Download This! (2002) – 40 to 21: almost there on my review of the year. I’ll say at this point that it’s been really great writing all this – and hopefully my enthusiasm will carry over to doing a bit more here and on the res[…]

The Church Of Me on Metal Box – this is COM at its absolute best, taking the usual ‘mumblemumbleclassicalbumofcourse’ line on PiL (why is it PiL rather than PIL btw?) and fleshing them out rather than taking them as read. You know i[…]

Music blogs are waking up from their Xmas/New Year slumbers. Current highlights…
– Simon Reynolds’ albums of the year including some rare affection for Britrap (!) and agreeable discussion of most other stuff.
– Marcello Carli[…]

TOM’S TOP TEN!
ABBA – Happy New Year
DIZZY RASCAL – I Luv U
PREFAB SPROUT – Nightingales
THE LIBERTINES – What A Waster
PAULINA RUBIO – Don’t Say Goodbye
AUTOBIANCHI – All Around (Everybody’s Kiss[…]

Watch This! (2002): Pete’s Top 40 films of 2002 – and there’s also the third part in my own 2002 retrospective up here!.[…]

Somewhat against my better judgement, this year I bowed to reader requests and ran an ILX Readers Poll. It turned out to be good fun, though I don’t agree with very many of the results. Here they are, anyway:
Records of the Year
Tracks Of The Y[…]

IT’S THE FREAKY TRIGGER CHRISTMAS JOKE!
Thanks to e-mail problems this could not appear before Christmas but at least we got it in before 12th Night eh? Based on a punchline by Pete Baran.
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It’s Christmas time, and U2 have lined up a ser[…]

101. THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS – ‘My Elastic Eye’: ‘It sounds exactly like an elastic eye!’ said Fred S. I scoffed, but you know what? – it does! Though maybe more a clockwork one – but the wobbly fuzz-bass still sounds like[…]

Interzone 2002
In 2002, nothing much happened. Again. Those fans and writers who like to plot pop history in eleven- or thirteen- or eight-year cycles were once more left looking like cultists, forever trudging up hills in search of an end of the wor[…]

Download This! (2002) – 80 to 61: hooray, back at home so part two of my end-of-year round-up can go up. Must dash, more soon.[…]