Sonic Youth Murray Street (Geffen)
Derek Bailey Ballads (Tzadik)
Boards Of Canada Geogaddi (Warp)
Asa-Chang & Junray Jun Ray Song Chang (Leaf)
Various Improvised Music From Japan (Improvised Music From Japan)
Jim O'Rrourke Insignificance (Domino)
Godspeed You! Black Emperor Yanqui Uxo (Constellation)
Ceci L Taylor Feel Trio 2 Ts For A Lovely T (Codanza)
Dj /Rupture Minesweeper Suite (Tigerbeat6)
Philip Jeck Stoke (Touch)
Barbara Ess & Peggy Ahwesh Radio Guitar (Ecstatic Peace)
Eliane Radigue Adnos I - III (Table Of The Elements)
El-P Fantastic Damage (Def Jux)
Suicide American Supreme (Blast First)
Vajra Mandala Cat Last (Psf)
Antipop Consortium Arrhythmia (Warp)
Radian Rec.Extern (Thrill Jockey)
Low Trust (Rough Trade)
Henri Chopin/Various Revue Ou (Alga Marghen)
Raoul Bjorkenheim/Ingebrigt Håker Flaten/Paal Nilssen-Love The Scorch Trio (Rune Grammofon)
Lol Coxhill Spectral Soprano (Emanem)
Recloose Cardiology (Planet E)
Akufen My Way (Force Inc)
David S Ware Freedom Suite (Aum Fidelity)
Super_Collider Raw Digits (Rise Robots Rise)
Tom Waits Alice (Anti)
The Liars They Threw Us All In A Trench And Stuck A Monument On Top (Blast First)
Murcof Martes (Leaf)
Sigur Rós () (Fat Cat)
Missy Elliott Under Construction (Elektra)
Soul Center III (Novamute)
Polwechsel & Fennesz Wrapped Islands (Erstwhile)
Cinematic Orchestra Everyday (N Inja Tune)
Various The Fire This Time (Hidden Art)
Ekkehard Ehlers Plays (Staubgold)
Heiner Goebbels Eislermaterial (Ecm)
Terry Riley Atlantis Nath (Sri Moonshine Music)
Blevin Blectum Talon Slalom (Deluxe)
Tin Hat Trio The Rodeo Eroded (Rope A Dope)
Burnt Friedman & Jaki Liebezeit Secret Rhythms (Nonplace)
Jackie-O Motherfucker Change (Texti Le)
Vincent Gallo Recording Of Music For Films (Warp)
Mr Lif I Phantom (Def Jux)
Farben Texstar (Klang Elektronik)
Patti Smith Land 1975-2002 (Arista)
The Notwist Neon Golden (City Slang)
Rocket From The Tombs The Day The Earth Met... (G Litterhouse)
Otomo Yoshihide Ensemble Cathode (Improvised Music From Japan)
Cheb-I-Sabbah Krishna Li La (Six Degrees)
Kid606 The Action Packed Mentalist Brings You Fucking Jams (Violent Turd)

Sonic Youth Murray Street (Geffen)
Suicide American Supreme (Blast First)
Vajra Mandala Cat Last (PSF)
Sigur Ros () (Fat Cat)
Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band Dust Sucker (Milksafe)
Out Hud S.T.R.E.E.T.D.A.D (Kranky)
Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO Electric Heavyland (Alien 8)
The Liars They Threw Us All In A Trench And Stuck A Monument On Top (Blast First)
Jim O¹Rourke Insignificance (Domino)
Le Tigre Remix (Kill Rock Stars)
The Suntanama The Suntanama (Drag City)
Wire Read And Burn 01 (Pink Flag)
Jackie-O Motherfucker Change (Textile)
Barbara Ess & Peggy Ahwesh Radio Guitar (Ecstatic Peace)
Vibracathedral Orchestra ??? (VHF)

Yabby You Dub It To The Top 1976-79 (Blood And Fire)
The Skatalites/King Tubby The Legendary Skatalites In Dub (Motion Records)
The Bug vs The Rootsman featuring Mexican www (Razor X)
Atom ™/Small Rocks/The Rip Off Artist Dub Tribunl (Inflatabl)
Dry & Heavy Dub Creation (Beat Records)
Cedric 'Im Brooks Lamb's Bread Collie/Version (Honest Jon's 12")
Restless Mashaits Kingston Sessions 1992-2002 (Addis)
Stranger Cole/Leroy Heptone Revolution/The Time Is Now (Wackies)
Love Grocer Fresh Produce (DubHead)
V-Neck Millennium (Law&Auder)

Soul Center III (Nova Mute)
Boards Of Canada Geogaddi (Warp)
Hrvatski Swarm And Dither (Planet Mu)
Scion Arrange And Process Basic Channel Tracks (Tresor)
Murcof Martes (Leaf)
Ekkehard Ehlers Plays (Staubgold)
Fennesz Field Recordings 1995-2002 (Touch)
Susumu Yokota The Boy And The Tree (Leaf)
Pita Get Down (Mego)
Matmos Live With J Lesser (Vague Terrain)
AGF Head Slash Bauch (Orthlorng Musork)
Random Inc Walking In Jerusalem (Mille Plateaux)
Super_Collider Raw Digits (Rise Robots Rise)
Akufen My Way (Force Inc)
Kim Hiorthøy Melke (Smalltown Supersound)

Orchestra Baobab Specialist In All Styles (World Circuit)
Cheb-I-Sabbah Krishna Lite (Six Degrees)
Badawi Soldier Of Midian (ROIR)
Alèmu Aga Ethiopiques 11: The Harp Of King David (Buda Musique)
Various Ghana Soundz (Soundway)
Various Ethiopiques 10: Tezeta: Ethiopian Blues And Ballads (Buda Musique)
Various Afghanistan: The Traditional Music Of Herat (Auvidis)
Orchestra Super Mazembe Giants Of East Africa (Sterns/Earthworks)
The Gyuto Monks The Perfect Jewel: Sacred Chants Of Tibet (Rykodisc)
Cyro Baptista Beat The Donkey (Tzadik)

El-P Fantastic Damage (Def Jux)
RJD2 Deadringer (Def Jux)
Anti-Pop Consortium Arrhythmia (Warp)
DJ /Rupture Minesweeper Suite (Tigerbeat 6)
Boom Bip Seed To Sun (Lex)
DJ Vadim USSR: The Art Of Listening (Ninja Tunes)
Missy Elliott Under Construction (Elektra)
Buck 65 Square (Warners)
Themselves The No Music. (Anticon)
Killer Mike Akshon (Arista)
Mr Lif I Phantom (Def Jux)
Boom Bip & Dose One Circle (Leaf)
Sage Francis Personal Journals (Anticon)
Blackalicious Blazing Arrow (MCA)
DJ Shadow The Private Press (Island)

Derek Bailey Ballads (Tzadik)
MIMEO/John Tilbury The Hands Of Caravaggio (Erstwhile)
Derek Bailey Pieces For Guitar (Tzadik)
Roger Smith Greenwood (Emanem)
Nicols/Kraaabel/Hug Transitions (Emanem)
Evan Parker & Han Bennink The Grass Is Greener (Psi)
Polwechsel/Fennesz Wrapped Islands (Erstwhile)
Derek Bailey & Min Xiao-Fen Flying Dragons (Incus)
Derek Bailey & Simon H Fell 15 August 2001 (Sound 323)
Lol Coxhill Spectral Soprano (Emanem)
Mike Adcock & Clive Bell Sleep It Off (Emanem)
Chris Cutler Solo (ReR Megacorp)
Efzeg Boogie (Grob)
Masayoshi Urabe & Chie Mukai Dual Anarchism (SIWA)
Sonic Youth/ICP/The Ex In The Fishtank (Konkurrent)

Cecil Taylor 2Ts For A Lovely T (Codonza)
David S Ware Freedom Suite (AUM Fidelity)
The Arthur Doyle Electro-Accoustic Ensemble Plays The African Love Call (Ecstatic Yod!)
Tomasz Stanko Soul Of Things (ECM)
William Parker Quartet featuring Leena Conquest Raining On The Moon (Thirsty Ear)
Peter Brötzmann/Die Like A Dog Quartet Aoyama Crows (FMP)
Craig Taborn Light Made Lighter (Thirsty Ear)
Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Quintet Dreams (Tzadik)
Brötzmann/Parker/Wertmuller Nothung (In Tone)
Fieldwork Your Life Flashes (PI)
Andrew Hill A Beautiful Day (Palmetto)
Close Erase Dance This (BP)
Susie Ibarra Trio Songbird Suite (Tzadik)
Bill Wells Trio Almost In White (Geographic)
The Scortch Trio The Scortch Trio (Rune Grammofon)

Eliane Radigue Adnos I-III (Table Of The Elements)
Gordon Mumma Live Electronic Music (Tzadik)
Charlemagne Palestine Music For Big Ears (Staalplaat)
Arnold Dreyblatt & The Orchestra Of Excited Strings The Adding Machine (Cantaloupe)
Richard Teitelbaum Blends (New Albion)
Simon H Fell Thirteen Rectangles (Bruce's Fingers)
Terry Riley Atlantis Nath (Sri Moonshine Music)
Gloria Coates String Quartets (Naxos)
Helmut Lachenmann Schwankungen Am Rand (ECM)
Morton Feldman Indeterminate Music (Mode)
Frank Denyer Fired City (Tzadik)
Heiner Goebbels Eislermaterial (ECM)
Frederic Rzewski Rzewski Plays Rzewski (Nonesuch)
Iannis Xenakis Persepolis + Remixes (Asphodel)
Helmut Lachenmann Das Madchen Mit Den Schwefelholzern (Kairos)

Philip Jeck Stoke (Touch)
Kevin Drumm Sheer Hellish Miasma (Mego)
Akio Suzuki Odds And Ends (Horen)
Henry Flynt Raga Electric: Experimental Music 1963-71 (Locust)
Henry Flynt New American Ethnic Music Vol 2: Spindizzy (Recorded)
BBC Radiophonic Workshop BBC Radiophonic Music (BBC Music)
Henri Chopin/Various Revue OU (Algha Marghen)
Konstantin Raudive/Various The Voices Of The Dead (Sub Rosa)
William Basinski The Disintegration Loops (2062)
If Bwana I, Angelica (Pogus)
Thunderboy! Thunderboy! (Table Of The Elements)
Thuja Ghost Plants (Emperor Jones)
Mass Producers PLSE III & IV (Mass Producers)
Erkki Kurenniemi Recordings 1963-73 (Love)
Keith Fullerton Whitman Playthroughs (Kranky)

Bip-Hop Generation Vol 5 (Bip-Hop)
Digital Disco (Force Tracks)
Freedom Of The City: Small Groups (Emanem)
Futurism (City Rockers)
Golden Years Of The Soviet New Jazz Vol 2 (Leo)
Improvised Music From Japan (Improvised Music From Japan)
London Is The Place For Me: Trinidadian Calypso In London 1950-56 (Honest Jon's)
No Bones For The Dogs: Dubs From The Mighty Two 1974-79 (Pressue Sounds)
Not Necessarily 'English Music' (EMF/Leonardo Music Journal)
Playgroup: DJ Kicks (Studio K7)
Rough Trade Shops: Electronic 01 (Mute)
Rough Trade Shops: Rock And Roll 01 (Mute)
Studio One Scorcher: Instrumentals (Soul Jazz)
The Fire This Time (Hidden Art)
2 Many DJs (Soulwax)

Amalgam Prayer For Peace (FMR)
Albert Ayler Lörrach/Paris 1966 (hatOLOGY)
Peter Brötzmann For Adolphe Sax (Unheard Music Series)
Cabaret Voltaire The Original Sound Of Sheffield 1978-82 (Mute)
Coldcut Journeys By DJ (Ninja Tune)
Ornette Coleman At The Golden Circle Vols 1 & 2 (Blue Note)
Alice Coltrane Universal Consciousness (Impulse!)
John Coltrane A Love Supreme Deluxe Edition (Impulse!)
Tony Conrad with Faust Outside The Dream Syndicate 30th Anniversary Edition (Table Of The Elements)
Die Todliche Doris Kinderringelreihen Für Wahren Toren des Grals (Psychedelic Pig)
Ground Zero Plays Standards (ReR Megacorp)
Takehisa Kosugi Catch Wave (Showboat)
Phil Niblock YPGN (XI)
Augustus Pablo East Of The River Nile 25th Anniversary Edition (Shanchie)
Roger Reynolds All Known All White (Pogus)
Sun Ra & His Arkestra Music From Tomorrow's World (Unheard Music Series)
Taj Mahal Travellers July 15, 1972 (Showboat)
The Velvet Underground & Nico The Velvet Underground & Nico Deluxe Edition (Universal)
Various The Wicker Man OST (Silva Screen)
Frank Wright Church Number Nine (Black Keys)

The Electorate

This year's chars were compiled from the votes of the following contributors (each contributor's individual record of the year shown in brackets): Steve Barker (Atom/Small Rocks/The Rip Off Artist Dub Dub Tribunl), Mike Barnes (Susumu Yokota The Boy And The Tree), Clive Bell (Pocket Pocket), Chris Blackford (Tibor Szemzo Danube Exodus), Marcus Boon (Broken Social Scene You Forget It In People), Ben Borthwick (Keith Fullerton Whitman 21:30 For Acoustic Guitar), Felix Cemmell (Asa Chang & Junray Jun Ray Song Chang), Philip Clark (Ian Smith Daybreak), Mia Clarke (Boards Of Canada Geodaddy), Julian Cowley (Eliane Radigue Adnos I-III), Christoph Cox (Derek Bailey Ballads), John Cratchley (Tin Hat Trio The Rodeo Eroded), Alan Cummings (Takehisa Kosugi Catch-wave), Phil England (Various The Fire This Time), Kodwo Eshun (AntiPop Consortium Arrhythmia), Matt Ffytche (Captain Beefheart And The Magic Band Dustsucker), Louise Gray (Kimmo Pohjonen Kluster), Andy Hamilton (Frank Denyer Fired City), Jim Haynes (Devendra Banhart Oh Me Oh My...), Richard Henderson (Terry Riley Atlantis Nath), Tony Herrington (Various: Improvised Music From Japan), Ken Hollings (Signal Territory Signal Territory), Hua Hsu (Antonelli Electr. Love and Other Solutions), David Keenan (Vajra Mandala Cat Last), Biba Kopf (Vajra Mandala Cat Last), Art Lange (Charlie Christian The Genius of the Electric Guitar), Alan Licht (Charlemagne Palestine Music for Big Ears), Dave Mandl (Frank Pahl & Klimperei Music for Desserts), Brian Marley (Polwechsel & Fennesz Wrapped Islands), Jerome Manusell (Cristian Vogel Dungeon Master), Will Montgomery (Radian Rec.Extern), John Mulvey (Dj/Rupture Minesweeper Suite), Anne Hilde Neset (Barbara Ess & Peggy Ahwesh Radio Guitar), Tom Perchard (Craig Taborn Light Made Lighter), Edwin Pouncey (Philip Jeck Stoke), Simon Reynolds (The Streets Original Pirate Material), Tom Ridge (Godspeed You! Black Emperor Yanqui U.X.O.), Stephen Robinson (Maja Ratkje Voice), Lina Dzuverovic-Russell (Sonic Youth Murray Street), Peter Shapiro (Various 2 Many Djs As Heard On Radio Soulwax Part 2), Philip Sherburne (Jonathan Bepler Cremaster 3), Dave Tomkins (El-P Fantastic Damage), Elisabeth Vincentelli (Dim Dim Kiwi), Dan Warburton (Toshiya Tsunoda Pieces Of Air), Ben Watson (Cecil Taylor Feel Trio 2 Ts For A Lovely T), Barry Witherden (Tobias Delius Quartet Pelakinismus), Rob Young (Sonic Youth Murray Street)
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This chart first appeared in issue 227, January 2003.
© The Wire.