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Welcome to the second annual High Bias Baker's Dozen. We asked our writers to list their top 13 albums of the year, along with any salient comments. Why 13? Because ten never seems like enough and 25 would test the reader's patience. Forget the bad luck—13 is the magic number. We also allowed our scribes to sound off on any music-related issues that struck their fancies.
As Steve Earle recently commented, 2002 was a weird years. Will we go to war or won't we? Will we keep our civil rights or not? And what about that pesky economy anyway? Music can't cure these ills, but it can make the life you live as you deal a bit easier to bear. Here are the records that made us keep on keepin' on.
Michael Toland
Editor-in-Chief, High Bias
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Brian Briscoe
Contributing writer
Una Docena del Panadero ("A Dozen from the Baker")
I'm going with a slightly different approach this year. Instead of ranking the following releases by quality, I've ranked them by which ones I listened to the most. Largely the order rolls out the way the "best of" list would, I imagine, but with one notable exception.
Songs for the Deaf (Interscope) by Queens of the Stone Age is a terrific album, a dense epic from a band that's really a collective playing stoner rock that's really "robot rock." This is also the best sounding CD these tired ears beheld in '02 by far.
The Jelly Jam's self-titled album (InsideOut) is one of the many Ty Tabor side projects. Once this band stopped being Platypus they focused more on melody, and the payoff is an irresistible CD.
Corsario Negro (Small Stone) by Los Natas might just be the CD I'd play if a little green man wanted me to explain what "rock" means. It's just got that sound like something incredible is going on, and we get to experience it with a sense other than vision.
New Ground (Vanguard) by Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise is a guilty pleasure. Bradley and his remolded Blackwater Surprise play a brand of soul-informed pop that I find comforting when I'm feeling too dense to be challenged. (Those of you who find the setup for the joke too tempting can email editor@highbias.com.)
Spiritu's self-titled record (MeteorCity) is exciting because no matter how big and bad these stoner juggernauts are, this whole album sounds like they've almost put the pieces together for a stellar second CD. (more)
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Album reviews of new music by:
- Tomas Bodin
The instrumental record fits in well with the tradition of the flashy virtuoso shrugging off his tethers to show what he can really do. (more)- D.O.A.
- It's a collection of straightforward punk rock songs: three chords, vicious licks, snarling vocals, buckets of 'tude. (more)
- Salif Keita
Eschewing synthesizers, Keita and his small army of backing musicians concentrate on acoustic instruments, mainly guitars, traditional African instruments like the calebasse and n'goni and, of course, lots of percussion. (more)- Magnet
- Caffeine Superstar, the fourth disk from Magnet, is an example of what's good about indie pop. (more)
- Napalm Death
From the bomb-burst ejaculations of grindcore to the politically-charged death metal in which it trucks today, the British/American quintet has steadfastly pursued its mission of making livid hatred and inchoate rage into musical expression. (more)- Scenic
Bassist James Brenner and drummer Brock Wirtz set up a dreamy but insistent rhythm pulse, guitarists Bruce Licher and Mark Mastopietro provide layer after layer of swells, slides, shimmers and sprinklings atop it and keyboardist Robert Loveless fills in the blanks. (more)- Sucking the 70's
- Like all tribute albums, this one begs the question: is this really necessary, especially with 35 songs spread over two disks? (more)
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