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best of 2002
best of 2003
best of 2004
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The Indie
Shop 'Best Of 2002'
The top 10 albums of the year
1 - ballboy - Club Anthems
2 - The Delgados - Hate
3 - The Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Master ep
4 - Electric Soft Parade - Holes In The Wall
5 - Doves - The Last Broadcast
6 - Super Furry Animals - Rings Around The World
7 - Cinerama - Torino
8 - The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Versus The Pink Robots
9 - The Vespertines - Untitled ep
10 - Lorien - Human Beings
The #11's.....those that didn't quite make it but were also favorites
Belle & Sebastian - Storytelling
Coldplay - A Rush Of Blood To The Head
Gene - Libertine
Saybia - The Second You Sleep
Elbow - Asleep In The Back
My Favorite - The Kids Are All Wrong ep
The Walkmen - Everyone Who Pretended To Be Like Me Is Dead
various - NME's 1 Love, Warchild
Death In Vegas - Scorpio Rising
Clinic - Walking With Thee
The Shins - Oh Inverted World
Ed Harcourt - Here Be Monsters
Idlewild - The Remote Part
Badly Drawn Boy - Have You Fed The Fish?
The Mooney Suzuki - Electric Sweat
Ben Kweller - Sha Sha
Mull Historical Society - Loss
Supergrass - Life On Other Planets
Imperial Teen - On
The All Girl Summer Fun Band - All Girl Summer Fun Band
Midnight Oil - Capricornia
Some of our favorite
songs
ballboy - All The Records On The Radio Are
Shite - single
The Alps - Each Thing Kills (The Man Who Loves It) - No Ones Pretty ep
Doves - Here Comes The Fear - The Last Broadcast
Idlewild - You Held The World In Your Arms - The Remote Part
Idlewild - English Grammer - The Remote Part
The Delgados - Coming In From The Cold - Hate
Suede - Untitled/Morning - A New Morning
Death In Vegas - Hands Around My Throat - Scorpio Rising
Gene - Spy In The Clubs - Libertine
The Manic Street Preachers - Out Of Time - 1 Love, Warchild
Belle & Sebastian - Big John Shaft - Storytelling
Ladytron - Blue Jeans - Light & Magic
Morrissey - Irish Blood, English Heart (live)
Coldplay - Green Eyes - A Rush Of Blood To The Head
The Arrogants - Nobody's Cool - Nobody's Cool
The Flaming Lips - Do You Realize - Yoshimi Versus The Pink Robots
Telepopmusik - Love Can Damage Your Health - Genetic World
Oasis - Songbird - Heathen Chemistry
It was bound to happen. With the
entertainment industry’s extra vigilant approach to
“digital piracy” every
sharing application is a prime target. There’s no need to hark on
whats already
been discussed in better forums. What we will say is that Audiogalaxy
did offer
services beyond “file sharing”. There was the “similar bands” link that not only
helped us discover the wonderful Ballboy, but allowed us to hear them at that
moment.
Discovery and exploration are never bad things, and for those that were
able to enjoy the
service before this years termination, it was a joy indeed.
Internet fees bill
passes congress
Has there been a clearer indication that big business has it's
tenticles firmly gripping the
cahones of congress? This bill does nothing but defeat
the very ideas that the Indie Shop
stands for, the ability to play what you want
when you want. The chance to broadcast
music based
not on Arbitron ratings or the whims of advertisers, but on good taste and a
sense of adventure. Not only has big business cornered the
numerous "they were once great"
radio stations that abound, they've now found
the means to dictate all the indie, college,
fly-by-night
and adventurous souls that took the least bit trouble to make a difference.
Botched Interviews
What can we say beyond apologies.
Several good attempts were made through the year,
yet for one reason or another
they all fizzled. Add to that the small broadcast studio in our
new home and you
can see where we’ve been a bit quiet on this front. So apologies to all
those
who submitted their thoughts and questions for bands. We should also thank those
who represented various bands for making such a great effort, regardless of the
results.
Better luck next time around!
Berny & Noel at Coachella
J - And on a sideline……One of our
few chances to speak to
bands this year was at Coachella. Stuart Murdoch was
more than generous, agreeing to do a
show I.D. for us. Shortly after Noel
Gallagher appeared, someone from the press in tow with a
small tape recorder. We
waited patiently, hoping to sneak in a few thoughts and perhaps a photo.
While I
did try my best, we were unable to gain any access to the superstar who was
quickly
escorted back to his trailer by his tour manager. Perhaps next time I’ll
be obnoxious and demanding!
Orange County indie crowds indifference to the best club to come their way in years.
Thanks to Berny for adding this to our list. Last year a listener contacted me
about hosting a
Brit-Pop & Indie club in Orange County. It seemed
like a great idea at the time, for the area
can ably support one. Sadly, seems
the crowd we were shooting (poor choice of words?)
for
is also fickle, choosing to drive to Hollywood instead of supporting their local
scene.
And we wonder why there only seem to be
power-pop/punk bands in the area?!?!?!
The “move”
Alas, all good things come to an
end. The beginning of the year saw the staff at our former home,
K-BEACH Radio,
decide to charge all “non-student employees” an hourly charge to use the
studio
and host a radio show. While we fully understood the station’s need to earn
income, doing
so at the expense of both talented [not speaking of
ourselves, of course;)] and dedicated radio
personalities seemed foolhardy. So,
rather than allowing extortion to remove us of over $600
per year, we decided to
move on. Although we left a station that we had helped to build from
the ground
up, we also moved on from a very uncooperative and radio-clueless staff to one
at
WPMD that has been generous, kind, and extremely available. KBEACH’s loss!
Cd : JJ72 – I To Sky
Oh my beautiful band, where have
you gone. Where is the angst, the emotion? With their debut they
were seen as a
Joy Division for the new millennium. The music and vocals combined for both an
ethereal and sonic adventure. This was especially try live, where the band came
alive, especially
Mark Greaney, seemingly lost within the music. Their second
time around the band are slicker,
packaged. Much of the energy they exhibited
live is gone in favor of a slick “single ready” sound.
As a whole, the band
still exhibit their brilliance, especially with the first single “Formulae” &
“I
Saw A Prayer”
Cd : Pulp – We Love Life
Has Jarvis lost it? Could it be a
cleaner lifestyle, removed from nefarious substances and excess?
Perhaps it’s
married life. There are still signs of Jarvis’ brilliance here, he also seems to
have lost his
gift for observation and story telling. The lyrics in particular
seem to be less detailed. Jarvis’ strength
was in story telling, sarcasm, and a
keen eye for detail. For now it seems he’s lost that to simplicity
and mood. In
this case, the music’s mood couldn’t pick up the slack.
Cd : Haven – Between The Senses
What happened? After a glorious
first single in “Let It Live” they followed up with a very pale full
length.
Granted, there are songs of note, but nothing that approached the life and
promise of the debut.
Cd : Suede – A New Morning
Perhaps this was to be expected.
There was word that Suede had returned to their
“Dog Man Star”
form with introspective lyrics from Bret Anderson. Rather it
seems to be a release that can be placed
firmly between Coming Up and Head Music. Where Head Music made our best of list, A New Morning
seems to
be an unfocused mix. There still remain moments of beauty such as the title
track, one of this
years favorites!
As for 2003, those bright stars on the horizon
Morrissey.......we remain ever hopeful
Steadman
The Dears
Louis Eliot (Rialto frontman)
Paloalto
The Lucksmiths
The Dears
And last but not least, a years worth of
thanks…
Label mates & PR managers,
Robb, George and all the other listeners who helped keep us going during those
thin moments,
The management and new friends at WPMD,
Friends at Excellent Online who have helped with web, news, and band links,
And most of all, to all the great bands and artists who have inspired us with
their creativity!