amber miller and her website - 2002 : behind the music

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2002 : behind the music

Tuesday, 31 December 2002

notable albums of 2002-in no particular order

(a couple of these may have actually come out in 2001, but if i didn’t discover them until 2002, then it was as if they didn’t exist until then, in my world, and frankly, im not as neurotic as i used to be and am too damn lazy to go back and double check the dates on them.)

so there.

wilco, yankee hotel foxtrot, nonesuch

forget the whole ‘band gets total creative control to make album, band delivers album, label drops band because label hates album, band signs to new label that happens to be a branch of parent company that drops band in fist place, band releases brilliant album despite the record company’s attempts to fuck them stuff’. all you really need to know about it the brilliant album stuff.

interpol, turn on the bright lights, matador

what can i say, im a sucker for the brit pop showgazing wall of guitar stuff. this si done very well…and translates effortlessly into a great (even a little rockin) live show)

elbow, asleep at the wheel, v2

more brit pop…anyone? anyone?

south, from here on in, kinetic

continuing with the brit pop thing

coldplay, a rush of blood to the head, capitol

anyone sensing a theme here?

a note on this album, it starts off strong, and even a little different, very exciting, not even coldplayish in a way, but as the album continues it becomes more and more coldplayish, i mean, i guess they are coldplay, and don’t get me wrong, im a fan, but take note of what you did on track 1 and try that some more.

flaming lips, yoshimi battles the pink robots, warner bros.

they take on heavy, even life altering topics in this album, like, say battling pink robots. its no soft bulletin, but you cant help but love it for what it is.

sigur ros, (), mca-pias america

though id still pick their first album over this one, really, a music lover can’t be without this listening experience as a part of their collection

luna, romantcia, jetset

im not ever sure what it is about these guys, they just do it for me.

pedro the lion, control, jade tree

im not yer average christian music fan, but this aint yer average chirstian music offering. its really beautiful. really well done.

gomez, in our gun, virgin

i like gomez. and you can probably find this album somewhere for like 7 bucks. i didn’t take it out of my cd player for like a month. now i cant even remember exactly what it is i like so much about the album, which may be a sign that it’s a wee bit generic, but i like it just the same.

joseph arthur, redemptions son, realworld

a good album, but it doesn’t quite go in the direction i would have hoped. save your money on the album and buy yourself a ticket to see him the next time hes in town. absolutely worth seeing live.

guided by voices, universal truths and cycles, matador

one of my catherine wheel obsessive fans said to me about this album ‘the best thing since adam and eve.’ take it from me. that’s quite a compliment.

death cab for cutie, the photo album, barsuk

they sing nice songs nicely. cute little pop songs. whats not to like.

johnny cash, american iv: the man comes around, lost highway-american

he has one of the most interesting voices, hypnotizing really, and i think his cover if nin’s hurt is brilliant. the album could have done without the depeche mode cover, but everyone makes mistakes. ill forgive ya this time johnny.

shows of 2002

here there is a clear ‘winner’ in my mind

the best show of 2002

joseph arthur, martyr’s, chicago, november 9

the man is spectacular. it was a nice intimate setting, with little to no sound problems…i love his songs…its just the right bit of romance and angst and rock and depth and goodness and evil…and his live performance with all the programmed loops he beats out on his guitar, the mans his own backup singer for cryin out loud. if there was a show tailor made for amber, this was it. he played detroit the night earlier, but it was the same night as the sigur ros show. had i known how amazing this show was going to be, i would have skipped sigur ros in a heartbeat to see him in detroit too. and sigur ros was an amazing show. joseph arthur was just that good.

#2 sigur ros, state theare, nov 8

and i hope sigur ros will forgive me, but they do get the #2 show of the year award from the amberkmiller foundation for good music. if the show didn’t affect you, then you must be dead. as cheesy as it sounds, it’s a beautiful almost spiritual experience. something very different than ive heard before. and that’s a very good thing.

#3 the tragically hip, dte, august 31

a perfect summer night on the lawn. i mean perfect. these guys could purposefully try to suck and theyd still be good. a perfect summer night on the lawn.

and in no particular order…other notable shows of 2002

flaming lips/beck, opera house, fall/winter 2002

the flaming lips are a riot and a half. the theatrics are so much fun…what other band do you go and see that consistently combines confetti, fake blood, people dressed up as animals dancing on stage, singing through a megaphone, and telletubbies? tell me? and they broke up the seriousness of the beck set as his backing band. a really fun show.

garbage, state theatre, april 21

this was a surprisingly solid show…i wasn’t expecting much, and it ended up being really good. tons of energy, great sound….

luna, majestic theater, may 30

these guys always put on a good show

2 biggest disappointments of the year.

the hideousness of the gorillaz in toronto…i cant even begin to explain how crappy the show was. it was way too short, the venue was bad to begin with, and horribly overcrowded on top of it, you never got to see any of the band members…in theory it could have been amazing, in reality, p.u. and we almost froze to death trying to get a cab back to downtown. we almost died. near death experiences tend to put a damper on things.

ours (opening for the wallflowers) st. andrews, november 27

say what you might about the band, love em or hate em, but when you go to a show you expect a certain level of quality. if you go to see a movie and the theater has technical difficulties, you expect the problems to be promptly remedied and/or to be compensated for the problem. the band probably put on a great show, but no one would have ever known because the volume level was literally at least 3 times louder than it should have been. horribly distorted, and just plain painful (physically, to your ears). and it stayed that way through their whole set. awful. ive never been so angry at a show in my life.not even at a show with out of control unnecessary moshing and the like. and it was a problem that was so easy to correct. awful. i felt like i got screwed. everyone there got screwed.

so as not to end on a sour note, 2003 is off to a good start with a notable performance by interpol at st. andrews on january 11^th and looking forward to coldplay and the music at the fox march 3^rd.

and zwans debut came out today, billy corgan sounds almost optimistic. it’s a good sound. a good sound. a good first purchase of the year. upon 1^st listen id recommend. its nice to hear him again. id forgotten how much i liked his voice.

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