Click on the reviewer whose list you want to view or just scroll down for all:

BRIAN BIENIOWSKI

1. AGLAIA - Three Organic Experiences (the best of the year)
2. JASON SLOAN - Still
3. SAUL STOKES - Fields
4. JIM COLE - The Way Beyond
5. ZERO OHMS - True Degrees of Freedom
6. KRAFTWERK - Tour de France Soundtracks
7. YASUME - Where We're From the Birds Sing a Pretty Song
8. M83 - Dead Cities, Red Seas, and Lost Ghosts
9. POLMO POLPO - Like Hearts Swelling
10. TIM HECKER - Radio Amor
11. STEVE ROACH - Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces (4 CD version)

DENE BEBBINGTON

1. GANDALF - Between Earth and Sky
2. BRIAN CARTER - Heart of the Circle
3. CODE INDIGO - TimeCode Indigo
4. HYPNOSPHERE - Within The Whirl
5. MAITREYA - Telluric Waves
6. BUEDI SIEBERT - The Light Dance
7. ANTHONY ROTHER - Elixir of Life
8. JONN SERRIE - The Stargazer's Journey
9. ARC - Blaze
10. CURRENT - Communion

TRAVIS BRIGGS

Top 5 albums that I first heard in 2003:

1) ARCANE - Alterstill

Comment: Not only is this the best album that I've heard this year, it could quite possibly be the best album I've ever heard. Arcane extracts the very best elements from '80-'84 Tangerine Dream and then distills them still further, resulting in an album that is endlessly satisfying and intimately acquainted with sheer brilliance.

2) DOM F. SCAB - Facta

Comment: Possessing a melodic subtlety approaching that of Vangelis, sequences that are exhilaratingly complex, and a sound palette so meticulously crafted that an almost unparalleled state of elegance is achieved, Facta is simply the best sequencer-centric album I've heard in a long time.

3) OTARION - Creator

Comment: Otarion has achieved a new high-water mark for melodic but sequencer supplemented EM. His compositions are consistently compelling and refreshingly multi-faceted, and most artists would take 3 albums to conceive of all the ideas that are expressed here.

4) CODE INDIGO - TimeCode>Indigo

Comment: With intoxicating wordless vocals, lush swells of subdued orchestral effects, and melodies fit to resonate in the mind of a god, this album is the embodiment of elegance.

5) MIKE ANDREWS - Time and Science

Comment: In my opinion, Mike Andrews is one of the best tunesmiths EM has to offer, and he is a "must check out" for fans of Jarre or Vangelis.

MICHAEL DEBBAGE

CONTEMPORARY INSTRUMENTAL TOP FIFTEEN OF 2003 (alphabetical)

1. AMETHYSTIUM - Aphelion (Neurodisc)
2. PAUL CARDALL - Faithful (Stone Angel Music)
3. PAUL CARDALL - Live (Stone Angel Music)
4. BRIAN CRAIN - Sienna (Crain Records)
5. JESSE COOK - Nomad (Narada)
6. GANDALF- Between Earth And Sky (Real Music)
7. STEPHEN GERZELI - Out Of The Blue (Whitaker Entertainment)
8. WAYNE GRATZ - Sleepy Baby Suite (WGMP)
9. BRADLEY JOSEPH - The Journey Continues (Robbins Island Music)
10. KEVIN KERN - The Winding Path (Real Music)
11. JOHANNES LINSTEAD - Zabuca (Real Music)
12. MIRIAM STOCKLEY - Second Nature (Narada)
13. TROIKA - Kingdom Of The Sun (Enso)
14. 2002 - This Moment Now (Real Music)
15. YANNI - Ethnicity (Virgin)

MARK MORTON

(Limited to 2003 releases)

1. STEVE ROACH - Mystic Chords and Sacred Spaces - (4 CDs) - Projekt
2. JAMES JOHNSON - Echoes - Atmoworks
3. BRIAN ENO - Bell Studies for the Clock of the Long Now - Opal
4. FANGER AND SCHONWALDER - Analog Overdose 3 - Manikin
5. VIR UNIS - Book of Mutations - Atmoworks
6. KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN - Electronic Music from Wednesday - Stockhausen-Verlag
7. BRANNAN LANE AND ASHERA - Sextant - (Ashera)
8. DIATONIS - Ambient life - (self-released)
9. HEMISPHERE - Beat in the Heat- Groove Unltd.
10. TANGERINE DREAM - Mota Atma - TDI

MICHAEL WOODHEAD

Best of the Year 2003 (in no particular order)

CUSCO - Inner Journeys: Myths and Legends - Higher Octave

CALVIN COOLIDGE II - Club Tiaj - 30th President Productions

AEOLIAH - J'Adore - Oreade Music

RASA - Shelter - New Earth Records

CONSTANCE DEMBY - Sanctum Sanctorum - self-released

ENAM - m_Anchelli - Oreade Music

WAH! - Jai Jai Jai - Wah! Music

YANNI - Ethnicity - Virgin Records

BILL BINKELMAN

Every year when I look backward at what albums have been released in the previous twelve months, I never fail to be amazed at the high level of quality in so many of them. This year was no exception. It was extremely difficult to narrow my list for each genre to just ten ranked titles and ten honorable mentions. Also, I originally was going to put out just one list for all the ambient, electronica and EM titles. However, like the Golden Globe awards refuses to pit comedy against drama, I couldn't see how I could evaluate albums as diverse as Berlin school, ethno-tribal, spacemusic, and chill-out in the same category. So I broke up ambient into two groups which are detailed before each list. In the case of the honorable mentions, most of the titles barely missed placement in the top 10, so don't think there is anything "wrong" or "bad" about those recordings. In their cases, the word "honorable" really means it! You will also notice that some of the albums on my list have not been formally reviewed by me yet. The reviews will be forthcoming, I assure you.

One final note should be obvious: I can't possibly listen to every album in these genres that are released from January to December. While I now refer to these titles as "The Best..." (where previously I referred to them as "My Favorites...") these are the "best" of what I have heard. If you look at my list and think "That numbskull Binkelman! How could he not have mentioned _ _ _ _ ???" please know that it's possible I didn't even hear it.

Without further ado, here are my choices for The Best Recordings of 2003:

THE BEST ELECTRONICA, CHILL OUT, AND EM (Berlin-school, et al.) RECORDINGS OF 2003

(ranked in order)

1. RICHARD BONE - alternate realities - Spiralight Recordings
2. MUELLER AND FELDBAUER - autorama - Tristan Feldbauer
3. RON BOOTS - Dreamscape - Groove Unltd.
4. PSYCHETROPIC - china radio sunshine - microrelease
5. CURRENT - Communion - Origo Sound
6. CARBON BASED LIFEFORMS - hydroponic garden - ultimae records
7. GERT EMMENS - obscure movements in twilight shades - Groove Unltd.
8. VALERY SIVER AND KIRYLL TREPAKOV - Midway - electroshock records
9. ERIK WØLLO - The Polar Drones - Groove Unltd.
10. VARIOUS ARTISTS - Fahrenheit Project, Part 4 - ultimae records

HONORABLE MENTION (alphabetical by artist)

BLUE TECH - prima materia - Waveform

CALVIN COOLIDGE II - Club Tiaj - 30th President Productions

JEFF GREINKE - weather from another planet - First World Music

LAUREL - Laurel - Ajna Music

LEMONGRASS - Windows- Water Music Records

MARA'S TORMENT - body music - rik maclean

MILES MAC MILLAN - Alienated - Miles MacMillan

STEVE ROACH - Life Sequences - Time Room Editions

SOUNDICIAN - Tranquilicity - Soundician

VARIOUS ARTISTS - dank disk downtempo, selector session 1: 3-d sound system compilation - dank disk

THE BEST AMBIENT, SPACEMUSIC, AND ETHNO-TRIBAL RECORDINGS OF 2003

(ranked in order)

1. JEFFREY KOEPPER - Etherea - Air Space Records
2. WHEN I KNOW YOU WILL TOO - astoria - asaurus records
3. ZERO OHMS - True Degrees of Freedom - SpaceForMusic.com
4. KELVIN L. SMITH - Reclining Music - Farfield Records
5. APERUS - tumbleweed obfuscated by camera failure - mPATH Records
6. KEVIN KENDLE - Deep Skies I: Light From Orion - Eventide Music
7. AUSTERE - remission - austere
8. A PRODUCE AND RUBEN GARCIA - Early Sessions - Trance Port Special Editions
9. JONN SERRIE - The Stargazer's Journey - New World Music
10. DEEP SKY DIVERS - The New Fast Lane - anyrobinhood

HONORABLE MENTION (alphabetical by artist)

ANTONY DE GENNARO - The Message Service - Ant Man Tunes

LARRY KUCHARZ - ambient red washes - International Audiochrome

BRANNAN LANE AND ASHERA - Sextant - ashera

MICHAEL MAGE - The New Tribes EP - Tribes of Mage Recordings

BYRON METCALF AND MARK SEELING (WITH STEVE ROACH) - Wachuma's Wave - Spotted Peccary

STEVE ROACH - Mystic Chords and Sacred Spaces - Projekt

SYLKEN - PiNG - Sylken Music

THE TUNNEL SINGER - Sailing the Solar Wind - Tunnel Singer Records

ZERO OHMS AND BRANNAN LANE - Immense Distance- SpaceForMusic.com

VARIOUS ARTISTS - m1: a magnanimous compilation - magnanimous records

THE BEST NEW AGE AND ACOUSTIC INSTRUMENTAL RECORDINGS OF 2003

(ranked in order)

1. CONNI ST. PIERRE - Beyond the sky: Legends of the starry night - Smash Easy
2. KEVIN KENDLE - Butterflies - New World Music
3. TERRY OLDFIELD - A Time For Peace - New Earth Records
4. GEORGE SKAROULIS - Second Nature - Evzone Music
5. MARA PURL AND MARILYN HARRIS - Koto Keys - Wrightwood Records
6. JOHANN HELTON - Songs Without Words - Jo-Town Records
7. APRIL STACE - Harp 46 - April Stace
8. RAY - Healing Space - Ray Leonard Records
9. JONN SERRIE - Lumia Nights - Neuronium Records/Valley Entertainment
10. JOE EBEL - primebel - Ebel Alley Music

HONORABLE MENTION (alphabetical by artist)

JOHN BALINT - Connected - Blisswave Records

DEUTER - Sea & Silence - New Earth Records

CHINMAYA DUNSTER AND THE CELTIC RAGAS BAND - Karma Circles - New Earth Records

PHIL FEATHER AND MARILYN HARRIS - Winds on Ivory - Wrightwood Records

KOHALA - Cool Breeze - Palm Records

LLEWELLYN - Journey to the Faeries - New World Music

EVREN OZAN - As Things Could Be - Point of Light Records

DUO SAVAGE (composer: PHILLIP SCHROEDER) - all rivers at once - Capstone Records

GARY STADLER - Reflections of Faerie - Sequoia Records

LAURA SULLIVAN - Piano Solos - Sentient Spirit Records

SUZANNE TENG AND MYSTIC JOURNEY - miles beyond - Autumn Light Productions