2002 Albums ----------- This is another interesting inflection point in this project. I'm going through the years backwards as I write this, and I knew there would come a time where the majority of my favorites would be retroactive discoveries. It isn't surprising that this happened in the last full year before paid downloads changed the way I consumed new music, and satellite radio accelerated my music discovery. At this point, I had mostly lost interest in mainstream rock and was only really hearing the latest music from artists that I had a pre-existing relationship with. The only major place I was hearing new music was online radio streams like Virgin Radio UK. Looking back on the collection of records below, this clearly was a landmark year for the burgeoning indie movement. A fair number of underground scenes were starting to break through, and there are some legendary records from the artists that would be the face of the movement on both sides of the Atlantic. In 2002 I would move away from home town permanently. As an undergrad, I spent the summer months at home in Pennsylvania working full time at the company I was an intern for. At the end of the summer of 2002 I would move back to State College for grad school, and that would be my home for the next 6 years. My last year as an intern ended abruptly when I was layed off due to financial problems at the company. It was less than two weeks before my planned departure anyway, and I made good use of the extra time. At this point I owned just under 400 releases on CD, and with the time I had before returning to school, I burned the whole lot of them to MP3. Working in eight hour shifts, I used my PC to rip discs one at a time in the days when it took a good 10-15 minutes per disk. Working in 8+ hour shifts, 6 days a week I had a hard drive filled with my entire collection for the first time. Being able to listen to anything I owned in iTunes was a game changer, and I was rediscovering and re-evaluating music from my teenage years. I didn't know it yet, but this was the beginning of the end for the CD, and the way that I had discovered and consumed music since I was very young. .. image:: images/2002.jpg :width: 900 :alt: My 2002 favorite albums .. raw:: html - *Arcade Fire* by **The Arcade Fire** - These guys arrived fully formed. While it lacks some of the polish their debut LP would have, the spirit and songwriting is all here. A stellar EP. [*Memory*: I sought this out after buying and loving **Funeral** and it was exciting to know that this young band already had more material to enjoy.] - *Scarlet's Walk* by **Tori Amos** - I saw this as a disappointing turn to adult contemporary when it was first released, but have come to enjoy it much more over time. This is a mellower, more accessible sound but the songwriting and performance is still top notch. Several of her very best songs are on this record, in particular the amazing closer "Gold Dust". [*Memory*: The lead single "A Sort of Fairytale" was one of the first (perhaps the very first) free download of the week I remember from iTunes. Soon thereafter I remember seeing the creepy head on a foot video on VH1.] - *Heathen* by **David Bowie** - A much more successful attempt a the neo-classical sound that had started on **Hours** and the aborted **Toy**. Looking back, this is the start of the glorious last act to his career. A subtle and warm record, the sound of an innovator who is now content but still a restless creative. [*Memory*: I heard this for the first time streaming Virgin Radio at work in June of 2002. The last record got almost no attention in the USA, so this came out of nowhere feeling like his first album since **Earthling**.] - *Lifted..* by **Bright Eyes** - Connor Oberst is one of those artists that has may albums that I kinda like, but only one that I love. I think the stylistic variety on this one separates it from all the other very indie folk heavy albums. The songwriting is just a little extra sharp and the production just a little raw in a way that doesn't feel forced like some of the later albums. [*Memory*: It is funny to remember that I discovered this record by the way of hearing "Lover I Don't Have to Love", since that dark keyboard heavy track is not at all representative of the record, or this artist in general.] - *Conjure One* by **Conjure One** - Maybe the single best album that Rhys Fulber had been a part of came from this solo project. I really dig the world music fusion with a much harder edge than what we typically saw in this guy's other work. "Manic Star" is also a fine electronic pop song. [*Memory*: I had only just recently discovered **Delerium** and **Front Line Assembly** and was bummed to hear that they were splitting up. The hiatus didn't last long, and we got a great new project out of it.] - *The Last Broadcast* by **Doves** - The perfect balance of their early post-rock influenced sound, and the later straight ahead indie-rock. This is excellently produced, layered rock music with delicate pleasant vocals. The intricate "There Goes the Fear" is one of my all-time favorite songs. [*Memory*: It is hard to listen to this record and not remember the apartment I shared with two other students in my grad school days. I listened to this a ton in those days.] - *Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots* by **The Flaming Lips** - In general I have lost interest in these guys, as their eccentric psych-pop hasn't aged too well. That said this loose concept record is still something that I am happy to put on every couple years. [*Memory*: I always remember these guys as the first of many Pitchfork festival headliners that I was too tired to stay for (2009).] - *Up* by **Peter Gabriel** - All of a sudden there was a new album by this guy, and it sounded shockingly contemporary. The aggressive, industrial sounds of "Darkness" still managed to also have that magical **Gabriel** atmosphere. What he gives up in frequency he more than makes up for with consistency. [*Memory*: When writing this 20 years later, I realized for the first time the artist's face is visible on the cover in the background.] - *Yanqui U.X.O.* by **Godspeed You! Black Emperor** - The heaviest record by a very heavy post-rock band. The thick guitar noise regularly washes out the layered string instruments. "Rockets Fall on Rocket Falls" is their very best. [*Memory*: I don't know that I have jammed any song more often on headphones than "Rockets Fall on Rocket Falls".] - *Turn on the Bright Lights* by **Interpol** - Their classic debut still hits hard two decades later. A landmark in the post punk revival, this also gives an indication of the depth they would show in later records. [*Memory*: I bought this record on a whim when I saw it on sale at Best Buy. I remembered hearing about them as the next big thing, and had heard their sound compared to **Joy Division** who I was starting to become very interested in. This is probably my gateway into indie.] - *Up the Bracket* by **The Libertines** - Much like the US, the early days of 2000s UK indie was dominated by rough around the edges revivalists. These guys feel like a more addled **Clash**. They would never come close to the quality of this shambolic debut again. [*Memory*: This was one of my favorite running records in the early-mid 2000s, and I turned many laps at the Penn State IM building listening to to this.] - *Riot Act* by **Pearl Jam** - Their transition to mid-tempo aging alt rockers was complete. They held it together for one last excellent album before becoming very boring. Filled with high quality ballads like "Love Boat Captain". [*Memory*: I saw them on this tour in State College, PA and I'm glad I had the opportunity to see them before their over the hill days.] - *In Absentia* by **Porcupine Tree** - At the time this felt like a very heavy metal sound. The **Steven Wilson** solo records have in many ways made this sound far milder. That said, it is a great semi-prog alt rock record and another interesting reinvention for this band. [*Memory*: I had just started to listen to them, when they seemed to disappear for a while. After a label change they became a much bigger thing in the US, such that I was even able to buy this from Columbia House Music Club.] - *Kill the Moonlight* by **Spoon** - Another solid record that feels like a companion piece to **Girls Can Tell**. [*Memory*: I bought this new on vinyl at Amoeba records for 12 bucks in 2009. Many I miss those days.] - *Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me is Gone* by **The Walkmen** [**2002 Favorite**] - By far their most experimental record was their first. There are so many off-kilter rhythmic, structural, and instrumental elements here. **Hamilton Leithouser** was bringing it as a belting vocalist from the first track. Still a super interesting listen today, especially the eccentric career highlights "Wake Up" and "Rue the Day". [*Memory*: Like many people, I first heard of these guys when the song "We've Been Had" was used in a long running Saturn Ion commercial.] - *Out of the Fierce Parade* by **The Velvet Teen** - They have made quite a bit of music since, but their first statement remains the best. Some really enjoyable light alternative rock with soaring vocals. [*Memory*: In the early days of Sirius radio, the DJs would get a single free pick of their own per shift. One of them almost always used this selection on "The Prize Fighter". Why not? It is an amazing track.] - *Yankee, Hotel, Foxtrot* by **Wilco** - Not as revolutionary or experimental as it felt back then, but they add enough new elements to their country tinged sound to make things quite a bit more interesting. It was a time of great interest in "shortwave radio stations" and this is probably the most famous reference to them. A pretty great collection of songs, from the folky "Jesus, Etc." to the power-pop of "Heavy Metal Drummer". [*Memory*: I dropped the record brush on my vinyl copy while dry cleaning. It will always have a few pops and cracks on "Poor Places" as a result.]