Bob McCarthy's Favorite Records Of 2002

1. Various Artists, The Best Bootlegs in the World Ever... (no label)
   "no label" - well that's what it says! Nirvana dueting with Destiny's Child? This is the album of my dreams.
2. Nina Nastasia, The Blackened Air (Touch & Go)
   Beautiful gothic folk music. She sings it right, I go with her.
3. The Apples in Stereo, Velocity of Sound (SpinART)
   Absolutely groovy fuzzed-out guitars lead the way as they pick up the pace, lose a little of the psychedelia, but keep all of the hooks.
4. The Flaming Lips, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (Warner Bros.)
   They were on my TV for 10 seconds almost every day. 10 seconds of "Do You Realize?" every day is better than none at all. Life-affirming, yes it is.
5. The Reigning Sound, Time Bomb High School (In The Red)
   If you ever thought that you might like Springsteen a little better if he would stop with the mythic America stuff and just ROCK. Well, here ya go. Oh, it has ballads, too. Plenty of 'em.
6. The Mountain Goats, Tallahassee (4AD)
   This is actually my first experience with John Darnielle. Some hipster I turned out to be. He's definitely a great lyricist. Shit, every one of these songs could be a genius short story. His voice annoyed me at first, but then I decided he sounded kind of like Roky Erickson, and I love Roky Erickson.
7. Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Nonesuch)
   Blah blah blah, "record label refuses to release it", blah blah blah, "masterwork", blah blah blah "gets released by label owned by same parent company as the other bastards" blah blah "how ironic" bla blah bilppity blah "it's overrated" blah blah "yeh, it iz" blah "blah". Hint: Play it again.
8. Sonic Youth, Murray Street (Smells Like)
   Another terrific long player by aging indie rockers, SONIC YOUTH.*
9. Silkworm, Italian Platinum (Touch & Go)
   Another terrific long player by aging indie rockers, SILKWORM.**
10. Sleater-Kinney, One Beat (Kill Rock Stars)
    Another terrific long player... Ok, ok. This one is political, but not annoyingly so, it has an alterna-hit, and one of the bonus songs, is like about Corin's kid and stuff, I think. Also, I love the fake brit pouting. A step forward, again.
11. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Shifty/Touch & Go)
    All these records on Touch & Go. Remember that Cars song? "Oh Oh Oh, it's touch and go". Heh heh. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs do not remember that song, because it's their time.
12. Drive-By Truckers, Souther Rock Opera (SDR/Universal)
    Can I vote for this? If not, move everybody up. It was only voted for by one person in 2001, and it got re-released in 2002 by Universal! Come onnnn... Oh, the record is mainly about Lynyrd Skynyrd, and the South, and George Wallace, and "The Southern Thing". It's awesome.
13. Imperial Teen, On (Merge)
    One of the catchiest bands in the world ever, and they just keep on going.
14. Rhett Miller, The Instigator (Elektra)
    This guy is getting really close to being TOO cleaned-up and respectable for my taste. He has hooks, many, many hooks, and funny, funny, lyrics, but I may have to leave him home next time.
15. Ben Kweller, Sha Sha (Big Hassle/ATO)
    Not the greatest lyricist of all time, but he's young, give him time. Despite it's goofy lyrics, "Wasted and Ready" is one helluva song. The rest of it? It's pretty good!
16. NRBQ, Live From Mountain Stage (Blue Plate)
    I saw them live this past year. They had a "pizza box" for sale, which included a t-shirt plus the pizza box. Yes, and they all wore chef hats as they strolled off the stage after another great show. This may have influenced it's placement here.
17. Don Lennon, Downtown (Secretly Canadian)
    Sure, a lot of people don't like Dave Matthews, but Don Lennon has a serious obsession with Dave Matthews, and not in a good way. A funny indie-insider sort of album, which is very tuneful and amusing. Nobody will care.
18. Andrew W.K., I Get Wet (Mercury)
    This is the stupidest album I will ever vote for (it leaves Moldy Peaches in the dust in that department). But, hey - "Party Hard", uh-huh, yeah. YEAH. It all sounds like that, variations on a theme. The theme is partying.
19. DJ Shadow, The Private Press (MCA)
    His bag o' tricks is getting pretty heavy now, and I can resist no longer. Plus, I saw "Scratch" this past year, and that scene where he's in the basement of the record store surrounded by albums made me wish I was him.
20. Of Montreal, Aldhils Arboretum (Kindercore)
    The kind of cloying, oh so witty, elephant 6 shit that I really should be over by now, but I am not.
21. Joey Ramone, Don't Worry About Me (Sanctuary)
    The album is ok, a couple of good songs, but this is Joey Ramone, and he deserves to be mentioned on every ballot.

* I should also mention that this record is elegiac, noisily beautiful, beautifully noisy, weary and hopeful, as usual, but you knew that.
** I should also mention that this record is tough, intense, and amusing, and boom boom boom, play that shit, yeah man, as usual, but you knew that already.

Good songs, albums not as good:
Laura Cantrell - "If It's All The Same To You"
Stephin Merritt - "Maria Maria Maria"
Interpol - "NYC"
Beck - "Lost Cause"
Mr. Airplane Man - "Jesus on the Mainline"

Good cover albums, but they ARE cover albums:
Crooked Fingers - "Reservoir Songs"
Elf Power - "Nothing's Going to Happen"

2001 stuff that I did not hear, until, sadly, it was too late:
The New Year - Newness Ends
The Coup - Party Music
Atmosphere - Lucy Ford