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Best of 2002 [2002-01-18]So finally we decided to introduce ourselves to the Musique Machine readers. After more than 6 months, we found the guts to update this page. It's not totally original, we know that millions of other music sites do the same thing, but hey, it's always interesting to read, yes it's time for the year lists. Niels van Rongen [chief, design, webmaster, staff] Best of 2001 (in no order):
- Ulver - Perdition City
- Diabolical Masquerade - Death's Design
- Gorillaz - s/t
- Muse - Origin Of Symmetry
- Maudlin Of The Well - Leaving Your Body Map + Bath
- System Of A Down - Toxicity
- Tetzepi - Shu
- Múm - Yesterday was dramatic, today is ok
- Estradasphere - Buck Fever
- Enslaved - Monumension
- Devin Townsend - Terria
- Rotoscope - Great Curves
- Thorns - s/t
- Fantômas - The Director's Cut
- Borknagar - Empiricism
- Lovage - Music To Make Love To Your Old Lady By
- Amorphis - Am Universum
- Secret Chiefs 3 - Book M
- Tomahawk - s/t
- Katatonia - Last Fair Deal Gone Down
Best concerts of 2001:
I haven't been to many concerts this year, but there are two who will always be remembered by me. Fantômas and Devin Townsend on the Wâldrock festival. Fantômas played directly after a really, really boring black-metal band, so when they started their set I was blown away. Fantômas played the usuall set of soundtrack covers and tracks from their first album. Because of the unusual stage-display, with the drums on the left, electronics and vocals on the right and bass and guitar in the center of the stage the band could improvise, which was impressive. I also liked the way how Patton mocked with the metal imagery and how he handled some irritating black metal baboons, who kept shouting for Slayer (because of Dave Lombardo).
Devin Townsend played a lot of Strapping Young Lad material, I was a little bit dissapointed, since I was hoping for some of his mellower material, but what he did was really good. Everyone was blown away by his music. This guy gives everything in his performance and that's why I enjoyed the show immensely. Biggest dissapointment:
The way how some bands can react to reviews. On a childish level they tell you the site sucks, the review sucks and your music taste sucks. Yeah sure..
CD prices, do they really need to get even more expensive?
Tricky - Blowback, I think it's the worst cd I heard this year, what a dissapointment.
No new Portishead and Massive Attack albums.
The new Arcturus wasn't released this year, but I'm glad it will be next year (march/april).
Travoltas, see my first point. Comments:
This was a good music year for me. I got lot's of great new albums. Mike Patton released three albums this year and all three of them are really good. I hope he continues in the same line next year, when he is supposed to release his Peeping Tom album. Jester Records seems to be the new promise in (I hate the term, but this time I must use it) avant garde music. Ulver released one full lenght and then later this year 2 EP's which follow the same 'Perdition City' concept. Jester also gave us Rotoscope, a mix between John Zorn and Aphex Twin. It's not really easy to get into, but brilliant by the time you understand the album. My favourite Norwegian metal band Borknagar released Empiricism. Opinions are mixed with this release, but I find this their best sounding album. Great song structures and I love the progressive touch to it. And of course Devin Townsend released Terria, it's not as good as Ocean Machine or Infinity, but it still has the same quality which I just love. So, all in all a great year, also because I discovered Secret Chiefs 3 and Estradasphere, both are currently my favourite bands. Let's hope 2002 will have the same quality and talents as this year. Andreas Oelke [provider, programmer, staff] Best of 2001 (in no order):
- Mylene Farmer - Les mots
- Theatre of Tragedy - Assembly
- Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - No more shall we part
- Dornenreich - Her von Welken Nächten
- My Dying Bride - The Dreadful Hours
- Assemblage 23 - Failure
- Dido - No Angel
- Garbage - Beautifulgarbage
- Garmarna - Hildegard van Bingen
- Beangrowers - Beangrowers
Comments:
This wasn't the best year for me I guess. Lots of boring gothic metal and black metal releases and lots of disappointments from bands that used to be good (Moonspell, Emperor, Solefald, Summoning). I think I'm quite fed up with that by now. So I even had to stick to some good old pop music. Gladly I already got the promo for ToTs new album in the beginning of November, so this adds to my top list of 2001, even if the album isn't released before March 2002... ;-) Martijn Busink [staff] Best of 2001:
- Secret Chiefs 3 - Book M
- Stian Carstensen/Farmers Market - Farmers Market
- Anathema - A Fine Day To Exit
- Ulver - Perdition City: Music to an Interior Film
- Fantômas - The Director's Cut
- ARK - Burn The Sun
- Thorns - Thorns
- Buckethead - Somewhere Over The Slaughterhouse
- Estradasphere - Buck Fever
- John Zorn - Filmworks IX: Trembling Before G-d
- Emperor - Prometheus: The Discipline Of Fire & Demise
- Khanate - Khanate
- Wu-Tang Clan - Iron Flag
Best concerts of 2001:
The Haunted - Effenaar, Eindhoven
Anathema - Melkweg, Amsterdam
Farmers Market - Jazz In Duketown, 's-Hertogenbosch
Fantômas - Wâldrock, Bergum
Hedningarna - Tivoli, Utrecht
Medeski, Martin & Wood - BIM-huis, Amsterdam Non-musical highlights:
New job
New, fast computer Justin Faase [staff] Best of 2001:
- Ulver - Perdition City
- Origami Galaktika - Stjernevandring / Eesti Lilled Silmad Süda
- Estradasphere - Buck Fever
- Xploding Plastix - Amateur Girlfriends Go Proskirt Agents
- Secret Chiefs 3 - Book M
- Fantômas - The Director's Cut
- Puissance - Total Cleansing
- When - The Lobster Boys
- Emperor - Prometheus: The Discipline Of Fire & Demise
- Aphex Twin - Drukqs
Other artists that also deserve to be mentioned:
Opeth, Thorns, Nick Cave, Atomsmasher, Blood Axis & LJDLP (I haven't heard it at this point but I'm sure it would have made it to my top 10 list) Best concert 2001:
My Dying Bride, Peacefest, 3rd of March, Hof Ter Loo, Antwerp, Belgium Biggest Disappointment:
Death In June - All Pigs Must Die Year's Commentaries:
This year has been a great year for the music lover. A lot of great albums came out, in all kinds of different genres. In the metal genre for instance the "big" bands (Emperor, My Dying Bride, Anathema, etc.) came with new releases but the biggest surprises and best albums came from the smaller (read: less known) bands. But also in other genres things got really interesting in 2001. As I started writing for [Musique] Machine in June, things kind of exploded for me considering my musical taste. Mostly due to the other reviewers here, who I like to thank hereby for the great cooperation this year. There are no boundaries anymore to what genres I listen to and I think that's really good so we get a lot of varied reviews here. Let's hope 2002 is just as good as 2001, or even better! Aldo Quispel [staff] Best of 2001:
- Ambeon - Fate of a Dreamer
- Green Carnation - Light of Day, Day of Night
- Tori Amos - Strange Little Girls
- Shape of Despair - Angel of Distress
- VNV Nation - Genesis.2
- Katatonia - Last Fair Deal Gone Down
- Evoken - Qieutus
- Hierophant - The Weight of Winter
- Eria d'Or - The Black Well (a demo!)
- The Gathering - Downfall, the early years
Biggest musical disappointment of 2001:
Album delays of VNV Nation and Deinonychus. Biggest positive musical moment of 2001:
News of Candlemass reuniting with Messiah Marcolin for reunion gigs and a possible live album. Biggest musical surprise of 2001:
Green Carnation's absolutely stunning new album 'Light of Day, Day of Night' and seeing Sigur Ros on MTV. Best gig of 2001:
Probably My Dying Bride's performance at the Peacefest. All in all I found 2001 a weak year for gigs and hardly saw anything that caught my interest. Most undeserved overlooked album (incl. by me) of 2001:
Left Hand Solution - Light Shines Black 2001 was the best year for:
Funeral Doom (from Hierophant to Shape of Despair) and Doom-metal in general (from Khanate to Cathedral). All styles of Doom have had great releases and funeral doom really seems to have taken off! 2001 was the worst year for:
EBM and Electro in general. The Only full length that really caught my attention this year was L'Ame Immortelle's Dann habe ich umsonst gelebt'. This was mainly a year to stock up on older albums for me. Jacob Avlund [staff] Comments:
2001 has been an extremely hyped-about year. With new releases from practically every other interesting band in several of the genres favorized by Musique[Machine] (i.e. everything that is not directly mainstream), the expectations have naturally been sky-high. But while the number of releases has been overwhelmingly high, the quality has not always followed suit. Almost every album I anticipated this year has in some way been inferior to the band in question's earlier works or generally mediocre in some other way. Some of my ten favourites listed below suit this description, some don't; but these are the best of 2001 that I have listened to. There are a few albums that I would have liked to listen to before making this list, for example I have quite high expectations (once again) from the new albums from Green Carnation and Scholomance, but unfortunately I have not had the opportunity to experience these releases yet. Best of 2001: Neurosis - A Sun That Never Sets
Relapse Records' flagship Neurosis have turned softer on their latest album, but it's still the vast haunting psychological wastelands that are revealed when this CD is played. As always, Neurosis target straight at the subconscious, and although the effect is a tad diminished compared to earlier works' glory, this is still a prime example of innovative music. Ulver - Perdition City + Silence EP's
This has been quite a productive year for Kristoffer "Trickster G." Rygg's shape-changer Ulver. After several delays, the ground-breaking "Perdition City" was finally released, and this long wait was rewarded; A few months later, Rygg announced the release of some additional recordings under the name of "Silence Teaches You How To Sing". As with all other Ulver material, a companion piece of some kind was imminent, and out of nowhere (as usual) a twin EP surfaced with the title "Silencing The Singing". Ulver pushes the scene forward with seven-mile boots, and I can't wait to hear the next release - which is reported to be a re-recorded classical version of the 1996 grim black metal album "Nattens Madrigal". Tool - Lateralus
If the two years between Ulver's studio albums were a hard cookie to swallow, imagine how Tool fans felt about the five years wait after Tool's revelation "Ænima". The third full-length album was, although not as amazing as its predecessor, a phenomenon and well worth the praise it has received all across the globe. Tool is the only other band known to me that is able to tap at the listener's subconscious, and tracks like "The Patient", "Reflection" and "Disposition" remove any doubt about its potency from my mind. Thorns - Thorns
Although Snorre Ruch's debut split-CD with Emperor had left quite an impression on me, I somehow didn't have the high expectations for this release. However, it didn't take me a lot of time to realise that this album not only was one of its kind and a bull's eye from Moonfog's roster, but also that this is in no way a one-timer. I still put on this album and discover new things... and that is a huge part of my "powerful album"-definition. Sigh - Imaginary Sonicscapes
This was another album that took me completely by surprise. I don't have much experience with Sigh's former works, but I understand that this is quite different from what else they've done... and that is very understandable, because this is quite bloody different from everything else I've ever heard. I have no idea how this band changed from their corpsepainted graverobber-look into their current mushroom trip image, but I do know that this is more or less the only black metal album I have ever heard that puts me into a happy smily mood. I don't really have the space to describe my amazement upon this album, but one thing is sure: it certainly belongs in this list. Origami Galaktika - Stjernevandring / Eesti Lilled Silmad Süda
A part of the enigma that is the Origami collective spawned this artwork some months ago on a double CD. It's hardly music and should never be experienced in daylight, but is more than worth the effort for anyone who would put on this double disc at some time during the late hours. It requires a considerable amount of patience and calmness, but will in turn open the gate to a multitude of worlds for the listener that possesses these virtues. Solefald - Pills Against The Ageless Ills
My choice for September's album of the month, and with ample reason. Solefald incorporates more structure and clearsightedness than ever, without ever sacrificing the experimenting that has always been the driving force (and the attracting factor) behind the band. Cornelius and Lazare have hit the nail right-on, and I'm looking forward to the next release with lots of anticipation. A downright trump for Century Media. Maudlin Of The Well - Bath / Leaving Your Body Map
Although this double release has yet to take me by storm, this mixture between avantgardish distant rock and various aspects of death metal makes me more and more certain by the listen that I need to give it some more time. It has lots of potential, and is very innovative as well as inspiring. I know that I will be more and more fond of this release (I count both albums as one) as time goes by, and therefore I find it fitting in this list. Morgul - Sketch Of Supposed Murderer
Like most one-man projects, Morgul is also quite simple in musical structure. But this is in turn compensated for by the nerve in these songs. "Sketch Of Supposed Murderer" is loaded with raw power and creativity, reminding me of an extreme metal version of Projekt's in-house weirdo Voltaire, although not as outspoken in its madness. A very diverse and catchy album well worth the price. Emperor - Prometheus: The Discipline Of Fire And Demise
The praise has been all over the place about Emperor's alleged final album, named after the Greek titan that stole the secret of fire from the Gods - and is the personification of foresightedness. Composed entirely by mainman Ihsahn, this indicates where Emperor's weakness has been for years: the chaos that held the two earlier albums back is no longer present, but has been channeled into Samoth's new project Zyklon. Thus, Ihsahn's creativity is free to roam, making "Prometheus" a masterpiece and one of the absolute tops of this year. It does not possess the atmosphere of "In The Nightside Eclipse", but taking a realistic look on things, this album is as good as it could possibly be. A technical marvel and in fact almost flawless. As for live events, however, this year has been surprisingly bleak. Highlights would include Christian Death in the beginning of 2001, the Tool concert on Roskilde Festival, and Anathema a few weeks ago. I'll spare the details, but be sure to note that a concert with one of these bands in the future is higly recommendable on my behalf. Mikhail Capone [staff] Best of 2001:
- Naervaer - Skiftninger
- Estradasphere - Buck Fever
- Maudlin of the Well - Bath/Leaving you Body Map
- Katatonia - Last Fair Deal Gone Down
- Masada - Live at the Tonic 2001
- Dornenreich - Her Von Welken Natchen
- Devin Townsend - Terria
- Green Carnation - Light of Day, Day of Darkness
- Secret Chiefs 3 - Book M
- Fugazi - Argument
- Zimmers Hole - Legion of Flames
- Opeth - Blackwater Park
- Ulver - Perdition City
- Solefald - Pills Against the Ageless Ills
- Sigh - Imaginary Sonicscapes
Comments:
Overall very good year. I'll probably still be buying 2001 albums for a few years so this may not be my definitive list. I hope that 2002 will be as good. I think that the Naervaer album was released sometimes in 2000, but by the time I heard about it the year was already over, so I'll count it as a 2001 album (I hope no purists are shocked). Special mention:
The new A Silver Mt. Zion, the new Electric Hellfire Club (which isn't on my list because it's a 2002 album), Diabolical Masquerade - Death's Design, Sleepless - Winds Blow Higher. And an album that would have been at the top (or very close) of my list if it had been released this year: Bumblefoot - Uncool (it's 2000 but I only bought it this year).Niels van Rongen
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