Paper Covers Rock » Distant Stations: Favorites of 2002

January 13, 2003

Distant Stations: Favorites of 2002

Mountain Goats: All Hail West Texas (Emperor Jones)
It’s not like I can be totally “critical” or “objective” about West Texas… I lived inside this disc for months as I got over the dissolution of my first long-term relationship and fumbled my way through the single life. You see, concept aside, it’s three-quarters a breakup record. This is simply the most human album to come out in… a long time. And it’s mostly yelped vocals, strummed acoustic, tape fuzz and machine noise. The man responsible would probably string me up for saying it, but here is proof positive why lo-fi still matters.

Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Warner/Nonesuch)
Is this cheating? YHF also made my 2001 list in its MP3 form… Anyway, this record sounds less and less “weird” to me over time—the “experimental” angle is really unfortunate, because it confuses the issue regarding an album chock-full of great, diverse folk-rock songs dripping with pop dada and more often than not emnating a uniquely American dread. As for the backlash: like Chuck and Flava said, “Don’t believe the hype.”

Iron & Wine: The Creek Drank the Cradle (Sub Pop)
Iron & Wine snuck up on me… I was content to write the project off before even hearing it in the “just another singer-songwriter” category. But there are just too many gorgeous moments on this disc for me to sustain cynicism. I’m convinced that all the old-timey country trappings here are a ruse. It’s all about the songs, the harmonies.

Flaming Lips: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (Warner)
I’ll admit that I expected to like Yoshimi. Hell, I was excited for it to come out. A neat little space opera about grief and mixed emotions with plenty of corny inspirational content, it all seems like a logical next step from the Soft Bulletin. I could’ve used better lyrics and more of the Drozd Drums of God, but by the same token I can listen to this record over and over for days on end without getting sick of it. I know because I have. We should all be rooting for these guys.

Sonic Youth: Murray Street (Interscope)
If you’re like me, by this point you’re happy that Sonic Youth’s still doing what they’re doing, but you don’t necessarily have the tenacity to follow closely. Well this summer, “Karen Revisited” snuck up on me and kicked my ass (thank you, KXLU). Of course nothing else on Murray Street is as good (it’s a Lee song, and up till now I thought Thurston was my favorite New Kid!). But other than the awful “Plastic Sun,” which we’re holding aside from consideration here since it’s a mere two minutes or so, you get great songs from the poppier side of the Yoof, just about every one starting or ending with one of their patented noize jams. Sometimes you can give everyone what they want!

Neko Case: Blacklisted (Bloodshot)
Case does justice to the Patsy Cline comparison that’s rote by now when one talks about her work, but I also hear more than a little vintage Kristen Hersh, which makes for a nice unhinged counterpoint to the classique crooning thing. Sad and mostly slow, Blacklisted isn’t a party record, but awesome road music for some reason.

Breeders: Title TK (Elektra)
I can see why many critics and quite a few Breeders fans were disappointed with Title TK. On the other hand, it seems to be a record about disappointment, which ties up the loose ends in a postmodern kinda way. And we love postmodern don’t we? Anyway, this came at just the right time to be what it is and fit into my life, so I love it. (Speaking of tying up loose ends: my summer record this year was Archer Prewitt’s Three, which unfortunately didn’t stick with me far into the fall .)

Hot Snakes: Suicide Invoice (Swami)
Pure ass-kicking. Kinda like Sabbath jamming on the verse part of “Born To Be Wild” amidst a full-on bar brawl. Topics for discussion: death-obsession, hipster hate and leftie political rantings. Just like your life, isn’t it?

McLusky: McLusky Do Dallas (Beggar’s Group/Too Pure)
I am really excited about these guys. They obviously, baldly and proudly borrow from the Pixies, along with a little Fall and maybe even some chant-along Blur(?!) in spots, but there’s an energy, a madness, even a sexiness, to this music that’s custom-made to pierce jadedness. Music to make you laugh out loud, flip out and dance retarded.

Enon: High Society (Touch & Go)
Think of it as a mixtape and it makes more sense—a place where New Wave, jangle, grunge and disco meet, then sit happily next to one another, brought to you by the good people from Brainiac and Blonde Redhead. A surprisingly consistent listening experience with a couple of standouts (”Window Display” and “Sold!”) that border on perfection.