Hip-hop duo with a difference top poll of polls

Outkast, the hip-hop duo from Atlanta whose idea of collaboration on an album was to produce two solo records, were yesterday named the best music act of 2003.

The two American artists, Big Boi and Andre 3000, topped a "poll of polls" compiled by the music retailer HMV to decide the 20 most acclaimed releases of the past 12 months.

Despite being marketed as a double act, OutKast decided to express their creative differences for their latest album by recording separate volumes with only minimal collaboration. The result, Speakerboxxx/Love Below, has been widely praised for its mixture of genres, departing from the duo's hip-hop roots to take in jazz, soul and rock. Gennaro Castaldo, a spokesman for the HMV chain, said: "OutKast's album is a real melting pot of styles and rightly deserves the praise which has been heaped on it."

The Americans beat the home-grown talent of Dizzee Rascal, the 18-year-old Londoner who won the Mercury Music Prize for his debut album, Boy In Da Corner, into second place.

Third spot was taken by Mars Volta, the progressive rock band formed by former members of At the Drive In.

Their album, De-Loused in the Comatorium, beat two of the most popular acts of the year - the White Stripes and the Darkness into fourth and fifth. The chart was compiled from polls and reviews in newspapers and music magazines, including Mojo, NME, Q and Mixmag. A weighting system was used to rank each album's score.

As well as providing proof of the emergence of new talent, it showed that established names continue to gather critical acclaim with Radiohead ranked sixth and Blur in eighth place.

Mr Castaldo said: "Just to prove there's life in the old dogs yet, veterans like Radiohead, Blur and Jane's Addiction all manage a respectable top 20 place and hold their own against some of this year's trendier acts like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Rapture and Audio Bullys."