proggy Sophtware Slump, but equally as stellar. This album is full of catchy guitar riffs with interesting synth lines and about the best use of campy lyrics I can think of. Great sonics as well

1. Calexico - Feast Of Wire This one kinda caught me by surprise. Although I did like it very much from day one, I didn't think I would put it in my top position even months after I got. But looking back, I listened to this more than any other album this year so I gotta be honest. This album sounds like the desert west with a heavy blend of traditional western/mexicana guitar, all the while incorporating markedly untraditional synth and seemingly random odd noises and even some jazz here and there and it keeps things interesting and memorable

also-rans:
The Wrens
Broken Social Scene (although technically it's a 2002 release)
Cursive
Enon
Wheat
Andrew Bird
The White Stripes
A Perfect Circle
Jane's Addiction
Califone
Tracker
Songs: Ohia

All in all a very good year and of course there's a ton of stuff out there that I haven't heard yet and no doubt a lot I'm not even aware of yet. So what do you guys like?