I’ve been so busy with the huge task of looking for a place to live and moving from my almost former address that it suddenly struck me that it was Christmas time, the holiday season, a time to rejoice in our many blessings, a time to give gifts, bring tidings of comfort and joy, peace on earth and goodwill towards men, the whole nine yards. So far the thought and concept of the holiday had escaped me completely this year. I had neither considered it nor even worked up a vitriolic bah humbug nasty attitude to spew out at any and all disembodied chunks of cheer that happened to fly my merry way this season. When the neighborhood panhandlers started interjecting their normal pleas for change with happy holiday phrases or started wearing Santa hats I didn’t pause and dig deep into my pockets for change, touched by the unflappable joy of Christmas even permeating the harsh reality of living and begging on the wet city streets for food or shelter. Wearing the holiday season like a newfound affliction, a crippling physical malady that will earn them extra sympathy bucks actually seemed more like an honest response to the often-debilitating financial crisis inflicted upon us annually with loads of societal pressure and the underlying knowledge that our entire economy is completely dependent upon the dynamic of one last massive retail rally. The news tells us every night if the overall sales are creating high enough revenues to essentially save our ailing economy, while the media shoves down the masses throats the multitude of material goods they are made to believe they truly need in order to be something beyond and above what they barely are anyway, lower income laborers, the working classes, people struggling to make ends meet, feed their children, get them proper medical care and shelter and education. But that’s not enough, come December it’s time to give more, to make the sacrifice. While bestowing gifts to your family and loved ones you give your great homeland the financial breath of life, the gift that keeps on giving, the best thing you can do as an American. You create credit debt.
Until I began looking for a new home I didn’t know just how important credit debt really is to America, and on so many levels. This realization came about when I found a perfect new place to live and I filled out an application for it and placed a deposit on it and got a real sense from the building manager that I was in. He merely needed to run a credit check on my financial past and then we could draw up a lease. Well, I’ve always resisted getting a credit card because I wanted to avoid some of the many nightmares I’d seen others go through, over-spending their logical limits, maxing out their card’s limits, getting more cards as they became available to them and ending up filing for personal bankruptcy by the age of 25 due to out of control spending. I decided to do things the old fashioned way, buy things when I could afford them, pay and be done. I made due with just a checking account and eventually a debit card proved sufficient for renting videos or purchasing plane tickets or ordering things online. Well, the day after I applied for the new place my report came back showing that I had no current credit history. This in spite of a solid employment history, a signed letter from my past landlord confirming my timely rent payment, total move in costs available in cash, even an offer to pay two months rent in advance, it wasn’t sufficient for my becoming a tenant. They needed proof that I was a part of the great American Debt machine. The man who turned me down was very sympathetic and helpful with suggestions for building some form of visible credit that would make the difference on my credit report. He also informed me that most every place renting properties in the city would run a credit check and would likely turn me down until I showed a few transactions of credit card bill payment. I immediately went to my bank to apply for a secured amount visa card and was told that they no longer perform that process in person, that I would have to apply for a card by mail only, which of course would take up to a month. This detail was going to be a major obstacle in the process of securing a new home. Because I made a conscious decision to not permit myself to live beyond my obvious financial means, because I made the effort to keep credit card purchases out of my life, because I chose not to let myself be financially enslaved by this system, I am penalized. Now I’m going to have to seek temporary lodging while I build up my credit record enough to rent a place of my own. Merry fucking Christmas. I join the ranks of the fiscally controlled. I never knew debt could be so valuable.
But enough about that, its nearing the end of the year which means it’s time to pick my top ten records of the year! So now , in some particular order are the ten releases I found the most intriguing, important and unforgettable in the year 2002.
1. Liars—They Threw Us All In A Trench And Stuck A Monument On Top: This New York-based combo sprang up all of a sudden with a pretentiously long titled debut CD chocked full of similarly wordy and art school affected song titles like “Grown Men Don’t Fall In The River, Just Like That,” or “Why Midnight Walked But Didn’t Ring Her Bell,” or “Mr. Your On Fire Mr.,” and I was almost ready to hate it on principle for this self-serious intellectual preciousness but a listen or two plus the added attraction of catching a very charismatic and visceral live set by this young four piece has catapulted Liars to the top of my list. As with many of my favorite discs of the year, this is a band with some firm and obvious influences from post-punk’s fertile past, like the taut and sharp militant funkiness of Gang Of 4 or the more languid dance throb of the indigenous and legendary band ESG (who are credited for the inclusion of a lifted rhythm track used as the framework for one of the best cuts on this disc). Their apparent fearlessness of funkier elements detracting from the overall tension or hard-edged guitar driven punch creates a mixed-style dynamic that is far more effective and natural than any of the million selling rap/metal acts polluting Rock’s mainstream for the past few years. Seeing this band live sealed their place on my list for the sheer power they effortlessly reflect onstage. It’s nice to see a band flinging and contorting and whipping their bodies around so furiously that they blur the line between a band playing music and the music playing the band. This disc is exhilarating, timely and very New York.
2. The Music—This self-titled debut disc by the Leeds-based British act is a late inclusion that I’m certain you will be hearing about. Released in the UK in Sept of 2002 and already gone gold with over 100,000 units sold, The Music will be released in the states in February on Capitol Records and they just finished a tour of the U.S. with The Vines. From the first time I heard their single “Take The Long Road And Walk It,” I haven’t been able to get this one out of my head or out of rotation in my DJ sets. They are four young men who have created a noise that is instantaneously ready for large stadiums. It’s all about a huge atmospheric sound, a great high-pitched vocalist who bears an unmistakable resemblance to Robert Plant yet was probably still in diapers when In Through The Out Door was released and some amazing guitar flurries and layered planes reminiscent of the approximate ten minutes that I liked U2’s first record. I kind of hate making comparisons to other bands when they don’t exactly capture what this band does, or I can’t quite put my finger on that quality that I find so appealing. I think a great deal of what makes The Music so great is the pure classic Rock and Roll vocal quality, like the aforementioned Plant or the sleazy perfection of AC/DC’s Bon Scott, it’s a powerful element, and the instrumentation builds a fitting monument of huge dimension around it, and people are drawn to it like Mecca. The Music have achieved a quite a lot with just their first LP. It’s moody, groovy, psychedelic, mysterious and undeniably huge
3. Queens of The Stone Age—Songs For The Deaf: Simply put, this is the best rock and roll record of the year, innovative, brilliantly produced, executed masterfully and listened to more times than all others and I’m still not sick of it. It’s rock and roll with brains but it still has an attitude and still makes a good match for bong hits too.
4. The White Stripes—White Blood Cells: Jack and Meg White, Detroit’s most valued post auto-industry export deserve all of the hype and attention they’ve garnered with this record, their third and most varied yet strongest release yet. I’ve been stuck on this band since their first release and have seen them soar to levels of brilliance that left me practically speechless in the live situation. They respect, or perhaps I should say worship, the power and virtues of roots R&B and seminal Blues and present it shamelessly with a reverence and truth that is distinctly their own yet captures the ghost and lays out bare the very essence of primal rock and roll. From the mournful slurred blues guitar intro of “Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground,” to the fey innocence and childlike folk of “We Are Going To Be Friends” this disc doesn’t jerk your head to attention or slam your hips into motion, it shoots faith into your heart like arrows and shows you where the heart of Rock and Roll still beats unassisted by artificial means. The White Stripes are the real deal, flat out. I can’t wait for their next record.
5. Imperial Teen—On: With their third LP Imperial Teen deliver one of the freshest most clever and coherent pop records of the year and a testament to their critically heralded but under acknowledged genius. I can’t really think of another band that makes me feel so happy to hear. Their intelligent lyrics can seem silly or funny upon one listen then bristling with double meaning, sarcasm or cynicism the next. Compared to their previous records this one has a definite pop sheen to it, with much more use and presence of keyboards and less focus on edgy guitar. The overall compositions are complex and musically adept, with all members taking part in fantastic vocal arrangements, some verging on experimental/new wave while others possibly inspired by girl-group era Motown. The record is bright and bubbly sounding, all four members instrumentally at the top of their game and seemingly having fun. This record has mass appeal and I can’t figure out why Imperial Teen aren’t huge. At press time there has been a change in their line-up with the departure of Lynne Perko, veteran drummer and total rock goddess and soon to be married lady (congratulations and best wishes!) but have no fear, for the band recruited another great lady of drums, Patty Schemel, formerly of Hole and definitely one of the best around. It would take no less to complete this line-up. On deserves a place in everyone’s collection.
6. ESG–Step Off: This record marks the return of the early 80’s group comprised of the four Scroggins sisters from The South Bronx whose parents bought them instruments to keep them off the streets and they ended up creating a fresh unique sound, were discovered by Marin Hannet of Manchester’s Factory Records and were suddenly opening shows for the likes of The Talking Heads and The Clash and in regular rotation at famous dance clubs like Paradise Garage and with the advent of Rap music became one of the most sampled and emulated groups ever. Step Off is their first recording in over 15 years and the new line-up includes three of the original Scroggins sisters plus two of their daughters. This family affair sounds like it was possibly recorded merely days after their last major release, that unmistakably minimalist funk, so fluid and atmospheric and soulful, connecting you to the beat between the beats, the beat that isn’t there. Their music has such an inherent connected and anomalous sense of timing. It must be instinctual or genetics. This record is amazing.
7. Yeah Yeah Yeahs—Master: This five-song EP delivers everything a full length release should from a New York City-based trio fronted by the incredible Karen O whose vocals can sound frail and tiny on one cut to sexy and dominant on the next to a motherfucking force of nature, screaming in an unhinged ferocious way that might send a few listeners running for the door while for others it could be the most definitive moment of the year in rock. This band has something completely sexy, untamed and on fire going on, a lot of sound for just three people and enough untamed rock and roll swagger for three bands. Essential.
8. The Kills—Black Rooster EP: Another EP with only four songs, this record is very satisfying and plenty mysterious. This male female duo is comprised of a 23 year old American girl ex-patriot and her British male counterpart and they both play guitar and create incredible blues-ish sort of country western songs that are simple and intense with an underlying deranged quality and a sense of respect for old blues and guitar playing and truth in expression similar to the White Stripes but not quite from the same place. These songs come from a dangerous or darker place. I visited their web site and it featured a new song for the listening called “Fuck the People.” It was also great. They are currently touring the UK opening for Primal Scream
9. The Gossip—Arkansas Heat: Not as great as their debut LP That’s Not What I Heard, but this disc carries the torch nicely with some great songs of personal freedom from the oppression of small town life, societal pressures about image, a touching song about the singers deceased Aunt, and possibly the best protest song of the year “(Take Back) The Revolution.” This record makes me think of how much a band can mean to the people that listen to them, and how much change a record can instigate on a personal level by the messages they deliver. I’m sure that this record can and will save a life or two from being put down for just being who they are. The Gossip are pure rock and roll revolutionaries, and I’ve long been a convert. Live their greatness leaves my speechless. Look for their new disc this year.
10. Missy Elliot—Under Construction: I won’t explain…I just think she is amazing—and she says what she thinks.
