2002: Favorite Music
I'm definitely forgetting some music, and some I haven't heard yet, but here are my favorites from 2003.
Favorite Tracks of 2002:
1. Coldplay - Clocks
2. Sigur Ros - Untitled 4
3. The Flaming Lips - Do You Realize?
4. Godspeed You Black Emperor - rockets fall on Rocket Falls
5. Queens of the Stone Age - No One Knows
6. Dream Theater - The Glass Prison
7. The Polyphonic Spree - Soldier Girl
8. Joe Satriani - Chords of Life
9. Amon Tobin - Back From Space
Favorite Albums of 2002:
Sigur Ros - ()
While it was 'Agaetis Byrjun' that dropped a bombshell on modern music, '()' is a gorgeous refinement (perhaps, perfection) of Sigur Ros' distrinct sound. Repeat after me: '()' is to 'Agaetis Byrjun' as 'Master of Puppets' is to 'Kill 'Em All'. Got it? Probably the most beautiful album I've ever heard, of any genre. Ever. Yeah, those are periods. This will easily be one of my favorite albums of the decade.Track Listing:
1. Untitled 1*
2. Untitled 2*
3. Untitled 3*
4. Untitled 4*
5. Untitled 5*
6. Untitled 6*
7. Untitled 7*
8. Untitled 8*
Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head
Another gorgeous gem, Coldplay's softmore effort is heavier and more textured than their debut - just the way I like it. Can you ask for anything more than 'Clocks'? I think not.Track Listing:
1. Politik*
2. In My Place*
3. God Put A Smile Upon Your Face*
4. The Scientist*
5. Clocks*
6. Daylight*
7. Green Eyes
8. Warning Sign*
9. A Whisper*
10. A Rush Of Blood To The Head*
11. Amsterdam
The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
Strangely, this is the first Flaming Lips album I've liked, and I like it a lot. Their older music just didn't grab me like this weird, textured Mercury Rev-esque spawn of creative genius.Track Listing:
1. Fight Test*
2. One More Robot/Sympathy 3000-21
3. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt.1*
4. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt.2
5. In The Morning of the Magicians*
6. Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell*
7. Are You A Hypnotist??
8. It's Summertime
9. Do You Realize??*
10. All We Have Is Now
11. Approaching Pavonis Mons By Balloon (Utopia Planitia)
Godspeed You Black Emperor - Yanqui U.X.O.
I don't know what to say anymore. These guys never fail. They don't even write anything that's 'decent.' Everything they make is excellent.Track Listing:
1. 09-15-00*
2. 09-15-00
3. rockets fall on Rocket Falls*
4. motherfucker=redeemer*
5. motherfucker=redeemer
Queens of the Stong Age - Songs for the Deaf
Woo-hoo! This is such an enthusiastic embrace of down-and-out hard rock you've just got to embrace it back. From the funky catch of 'No One Knows' to the killer shrieks in 'First it Giveth,' this album makes my ears bleed and like it.Track Listing:
1. You Think I Ain't Worth A Dollar, But I Feel Like A Millionaire
2. No One Knows*
3. First It Giveth*
4. A Song For The Dead
5. The Sky Is Fallin'
6. Six Shooter
7. Hangin' Tree
8. Go With The Flow*
9. Gonna Leave You*
10. Do It Again
11. God Is In The Radio
12. Another Love Song*
13. A Song For The Deaf
14. Mosquito Song*
Delgados - Hate
If you've got a cheap player and rip this CD onto it, your digital media player may come to a grinding halt when the 10 gazillion tracks of orchestra and vocals and guitar come in for most of these tracks. Possibly the most dense album I've ever heard.Track Listing:
1. The Light Before We Land*
2. All You Need Is Hate*
3. Woke From Dreaming*
4. The Drowning Years*
5. Coming In From the Cold*
6. Child Killers
7. Favours
8. All Rise
9. Never Look At the Sun*
10. If This Is A Plan
11. Coalman
12. Mad Drums
Amon Tobin - Out From Out Where
This is getting silly. Even my least favorite Amon Tobin album (barring video game soundtracks) ends up on my list of favorite albums from one of my favorite years in recent music.Track Listing:
1. Back From Space*
2. Verbal
3. Chronic Tronic*
4. Searchers*
5. Hey Blondie
6. Rosies*
7. Cosmo Retro Intro Outro*
8. Triple Science
9. El Wraith*
10. Proper Hoodidge
11. Mighty Micro People
Something Corporate - Leaving Through the Window
This is piano emo-punk rock, I think. I don't know. Strangely, I like Something Corporate and no other artists like him. Must be the catchy melodies and chord progressions.Track Listing:
1. I Want to Save You*
2. Punk Rock Princess*
3. I Woke up in a Car*
4. If You C Jordan*
5. Astronaut*
6. Hurricane*
7. Cavanaugh Park*
8. Fall
9. Straw Dog*
10. Good News
11. Drunk Girl*
12. Not What It Seems
13. You're Gone
14. Globes and Maps*
Joe Satriani - Strange Beautiful Music
What an apt title! The groove of 'Seven String' and the mind-blowing power of 'Mind Storm' and 'Chrods of Life' secure a spot for this album on this list by themselves, but there are a few other tracks worth note.Track Listing:
1. Oriental Melody
2. Belly Dancer*
3. Starry Night
4. Chords of Life*
5. Mind Storm*
6. Sleep Walk*
7. New Last Jam
8. Mountain Song
9. What Breaks a Heart
10. Seven String*
11. Hill Groove*
12. The Journey
13. The Traveler
14. You Saved My Life
The Polyphonic Spree - The Beginning Stages Of...
I got all puffed up when I discovered this album completely by chance before it was even being reviewed anywhere. I told all my friends about it, and they're like 'What is this crap?' Now they're on MTV and, I believe I heard, the O.C. Hah! Anyway, it's a shame their followup wasn't this good - I was sure it would be.Track Listing:
1. Have a Day/Celebratory*
2. It's the Sun
3. Days Like This Help Me Warm
4. La
5. Middle of the Day
6. Hanging Around the Day, Pt. 1*
7. Hanging Around the Day, Pt. 2
8. Soldier Girl*
9. Light & Day/Reach for the Sun*
10. Long Day*
Dream Theater - Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
I prefer the old-school Dream Theater, but The Glass Prison is a ripping track, and there are many cool sequences of the 42-minute second-CD track (though it can't compare to 'A Change of Seasons').Track Listing:
1. The Glass Prison*
2. Blind Faith*
3. Misunderstood
4. The Great Debate
5. Disappear
6. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence [suite]*
Honorable Mentions (no order):
Helloween - The Dark Ride
The Soundtrack of Our Lives - Behind the Music
Red Hot Chili Peppers - By the Way
Beck - Sea Change
Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights
The Walkmen - Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone
Howard Shore - The Two Towers
Kent - Vapen & Ammunition
The Hives - Veni Vidi Vicious
Maserati - Language of Cities
Super Smash Bros. Melee: Smashing...Live!
Not My Thing (mostly):
Sonic Youth - Murray Street
The Roots - Phrenology
Iron & Wine - The Creek Drank the Cradle
Super Furry Animals - Rings Around the World
Boards of Canada - Geoggaddi
DJ Shadow - The Private Press
The Streets - Original Pirate Material
Eminem - The Eminem Show
Isis - Oceanic
Sleater-Kinney - One Beat
The Books - Thought for Food
Norah Jones - Come Away with Me
Alas, Haven't Heard:
Thievery Corporation - The Richest Man in Babylon
Green Carnation - Light of Day, Day of Darkness
Blind Guardian - Night at the Opera
Mob Rules - Hallowed Be Thy Name
DGM - Dreamland
Mum - Finally We Are No One
The Soundtrack of Our Lives - Behind the Music
Comets on Fire - Field Recordings from the Sun
Songs: Ohia - Didn't It Rain
Acid Mothers Temple - In C
Pretty Girls Make Grave - Good Health
Kevin Drumm - Sheer Hellish Miasma
DJ /Rupture - Minesweeper Suite
Tim Hecker - Haunt Me, Haunt Me, Do It Again
Rjd2 - Deadringer
Secret Machines - September 000
Deerhoof - Reveille
Keith Fullerton Whitman - Playthroughs
Notwist - Neon Golden
And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - Source Tags & Codes
Mountain Goats - Tallahassee
Oma Yang - Bang Bang
There's so much I haven't even heard, but: what an awesome year for music!
