Bjorn Olssen, "UPA"

Administrator
Albums and Singles
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This is the second solo release from the guitarist of Union CarbideProductions, Soundtrack of Our Lives and Spain, among others, following1999's apparently well-recieved 'Instrumentalmusik'. There are severalunusual aspects to UPA, all of which are worthwhile. First, upliftingcelebratory music like this is smile and happiness-inducing. LikeShooby Taylor or High Rise, it just works in that way.Next, it is mostly based on unlikely combinations of musical styles: aNotting Hill Festival-style steel band music with heavy progressiverock, Herb Alpert horns with blissed-out space-wah guitar, 80s MORpower ballad with Moricone western and 60s spy movie themes,traditional Scotish dance music with French girl-group harmy vocals,Sweedish folk and kraut rock. The success Olsson has with thesecombinations suggests a rare compositional talent as the tunes gel andjust work as though these styles always belonged together. Quite unlikeZorn's genre-hopping in the 80s, UPA works more as though a master likeQuincy Jones were doing genre set pieces. It's a dazzling, intoxicatingtour that would be surreal if it weren't so natural in appearance.Then, for nerds like me there's some excellent guitar work on severalcuts to be enjoyed, including a storming psychedelic work-out to closethe album. But there's more, the disk has utilitarian strengths too:1.) the post-modern aspect (not that there's anything tounge-in-cheekabout UPA) means that you can enjoy these highly unfashionable anduncool musical styles (that deep down you love and would listen to moreoften if you weren't so self-concious) without fear of losingcredibility among your most sophisticated friends, and 2.) it's so welldone, nice and easy going that straight and square friends are going todig it too.To top it all off, the whole album appears twice on the same CD! The first time around, it is with a polished studio sound while thesecond version is low-fi, apparently having been run through a cassetteplayer with what sounds like a fairly cheesy AGC. With an album likethis which deserves repeated plays, why not have it these two different ways?-

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Lucky Dragons, "Dark Falcon"

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Albums and Singles
555 Recordings
It might happen that the worthiness of an album becomes gauged onwhether it is able to marry the cacophony of firecrackers with thefrailest of human voices. When this happens (and surely it willhappen), then 'Dark Falcon' will be the first and perhaps only recordwhich will measure up to this standard of excellence. 'Dark Falcon,'the first full length from Lucky Dragons (after two lovely EP's on theEnglish Muffin label), does many other things remarkably well, but thispeculiar marriage is the most remarkable. Although there are clicks andclacks aplenty on this album, the electronics grace the songs ratherthan linger at the center of them.
The more frantic songs bookend the album while a bank of more reservedsongs populates the middle of it, where beats plod along with theexhalations of an accordion, or the pluckings of a banjo, or just thewhimsical humming of band members. Besides the frantic ends and themore placid middle, there are further dichotomies both between andwithin songs on 'Dark Falcon.' These contrasts are often exhilarating,and sometimes even exhausting (in the best possible way). "Cherchez leDragon" starts out stuttering wildly, trying to evince some statementbut only ejecting playful electronic spittle. It is not until theplacating guitar part comes in that the song is able to demonstrateclearly what it is trying to say. The guitar and the voice parts soothethe hyperactive beat better than a bottle of Ritalin; once they calmthe beat, the stutter decreases and the song is persuaded intoobedience. The opener, "Heartbreaker," features a field recording ofkids setting off Independence Day firecrackers with cars driving by insome neighborhood in Providence and the sound culled from thisrecording is undeniably urban. Later in the song, a gentle female voicecomes in and it sounds like it is being sung from the most remote logcabin in the backwoods of Montana, or maybe it was Kentucky. I canpicture the cabin, with one window illuminated by a gaslight in thedark, and the sound of a girl singing as it rises, just barelyperceptible, above the wind moving through trees. Somehow, thisunmistakably rural piece, which is clearly not part of the firecrackerrecording, is able to synchronize with the more urban sample, andtogether they create a perfected hybrid lullaby. 

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Sonna/Sybarite/Lilienthal, "Make Shift Carousel"

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Albums and Singles
Temporary Residence
It's very seldom that fans of instrumental rock and electronic wizardryget to hear artists from both genres collaborate, maybe because theresults are often disastrous (anyone hear the Scanner remixes ofHovercraft?). Therefore, it's a rare treat when such a collaborationfares as well as this one. Sonna need no introduction, as their variousCD singles provided that before their critically lauded debut in 2001(stay tuned for it's successor next week). Sybarite, either, whoseoutput has seemed to dim in quality a bit on 4AD, but there's extremehope for the future. Lilienthal may be new to some out there, with onlya few remixes and one CD under his name, but he's already building areputation for amalgamation and an impressive palette. The originalcollaboration, first released as a seven inch on ZEAL, makes up theintroductory two tracks here, where Sonna sent some unfinishednoodlings to both artists for recreation. The results are varied andhair-raising. Sybarite accentuates the melodic side of Sonna on "MakeShift," with beautiful acoustic guitar-picking taking center stage. Asthe steady beat builds and the infectious whistles and backwards soundsswell, you can't take your ears off of it. This is easily the bestthing Sybarite's done lately. Sonna's drone side takes over Lilienthal,as he stutters up "Carousel" towards a complicated and layered climax.He drops out the middle, teasing and taunting with more guitarinterplay, only to return to the same shaky ground on the closing threeminutes, all of which induce toe-tapping and air-drumming in even thetamest lab rats. This is well enough alone, but then we are treated totwo new tracks, credited to all three bands. Here is where the jawsdrop. "Four Way Street" is a slightly remixed reprise of the closingminutes of "The Opener" from Sonna's debut full-length. At just under aminute, it can't really captivate. The final track, "From a Person WeSeam" is astonishing - a real electronic masterwork. The song startsslowly and calmly, with gentle guitar and squelch effects, beforeexercising a labored trip-hop beat and keyboard flourishes with greatsuccess. An open letter to all three particpants: please make a wholerecord in this configuration. The world demands it.

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Iron & Wine, "The Creek Drank the Cradle"

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Albums and Singles
Sub Pop
I bought this album after being captivated by the band name and albumtitle, having no prior knowledge about them. Both had a sonorousquality which made me intensely curious to hear what such a band wouldsound like. To my delight, in doing so, I discovered what was to becomeone of my favorite albums of 2002. Sam Beam, who is almost solelyresponsible for the writing, performance, production and recording of'The Creek Drank the Cradle', creates pleasantly unpolished songs usinglittle more than an acoustic guitar, banjo and his own delicate vocalsthat belie their no-frills approach with a rich, seductive sound. Beamclearly takes influence from Nick Drake and Tim Buckley, but trulycarves his own niche in terms of his folk stylings. This album,however, definitely is not a "folk record," but reaches far beyond,ranging from lullabies to ballads to narrative fragments of memories.The American Deep South features prominently in the lyrical imagery,accented by an eerie romanticism. Beam, who hails from the Miami area,seems to be yearning for a South removed from beaches and nightclubs,on tracks like the twangy "The Rooster Moans" and the haunting "Upwardover the Mountain." There is a purity in the simplicity of Iron &Wine that is so refreshing that 'The Creek Drank the Cradle'unsurprisingly appeals to true music lovers of diverse tastes. As SamBeam's moniker suggests, his music is both weighty and intoxicating.

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If Thousands

Diane Wei Lewis
Albums and Singles

If Thousands is Christian McShane and Aaron Molina from Duluth, Minnesota, who having decided to depart from their respective backgrounds in classical performance and punk have collaborated to attempt something quite different. The result is a sound grounded less on performance and based much more on assembly, repetition, and duration. With the help of Alan Sparhawk, who produced and mixed the album, McShane and Molina have built resonant instrumental pieces that sound oceanic in their tendency to roll together different recurring samples with the musicians' work, producing a reverberating blend of fluid sound.Chair Kickers Union

A few songs have vocals, but their inevitable shift of focus onto lyrics and melody is not as absorbing as those tracks that draw your concentration to qualities of intensity and variation. The cover of Joy Division's "Isolation," while beautiful, seems a little out of place and distracting because of its prominent placement as the second track of the album. It's too much of a sidetrack or nod to something else, whereas one of the overall strengths of 'Yellowstone' is its introspectiveness. Songs are composed through persistent use of particular tones (generally repeating phrases on bass, guitar, and keyboards with a few other interesting sounds thrown in) that are drawn out and cycled with careful fluctuations and variety, a process then repeated with different approaches as the album progresses. This technique, along with the sheer length of 'Yellowstone' (over an hour), creates the feeling of being drawn ever deeper into something to emerge at the other end of the album. It's important to emphasize that despite the careful attention If Thousands has given to the detail in each song, their work seems neither technical nor calculating. Instead, it's possible to be enveloped by the music and engaged by the similarity and difference of the patterns at work within the songs and from one song to the next—like looking into a fire for a long time as it seems to dance and change. 

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2002 Readers Poll - The Results

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Albums and Singles

album of the year

  1. Godspeed You Black Emperor - Yanqui U.X.O.
  2. Sigur Ros - ( )
  3. Low - Trust
  4. Boards of Canada - Geogaddi
  5. Notwist - Neon Golden
  6. Sonic Youth - Murray Street
  7. M? - Finally We Are No One
  8. Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights
  9. El-P - Fantastic Damage
  10. Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
  11. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
  12. Do Make Say Think - &yet &yet
  13. Keith Fullerton Whitman - Playthroughs
  14. Tom Waits - Alice
  15. Out Hud - Street Dad
  16. ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead - Source Tags & Codes
  17. Books - Thought for Food
  18. Cornelius - Point
  19. RJD2 - Deadringer
  20. Nurse with Wound - Man with the Woman Face
  21. Deerhoof - Revilie
  22. Beck - Sea Change
  23. Antipop Consortium - Arrhythmia
  24. Black Dice - Beaches & Canyons
  25. Fennesz / O'Rourke / Rehberg - Return of Fenn O'Berg
  26. Legendary Pink Dots - All the King's Horses
  27. Tom Waits - Blood Money
  28. Liars - They threw us all in a trench and stuck a monument on top
  29. Clinic - Walking With Thee
  30. DJ Shadow - The Private Press
  31. Hrvatski - Swarm & Dither
  32. Isis - Oceanic
  33. Max Tundra - Mastered By The Guy At Exchange
  34. Ms. John Soda - No P or D
  35. Shalabi Effect- The Trial of St-Orange
  36. Biosphere - Shenzhou
  37. D?ek - From Filthy Tongue of Gods and Griots
  38. DJ /Rupture - Minesweeper Suite
  39. Legendary Pink Dots - All the King's Men
  40. Pan?American- The River Made No Sound

single or ep

  1. Wire - Read & Burn 01
  2. Wire - Read & Burn 02
  3. Autechre - Gantz Graf
  4. Coil - The Remote Viewer
  5. Yo La Tengo - Nuclear War
  6. Limp - Orion
  7. M? - green grass of tunnel
  8. Missy Elliot - Work it
  9. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
  10. Dntel - (This is the dream of) Evan and Chan
  11. Kid 606 - Why I Love Life
  12. Savath and Savalas - Rolls and Waves
  13. Gold Chains - Straight From Your Radio
  14. I Am Spoonbender - Shown Actual Size
  15. Coil - Winter Solstoce Bonus CDR

best song

  1. M? - Green Grass of Tunnel
  2. Low - That's how you sing amazing grace
  3. Messy Elliot - Work It
  4. Sigur Ros - Nj?nav?in aka The Nothing Song
  5. Squarepusher - Do You Know Squarepusher?
  6. Boards of Canada - 1969
  7. Interpol - NYC
  8. Legendary Pink Dots - The Unlikely Event
  9. Ms John Soda - Solid Ground
  10. Wire - 99.9

best various artist compilation

  1. Blue Skied an' Clear
  2. Brain in the Wire
  3. Urban Renewal Program
  4. Wire Tapper 09
  5. Seasonal Greetings
  6. 20 years of dischord
  7. Masonic
  8. 24 Hour Party People Soundtrack
  9. Disco Noveau
  10. In The Beginning There Was Rhythm
  11. Lost for Words
  12. Machinenfest 2002
  13. Rough Trade Shops: Electronic 01
  14. The Fire This Time
  15. 2 Many DJs - As Heard On Radio Soulwax Pt 2
  16. Acid Mothers Temple Family Compilation: Do Whatever You Want, Don't Do Whatever You Don't Want!!
  17. All Tomorrow's Parties v. 1.1
  18. Badorb.Com Bless You
  19. Bip Hop Generation volume 5
  20. Chamber A Cold Springs Records Sampler

best single artist compilation

  1. Fennesz - Field Recordings 1995 - 2002
  2. Windy & Carl - Introspection
  3. Microphones - Song Islands
  4. Bj?k - Greatest hits
  5. Farben - Texstar
  6. ISAN - Clockwark Menagerie
  7. Smog - Accumulation None
  8. Bj?k - Family Tree
  9. Cabaret Voltaire - The Original Sound of Sheffield '78/82. Best Of
  10. Coil - Moon's Milk (In Four Phases)
  11. The Fall - Totally Wired
  12. Hrvatski - Swarm and Dither
  13. Rocket From The Tombs - The Day The Earth Met...
  14. Lesser - lsrmp3cd
  15. Ekkehard Ehlers - Plays

best double or multi-lp/cd release

  1. Windy & Carl - Introspection
  2. Blue Skied An' Clear
  3. Brain In The Wire
  4. Legendary Pink Dots - Chemical Playschool 11,12,13
  5. Acid Mothers Temple Family Compilation 'Do Whatever You Want...'
  6. Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted - Luxe and Redux
  7. Squarepusher - Do You Know Squarepusher?
  8. Paul Westerberg - Stereo/Mono
  9. Throbbing Gristle - 24 Hours
  10. Bj?k - Family Tree

coolest unusual packaging

  1. Brain in the Wire
  2. Venetian Snares - a giant alien force more violent and sick...
  3. Bj?k - Family Tree box
  4. Sigur Ros - ( ) (what the hell's so unusual about this one?)
  5. Boards of Canada - Geodaddi (book style) (or this one?)

nicest cover design

  1. Godspeed You Black Emperor - Yanqui U.X.O.
  2. Boards of Canada - Geogaddi
  3. Low - Trust
  4. Sigur Ros - ( )
  5. Shalabi Effect - Trial of St Orange
  6. Boom Bip - Seed to the Sun
  7. Nurse With Wound - Man With The Woman Face
  8. Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
  9. M? - Finally We Are No One
  10. Return of Fenn O' Berg

best rerelease/repackage/reissue

  1. Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted - Luxe and Redux
  2. Boards of Canada - Twoism
  3. Stars of the Lid - Avec Laudenum
  4. Flaming Lips - Finally the Punk Rockers are Taking Acid and The Day They Shot a Hole in the Jesus Egg
  5. 23 Skidoo - The Gospel Comes to New Guinea
  6. Fridge - Eph
  7. HNAS - Melchior
  8. Don Cherry - Orient
  9. Gary Wilson - You Think You Really Know Me
  10. Nurse With Wound - Automating Volume 2

worst album you bought

  1. Boards Of Canada - Geogaddi
  2. Current 93 & Nurse with Wound - Music for the Horse Hospital
  3. Squarepusher - Do You Know Squarepusher
  4. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
  5. DJ Shadow - The Private Press
  6. Future Sound of London - The Isness
  7. Beth Gibbons & Rustin' Man - Out of Season
  8. Cex - Tall, Dark, and Handcuffed
  9. David Bowie - Heathen
  10. Download - Inception

most anticipated disappointment

  1. Godspeed You Black Emperor - Yanqui U.X.O. (you only waited two years? that's not much anticipation, come on)
  2. Sigur Ros - ( | )
  3. Boards of Canada - Geogaddi
  4. Future Sound of London - The Isness
  5. Audioslave
  6. Autechre - Gantz Graf
  7. Cex - Tall, Dark, and Handcuffed
  8. Destroyer - This Night
  9. Trans Am - TA
  10. Low - Trust

guiltiest pleasure

  1. Eminem - The Eminem Show
  2. Kylie Minogue - Fever
  3. Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights
  4. Justin Timberlake - Justified (you wouldn't admit this if the poll wasn't anonymous)
  5. Andrew WK - I Get Wet
  6. Doves - The Last Broadcast
  7. Queen of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf
  8. Belle and Sebestian - Storytelling
  9. Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man - Out of Season
  10. Missy Elliott - Under Construction

band of the year

  1. Sigur R?
  2. Low
  3. Interpol
  4. Acid Mothers Temple
  5. Coil
  6. Flaming Lips
  7. Legendary Pink Dots
  8. M?
  9. Wilco
  10. Wire

best solo musical artist

  1. Keith Fullerton Whitman
  2. Jim O' Rourke
  3. Tom Waits
  4. Jessica Bailiff
  5. Venetian Snares
  6. Beck
  7. DJ Shadow
  8. Fennesz
  9. El-P
  10. Cex

new act of the year (band or solo artist)

  1. Interpol
  2. Liars
  3. The Books
  4. Xiu Xiu
  5. DJ /Rupture
  6. Limp
  7. Christmas Decorations
  8. RJD2
  9. Yeah Yeah Yeahs
  10. Devandra Bahnhart
  11. Ms. John Soda
  12. Out Hud
  13. Parlour
  14. Polmo Polpo
  15. Radio 4

best live show/concert experience

  1. Sigur R?
  2. Coil
  3. Godspeed You Black Emperor!
  4. Stars of the Lid
  5. Legendary Pink Dots
  6. Sonic Youth
  7. Low
  8. M?
  9. Cex
  10. Do Make Say Think
  11. Wire
  12. Jackie-o Motherfucker
  13. Explosions in the Sky
  14. ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
  15. Acid Mothers Temple

most overrated band/artist

  1. Interpol
  2. Sigur Ros
  3. Strokes
  4. Wilco
  5. Kid 606
  6. Radiohead
  7. White Stripes
  8. Vines
  9. ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
  10. The Streets
  11. Boards of Canada
  12. Eminem
  13. Sonic Youth
  14. Cex
  15. Godspeed You Black Emperor!

most irritating band/artist

  1. Eminem
  2. The Strokes
  3. Interpol
  4. The Vines
  5. Radiohead
  6. Avril Lavigne
  7. Kid 606
  8. Nickelback
  9. Ryan Adams
  10. Sigur Ros

lifetime achievement

  • Sonic Youth

(only one band can win it per year)

Band/artist with most detestable audience/fans

  1. Godspeed You Black Emperor!
  2. Eminem
  3. Radiohead
  4. Interpol
  5. Phish (who could smell worse than godspeed fans but are agreeably far less pestering)

Most obligatory

  1. Low
  2. David Bowie
  3. Skinny Puppy / Kevin Key
  4. Autechre
  5. Boards Of Canada
  6. Coil
  7. Godspeed You Black Emperor
  8. Sonic Youth
  9. Squarepusher
  10. Current 93

Most annoying reissue

  1. Peaches - The Teaches of Peaches (stay tuned for next year's three-CD edition)
  2. Pavement - Slanted & Enchanted
  3. Boards Of Canada - Twoism
  4. The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico
  5. Incredible String Band reissues on Collector's Choice

Worst comeback

  1. Suicide
  2. Soft Cell
  3. Guns 'n Roses
  4. Future Sound of London
  5. Sex Pistols
  6. The Rolling Stones
  7. Boards Of Canada
  8. Beck
  9. Julee Cruise
  10. Al Gore

most prolific artist who really shouldn't be so prolific

  1. Merzbow
  2. Acid Mothers Temple
  3. Venetian Snares
  4. Legendary Pink Dots & every single one of those side projects
  5. Jim o'Rourke
  6. John Zorn
  7. Kid 606
  8. Mick Jaggar
  9. Robert Pollard
  10. Ryan Adams

biggest scam act

  1. Interpol
  2. DJ Shadow
  3. The Vines
  4. Fischerspooner
  5. Kid 606
  6. Acid Mother's Temple
  7. Current 93's limited editions
  8. Merzbow
  9. The Strokes
  10. Andrew WK

miss congeniality

  1. M?
  2. Cex
  3. Peaches
  4. Antony of the Johnsons
  5. Beth Orton
  6. Kylie
  7. Landing
  8. Low
  9. Matmos (who else asks you for a picture when you mail order a CD?)
  10. Missy Elliott (when has she been nice to you? when has she stuck around after a show to sign CDs??)

most overpriced release

  1. Bj?k - Family Tree
  2. TG24 Box Set
  3. Nurse With Wound / Current 93 - Horse Hospital
  4. Sigur Ros - ( )
  5. Coil Live set

most fetishable

  1. Peaches
  2. Avril Lavigne
  3. Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs)
  4. Bj?k
  5. Kylie Minogue
  6. Aphex Twin
  7. Cex
  8. Christina Aguilera
  9. Justin Timberlake
  10. Adam Forkner (Yume Bitsu)

most confessedly ignored by you

  1. 23 Skidoo (results may have been skewed by the description of this question, all apologies)
  2. Nurse With Wound
  3. Coil
  4. Acid Mothers Temple
  5. Flaming Lips
  6. Legendary Pink Dots
  7. Nirvana
  8. Pere Ubu
  9. Talk Talk
  10. The Fall

worst sellout

  1. Sigur Ros
  2. Ryan Adams
  3. Godspeed You Black Emperor
  4. Trans Am
  5. Moby

fave producer

  1. Steve ""I'm not a producer, I'm an engineer"" Albini
  2. El-P
  3. Jim O'Rourke
  4. Nigel Goodrich
  5. The Neptunes
  6. Timbaland
  7. Dr Dre
  8. John McEntire
  9. Phil Elvrum
  10. Colin Potter

who will break big next year?

  1. Cex
  2. Kinski
  3. Venetian Snares
  4. Yeah Yeah Yeahs
  5. Black Dice

record label

  1. Kranky
  2. Morr Music
  3. Constellation
  4. Mego
  5. Def Jux
  6. Fat Cat
  7. Tigerbeat 6
  8. Temporary Residence
  9. Matador
  10. Ipecac

music video
(as seen on various web sites and CD-Rs in addition to non-music video channels, for those who think they're only seen on MTV)

  1. Autechre - Gantz Graf
  2. White Stripes - Fell in Love with a Girl
  3. Missy Eliot - Work it
  4. M? - Green Grass of Tunnel
  5. Clinic - Walking with Thee
  6. Interpol - PDA
  7. Notwist - Pick up the Phone
  8. ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead - Another Morning Stoner
  9. El-P - Deep Space 9mm
  10. Lightning Bolt - Power of Salad and Milkshakes

OTHER STUFF

movie of the year

  1. Bowling for Colombine
  2. Lord Of The Rings - The Two Towers
  3. Spirited Away
  4. Punch Drunk Love
  5. 24 Hour Party People
  6. Adaptation
  7. Mulholland Drive
  8. Crossroads
  9. Donnie Darko
  10. Secretary
  11. Heaven
  12. Lost in la Mancha
  13. Star Wars Episode II - Attack Of The Clones
  14. Talk to Her
  15. The Ring

tv show

  1. Simpsons
  2. 24
  3. Sopranos
  4. Buffy The Vampire Slayer
  5. South Park
  6. Futurama
  7. The Daily Show
  8. Alias
  9. Oz
  10. That '70s Show

magazine/newspaper

  1. The Wire
  2. The Onion
  3. Magnet
  4. Grooves
  5. Careless Talk Costs Lives
  6. Entertainment Weekly
  7. Found
  8. Giant Robot
  9. Guardian
  10. New Yorker

book of the year

  1. Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk
  2. A New Kind of Science by Stephen Wolfram
  3. After the Quake: Stories by Haruki Murakami
  4. Choke by Chuck Palahniuk
  5. Love and Loud Colors by Edward Ka-Spel

fave actor

  1. Philip Seymour Hoffman
  2. Johnny Depp
  3. Adrien Brody
  4. Kevin Spacey
  5. Edward Norton

fave actress

  1. Julianne Moore
  2. Christina Ricci
  3. Nicole Kidman
  4. Winona Ryder
  5. Jodie Foster

fave director

  1. David ""I didn't direct anything this year, you clowns"" Lynch
  2. Hayao Miyazaki
  3. Micheal Moore
  4. Aki Kaourismaki
  5. Darren Aaronofsky
  6. David Fincher
  7. Martin Scorsese
  8. Peter Jackson
  9. Steven Soderbergh
  10. Todd Haynes

fave writer (book/tv/film/play,...)

  1. Chuck Palahniak
  2. Paul Auster
  3. Haruki Murakami
  4. Thomas Ligotti
  5. charlie kaufmann

best website

  1. Brainwashed / the Brain
  2. pitchforkmedia.com
  3. theonion.com
  4. homestarrunner.com
  5. allmusic.com
  6. Fakejazz.com
  7. Absorb.org
  8. aquariusrecords.org
  9. espn.com
  10. explodingdog.com
  11. four09.org
  12. kompaktkiste.de/
  13. news.bbc.co.uk
  14. projectbloodteam.com
  15. RecycleYourEars.com

most annoying trends
Gosh there's so many...

  1. Electroclash
  2. Republicanism / Right Wing Politics / Bush Support / New McCarthyism
  3. War Mongering
  4. Mall Rock masked as Commercial Alt. Rock
  5. 80s Retro / Revival (see: haircuts/nostalgia/cocaine)
  6. Garage Rock/Crock/House/Pop/Revival
  7. Emo
  8. Concert Crowd Conformity Code (see functionless thick-rimmed glasses, unshowered NYC indie film hair look, girls who look exactly alike)
  9. Reality TV (especially discount celebrities like Anna and Ozzy)
  10. Cell Phones (at least turn them off at the movies, assholes)
  11. Major Labels/RIAA bitching/DMCA Reaction/Copy-proof CDs
  12. Bands that start with ""The"" and end with a plural noun
  13. Designer Dirt (see: bleach stains on jeans)
  14. Economic Instability (the kind caused by rich, white corporate assholes bringing everything down)
  15. Glitch (isn't that 1999?)
  16. IDM
  17. Polls
  18. Recycled goth
  19. Blind Patriotism / Nationalism
  20. Blogs
  21. White Hip Hop (that sounds white)
  22. Leg Warmers
  23. MTV (note to future voters: this is a channel, not a trend)
  24. Really low jeans on chubby chicks / butt cleavage
  25. Talking loud at concerts

dumbest category on this poll

  1. Best band you lied to your friends about seeing live
  2. this one
  3. most fetishable (put a ball-gag in it)
  4. Miss Congeniality (obviously you don't care when a band writes you back)
  5. Band/artist with most detestable audience/fans(stop bitching you obnoxious twit)

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Lift To Experience, "These Are The Days"

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Albums and Singles
This band is from Texas, and they want you to know it.
Bella Union
So many things bother me about this three song single, that it's hard to imagine having this many conflicted feelings about so little recorded music. For starters, Lift To Experience wear the fact that they are from Texas on their sleeve the way some Texans sport "Don't Mess With Texas" bumper stickers on their Chevy trucks. Look, I'm from Texas too, but you don't see me out eveyday with my Texas Ranger badge on, and I don't start every record review with "even though I'm from Texas, I found this record quite interesting." The constant Texas posturing seems awfully condescending to all the folks from Texas who, like LTE, were more turned on by shoegazy indie rock than square dancing, knee slapping hootenany, and it's equally condescending to people who like squaredancing, because there's nothing wrong with that either! There are plenty of folks in Texas who can rock a good Cocteau Twins record anyday, we don't need LTE to remind us. A line about the band's Texas heritage even surfaces in the single's title track, and whether its supposed to be tongue in cheek or not, it just drags the credibility of the rest of the song down for me. The vocals alternate between painfully earnest choruses and half-spoken, disaffected verses reminiscent of Arto Lindsay or Lou Reed. The music in the background is sincere enough, kind of like what you might expect from people thrown into a culdron of indie rock, Country twang, and the Bible Belt. It was genuinely securing a grip on me when I opened the CD liner notes to read "Ladies and gentlemen we are playing with one guitar." Look again, it's really not necessary to point out something like that in such a way unless you are trying to make a point about how important or strong or incredibly unique your music is DESPITE the use of only one guitar. Maybe it's all part of a humor too dry for me to get into, but it sounds a lot like when popus jackasses like Rage Against The Machine say things like "we didn't use any keyboards or computers on this record." Frankly, I've heard a band with only a drummer and a bass player make more dense music than Lift To Experience, so the "one guitar" thing isn't doing much for me. Tracks two and three were recorded live for SBN, and have a live band sound, but as much as I like the songs, I can't keep the image of amped up Texas machismo out of my head. "These Are The Days" is a genuinely enjoyable single with a bonus video that gives you an up-nostirl view of the band performing that is at least worth a glance. If you can look past all the "Beers, Steers, and Queers" style Texas 'humor,' and take the band less seriously than they take themselves, you might find that it's a pretty damn good single.

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Throbbing Gristle, "24 Hours"

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Albums and Singles

Mute
If 2002 has been a generally mediocre year for releases, it sure ashell is not going out without kicking and screaming. '24 Hours' arrivedon Monday, December 22nd, and, while I haven't had the time to pickthrough every last second of music on this 25-CD set (yes, it turns outto be 25 CDs for those who mail-ordered it!), everything so far hasbeen incredible. While the Sex Pistols and The Clash were "dressing"themselves as punks, their music was easily digestible pop/rock tuneswith enough of an attitude edge for the kids to dig. ThrobbingGristle's approach was almost the entire opposite, as the band dressedrespectfully on album covers and played various art halls (in additionto boys schools and rock clubs), but made music with far lesscommercial potential. Every concert lasted exactly 60 minutes,controlled by a timer which would cut the power on the stage at exactly60 minutes no matter what point the band were at. Every show wasrecorded and committed to cassette tape, and for this box, it seems aseverything is here from the very first to the very last second of eachshow.


The original 24 Hours box consisted of 24 cassettes (IRC 2through IRC 24 and IRC 26—see the web sitefor more specific details) plus two additional tapes of radiointerviews. (Look for it at online auctions for over a thousand dollarson average!) For the CD box release, 25 cassettes were remastered byChris Carter (the original master of IRC26 was lost but later recoveredafter the project was underway with IRC29 in its place). It'sfascinating to actually hear Genesis in his role as entertainer,front-man and stand-up comic, going from a jaded youngter in theearlier recordings, poking fun at the same-ness of Johnny Rotten songsto a more clever prankster by the end, leading crowds on, completelybullshitting them with an honest composure. The music also evolved overthe few years captured here, from the earlier years of making tons ofnoise to cold-calculated compositions, where band members Chris, Coseyand Sleazy would pay closer attention to each other, opting to remainsilent to let other parts shine through. The mastereing job by ChrisCarter is far better than I have even dreamed of, with many recordingsin stereo, either with different instrument assignment on either sideor a true stereo recording, most likely depending on what type ofmixing desk was available at the show. The included tidbits are alsonice to have too, but since this box cost so much, frankly I'm afraidto lose any of the stickers, pins, pictures, or patches. At theapproximate $220 price, however, this is something almost exclusivelyfor the fans. If I were to have any complaints at this point, it wouldbe for the lack of inclusion of the radio interviews, but there's stillmore live recordings yet to get the Chris Carter remastering attentionand resurface, so I'll be patient. This is enough music to hold me fora long time.

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Thalia Zedek, "You're a Big Girl Now"

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Albums and Singles

The plan was to record an EP of cover songs. The coolest singer in rock music wanted to pay tribute to some of her influences, including Nina Simone, Patti Smith's epochal Radio Ethiopia album and Neutral Milk Hotel's "Comely." Then she changed her mind and instead recorded three new songs, an old Uzi number that never made it onto the classic Sleep Asylum and a couple of covers. The fans lucked out, as her songs are drastically superior to the ones she did eventually cover.

Kimchee

 

Lou Reed and Bob Dylan should shit blood to be songwriters even half as gifted as Thalia Zedek. Are you reading this Reed? You wasted an hour of my life with that turgid wankfest you call Ecstasy, and I'm not happy about it. Yeah, yeah, the pope in a silver castle my ass and don't you ever make the colored girls go do de do like that again, motherfucker! But enough of that ol' hasbeen, he was still pretty gritty when he knew what "Candy Says" with the Velvet Underground and later resurrected it in Berlin, but nevertheless it's the weakest cut here.

Thalia Zedek packs an emotional punch into every song as if the weight of the world is crushing her and singing is the only way to lift it off her back. There's this lone drum beat in the relatively upbeat opener "Everything Unkind" that reels like total emotional desolation. The opening lyric, "I got tired of waiting," is something any Lou Reed fan hoping for another album even half as rockin' as 'New York' can surely relate to. But enough of that ol' hasbeen, there's another one just round the corner and he has a nasal voice and a legion of rabid bootleggers under his thumb. The Dylan cover that gives the six song CD its title bears some similarities to "Temporary Guest" off Thalia's last album, except nowhere near as finely captivating. More equal to that stupendous album no doubt overlooked by idiots racing for the next big little thing are the two No songs. "No Fire" gets right under the skin of a slowly souring relationship then tears it right off. Meanwhile "No Substitutions" is the one that'll make old Come fans happy, with Mel Lederman's piano taking the place of bass. It seems Thalia has also stepped up the contribution of viola player David Michael Curry, and the only other old Come hand on board is drummer Daniel Coughlin.

Perhaps the most magical moment happens when Thalia covers her younger self. "JJ85" paints a dream portrait of youthful longing and unravelling, with a simple uplifting strummed riff that seems like the dark reflection after Blondie's "Dreaming" took a tumle through the tunnels underground in search of the doctor that the hopes were pinned on before a change of heart.

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THE RAPTURE, "MIRROR"/ "OUT OF THE RACES AND ONTO THE TRACKS"

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Albums and Singles

Gravity / Sub Pop
Yet another in a recent onslaught of bands with names beginning with"the", The Rapture are a noisy three-piece post-post-punk outfit fromNew York City. The Rapture are riding a wave of trendy postpunkrevivalism, but have managed to emerge with a fairly unique identityand an engaging, dynamic energy on record. Judging by this first album,their recent SubPop EP, and the current underground hit 12" single "TheHouse of Jealous Lovers" on DFA, The Rapture have enough of their ownto add to their obvious early-80's influences to make their musicworthwhile. Bolstered by the strength of their DFA dance single, theirfirst album 'Mirror', which was originally released almost two yearsago, has been re-released on the Gravity Records imprint. This firstalbum finds The Rapture trio in a nascent form, producing gloriouslylow-fi noisy shit most closely resembling The Pop Group's 'Y' albumsodomizing an early Cure record. The album opens with the short, darkpiano dirge "in finite clock!" This quickly segues into the sound ofpolice sirens and a wall of scratchy, fuzzy garage noise on"NOTES>>>". The angular guitars and driving beat support thethroat-stripping lyrical screams, with the repeated chorus "I'm takingnotes from the underground..." The next track "OLiO" takes a cue fromearly Cure, with its goth-as-hell bassline and plaintive lyrics.Although I realize that doesn't sound like a recommendation, this is anawesome song. The next couple tracks utilize keyboard effects and drummachine, adding textural elements to The Rapture's spare, grittygoth-punk anti-songs. After another dark, atmospheric piano melody, thelast track is an appropriately hyperactive and chaoticremix/interpolation of "Notes" by Kid606. 'Mirror' is an impressivelynasty slice of raw punk-funk, and I would highly recommend like-mindedfolk waste no time in seeking it out.

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The Rapture's new EP, out recently on SubPop, bears little resemblenceto the aggressively dark and abrasively gothic trio that recorded'Mirror'. They have a new bassist, and two years down the line theyhave dropped the Bauhaus posturing and stripped their sound down to aleaner, meaner brand of art punk, influenced by Wire and Gang of Four.Gone are the moody dirges and dark dance anthems. They have beenreplaced with upbeat, politically charged songs with a tight drumming,clipped guitars and repetitive lyrical rants. The songs have gotten abit longer and some contain abrupt tempo changes and otherself-consciously artsy techniques. The production is much cleaner, aswell. The title track opens the EP with its high-strung rhythms andear-splitting guitar. The zealously screamed vocals recall MarkStewart's clipped verses in The Pop Group's first two albums. In"Modern Romance" the vocals are pushed to the background as theear-splittingly non-melodic guitar lines take precedence. "Caravan" isa tense track, with a rhythm section that keeps phasing in and out ofexistence. The only song with anything resembling a melody isappropriately titled "The Pop Song", but the cacophonous andrepetitious refrain of "You're growing older/You're growing older"keeps the song from approaching any kind of mainstream aspirations."Confrontation" closes the disc, with a relentless, distortion-heavybassline and tribal dance rhythms recalling 23 Skidoo. This EP is asgood as 'Mirror' and points to a new direction for the band. I can'twait to hear their upcoming full-length.

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F.S. Blumm, "Ankern"

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Albums and Singles

Staubgold
F.S. Blumm begins his second full-length album with measured, confidentguitar strumming and fretboard squeaks in a decidedly jazzy numbercalled "Folge." Despite the confidence, the song ends up feeling alittle hollow by the end, as if it never really reached the point whereit had intended to go, a disorientation which is symptomatic of thewhole album. Frank Schultge's polyinstrumental improvisations tend tomeander, sometimes aimlessly. The mood of 'Ankern' is largelyimprovisational, not directional or determined. F.S. Blumm createscompositions which rely on repeated melodic statements that change andflow into other statements. The repetitions between these statementsare like the sips of coffee between bites of morning toast (whole wheatwith the strawberry jam): moderately enjoyable and somewhat necessaryto drench the palette, but once the coffee sits around for awhile, itneeds refreshing. Blumm's music feels lighter on this release than onhis debut 'Mondkuchen.' It hops and it skips without ever reallyplanting its feet firmly in the ground to take a stand. The songs withthe most substance to them, like "Sprung," "Tal," and "Fehlsprung," allshare a cello which gives them some body, some voice, some resonance.These three songs get better with each listen, whereas most of theother songs have a tendency to be too playful and less focused and theyeventually evanesce like vapor. Of the more playful songs, "Abgebildet"is the most memorable with its brilliant guitar lines unapologeticallyending with a sudden cessation. The most delightful sound I heard onthe album was in the background of "Fehlsprung" towards the end, where,if you listen closely enough, you can hear what sounds like thecroakings of a castrated bull frog whose bellows skim across the pondlike a skipping stone. Despite the title, 'Ankern" does not feelanchored enough to hold much ground against Blumm's previous strongwork.

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  1. COIL/BLACK SUN PRODUCTIONS, "THE PLASTIC SPIDER THING"
  2. Dot Allison, "We Are Science"
  3. "Chamber"
  4. "Suffer / Enjoy"

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