| ARTIST | ALBUM | LABEL | |
| 1 | Billy Bragg & Wilco | Mermaid Avenue | Elektra |
| 2 | Belle and Sebastian | The Boy With The Arab Strap | Matador |
| 3 | Neutral Milk Hotel | In The Aeroplane Over The Sea | Merge |
| 4 | Elliott Smith | XO | Dreamworks |
| 5 | Dillinger Four | Midwestern Songs For The Americas | Hopeless |
| 6 | Komeda | What Makes It Go? | Minty Fresh |
| 7 | Beastie Boys | Hello Nasty | Grand Royal/Capitol |
| 8 | Sloan | Navy Blues | Murderecords |
| 9 | The Legendary Jim Ruiz Group | Sniff | Minty Fresh |
| 10 | Firewater | The Ponzi Scheme | Jetset |
| 11 | Lifter Puller | The Entertainment and Arts | Threatening Letters |
| 12 | Pulp | This Is Hardcore | Island |
| 13 | His Name Is Alive | Ft. Lake | 4AD |
| 14 | PJ Harvey | Is This Desire? | Island |
| 15 | 12 Rods | Split Personalities | V2 |
| 16 | Fugazi | End Hits | Dischord |
| 17 | Sunny Day Real Estate | How It Feels To Be Something On... | Sub Pop |
| 18 | The Siren Six | Young and Professional EP | Kingpin |
| 19 | Selby Tigers | Year of The Tigers | The Bread Machine |
| 20 | Pernice Brothers | Overcome By Happiness | Sub Pop |
| 21 | June of 44 | Four Great Points | Touch and Go |
| 22 | Massive Attack | Mezzanine | Virgin |
| 23 | The Spinanes | Arches and Aisles | Sub Pop |
| 24 | Mary Lou Lord | Got No Shadow | Work |
| 25 | Unwound | Challenge For A Civilized Society | Kill Rock Stars |
| 26 | Will Oldham | Joya/ Black/Rich Music | Drag City |
| 27 | Baxter | Baxter | Maverick |
| 28 | Tortoise | TNT | Thrill Jockey |
| 29 | R. L. Burnside | Come On In | Fat Possum/Epitaph |
| 30 | Dylan Hicks | Poughkeepsie | No Alternative/TRG |
| 31 | Saint Etienne | Good Humor | Sub Pop |
| 32 | The Push Kings | Far Places | Sealed Fate |
| 33 | Fatboy Slim | You've Come A Long Way, Baby | Astralwerks/Skint |
| 34 | Joel R.L. Phelps | The Downer Trio: 3/The Downer Trio | Pacifico |
| 35 | Liz Phair | Whitechocolatespaceegg | Matador/Capitol |
| 36 | Of Montreal | The Bedside Drama: A Petite Tragedy | Kindercore |
| 37 | Esthero | Breath From Another | Work |
| 38 | Halo Benders | Rebel's Not In | K |
| 39 | Air | Moon Safari | Caroline |
| 40 | Frank Black | Frank Black and the Catholics | SpinArt |
| 41 | A Tribe Called Quest | The Love Movement | Jive |
| 42 | Unkle | Psyence Fiction | London/Mo Wax |
| 43 | Beck | Mutations | DGC/Bongload |
| 44 | Cinerama | Va Va Voom | SpinArt |
| 45 | Matt Wilson | Burnt, White and Blue | Planetmaker |
| 46 | The Daktaris | Soul Explosion | Desco |
| 47 | Shellac | Terraform | Touch and Go |
| 48 | Lauryn Hill | The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill | Ruffhouse |
| 49 | Soul Coughing | El Oso | Slash/Warner Bros. |
| 50 | Geoff Farina | Usonian Dream Sequence | Southern |
| 51 | Buffalo Daughter | New Rock | Grand Royal |
| 52 | The Promise Ring | Boys + Girls EP | Jade Tree |
| 53 | Curve | Come Clean | Universal |
| 54 | Arab Strap | Philophobia | Matador |
| 55 | Mercury Rev | Deserter's Songs | V2 |
| 56 | Black Eyed Peas | Behind The Front | Interscope |
| 57 | The Monorchid | Who Put Out The Fire? | Touch and Go |
| 58 | Rose Melberg | Portola | Double Agent |
| 59 | Quasi | Featuring "Birds" | Up |
| 60 | Cloudberry Jam | The Impossible Shuffle | North of No South |
| 61 | The Minders | Hooray for Tuesday | SpinArt |
| 62 | Archers of Loaf | White Trash Heroes | Alias |
| 63 | Astrud | Astrud | Sealed Fate |
| 64 | various artists | Selector Dub Narcotic | K |
| 65 | Uzeda | Different Section Wires | Touch and Go |
| 66 | Die Sterne | Stell Die Verbindung | L'age D'or/Epic |
| 67 | Trans Am | The Surveillance | Thrill Jockey |
| 68 | Braid | Frame and Canvas | Polyvinyl |
| 69 | Calvin Krime | You're Feeling So Attractive | AmRep |
| 70 | Jack Logan and Bob Kimbell | Little Private Angel | Parasol |
| 71 | The Make-Up | In Mass Mind | Dischord |
| 72 | Willie Nelson | Teatro | Island |
| 73 | Dirty Three | Ocean Songs | Touch & Go |
| 74 | Caustic Resin | The Medicine Is All Gone | Alias |
| 75 | Money Mark | Push The Button | Mo Wax/London |
| 76 | Tricky | Angels With Dirty Faces | Island |
| 77 | Califone | Califone | Flydaddy |
