2002
Ramble ramble ramble! What am I going to say about this 2002 list today? Let's have a look...a yes, quite a good year! Clearly I was getting into some post-hardcore and underground emo at this point in time. Not all have stood the test of time, of course, particularly the emo and screamo type releases. Other later discoveries such as Sonic Youth have taken their place. One such example would be City of Caterpillar - what a fantastic album. However, I'm just not in the mood for that stuff anymore. mewithoutYou's debut is also quite aggressive in its emo-ness, but it's held up better for me, particularly because I also enjoyed their next few releases. This album was just perfect. Minus the Bear really impressed with their debut but didn't deliver on future releases. Not a mature album as far as lyrical content is concerned, but I like the light math sound and playfulness. I think Q and Not U's sophomore album is underrated, and I really enjoy it. Bad Astronaut is a band that emerged shortly after I was over a lot of the 90s Fat Wreck pop punk I used to listen to. Lagwagon was a favorite, and Bad Astronaut is like a more mature, more indie rock-oriented evolution with the same singer. It really worked for me, as did their subsequent albums. The Jazz June is a funny one - they're not that well-known, but it seems they're better known for their other albums, which to me are far inferior to this one. This is a really good and moody midwestern emo/indie album. Oh what about Sixtoo? An underrated instrumental hip-hop producer from Halifax, Canada. Really good stuff and great atmospheres, better than Blockhead I might say. Do the rest need any explanation? I think not. Honorable mentions at bottom.
1.
Boards of Canada -
Geogaddi
2.
mewithoutYou -
[A—>B] Life
3.
Minus the Bear -
Highly Refined Pirates
4.
…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead -
Source Tags & Codes
5.
Queens of the Stone Age -
Songs for the Deaf
6.
Q and Not U -
Different Damage
7.
Sonic Youth -
Murray Street
8.
Sixtoo -
Duration
9.
Bad Astronaut -
Houston: We Have a Drinking Problem
10.
The Jazz June -
Better Off Without Air
Clinic - Walking With Thee
No Knife - Riot for Romance!
Dillinger Four - Situationist Comedy
Super_Collider - Raw Digits
City of Caterpillar - City of Caterpillar
Hot Snakes - Suicide Invoice
Download - III Steps Forward
Amon Tobin - Out From Out Where
Download - Inception: The Subconscious Jams 1994-1995
Coheed and Cambria - The Second Stage Turbine Blade
Supersoul - 40 Acres and a Moog
Mastodon - Remission
Interpol - Turn On the Bright Lights
The Coral - The Coral
Rumah Sakit - Obscured by Clowns
Eight Frozen Modules - Thought Process Disorder
Boom Bip - Seed to Sun
Seven Storey - Dividing by Zero
platEAU - Iceolator
31Knots - A Word Is Also a Picture of a Word
Twelve Hour Turn - Perfect Progress, Perfect Destruction
Isis - Oceanic