Posted
12:30am, Sunday, February 16, 2003
What
the Hell happened to me? Forgive me Father... etc.
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.
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:
You
gotta hope
That there's someone for you
As strange as you are
Who can cope with the things that you do
Without trying too hard
Cause you can bend the truth
Till it's soothing you
But
these things that you're wrapping all around you
They never know what they amount to
If your life is just going on without you
It's the end of the things you know
Here we go
You
've gotta know that there's more to this world
Than what you have seen
Cause we all have a relative view of what it can be
As
we move along
With our blinders on
Each
one of use feels a little stranded
You can't explain or understand it
Each one of us on a different planet
And amidst all the to and fro
Someone can say hello
Here we go
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.
I'll run down my favorite movies of 2002 next update.
