for the complete 2003 Long List of Nominations, go to the shortlist of music's website, and click under the nominees list. The following is my selection for this year's shortlist of music (using this year's established longlist), followed by my winning selection. Let's see how I hold up...

Cody Chesnutt
Headphone Masterpiece
Erykah Badu

you may have heard this guy on the roots' song, "the seed v.2.0." this is the same guy. while i havent heard his full album, i had heard buzz early on about cody chesnutt that he was bringing the soul back into soul. apparently this album is the kind of album thats great for headphone listening and hence why it's titled accordingly.

Common
Electric Circus
Chemical Brothers

hip hop is coming into focus as the artistic medium it once was back in the days of run-dmc and sugarhill. again, another album i havent heard, but have heard a lot of buzz on. common's flow is supposed to be really tight and not at all the gangsta hop we're used to.

Damien Rice
O
Nic Harcourt

havent listened to Damien Rice as a full album, but ever since i saw him on conan, i was convinced that he would atleast be on the shortlist. having listened to various other tracks since, i think that it makes him shortlist worthy, with a soul-ridden, emotioned voice and diversity of melancholy sound.

Four Tet
Rounds
Josh Tyrangiel

i love this album. four tet is one man, incredibly innovative in his usage of loops. all his songs are effectively built up, almost from the beginning of the tracks, and four tet uses all kinds of sounds throughout these loops. the art of an album like this is lost in a studio recording however, as i can imagine that large parts of this music come through seeing the visual creative process of it.

Grandaddy
Sumday
grandaddy's album has been getting good press and its already been put on my list of albums i have yet to get. im not the biggest fan of his vocals, but the sound is very post-grunge, mixed with some 60s influences. its rather smooth, laid back, west coast sounding, but at the same time, musically all over.

Sigur Ros
()
Spike Jonze

i'm not sure how this album made it on the list. and i will truly be shocked if it wins. not that this album isnt worthy. lord knows its probably my top selection on the list, and i would otherwise choose it for the winner of the shortlist. however, since sigur ros won the 2001 prize, i cant forsee them winning again since the goal of the prize is to create awareness of bands that arent so big. following the success of sigur ros' last shortlist outing, their fan base has picked up and as musically stunning this album is, i doubt it will win.

Sondre Lerche
Faces Down
Josh Tyrangiel

i wasnt too much of a fan of this album when i reviewed it for the tribune earlier this year. but i must admit, it should have picked up more than it did. the kid (hes 19) has a matured voice, sinces some matured themes, and his music is really loungy. really surprised this didnt get more pick up.

Talib Kweli
Quality
Kim Osorio

this has to be my hip hop album of the year. kweli broke through his game again with "just get by," brilliant poetry about the urban state. smart, excellent flow, this easily displays why hip hop was created and why its survival as a lyrical artform is imperative.

The Mars Volta
De-Loused in the Comatorium
Flea

i heard a couple songs off this album, but it was seriously freaking me. go figure, this choice was provided to us by flea. however, reviews ive read of the volta album have been consistently high- sometimes ranking it as a larger step above radiohead's album. in this regard, i cant see why they wouldnt have put this album on the list.

Interpol
Turn Off the Bright Lights
Cameron Crowe

going back to the days of joy division and all those other british post-punk bands, interpol, like last years shortlisters, the hives, is bringing back a genre of music thats not only revived, but reinvented as well. interpol's album has a certain darkness, but at the same time differs not from many of the other bands of its genre. the album got rave reviews all over the place. cant help but put this on the shortlist.

and the winner is...
the mars volta. i will have to be getting this album, but im pretty sure it will win.

13/08/03