___       __      __      ___        
 /'___`\   /'__`\  /'__`\  /'___`\      
/\_\ /\ \ /\ \/\ \/\ \/\ \/\_\ /\ \     
\/_/// /__\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \/_/// /__    
   // /_\ \\ \ \_\ \ \ \_\ \ // /_\ \ __ 
  /\______/ \ \____/\ \____//\______//\_\
  \/_____/   \/___/  \/___/ \/_____/ \/_/

These tiny Asian trinkets are dope and lightweight! And though Jim Woodring and Pete Fowler aren't Asian, they obviously know where "Go-ji-ra" lives.

s_allen_p
================
FIRST:

This album is a great moment in hip hop production.

1. Boards of Canada "Geogaddi" - My favorite and most listened to album of the year. Also a recent addition to my all time top 10 and my new favorite electronic album ever. I like it most when laying down in a sunlit room. It's very daydreamy.
2. Antipop Consortium "Arrhythmia" - Maybe I'm not the most informed hip hop listener, but I consider this album a great moment in hip hop production. Forward thinking and intelligent, far beyond the electronic influenced beats of Timbaland and the Neptunes.

^ Read full reviews above.

• Camper Van Beethoven "Tusk"
• Little Wings "Wonder City"
• Nina Nastasia "The Blackened Air"
• Arlo "Stab the Unstoppable Hero"
• Iron and Wine "The Creek Drank the Cradle"
• Boom Bip "Seed to Sun"
• Desaparecidos "Read Music/Speak Spanish"
• Doug Martsch "Now You Know"

ALSO

I listened to Pink Floyd's "The Wall" and The Replacement's "Tim" and "Let It Be" and The Beach Boys "Smile (Sessions)" a whole lot last year.

AND ALSO

THE NUMBER ONE GOOD THING ABOUT 2002:

The LA music scene and all of it's free shows. Apparently there's a great music scene in LA that until this year I wasn't aware of. Arlo, Chuck UK, Dios, The Silversun Pickups, New Bethel, Kennedy, Idaho Falls, Vermicious K (now All Your Base Are Belong to Us). and others all made this year one of the best years for live music. Thanks to Sea Level Records, Spaceland (Mondays), Billiards Inn (now The Good Hurt) and Mr. T's Bowl for keeping it free.

ED
================
Things that made me smile in 2002

Rather than exhaustively document the efforts of certain individuals and groups of individuals that held overwhelming appeal to me during 2002 I encouraged you to explore the links found on the image map below. A few items are not appropriately documented on the web and thus are worthy of additional comment.

ED's additional comments

Although it was made many years ago, in 2002, "End of Evangelion" finally became available in the U.S. on DVD. Those interested in experiencing this stunning nugget of anime are highly encouraged to watch the series in its entirety before attempting to view this movie.

Those familiar with my 2001 bottom 4 list should note the new bottle design of Haffenreffer Private Stock Malt Liquor. Although not quite as pleasing to me as the old bullet bottles that disappeared in 2001, the new bottle shape shown above is a vast improvement.

emilio
================
Hip hop albums that I listened to the most in 2002

Atmosphere "God Loves Ugly" - Not as dope as I had hoped, but still pretty great. He's funny, clever, and so very sensitive. I wonder why the ladies treat him so bad? MY JAM - "Saves the Day"

The cover of this record had me very worried.

Blackalicious "Blazing Arrow" - Gift of Gab is phenomenal on this record, and the production by Chief Xcel and others is almost as good.
MY JAM - "Nowhere Fast"

Common "Electric Circus" - The cover of this record had me very worried. But after a couple of listens, I got over its pretensions. Well, I'm not totally over its pretensions. But I'm less bothered by them.
MY JAM - "I Am Music"

Edan "Primitive Plus" - This kid does it all. He makes dope beats, and he's a talented emcee, even if he doesn't have anything to say beyond, "Old-school hip hop rulez!" And you gotta give him props for resurrecting the beat from Kwame's "The Rhythm."
MY JAM - "Emcees Smoke Crack"

Atmosphere: He's funny, clever, and so very sensitive. I wonder why the ladies treat him so bad?

J-Live "All of the Above" - J-Live is everything I want an emcee to be. I wish the production on this album had been stronger, but he shines no matter how lackluster the beat. MY JAM - "Satisfied"

Not sure why critics think it's better than "Things Fall Apart."

Nas "The Lost Tapes" - This collection of outtakes from "Stillmatic" and the two piece-of-shit LP's that preceded it is better than either of his two recent albums. This proves that he's been making decent music all along. He just left the good shit off his albums. MY JAM - "U Gotta Love It"

The Roots "Phrenology" - I really like this record, but I'm not sure why critics think it's so much better than "Things Fall Apart." It's probably because they think a band should make songs, not beats. Most of the time, I prefer beats. MY JAM - "The Seed (2.0)"

Talib Kweli "Quality" - Even without the production expertise of Hi-Tek, Kweli still comes through with a remarkably consistent effort. There's a nice balance of hard and soft tracks, and the record is so nicely sequenced that the transitions are never jarring.
MY JAM - "Get By"

Disappointing hip hop albums

• Camp Lo - Let's Do It Again
• Eminem - The Eminem Show
• Jurassic 5 - Power in Numbers
• Slum Village - Trinity

Totally obvious non-hip hop albums that I listened to the most in 2002

• Beck - Sea Change
• The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
• Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

I probably would have listened to (1)__________ a lot if, (2)__________.

(1) Jean Grae - Attack of the Attacking Things
(2) I had bought the CD instead of the LP

(1) Mr. Lif - I Phantom
(2) I could have downloaded a non-promo version

(1) People Under the Stairs - O.S.T.
(2) I had bought it

Movies that I saw in the theater in 2002 and really enjoyed

Read A-D REVIEWS of this film.

• Adaptation
• The Bourne Identity
• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
• The Man from Elysian Fields
• Minority Report
• Punch-Drunk Love
• Spirited Away
• 24-Hour Party People

dirkdigs
================

Knockout follow-up to the LP. Edan, in the place to be.

The LP was sold out so I got the 2 CDs of Metal Face Doom.

Top List

• Spirited Away (2001)
• Bowling For Columbine
• Edan "Sprain Your Tape Deck" EP
• CD Projects BubbleSleeves
• Sleeping Bag Records Video Rap Pack (1989)
• TRENDnet PK-400 KVM Switch
• 1-UP Megazine
• Camu Tao "Wireless b/w Hold The Floor" 12"
• M.F. Doom "Metal Fingers Presents
  Special Herbs Vol. 1 & 2"
• Big Daddy Magazine
• Zion I "Boom Bip" (2001)
• Invader Zim (2001)
• Chopper handlebars and foot brakes (on bicycles)
• Urban Renewal Project "Wylin' Out
  (RJD2 Remix)" 12"
• Bang The Machine [Documentary]
• Hell House [Documentary]
• SequoiaView treemap disk browsing tool

Sad I Slept on List

• Little Otik (2000)
• Trip to East Coast
• The Kid Stays In the Picture

squidink
================
Top 10 for 2002

Hefty Records: Everything they release seems to be excellent (to me, anyways). Better yet, it's all pretty cheap when you order it online. They give you the nice dust jackets and record bags with your vinyl for free. They are headquartered in Chicago and run by John Hughes III. Say no more!

The decline of Western Civilization Part 3, the hip hop years: In my mind, 2002 was the year that hip hop joined ranks with heavy metal as a passing fad that needs to either get completely transformed or will fade away. I think Kool Keith hit the nail right on the head when he wrote "Jealous." I am sick of bling bling and cameo appearances. Give me something new. I mean, come on, when three or four of you finicky A-diction people rank their #1 hip hop album of 2001 being that Awol One record where he doesn't even rhyme 75% of the time? And Common is the spokesperson for Coca-Cola...

The Parkway in Oakland: I think the only movie I payed full price for last year was "Lord of the Rings." Almost everything else I saw at the Parkway. The Parkway is a beautiful thing: a full sized movie theater with $5.00 admission (2 for 1 on Wednesdays), good pizza delivered to your table, couches if you get there early enough, and pitchers of beer. I cannot emphasize enough how much better this makes even a shitty movie. It's just not the same sneaking beers into a regular theater. Not that I would do that kind of thing. Heh.

Getting fired: I got fired this year. It put my head on straight. I highly recommend it if you can pull it off.

Duff-man never came out to greet us, but we were satisfied.

Duff's beer: Under the direction of esteemed compatriot and tour guide ED, I went to one bar in the city of Boston. This happened to be the only bar in the country that has Duff's beer on tap. One might consider this a gimmick, but not me, no way. It was good beer. It was high in alcohol. We had several. Duff-man never came out to greet us, but we were satisfied with the cool, smooth taste of Duff's beer.

Minidisco: I love the minidisc format. It is a good, portable format and a good way to leech music from your friends on the cheap when you are unemployed (not that I would do such a thing, of course, ahem...). Minidisco is like crack. All they sell are minidiscs and cool Japanese vinyl action figures. They ship quick. They now have a store on Haight Street. Every time I order they give me free shit.

Joe Millionaire commercials: I saw the first episode of Joe Millionaire and got to see all the gold digger broads try to backstab one another and go bleary-eyed over the prospects of getting in bed with the cash only to get screwed over when the show is done. OK, so this started in 2003, but the commercials started in 2002. And just the fact that they were coming up with the show in 2002 is good enough for me. I think it's fucking hilarious.

DJ/Rupture - Minesweeper Suite: OK, hip hop is dead, but maybe this is where it's going? A weird and catchy mix of IDM, drum + bass, booty-ass rap, and middle eastern music. Really well put together.

The fact that the entire auto industry decided in 2002 that the collective need of Generation X and Generation Y was to have a boxy, stylish miniature packing truck: Yes, everyone needs a trendy moving van. It's been decreed from the rooftops. After years of having to justify his mini-minivan to dates, dirkdigs is now...THE KING!

"Fire" by Sebastian Junger: A very entertaining read that also has a lot of revealing facts intertwined in it. This guy decides to write a collection of essays about dangerous places and professions. From following flame jumpers into forest fires to following troops into Afghanistan, Sebastian Junger has it covered. His prose is really engaging, too.

Decent Spam software: I now get a whole grip of spam. But I have decent spam software and I have to deal with almost none of it. SpamNet and SpamPal are both very good, with very different approaches. Both are free.

josh
================

Read A-D REVIEWS of this album.

Records I loved in 2002

• The Roots Phrenology
• Common Electric Circus
• Cody ChesnuTT The Headphone Masterpiece
• Sonic Youth Murray Street
• Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
• J-Live All of the Above
• N.E.R.D. In Search Of (esp. earlier version)

Records I liked a lot in 2002 (I know a handful of these are from late 2001, but I'm a little slow on the uptake sometimes.)

• Talib Kweli Quality

  Read A-D REVIEWS of this album.

• De La Soul Bionix
• Jay-Z Blueprint 2
• Justin Timberlake Justified
• RJD2 Deadringer
• DJ Jazzy Jeff The Magnificent
• The White Stripes White Blood Cells
• The Liars They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top
• The Flaming Lips Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
• Gillian Welch Time (The Revelator)
• Jim O'Rourke Insignificance
• Beth Orton Daybreaker
• Beck Sea Change
• Clinic Walking With Thee (although I really prefer Internal Wrangler)
• Cee-Lo Cee-Lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections
• Nappy Roots Watermelon, Chicken, and Grits
• No Doubt Rock Steady
• Jay-Z MTV Unplugged
• Ghostface Killa Bulletproof Wallets

Records I might have loved, had I listened to them more

• Yo La Tengo Sounds of the Sounds of Science, Nuclear War EP
• The Streets Original Pirate Material
• El-P Fantastic Damage
• Queens of the Stone Age Songs for the Deaf
• DJ Shadow The Private Press

Records I still haven't heard, but would like to

• V/A Red Hot and Riot
• Norah Jones Come Away With Me
• The Warlocks Phoenix Album
• Anything by Solomon Burke
• Missy Eliot Under Construction
• The Dixie Chicks Home
• Clipse Lord Willin'
• Orchestra Baobab Specialist in All Styles

Records that baffle me because I can't decide if they're terrific or terrible or even if I like them - the artists are fully in charge of their craft and they're doing interesting work but something feels wrong - the kids love it though, maybe I'm too old (or they're too young)

• Interpol Turn on the Bright Lights
• MC Paul Barman Paullelujah!

Movies

I didn't go to very many movies this year, and not nearly enough memorable ones, so I can't provide any sort of list. However, Francois Ozun's "8 Women" stands out as having been awfully darn fun.

Literature (Books I read in 2002)

The Amazing Adventures of Kaviler and Clay by Michael Chabon, Jack Cole and Plasticman: Forms Stretched to Their Limits by Art Spiegelman and Chip Kidd, and The Cheese Monkeys by Chip Kidd are all good books to read. How to be Good by Nick Hornby is not.

The first episode of The Osbournes was the most fun I had watching television this year.

Television

• Insomniac with Dave Attell
• MTV2 $2 Bill: The Roots
• Trading Spaces
• Brian Posehn standup special
• Buffy
• The Gilmore Girls: Beginnings
• That slack jawed "aw shit, this is great" feeling that I enjoyed during the first episode of The Osbournes was the most fun I had watching television this year.

Shows

• The Village Voice Siren Festival, Coney Island USA: Sleater-Kinney, Les Savy Fav, The Mooney Suzuki, The Donnas, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, etc.
• Chris Ware, Charles Burns, Kaz, Kim Deitch, and Art Spiegelman; Panel discussion moderated by Chip Kidd: Free Library of Philadelphia
• Isotope 217 featuring Cannibal Ox: The Leonard Nimoy Thallia at Symphony Space NYC

ashon
================
2002 List:

I decided to just come up with a list of things that I saw, read, listened to, etc... in 2002. I've been very lazy this year.

1. That '70s Show - yes, I know... I'm way behind the times. I just started downloading episodes from KaZaA and have been addicted ever since.
2. Two Towers - great story and Peter Jackson just has a great ability for integrating special effects into his movie.
3. Bowling for Columbine - I recommend that everyone watch this movie if they haven't already. If only just to see Heston squirm in his seat at the end.
4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete Third Season (1999) - DVD Box Set - must have for any Buffy fans out there. This is actually a pretty important season as it marks the end of Angel and his move to Los Angeles for his own series next season.
5. Spider-Man - yes, I saw it. I liked it too.
6. Star Wars Episode II - Attack of the Clones - OK, so it's not so good. I still saw it, so I'm listing it here.
7. Oak Hill Academy vs. St. Vincent-St. Mary - ESPN airing a nationally televised high school basketball game. High school games on pay-per-view. High schoolers driving around in pimped out Hummers. What a great country we live in.
8. Yao Ming - OK, I'm caught up in the hype. I thought he was a total hack, and while he shouldn't be considered a great player, he's probably the second best center in the NBA.
9. AI Tech Web Cable Plus PC-to-TV Video Converter - so I can watch my downloaded shows on TV. Really I shouldn't need this device in this day and age, but it's been a life saver... Somewhat... It urges me to do harm.

Booking Clubs -- Korean cultural phenomenon, please don't ask. Places like this should not exist.

10. Booking Clubs - Korean cultural phenomenon, please don't ask. Horrible, horrible place. Places like this should not exist. I'm sorry that I even know about it.

    ashon: More paranoid delusional Kool Keith rantings. Alright!

11. KHM - a Kool Keith project with H-Bomb and Marc Live. More paranoid delusional Kool Keith rantings. Alright!
12. Phantazmagoria - D-Styles on the turntables. How long can you listen to a person fucking around on the turntables? Well, D-Styles does a good job commanding your attention with this album.
13. Wanna Buy A Monkey? - the Automator remixes songs and spits 'em back out. I got it used, so it was worth it.
14. Disposable Arts - Masta Ace is back with his third album. Very different from his previous two efforts. Good to see this guy back in the game.
15. Fruits (Phaidon Press Ltd.) - sitting in dirkdigs' cave and looking at cute Japanese girls in their little outfits was time well spent.

DiZ
================

The Capcom video game LEGACY.

2002 Most Played Video Game List

• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (Rockstar Games)
• Grand Theft Auto III (Rockstar Games)
• Devil May Cry (Capcom)
• Onimusha 2 (Capcom)
• Red Faction (THQ)
• Diablo 2 (Blizzard Entertainment)
• Hitman (Eidos Interactive)
• SSX Tricky (Electronic Arts)

2002 Video Game Disappointments

• Shinobi (Sega)
• Black & White (EA Games)
• Robotech (TDK Mediactive)