- Club 8 - Spring Came Rain Fell
Very nice indie-pop from Sweden, with just enough electronica.
- Victor Lancaster - Mr. Mention
Yes, the guy who plays the plastic bucket drums in Melbourne. And, with the attention of local remixers, this disc is better than you'd expect.
- New Order - Here To Stay (single)
New Order back in fine form.
- Ninetynine - The Process
Their best album so far; quirky, sophisticated and with all the energy of their live sets.
- Parsley Sound - Platonic Rate (single)
Very laid-back and mellow.
- Stereolab - Sound-Dust
It's Stereolab. Naught More Terrific Than Man is probably my favourite cut.
- Various Artists - Can't Stop It! Australian Post-Punk 1978-1982
Contains a wealth of stuff from proto-synthpop to Dadaist noise to jangly guitar-pop.
And some other releases: Sigur Rós — () ¶ Letraset — Snowy Room ¶ Architecture in Helsinki — Like a Call (single) (especially Jeremy Dower's remix) ¶ Qua — Forgetabout (the title track is great, though much of the rest is a bit too generically laptop for my tastes) ¶ Season — 2,551,446 seconds ¶ Pipas — A Cat Escaped ¶ The Flaming Lips — Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots ¶
CDs I meant to get but didn't manage in time for this list: Happy Supply, Crucial Cuts, GY!BE, Yanqui U.X.O., Ivy, Guestroom, some local spoken-word/electronica thing titled Every Third Breath.
Older CDs I listened to a lot in 2002:
- Belle & Sebastian, The Boy With The Arab Strap
- The Field Mice, Where'd You Learn To Kiss That Way (yes, again; I just can't leave it alone, honestly I cannot...)
- FourPlay, The Joy Of
- Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions, Bavarian Fruit Bread. Very nice.
- Lush, Split.
- Mogwai, My Father My King. Intense, immersive noise.
- Radiohead, OK Computer, and I Could Be Wrong
- Slowdive, Pygmalion. I travelled a bit, and it made excellent music for journeys.
- The Smiths, The Queen Is Dead. This is becoming my favourite Smiths album.