two albums in heavy rotation


and




despite what SPIN tells you (see the strokes and the white stripes), this last year was lacking in good new albums. maybe i feel that way because i'm getting older and more out of touch with today’s youth, or maybe i just feel like i've heard it all before and have become jaded over the years with new bands.



anyhow, last year i decided that instead of getting the latest and greatest, maybe i should look into some of the bands and albums i overlooked over the years and see if i missed anything.



for christmas i got "the rise and fall of ziggy stardust" by david bowie and i must say "why the hell did i not love this years ago?". jeez! everyone has heard the song "ziggy stardust" which appears on the album, but every song here is rock solid and timeless. why the hell would anyone listen to the strokes after hearing this album. i mean the strokes have a similar style (as far as bowie's upbeat numbers are concerned), but are merely a subset of what bowie did here.



another great band that i over looked in the past (that belle and sebastian, all elephant 6 bands, the aislers set and more owe much credit to) is the kinks. I'd have to say i love "kinks kontroversy" the most out of what i've heard of their pre 70's material but their next three albums were stellar as well.



other honorable mentioned bands that i discovered in 2002:

(the):

zombies

razorcuts

bats

chills

clean

vapors

early pink floyed

television personalities




great albums of 2002 that nobody noticed:

the bees - "sunshine hit me"

the roots - "phrenology"

the mosquitoes - "killing the country"