1. BLOOD ON THE TRACKS-Mary Lee’s Corvette Do you think you could actually wear down a CD like a record from too much play? “Try imagining a place that is always safe and warm..,..” and familiar. A tribute beyond tributes. Wonderful, just wonderftil. 2. JERUSALEM-Steve Earle “God stood and saw it was good. ” With the spirit of Keith Richards backing him up he said what no one else had the stones to say. Beauty and truth. In a rocking way. 3. BUSTED STUFF-The Dave Matthews Band I never saw him live. I don’t own any of his live elpees….

First off, I feel the need to alert everyone that I’m tired, ornery and waiting with bated breath for my new hydrogen car and the shiny nickel the latest Bush tax plan will send my way. In the mean time, I will bore all of my fellow culture snobs with a trite and simplistic look back on the year in music 2002. In no special order: Mary Lou Lord – “Live City Sounds” Enter the Boston Subway with a guitar, portable DAT, and 13 killer cover songs. Leave with my favorite record of the year. Paul Westerberg – “Mono/Stereo” Last…

Greetings to all friends new and old. And to all my brothers of years gone by, at least we have this way of communicating to each other. Hope all is well, hope you come prepared with some good criticism, and I hope another year does not go by where we do not see each other. You know who you ‘all are. Let’s begin. 01. Badly Drawn Boy – Have You Fed The Fish? First it starts with a bang, slows it down midway, and then picks it up again. Even better then his first full length offering, this record is…

Surely no artist held a candle to the wonderful weird wild Wacko Jacko. I dare Marilyn Manson or GWAR or Karen Finley or Mariah Carey to try to top this wonderful conceptual art guru who has emerged from the depths of a bathtub filled with naked 14-year old television boystars to become the Performance Artist of the Century! Imagine! Producing an album that didn’t sell even though it had a $30million publicity budget! And then to accuse Tommy Mottola of being a bad boy and denying black artists the royalties and respect due them. And then people like Russell Simmons…

The following is not really a top ten, but just a list of some records that I enjoyed. (It’s also not in any particular order.) Starsailor: Love is Here – Similar to Coidplay’s style. Moby: 18 – A very pleasant record. Shannon McNally: Jukebox Sparrows – A promising debut from a local kid. South: From Here on In – Another good record in the Coidplay style. Interpol: Turn on the Bright Lights – Remember Joy Division. Ryan Adams: Demolition – I was not familiar with Ryan Adams, or Whiskey Town. This was a nice find. Coldplay: A Rush of Blood…

1. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN- The Rising: This articulate and compassionate disc is easily the most impressive album of the year. Even the songs that at first blush sound like he could have written them in his sleep 20 years ago have a dark side that take on greater significance. 2. GEORGE HARRISON- Brainwashed: His best work since “All Things Must Pass”. It reveals a man totally at peace with himself and his God (if not necessarily with the rest of the world) who played a mean ukulele. 3. SONIC YOUTH- Murray Street: Their albums are usually hit or miss depending on…

SKIN-CRAWLING KING SIZE SHACKLES, GLAD TO HAVE ‘EM ON: FROM THE MOUTHES OF BROKEN TEETH IN 2002 Junior Kimbrough ­ You Better Run (The Essential Junior Kimbrough) (Fat Possum/Epitaph) Just what you¹d want to hear if you walked into any Mississippi backwoods juke joint in the 1990¹sŠnew blues the old ways, old men broke, versa, a busted make-shift stage wobbling defiantly and without care into the night. Ralph Stanley ­ Ralph Stanley (Sony/DMZ) Like it’s his first album ­ post-mortem; the songs of bluegrass spiritual heaven. Time has made this voice that of the reaper, always on the verge of…

The Hives -Veni Vidi Vicious (Burning Heart) Really it’s a 2000 release but tough poop! This is one of the catchiest CD’s I’ve heard in years. Their earlier releases have more of a straight up punk sound, but Veni is just good old garage rock with some supreme riffs. There are a couple of tracks that touch on the punk flavor…all the better. Hearing them on the radio kinda took away some of the “exclusive”, cool vibe but they deserve all the praise they’ve received. The Donnas – Spend the Night (Atlantic) A band who has shown some real progression…

Top Thirteen Solomon Burke, Don’t Give Up on Me Blind Boys of Alabama, Higher Ground VA None But the Righteous: Masters of Sacred Steel. Dave Holland Big Band, What Goes Around Peter Wolf, Sleepless Dixie Chicks, Home Spoon, Kill the Moonlight Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, The Tyranny of Distance Norah Jones, Come Fly mth Me. She is an average singer who sings pop tunes – not jazz. She makes my list for what she doesn’t do. There are no triple octave leaps, with pretension of hip hop gospel and hands held high. She simply sings the melody without embellishment….

1. Beck Sea Change DGC/Geffen Records Once again, he’s outdone himself. Even Jackson Browne should be suitably impressed with this gloom n’ doom beauty. Take Mutations and remove any semblance of humor. 2. Aimee Mann Lost in Space Superego Records I don’t understand how Bachelor No. 2 got raves and this one seems to fly under the radar for most. If she has more of these in her misery treasure trunk, by all means keep em comin’! 3. Super Furry Animals Rings Around the World Beggars/XL Records A real mish-mosh of Beatle-pop, electronica insanity and 70s cliché-isms. A real feast…