| Everyone's doing it, so I made a list of my nominees for the best New Releases of 2002 (I also managed to dig up the list I made for 2001). 2002 was a spectacular year for new music, and I can't recommend the albums on this list too highly. The world would be a better place if you would go and buy them! Here 'tis: 2002 Top 10 New Releases 1. Larry Ochs & Drumming Core - The Neon Truth (black saint) 2. Marilyn Crispell, Gary Peacock, and Paul Motian - Amaryllis (ecm) 3. Peter Brotzmann Chicago Tentet + 2 - Short Visit to Nowhere (okka disk) 4. Mat Maneri - Sustain (thirsty ear) 5. Bobby Previte - 23 Constellations of Jean Miro (tzadik) 6. Marty Ehrlich - The Long View (enja) 7. Ken Vandermark�s School Days - In Our Times (okka disk) 8. Anthony Coleman�s Sephardic Tinge - Our Beautiful Garden is Open (tzadik) 9. Michael Blake Quartet - Elevated (knitting factory) 10. (tie/cheat) John Zorn - Filmworks 13: Invitation to a Suicide (tzadik) Maneri Ensemble - Going to Church (aum fidelity) 2001 Top 10 New Releases 1. Marc Ribot - Saints (atlantic) 2. Gregg Bendian's Interzone - Requiem for Jack Kirby (atavistic) 3. The Vandermark 5 - Acoustic Machine (atavistic) 4. John Zorn - Love, Madness and Mysticism (tzadik) 5. Nels Cline - Destroy All Nels Cline (atavistic) 6. Joe Morris - Singularity (aum fidelity) 7. Graham Connah - Thanks to Wayne/The Only Song We Know (evander) 8. Adam Levy - Buttermilk Channel (lost wax) 9. Greg Osby - Symbols of Light (blue note) 10. John Zorn - The Gift (tzadik) Early contenders for 2003: Carla Kihlstedt - Two Foot Yard (tzadik); Dave Douglas - Freak In (rca/bluebird); Brad Shepik Trio - drip (knitting factory); John Zorn - Voices in the Wilderness, Chimeras & Masada Guitars (all 3 on tzadik); The Vandermark 5 - Airports for Light (atavistic); Daniel Carter & Reuben Radding - Luminescence (aum fidelity); Scott Amendola Band - Cry (crypto); and Michael Bluestein - Ambient Soul (bootcake). |
| Bonus track: The other night, my friend Marlon (bass player in the outstanding NYC band The Occasion) played me an LP copy of The Doors' album L.A. Women (their final record with the bloated, nearly-dead Jim Morrison). Now, I've long loathed The Doors, but I'd never actually heard this gem of an album (excepting the singles from it), until Marlon put it on, assuring me that it was the worst album ever. Oh man...that was an understatement!! Ouch. I was so inspired, I wrote the following review and posted it at an online retailer: This album is so bad, it's almost worth owning. Track after plodding track astonishes. When I listen to this album, I feel intensely sorry for the other members of The Doors. An obviously inebriated Jimbo sounds like he couldn't decide whether to throw up or go to sleep, so instead he went to the studio and cut some tracks. His vocals are shockingly bad and painfully off-key. He actually SOUNDS fat! Seriously...check it out! To make matters worse, at least half of the tunes sound like Morrison made up the abysmal lyrics as he went along. There are a couple tunes where apparently the other Doors managed to get their fearless leader semi-sobered up or at least convinced him to come up with some (dreadful) lyrics in advance (Riders on the Storm being the best of these), but they are the exception. Mostly the tunes are lazy, generic blues variations that a below-average bar band would be ashamed to call their own. And Morrison turns in the least convincing "blues" vocals this side of Eric Clapton's From The Cradle (yikes!)! This is bad, bad stuff. That said, it's pretty damn funny if you have a perverse enough sense of humor, and it's a great party album if your friends have a similar sense of humor. I guess nothing's all bad. . |