Everybody does it. And so do we.
Year-end lists are second only to “Desert Island Discs” in the rockcrit book of cliches. And yet we feel the need to share ours. And when we see stuff we like on other people’s lists, we’re like, “Yeah, I like that too.” And maybe if something turns up on a few lists from people we respect, we might even pick an album up on their recommendation (I’ve done that – haven’t you?).
So here is the stuff that we moved us in 2002. Our rules for inclusion aren’t as strict as some; actually, we don’t have any rules for inclusion. So if you see something that wasn’t actually released in 2002, it’s okay…don’t be such a tight-ass.
(By the way, the links are to amazon.com, but please support your local independent record store if you can.)
Jake Brown
- Discovering the Mountain Goats – All Hail West Texas and Talahassee are my two favorite albums of the year. (Article, 2)
- The remastered reissues of the Rolling Stones’ Beggars Banquet and Let It Bleed.
- The Mooney Suzuki live at Chicago’s Metro, 10/9/2002, with Sahara Hotnights. (Article, 2)
- Beck – Sea Change (Article)
- Finally got around to listening to White Blood Cells and seeing them live.
- Ben Kweller – Sha Sha (Review)
Albums I never got around to listening to, but probably will somtime in 2003: Blacklisted by Neko Case, Stereo/Mono by Paul Westerberg, Murray Street by Sonic Youth, Electric Sweat by Mooney Suzuki, Lapalco by Brendan Benson, Title TK by the Breeders, Blood Money by Tom Waits, Jennie Bomb by Sahara Hotnights, Sharpen Your Teeth by Ugly Casanova.
Kristy Eldredge
- White Stripes – Sympathy for the Record Industry
- Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Article, 2)
- Silver Jews – Bright Flight
- Ugly Casanova – Sharpen Your Teeth (Article)
- Aimee Mann – I’m With Stupid ($7 Tower Record special!)
Johnny Loftus
- Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (Article)
- Mum – Green Grass of Tunnel (Article)
- Sigur Ros – ()
- Flaming Lips & Beck live at Chicago Theatre (Article)
- The Streets – Original Pirate Material (Review)
- Sleater-Kinney – One Beat
- The Mooney Suzuki – Electric Sweat (Article, 2)
- Mirah – Advisory Committee
- Spoon – Kill The Moonlight (Article)
- Single of the year: TIE – DJ Sammy, “Heaven“/Eminem, “Lose Yourself“
Honorable Mentions: Deadsy, Sahara Hotnights, Super Furry Animals
For Johnny’s full article about his year in review, click here. For Johnny’s breakdown of 2001, click here. – ed.
Stephen Macaulay
- Dr Karl Kruszelnicki’s 2002 Ig Nobel Prize for an international survey of Belly Button Lint.
- The new bottle for Sammy Hagar’s Cabo Wabo tequila.
- Britney’s thesbian turn in Crossroads.
- The Entertainment Tonight coverage of J. Lo (“Don’t be fooled by the rocks that I’ve got, I’m still Jenny from the block”) and Ben Affleck (People magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive”).
- Charmbracelet.
Derek Phillips
- Ugly Cassanova: my pick for album of the year. (Article)
- Flaming Lips with Beck: Wayne Coyne may just save music after all. (Article)
- Wrote a nice song that runs through my head from time to time.
- Watched with mouth agape as the Brian Jonestown Massacre renewed my belief in live music. (Article)
- Finally took possession of my dad’s 1953 Martin tenor guitar. All dreams now officially achieved. Time to die.
My favorite album of 2002 is easily Kill the Moonlight by Spoon. Runner up: Beck’s Sea Change.
Other bands I’m happy to have discovered in ’02 include Sloan, Mirwais and the Flaming Lips.
Best show I saw: Cornelius at Saint Andrew’s in Detroit (post at https://gloriousnoise.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=201) A very close second goes to Martin Sexton at The Ark in Ann Arbor.
Best old music rediscovered: The Who’s Ultimate Collection. Damn fine remastering.
And my ultimate goal achived of the year… Getting back into Derek’s band. Next up: world domination.
I meant to link to my Martin Sexton post, as well…
https://gloriousnoise.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=51
I honestly can’t pick a favorite album – there was a lot of great stuff this year. Highlights include:
• The Hives – Veni Vidi Vicous
• James Vanderslice – Life & Death Of An American 4-Tracker
• Guided By Voices – Universal Truths & Cycles/Pipe Dreams Of Instant Prince Whippet
• And You Will Know Them By The Trail Of Dead – Source Tags & Codes
• Wilco – YHF
• Super Furry Animals – Rings Around The World
Fave oldies rediscovered:
• Ramones – Remastered Rocket To Russia
• Bob Dylan – everything
The cd I’m most looking forward to? The Riveira EP, of course!
My top 5 for 2002:
5. Spoon – Kill the Moonlight
4. The Mercury Program – A Data Learn the Language
3. Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
2. Wilco – YHF demos
1. Wilco – YHF
1. Lambchop, Is A Woman
2. Desaparecidos, Read Music/Speak Spanish
3. Ben Kweller, Sha Sha
4. Hayden, Skyscraper National Park
5. Enon, High Society
6. The Mendoza Line, Lost in Revelry
7. Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
8. Destroyer, This Night
9. Spoon, Kill the Moonlight
10. Hot Hot Heat, Make Up the Breakdown
Go to http://travelersdiagram.com/ for details.
Favorite 10 Albums of 2002
Ben Kweller, Sha Sha
Bill Frisell, The Willies
Destroyer, This Night
Dixie Chicks, Home (*)
Mates of State, Our Constant Concern
Mirah, Advisory Committee
Norah Jones, Come Away with Me
Songs: Ohia, Didn’t It Rain
Spoon, Kill The Moonlight
Tori Amos, Scarlet’s Walk
* Before anyone starts making fun of me, the Dixie Chicks album is good. Part bluegrass and part country, it’s a guilty pleasure for anyone who enjoyed the O Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack. Stephen Thomas Erlewine likes it, PopMatters likes it, and so do I. So there.
hey, i’ll add a few here that were my faves of ’02:
guided by voices — universal truths and cycles
luna — romantica
the hives — veni vidi, uh. yeah, the hives. damn fine.
doves — last broadcast
the warlocks — phoenix album
doug martsch’s solo album. yeehaw.
old stuff I just discovered and love:
the undertones — rykodisc collection. it’s some hot hot heat.
If you heard an album during 2002 that you’d never heard before, yet was released, say, when people imagined that people in 2002 would be driving rocket cars (e.g., “Meet the Beatles”) could it be justifiably included on a “Best of” list?
Good lists here. I took note of a few and plan to pick them up. Here are a few of my picks, in no particular order:
1. Sonic Youth-Murray Street
2. Wilco-YHF
3. Flaming Lips-YBTPR
4. Neko Case-Blacklisted
5. Interpol-Turn on the Bright Lights
A couple of things here and there that I liked this year.
Coachwhips
Comets on Fire – Field Recordings From the Sun
Mechanik – This Damn Planet
New Pornographers at the Abbey Pub 12/14/02
Lambchop
Mammel – Fogwalkers
Wolf Eyes
Yoshimi
Sleater Kinney – One Beat
The Shins
The Rogers Sisters – Purely Evil
Beck/Lips – Chicago
10 – “One by One”, Foo Fighters
9 – “Come Away With Me”, Norah Jones
8 – “Sea Change”, Beck
7 – “Original Pirate Material”, The Streets
6 – “Songs for the Deaf”, Queens of the Stone Age
5 – “Source Tags and Codes”, Trail of Dead
4 – “Rings Around the World”, Super Furry Animals
3 – “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots”, Flaming Lips
2 – “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot”, Wilco
1 – “Last Broadcast”, Doves
record of the year for me is beck’s sea change all the way.
yoshimi kicked some butt too.
i love the queens of the stone age’s “no one knows”
best show i saw this year: mccartney. yes, mccartney,
followed by the white stripes at the fillmore.
and beck with smokey in seattle.
overall, things are looking up for music, don’t you think?
You can tell I’m old because two of my favorites are remastered re-releases:
1) Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
2) The Blasters – Testament: The Complete Slash Recordings
3) Mr. T Experience – And the Women Who Love Them (Remastered and expanded)
4) Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
5) Bowling for Soup – Drunk Enough to Dance (What can I say? I love the pop-punk thang.)
6) Bobby Bare Jr. – Young Criminals’ Starvation League
I think everything else I got was really old.
My highlights 2002
1. Arthur Lee & Love live. If only every other rock legend could pull off a gig so vital, fresh and beautiful. One of those rare gigs that leaves you reeling, still buzzing the next day.
2. Flaming Lips – Yoshimi. And they’re coming to my town next week. Sweeeeeet!
3. Queens of the Stone Age – Songs for the deaf. Seems to be more popular in the UK than the States, it kicks the ass of every lame nu-metal band around. And Dave grohl is one hell of a drummer.
4. Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
5. Johnny Cash – Man Comes Around
6. Polyphonic Spree LP and live.
7. Pulp live. I hope they haven’t split for good cos they’re such a great band. I saw them at a festival, last band on before the Strokes, and even a drunk/wasted Julian Casablancas had to admit it was da bomb.
8. Soledad Brothers live. Detroit blues explosion. And i met Meg White there.
9. This funky Nigerian dude I checked out live on a whim.
Stuff I’ve liked but don’t have album yet – Neko Case,Gillian Welch, Missy Elliot, Common, Solomon Burke, Interpol.
Hey, and I finally heard Big Star. And it was good.
2002 was a surprisingly good year. Some of my personal favorites:
Elvis Costello- When I Was Cruel
Good Life- Black Out
Trail of Dead- Source Tags and Codes
Interpol- Turn on the Bright Lights
Aloha- Sugar
And I’m coming around to The Flaming Lips’ Yoshimi.
But I can’t think of any others right now, although I know there are more. But the absolute best is Sigur Ros- (). Mindblowing album.
here’s my top ten:
1. Reigning Sound – Time Bomb High School
2. The Hentchmen – Three Times Infinity
3. Greenhornes – Dual Mono
4. Soledad Brothers – Steal Your Soul and Dare Your Spirit to Move
5. The Mooney Suzuki – Electric Sweat
6. The Datsuns – The Datsuns
7. Mates of State – Our Constant Concern
8. The Mystery Girls – The Mystery? Girls
9. The Epoxies – The Epoxies
10. The Sights – Got What We Want