Some of my favourites from what looks like a very strong year (Tori Amos is in there 2ce for some reason):
Spade Kitty Wrote:
# The Black Heart Procession * 1 (Cargo)
# Tortoise * TNT (Thrill Jockey)
# The Notwist * Shrink (Zero Hour)
# Lhasa * La Llorona (Atlantic)
# Godspeed You Black Emperor! * f#a# (infinity) (Kranky)
# The Eels * Electro-Shock Blues (Dreamworks)
# Opeth * My Arms, Your Hearse (Century Media)
# Calexico * The Black Light (Quarterstick)
# Firewater * The Ponzi Scheme (Jetset)
# Monster Magnet * Powertrip (A&M)
# Trans Am * The Surveillance (Thrill Jockey)
# Dirty Three * Ocean Songs (Touch & Go)
# Snowpony * The Slow-Motion World (Radioactive)
# Girls Against Boys * Freak*On*Ica (Geffen)
# Garbage * Version 2.0 (Almo Sounds)
# Tori Amos * From The Choirgirl Hotel (Atlantic)
# Tori Amos * From The Choirgirl Hotel (Atlantic)
# God Lives Underwater * Life in teh So-Called Space Age (1500)
# Mark Hollis (Polydor)
# Hooverphonic * Blue Wonder Power Milk (Epic)
# Legendary Pink Dots * Nemesis On-Line (Soleilmoon)
# Love And Rockets * Lift (Red Ant)
# Pan-American (Kranky)
# Third Eye Foundation * You Guys Kill Me (Merge/Touch & Go)
Pressed, I'd probably pick Garbage, but I only recently discovered Lhasa's first album, and I like it as much as her second (
The Living Road), and Notwist's album from that year is killer (it's more of the hybrid guitar rock that they perform live than just the glitchy electronica stuff on
Neon Golden plus some very Van Morrison-y jazz break stuff).