Year-End List, Backwards Gazing Edition

Over at the 50/40/30/20/10 Year Vintage Series of Blogs (see the right hand side links),I've been quietly documenting what I consider to be the "full" picture of each successive year.  Even after devoting the span of an entire year to documenting and discovering music from these time periods, I've still managed for fall short on the broader scope of music.  The lengthy list of releases I was not able to check out from each year is vast and likely filled with great stuff.  Though I do believe we are living in the age of the glut, it seems that this glut was always there, except meted away to the shadows. 

I'd be lying if I said that I had enough time to absorb all of the music I showcased on these sites. Each was a rough combination of things I've known inside & out for years and things I was listening to for the first time only moments before (as well as everything inbetween).  Therefore, the lists below are for fun, and in no way definitive.  I put together a list of what I consider to be the best albums of each successive year divisible by ten (I left out 1963, a time before the "album" as we know it came of age).  I declined to do the same for "tracks" or "singles" since such a list would be such a mess that it wouldn't even be mildly authoritative and it'd take every ounce of strength from calling bullshit on myself. 


Top 20 Albums of 1973

Kraftwerk- Ralf &; Florian

Led Zeppelin- Houses of the Holy

John Martyn- Solid Air

Can- Future Days

Bob Marley and the Wailers- Catch a Fire

Stevie Wonder- Innervisions

Vangelis- L'Apocalypse Des Animaux

Faust- IV/The Faust Tapes

Hawkwind- Space Ritual

Roxy Music- For Your Pleasure

Pierre Henry- Machine Danse

Lalo Schiffrin Enter the Dragon sdtrk

The Temptations- 1990/Masterpiece

Eno- Here Come the Warm Jets

Lou Reed- Berlin

Herbie Hancock- Headhunters

Roy Harper- Lifemask

David Bowie- Alladin Sane

Terry Callier- I Just Can't Help Myself
Brainticket- Celestial Ocean

Top 20 Albums of 1983

The Cocteau Twins- Head Over Heels
New Order- Power Corruption and Lies
Swans- Filth

Duet Emmo- Or So it Seems
Orchestral Manouevres in the Dark- Dazzle Ships
Cybotron- Enter
Mark Stewart and Maffia- Learning to Cope With Cowardice
Killing Joke-Fire Dances
Liquid Liquid- Optimo EP
Wild Style OST
The Art of Noise- Into Battle EP
Husker Du- Metal Circus EP
Sonic Youth- Confusion is Sex
Richard H Kirk- Time High Fiction/ Cabaret Voltaire- The Crackdown + Doublevision EP,
Whodini- Whodini
Colourbox- Colourbox
Einsturzende Neubaten- Drawings of Patient OT
Slayer- Show No Mercy

Malcolm Mclaren- Duck Rock/ D'YA Like Scratchin
Howard Shore- Videodrome OST

Top 20 Albums of 1993

Seefeel-Quique/More Like Space EP/Plainsong EP
Foul Play Vol III EP
Aphex Twin- On/ On Remixes EPs/ Caustic Window- Joyrex J9 EP
Smashing Pumpkins- Siamese Dream
Omni Trio- Mystic Steppers 1/2 EP, Renegade Snares
Wu Tang Clan- Enter the 36 Chambers

PJ Harvey- Rid of Me
Slowdive- Souvlaki/ 5 EP
4 Hero- Journey from the Light/Golden Age
Stereolab- Transient Random Noise With Announcements
Biochip C- C8 EP
Jeff Mills- Waveform Transmissions Vol. 1
Bjork- Debut
The Mover- Final Sickness/Mescalinum United-Symphonies of steel 1
Tool- Undertow
Leaders of the New School-TIME
Mercury Rev- Boces
Main- Dry Stone Feed

Orbital- 2 (Brown Album)
2Pac- Strictly 4 My Niggaz

Top 20 Albums of 2003

Broadcast- Haha Sound

Dizzee Rascal- Boy in Da Corner

Manitoba- Up in Flames

Kelis- Tasty

Polmo Polpo-Like Hearts Swelling 

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti- Worn Copy

The Bug- Pressure

Sweet Trip- Velocity:Design:Comfort

The Postal Service- Give Up

Various- Lost in Translation Soundtrack

William Basinski-Melancholia

M83- Dead Cities, Red Seas, and Lost Ghosts

Ellen Allien- Berlinette

Lawerence- The Absence of Blight

Britney Spears- In the Zone

Lightning bolt- Beautiful Rainbow

Jaylib- Champion Sound

Ricardo Villalobos- Alcachofa

Luke Vibert- Yoseph

The Neptunes Presents...Clones