Stephen Burt's Favorite Records Of 2002

1. Desaparecidos, Read Music/ Speak Spanish (Saddle Creek)
   year's best ROCK record
2. The Reputation, The Reputation (Initial)
   year's other best ROCK record-- thanks, Elizabeth!
3. King Creosote, 12 O'Clock on the Dot (Fence)
   if Lou Barlow and Spare Snare's Jan Burnett were the same person and really loved the melodica
4. Mekons, OOOH! (Quarterstick)
   return to form: party like it's 1649
5. Carissas Weird, Songs About Leaving (Sad Robot)
   beautiful Secret Stars-ish Seattle duo: not sure the CD's 2002, but if it came out in 2001 no one noticed
6. V/A, 20 Years of Dischord (box set) (Dischord)
   so many DC bands had two great songs
7. Jenny Toomey and Franklin Bruno, Tempting: Jenny Toomey Sings the Songs of Franklin Bruno (Misra)
   worth the wait
8. The Shins, Oh, Inverted World (Sub Pop)
   if only I had any idea what the words are
9. Statuesque, Live from Lake Vostok (www.statuesque.org.uk)
   see them soon in San Francisco if you like any English pop at all
10. Mountain Goats, Tallahassee (4AD)
    wouldn't want to live there
11. Cody, Distance Learning (Shinkansen)
    be quiet. be very, very quiet.
12. Cinerama, Torino (Manifesto)
    best from Gedge in 12 years at least
13. Tender Trap, Film Molecules (K)
    Amelia's subpar songs beat most people's best moments
14. Astronaut Wife, Flying Saucer (Susstones)
    if St Etienne ever made a consistent pop album it would sound just like this
15. V for Vendetta, Beneath This Mask Another Mask (Mr. Lady)
    "math rock isn't a four-letter word"? not when they play it
16. Pet Shop Boys, Release (Sanctuary)
    worth it for "London" alone: a good pop album, maybe their second best ever
17. Future Bible Heroes, Eternal Youth (Instinct)
    'cause I'm a vampire!
18. Consonant, Consonant (Fenway)
    accept no Versus records as substitutes
19. Interpol, Turn On the Bright Lights (Matador)
    so they like Joy Division a lot. So?
20. Bright Eyes, Lifted, or, the story is in the soil, keep your ear to the ground (Saddle Creek)
    this guy hasn't peaked yet
21. Fosca, Diary of an Antibody (Shinkansen)
    clever words, catchy tunes-- if only they could afford the glossy production