my 2002 list:
1: brave captain - advertisements for myself: this album owns all. yes: *all.* including you and yo mama.
2: interpol - turn on the bright lights - so what if it sounds a lot like joy division? it's still original enough to sound distinctive and is still well-written and feckin' fantastic. by far the album i listened to most this past year.
3: wilco - yankee hotel foxtrot: i know that we all heard it in 2k1, but it wasn't released until 2k2. best wilco album to date.
4: love and rockets - express (expanded remastered edition): originally released in '85, this remastering of it makes it a new recording of one of the most brilliant albums by a brilliant band. made me bust out all of my old l&r catalog.
5: peter murphy - dust: murphy has finally done what his former bauhaus mates have been doing since the band split - he wrote an album that won't sound dated in 10 years. his middle-eastern influences have been brought out of the background and thrown in your face, completely changing the style of the music for the better and effectively alienating all the little goths who can't accept the fact that bauhaus is broken up. plus, it was one hell of a show and ghandi was playing bass. yes: ghandi
6: david bowie - heathen: heathen is a really, really good album. parts are most certainly reminiscent of "hunky-dory" era bowie. which is intentional, i'm sure as he worked with toni visconti, his 70's-era producer, on this one
7: beck - sea change: i don't know a lot about beck. i know that he had a hit with 'loser' while i was in high school and that 'odelay' was also a commercial success, but i never thought i'd own an album of his. one thing i *do* know about beck for certain, though, is that he was in a fuckload of pain when he wrote this album, and it all comes through. very pretty, very passionate, very sad. don't listen to with razor blades around.
8: ryan adams - heartbreaker: came out last year, but i just bought it. not as good as whiskeytown's 'pneumonia' but still very, very good.
9: leonard cohen - ten new songs: slow, monotonous at times, but damn that guy can write! perfect for a certain mood and very engaging.
10: SOUND team - into the lens: austin, tx based quintet. these guys are fantastic. anybody who reads this and doesn't own it needs to buy it. support these poor bastards and help them get a label! really enjoyable.
honorable mention:
daniel ash - daniel ash: first solo outing for daniel since love and rockets split up. very techno-ish at times, but still enough of a daniel ash sound not to alienate fans. has a few stinkers, but also a few moments of brilliance. great feckin' concert, too.
doves - last broadcast: a little too rockin' for my tastes. i prefer the slower subtelty of 'lost souls.'
south - from here on in: not sure when it came out, but i got it this year. very catchy little acoustic-driven pop songs beginning to end.
disappointment:
flaming lips - yoshimi battles the pink robots: i liked it the first listen - haven't liked it since. over-produced and kinda silly at times.
massive shit pile:
luna - romantica: i will continue to buy luna albums as long as dean keeps putting them out, because i believe that one day they will put out one on par with 'pup tent' or 'bewitched.' er . . . . . i hope at least. the opening song is okay. 'mermaid eyes' is okay. the rest of the album is boring rot.
