I've been busy as Hell at work and haven't had time to update the site.

Well, that's not entirely true. Rather, I've had the time, but not the inclination to write anything. Too many ways to fuck around.

That, and it's been Hell at work.

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Time once again to compile the top ten lists. I've always waited until February to give myself time to absorb those year-end releases. Seeing as I still haven't had time to catch all the movies from the end of the year, I'll stick to music.

Amazing year for music. Just fantastic. Some pretty great pop records and singles. Let's run it down.

First, single of the year. No contest:
Here We Go by Jon Brion from the Punch-Drunk Love soundtrack. A song that makes the movie better. It captures the loneliness so well, I get choked up just listening to it:

Honorable mentions for albums of the year:
Kasey Chambers-Barricades & Brickwalls
The White Stripes-White Blood Cells
Badly Drawn Boy-About a Boy soundtrack/score

10.) Rhett Miller-The Instigator
The singer from Old 97's goes solo and gets a little help from pop genius Jon Brion.

9.) David Baerwald-Here comes the new folk implosion
Baerwald just gets better with age. Twenty years of recording has only made him sharper. David & David never really had any hits, and his solo work hasn't exactly dented the charts, but Baerwald struts with confidence. This is a musician/songwriter at the top of his game.

9.) Supergrass-Life on other planets (import)
Supergrass matures. While not as poppy as their last one. LOOP is the band re-establishing itself. "Evening of the day" does Spinal Tap proud by nicking the lyrics to "All the way home" and making it sound cool.

7.) Phantom Planet-The Guest
The kid from "Rushmore" really is talented. This isn't a Bacon Brother/Russell Crowe Grunts vanity record. Jason Schwartzman plays the drums on this one. Mitchell Froom produces.

6.) Alex Lloyd-Watching Angels Mend
An album that really grew on me. Took the whole year, but it definitely won me over. Just a great pop record.

5.) Brendan Benson - Lapalco
If you can't have a Jason Falkner album, at least you can have one he produced and co-wrote. A fave of the White Stripes (who I liked, but not enough to include on this list)

4.) Ed Harcourt-Here be monsters
Technically a 2001 release, but it didn't hit stateside until last year. I heard him open for Neil Finn and ran out and bought the album. Brilliant pop songs. His new one is due out on import this week.

3.) Beck-Sea Change
Beck's heart gets broken and we are witnesses to the carnage.

2.) Badly Drawn Boy-Have you fed the fish?
Damon Gough's second great album of the year. Indescribably amazing. Wool caps off to Badly Drawn Boy.

1.) Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
The sound of a band reinventing itself. The story behind this album has been around too many times; I won't recount it here (Look for the excellent documentary "I am trying to break your heart" for the whole story). I'm still not sure how Wilco ever got labelled a country band.

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I'll run down my favorite movies of 2002 next update.