Sean Carruthers's Favorite Records Of 2002

1. Sonic Youth, Murray Street (DGC)
   Sonic Youth has been putzing around in really grim territory for so long that this album came as a double shock: not only didn’t it suck, but it may actually be their second-best album ever (Daydream still wins, fank you very much). Too many people have lobbed the term “boring” at this one, and it’s certainly an easy mistake to make with only a cursory listen or two; give it the proper amount of ear time, and you start to notice the little things, like how the guitar interplay is the best the band has had in YEARS, and how the lyrics evoke all of the post-WTC emotional fallout without giving it away altogether. (After all, you gotta maintain some mystery, aintcha?)
2. Delgados, Hate (Mantra/Beggar's Banquet)
   It’s amazing what just one generation can do to the hopes and dreams of its youth; where the Beatles sang “All You Need is Love”, the Delgados sing “All You Need is Hate” and seem to mean it, too. The band somehow even managed to avoid having Dave Fridmann’s immediately-recognizable production style turn into a liability by using it even more effectively than the Flaming Lips did with Yoshimi (nicely circumventing any potential accusations of trying to knock off The Soft Bulletin, too). Desperation has never ever sounded so beautiful.
3. Apples in Stereo, Velocity of Sound (SpinArt)
   This was the best blast of fuzzed-out pop all year, full stop. Really, who cares if it sounds like they gulped an assload of helium before stepping up to the mics? Who cares that the whole thing clocks in at under 29 minutes? Who cares if the pedal was to the metal for ALL eleven tracks? There’s barely a second here that’s not fantastic. (Okay, I’ll admit it: the Dairy Queen reference is the greatest fast-food namedrop I’ve ever heard in song, and it alone probably adds several points here.)
4. Mountain Goats, Talahassee (4ad)
   Add another album to the list of fantastic albums of marital strife. John Darnielle’s reedy delivery may initially throw off anyone picking up this album simply because it’s on the 4AD label, and the sparseness of instrumentation (mostly just voice and acoustic guitar) will throw off many of the rest…good riddance. If you stick around, you’ll find someone who has a wonderful grip on the language and isn’t afraid to throw around similes; and, when it comes right down to it the sparseness of most of the material is perfectly fitting for an album that details the implosion of a marriage…surely a time when you’ll feel more alone than you ever have before.
5. Kristian Hoffman, & (Eggbert)
   Albums containing nothing but duets generally end up sounding more like Bob Hope specials than anything you’d actually want to listen to: the artist either hauls out all of their boring old friends, or picks a bunch of hip new stars to try to revitalize a sagging career. & doesn’t fit into either category particularly well; the friends here are anything but boring--who else can pull in both Lydia Lunch and Pee Wee Herman?--and claims of career-boosting would be silly considering his longstanding “cult status” (in other words, his albums never particularly flew off the shelves).
6. Boards of Canada, Geogaddi (Warp)
   When an album intentionally sounds defective, it’s either doing something very wrong or something very right; in this case I’m putting my money on the latter.
7. Sigur Ros, () (Fatcat)
   Admit it, if the band had given us another album that sounded like Agaetis Byrjun, people would have shit all over them, and rightly so. (Even though it was my favourite album a couple of years back, it still would have been disappointing.) In reality, this is more a follow-up to The Cure’s Faith album. Do you hear me complaining?
8. Low, Trust (Kranky)
   Damn, even if “(That’s How You Sing) Amazing Grace” were the only song on this album, it would still qualify for my top ten. Easily the best thing they’ve done since Curtain Hits the Cast.
9. David Holmes, Come Get It I Got It (13 Amp)
   I suppose it’s proof of Homes’ abilities that those who aren’t already intimately familiar with these great soul obscurities probably would never guess that eight of the tracks here were created specifically for this album. Stunning.
10. Wire, Read and Burn 01 (Pink Flag)
    They’re baaaaaaaaaaack!
11. Solomon Burke, Don't Give Up on Me (Anti)
    Just when you thought he might actually be dead, he comes back and delivers one of the best albums of the year.
12. Elvis Costello, When I Was Cruel (Island)
    Elvis Costello albums have been a really dicey proposition for the last decade and a half, with the occasional flash of inspiration and the more routine glop of indulgence; here he actually seems to strip back to the basics and start writing memorable material again and even if it isn't quite as vital as the early stuff, it's close enough.
13. Atomic 7, ...Gowns by Edith Head (Mint)
    And then it's just like the Shadowy Men never left; the new project by ex SMOASP guitarist Brian Connelly has every bit of instrumental surf rock goodness as his former band, and this album sports THE BEST titles of any release this year. Yes, even better than the Liars.
14. Soft Boys, Nextdoorland (Matador)
    Okay, so it wasn't exactly Underwater Moonlight, but so what? This is a band with another 20 years on em and a bit of maturity is probably allowed; still, one listen to the great guitarplay on "Mr. Kennedy" proves that they've still got it, even if "it" is a bit more subdued these days.
15. Mclusky, Mclusky Does Dallas (Too Pure)
    Screw this "second coming of the Pixies" stuff you keep hearing, these guys head far beyond that into Jesus Lizard or Big Black levels of abrasiveness...and that's a good thing.
16. Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Plastic Fang (Matador)
    Damn, why didn't anyone tell me that this one was so good? I'd given up on them, and only the fact that I found this one used and dirt cheap made me reconsider. I'm glad I did.
17. Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Yanqui U.X.O. (Constellation)
    Not their best effort, but perhaps the restraint they showed on this album will actually suit them better once they figure out what to do with it.
18. Negativland, Deathsentences of the Polished and Structurally Weak (Seeland)
    Just for the sheer audacity of it, and the fact that they're actually trying to work on the soundscapes more than the cultural engineering aspect of it.
19. Mary Margaret O'Hara, Apartment Hunting (soundtrack) (maplemusic.com)
    Some great material, but the uneven nature of this which is the direct result of it actually being a soundtrack manages to drag things downwards in my ranking for the year, quite substantially. Let's hope she actually follows this up with a full album, and soon.
20. Common, Electric Circus (MCA)
    There were a few other hip-hop records that may have made the list instead but which I got far too late in the year to say for sure (The Roots, 113, even the N.E.R.D., which may actually be from 2001 anyhow), but this one sneaks in because it was the one that I kept coming back to over and over again. So be it.