Barflies.net Contributors' Best of 2002!

Alex West:
Best album/cd of the Year:
Queens Of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf
Best live show/concert of the Year:
Did I go to any shows this year? Enjoyed No Doubt and The Distilers
Biggest musical surpise of the Year:
How popular the Distillers seem to be.
What you anticipate the most for 2003:
The White Stripes get a friggin' bass player.
What else you want the world to know:
George W sucks ass, pain pills are good.

April Peron:
Best album/cd of the Year:
Nekromantix - Return of the Loving Dead
Best live show/concert of the Year:
The Nerve Agents - Troubadour - December 28, 2001 (2 days from 2002!) They broke up like a week later. I'm sorry for anyone who never saw them live.
Any show with Demented Are Go! was also a plus. ;o)
Biggest musical surpise of the Year:
The Distillers opening for No Doubt....?!??!! WHAT was that?
What do you anticipate the most for 2003?
Along with everyone and their teeniebopper sister, the new AFI album, 'Sing the Sorrow,' out in March.
Whatever else you want the world to know:
umm...I love music - horror punk, psychobilly, rockabilly, early rock & roll, etc...

Ashley-Kiana:
Best album/cd of the Year:
Strung Out - An American Paradox
Best live show/concert of the Year:
Sinai Beach, Falling Cycle, The Beautiful Mistake at The Showcase.
Biggest musical surpise of the Year:
I like Tori Amos.
What you anticipate the most for 2003:
My Apartment.
What else you want the world to know:
Job opening, anyone? For me?

Brian Yaeger:
Best album/cd of the Year:
Corey Harris - Downhome Sophiscate
Best live show/concert of the Year:
Dakah @ California Plaza, Aug. 9 (70 pc. hip-hop orchestra instead of the usual 50 or so)
Biggest musical surpise of the Year:
I'm afraid I've been negligent about discovering new, live music. But at least I got to see Hot Hot Heat @ Spaceland before they signed.
What you anticipate the most for 2003:
Belligerent, conservative administrations always spark the best music movements, so without a doubt there'll be some good stuff coming out this year.
What else you want the world to know:
For any L.A. sports fans out there, although the Lakers are sucking, the Dodgers sucked (who knew winning the World Series would actually create Angels fans out of thin air, even in Anaheim), my UCLA Bruins are sucking, we still have no football team to suck, and you'd think this would be a wake-up call to realize we have a pro soccer team. Congrats to the LA Galaxy, MLS Cup champs in 2002!

Erik Jansen:
Best album/cd of the Year:
I'll give you my top 5 (ten was hard - there wasn't that much that I really liked)
a. One Man Army - Rumors and Headlines
b. The White Stripes - White Blood Cells
c. Tom Waits - Alice/Blood Money
d. Sleater Kinney - One Beat
e. The Distillers - Sing Sing Death House
Best live show/concert of the Year:
One Man Army and Flogging Molly at Canes in SD
Biggest musical surpise of the Year:
The Distillers - who would have thought....
What you anticipate the most for 2003:
The return of Social Distortion - wait... they were supposed to return last year, or was that the year before...
Whatever else you want the world to know:
I'm - that I sleep in the nude?

Jen Hanen:
Best album/cd of the Year:
The Distillers - Sing Sing Death House
Flogging Molly - Drunken Lullabies
Best live show/concert of the Year:
First best: Punks vs. Pyschos Show at the Palace, The Distillers stole the night. (Tiger who?)
Second Best: Manic Hispanic at the DIY Bowling Awards Party!
Biggest musical surpise of the Year:
Getting the new Amy Grant in the mail and liking it! The cd is all old time hymns done with spare instrumentation, and it is surprisingly wonderful!
What you anticipate the most for 2003:
June release of the next Dropkick Murphys album!!! ;oP
What else you want the world to know:
Need a web designer? Like the look of barflies.net? HIRE ME!!!

Karl Izumi:
Best album/cd of the Year:
The Hives - Veni-Vidi-Vicious
Best live show/concert of the Year:
I think it was early this year.. The Flipside show in LA. That one that had Circle jerks, Bad Religion, Agent Orange,etc..... .
Biggest musical surpise of the Year:
Joe Strummers Death?!?!?
What you anticipate the most for 2003:
Joe Strummer's unreleased recordings/CD go platinum!!
What else you want the world to know:
You will not,.... can not and absolutely shall not conquer me!!!! You are frigid & weak!! And I can & will conquer to destroy all that confront me!!!!!

Kevin Hillskemper:
Best album/cd of the Year:
Jerry Lewis - Just Sings. A buck at a yard sale.
Runner up - The Elephant Man Soundtrack.
Best live show/concert of the Year:
In-store appearance by Elvis Costello in Seattle.
Biggest musical surpise of the Year:
Getting an email from the singer of The All Sports
Band.
What you anticipate the most for 2003:
The unknown.
What else you want the world to know:
Vote Hall and Oates.

Lisa Johnson:
Best album/cd of the Year:
Just one? Dirty Vegas/The Used/Transplants
Best live show/concert of the Year:
Warped Tour, duh!
Biggest musical surpise of the Year:
Transplants
What you anticipate the most for 2003:
Bowling 69 in Vegas

Liz Croft:
Best album/cd of the Year:
Transplants
Best live show/concert of the Year:
Casey Sisters at Yesteryears in Pomona on Aug 17th
Biggest musical surpise of the Year:
Dawn Shapely and the SharpShooters
What you anticipate the most for 2003:
Just good music and fun

Skarlett:
Best album/cd of the Year:
Coldplay - A rush of blood to the head - Subtle brit-pop with wonderfully self exploring mopey lyrics. Great song writing, great storytelling, for once a great album that was recognized by the
mainstream.
Best live show/concert of the Year:
Warp II - Busta Rhymes, Blue Man Group, Digweed, Carl Cox, Moby, and David Bowie all on one bill
Busta Rhymes is amazing live. Few artists have conveyed and devoured audiance energy the way he did.
David Bowie is always amazing :)
Biggest surprise- Moby was not much live :(
I'm a HUGE fan of electronic music, and live electronica shows, I even count myself as a Moby fan. Moby fell severly short of anything I've ever seen. It felt like I was watching MTV-there was no change to the music to relay that any insturments were being played. It was like they put on a CD sampler of his music, hit "random" and he ran around the stage a few times. Quite quite
sad.
Pleasant Surprise - while in one of the DJ tents, the DJ-Digweed I think-came on and said he was ending his set a little early because he did not want to miss Bowie's set for a 2nd night in a row. Thank goodness he did, because the order and time of acts taking the stage was not posted anywhere for reference, and I'd have missed the act I paid all that cash for the tickets to see.
Biggest musical surpise of the Year:
Eminem-I thought his first album was great, his 2nd a desperate attempt to be offensive, and his latest a return to evolutionary hip hop
What you anticipate the most for 2003:
Iggy Pops next album expected in April-he's working with the original Stooges on this one, and as a group he and the Asheton brothers have not recorded together since Raw Power.

Wanda:
Best album/cd of the Year:
TIE:
Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter - Reckless Burning (Burn Burn Burn) and
Neko Case - Black Listed (Bloodshot)
Best live show/concert of the Year:
There were so many! My Top Three:
1. Throw Rag at Wade Lucas's wedding reception, April
2002
2. Meat Purveyors Reunion, Bloodshot Showcase, SxSW,
March 2002
3. Flogging Molly at the Warped Tour, July 2002
Biggest musical surpise of the Year:
CRAMPS shows - the first in a quite a while. All Good.
What you anticipate the most for 2003:
Great clothes in fun colors and retro everything.
Whatever else you want the world to know:
My hope is that new media like satellite radio and webstreaming in autos makes for more diversity and competition with more opportunities to get new music heard, rather than a proliferation of corporate redundance. It's time for the music industry to stop thinking about how much money they're losing and focus on quality product. They are losing money because their product sucks and everyone knows it. Let's get excited about music again.

Yvonne Cooprider:
Best album/cd of the Year:
Tie:
Janet Klein and her Parlor Boys "Put a Flavor to Love"
Queens of the Stone Age "Songs for the Deaf"
Best live show/concert of the Year:
Tony Bennett at the Hollywood Bowl
Biggest musical surpise of the Year:
The Dixie Chicks besting Eminem for top sales figures for a few weeks.
What you anticipate the most for 2003:
Is Jurassic 5 in the studio again yet? Pretty please?!
Whatever else you want the world to know:
Check out Medusa and Feline Science if you are into killer, high-energy hip hop, which just happens to be LA's premier female rapper and poetess.