Best of 2002: Staff Picks

by WFUV Staff | 12/03/2002 | 1:57am

(Photo by Matheus Ferrero via Unsplash)

Top choices of the DJs and behind-the-scenes staffers.

Claudia Marshall

FUV Weekday Morning Host
My FUV FAVs for 2002:

James Taylor: October Road
Richard Julian: Good Life
Susan Werner: New Non-Fiction
Steve Earle: Jerusalem
Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Other Great picks:

Dayna Kurtz: Postcards from Downtown
Anders Osborne & Monk Boudreaux: Bury the Hatchett
NRBQ: Atsa My Band
Joan Osborne: How Sweet it Is
Linda Thompson: Fashionably Late
The Flatlanders: Now Again
Buddy Milller: Midnight and Lonesome
Cliff Eberhardt: School for Love
Duncan Sheik: Daylight
Jackson Browne: The Naked Ride Home
Chuck Prophet: No Other Love
Darden Smith: Sunflower
Maia Sharp: Maia Sharp
Neil Finn: One All
Mark Erelli: The Memorial Hall Recordings
Mark Olson and the Creek Dippers: December's Child
Todd Snider: New Connection
Nicolai Dunger: Soul Rush
Willy Porter: Willy Porter
Delbert McClinton: Room to Breathe
Los Fakires: Los Fakires

The best record I missed last year -

Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros: Global A Go-Go

Julianne Welby

News & Public Affairs Director/FUV Weekday Morning Host

Los Lobos: Good Morning Aztlan
Beck: Sea Change
Ryan Adams: Demolition
Tom Waits: Blood Money
Josh Rouse: Under Cold Blue Stars
Neil Finn: One All
Norah Jones: Come Away With Me
Badly Drawn Boy: About a Boy Soundtrack
White Stripes: White Blood Cells
Frank Black & the Catholics: Devil's Workshop

Darren DeVivo

FUV Weekday Host
In compiling this list, I found that the majority of the albums I enjoyed this year were virtually equal in quality, for one reason or another. For me, only two albums totally rose above the others. They were "Brainwashed" by George Harrison and "The Rising" by Bruce Springsteen. As a result, I present this list in alphabetical order. - DDD

...and, it may not be a full album, but it knocked me out...
King Crimson: Happy With What You Have To Be Happy With EP

The Bears: Live
Cornershop: Handcream For A Generation
Counting Crows: Hard Candy
Cousteau: Sirena
Sheryl Crow: C'mon C'mon
Joey DeFrancesco featuring Pat Martino, Gary Bartz, Papa John DeFrancesco: Ballads And Blues
Peter Gabriel: Up
George Harrison: Brainwashed
Richie Havens: Wishing Well
John Paul Jones: The Thunderthief
Diana Krall: Live In Paris
Tony Levin: Pieces Of The Sun
Tony Levin Band: Double Espresso (Two for the price of one!)
Los Lobos: Good Morning Aztlan
Branford Marsalis Quartet: Footsteps Of Our Fathers
Paul McCartney: Back In The U.S. Live 2002 (Included here for sentimental reasons.)
Brad Mehldau: Largo
Pat Metheny Group: Speaking Of Now
Moby: 18
Graham Nash: Songs For Survivors
Beth Orton: Daybreaker
Robert Plant: Dreamland
Pretenders: Loose Screw
Rush: Vapor Trails
Santana: Shaman (Included here for sentimental reasons. I hope the next album is a real Santana album without the guests.)
The John Scofield Band: Uberjam
Soulive: Next
Bruce Springsteen: The Rising
Starsailor: Love Is Here
Tom Waits: Alice
Tom Waits: Blood Money (Two for the price of one!)
Warren Zevon: My Ride's Here

Dennis Elsas

FUV Weekday Host
In alphabetical order:

Counting Crows: Hard Candy
Ben Folds: Live
Art Garfunkel w/ Maia Sharp & Buddy Mondlock: Everything Waits to Be Noticed
Patty Griffin: 1,000 Kisses
George Harrison: Brainwashed
Norah Jones: Come Away With Me
Josh Joplin Group: The Future That Was
Van Morrison: Down the Road
Beth Orton: Daybreaker
Joan Osborne: How Sweet It Is
Persuasions: Sing the Beatles
Tom Petty: The Last D.J.
Chuck Prophet: No Other Love
Robert Randolph & the Family Band: Live at the Wetlands
Bruce Springsteen: The Rising
Susan Tedeschi: Wait For Me
Peter Wolf: Sleepless

Corny O'Connell

FUV Weekday Host
In no particular order:

Beck: Sea Change
Joan Osborne: How Sweet It Is
Coldplay: A Rush of Blood to the Head
Gomez: In Our Gun
Patty Griffin: 1,000 Kisses
Norah Jones: Come Away with Me
Ryan Adams: Demolition
Angelique Kidjo: Black Ivory Soul
Mark Knopfler: The Ragpicker's Dream
Los Lobos: Good Morning Aztlan
Chuck Prophet: No Other Love
Bruce Springsteen: The Rising
Morcheeba: Charango
Susan Tedeschi: Wait For Me

Delphine Blue

FUV Weekday Host
The deeply contemplated year-end list of best music in 2002:

Top Ten LPs:

Elvis Costello: When I was Cruel
David Bowie: Heathen
Karl Denson's Tiny Universe: The Bridge
Dirty Vegas: Dirty Vegas
The White Stripes: Red Blood Cells
Cornershop: Handcream For A Generation
Sinead O'Connor: Sean Nos Nua
Radio Zumbido: Ultimos Dias Del Am
Mali Music: Mali Music
Gorillaz: G Sides

Top 5 Songs:

Elvis Costello: "45"
Tracy Chapman: "You're The One"
Johnny Cash: "Personal Jesus"
Elvis Costello: "Spooky Girlfriend"
Dirty Vegas: "Days Go By"

Rita Houston

Music Director/The Whole Wide World Host
Here's what made my ears happy, in no particular order:

Gomez: In Our Gun
Moby: 18
Beck: Sea Change
Norah Jones: Come Away With Me
Nicolai Dunger: Soul Rush
Badly Drawn Boy: About A Boy and Have You Fed the Fish (2 releases this year/tie)
David Gray: A New Day at Midnight
Joan Osborne: How Sweet It Is
Citizen Cope: Citizen Cope
Thievery Corporation: The Richest Man in Babylon
Elvis Costello: When I Was Cruel and the Imperial Bedroom reissue w/bonus disc
Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Pete Fornatale

Mixed Bag Host

Garfunkel/Sharp/Mondlock: Everything Waits To Be Noticed
David Gray: A New Day At Midnight
Norah Jones: Come Away With Me
Josh Joplin: The Future That Was
Van Morrison: Down the Road
Tom Petty: The Last DJ
Kenny Rankin: A Song For You
Phil Roy: Issues and Options
Bruce Springsteen: The Rising
James Taylor: October Road

Thanks to all the "amazing" people who helped me discover this music and compile this list!

Vin Scelsa

Idiot's Delight Host
In alphabetical order:

It's always difficult to put together lists like this. And to limit one's selections to a finite number - 10 or 20, say - is near impossible. I can't do it. So... in alphabetical order, these are some of the recordings which came out in 2002 that I believe I'll be listening to as the years conspire to bury them under the neverending cultural deluge. In any flood, I do believe that these will float.

Ryan Adams: Demolition
Marcelo Alvarez: Alvarez Sings Gardel
Emanuel Ax & Yefim Bronfman: Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances And Suites For 2 Pianos
Frank Black & The Catholics: Black Letter Days / Devil's Workshop
Jon Brion: Punch-Drunk Love (original score and soundtrack)
Laura Cantrell: When The Roses Bloom Again
Chumbawamba: Readymades
Tom Clark & The High Action Boys: Cross Eyed And Bow Legged
John Coltrane: A Love Supreme (deluxe edition)
Elvis Costello: When I Was Cruel
Elvis Costello & The Imposters: Cruel Smile
John Cunningham: Happy-Go-Unlucky
The Delgados: Hate
Art Garfunkel: Everything Waits To Be Noticed
Philip Glass: The Hours: Music From The Film
Glenn Gould: A State Of Wonder: The Complete Goldberg Variations 1955 & 1981
Robyn Hitchcock: Robyn Sings (Dylan)
John Train: Looks Like Up
Norah Jones: Come Away With Me
Dayna Kurtz: Postcards From Downtown
Salvatore Licitra: The Debut
Nils Lofgren: Breakaway Angel
Aimee Mann: Lost In Space
Rebecca Martin: Middlehope
Joni Mitchell: Travelogue
Mary Lorson & Saint Low: Tricks For Dawn
Luna: Romantica
Eleni Mandell: Snakebite
Mary Lee's Corvette: Blood On The Tracks
Marc Olson & The Creekdippers: December's Child
Laura Nyro: Live: The Loom's Desire
Beth Orton: Daybreaker
Joey Ramone: Don't Worry About Me
Josh Rouse: Under Cold Blue Stars
Kevin Salem: Ecstatic
Seanchai & The Unity Squad: I "Shamrock" New York
Ron Sexsmith: Cobblestone Runway
John Sinclair: Fattening Frogs For Snakes
Slobberbone: Slippage
Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes: Going To Jukesville
Tom Waits: Alice / Blood Money

...plus dozens and dozens of great instrumental jazz recordings from the mid-50s/early 60s

Since I talk about books a lot on Idiot's Delight I'd like to mention my most rewarding 2002 fiction reads -- the kind of novels one can sink into... and become part of another (richly observed) world of believable people, places, emotions, conflicts and dreams...

Paul Auster: The Book Of Illusions
Mark Costello: Big If
Jeffrey Eugenides: Middlesex
Jonathan Safran Foer: Everything Is Illuminated
Ian McEwan: Atonement
Rohinton Mistry: Family Matters
Arthur Phillips: Prague
Gary Shteyngart: The Russian Debutante's Handbook
Zadie Smith: The Autograph Man
Bruce Wagner: I'll Let You Go
Tim Winton: Dirt Music

Lists finalized 11/17/02, in the optimistic hope that several more wonderful works will appear in the world between now and 12/31/02...

John Platt

Development and Marketing Director/Sunday Breakfast Host

Is it just me or was it a particularly bountiful year for new CDs? Here are the ones that meant the most to me:

Norah Jones: Come Away with Me (Blue Note)
So young and yet a talent for the ages.
Joan Osborne: How Sweet It Is (Compendia)
Her amazing voice finds the heart and soul of 12 classic songs.
Suzzy & Maggie Roche: Zero Church (Red House)
Musical prayers at a time we can really use them.
(tie) Bruce Springsteen: The Rising (Columbia)
Steve Earle: Jerusalem (Artemis/E-Squared)
Two very different takes on the world post-9/11.
Bobby McFerrin: Beyond Words (Blue Note)
Bobby uses that magnificent instrument, his voice, to collaborate with Chick Corea and others.
Mary Gauthier: Filth and Fire (Signature Sounds)
If Woody Guthrie wrote with Tom Waits, these might be the songs you'd get.
Elvis Costello: When I Was Cruel (Island)
Just in case you thought he was getting too mellow...
Cassandra Wilson: Belly of the Sun (Blue Note)
A singer equally at home with Bob Dylan, the blues, and Brazil.
(tie) Jackson Browne: The Naked Ride Home (Elektra)
James Taylor: October Road (Columbia)
Two old pros who still have what it takes.
Little Toby Walker: Cool Hand (littletobywalker.com)
A phenomenal guitarist and storyteller from Long Island who won the 2002 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, but remains largely unknown in his own backyard.

Honorable mention: Ryan Adams, Blind Boys of Alabama, Greg Brown, Tracy Chapman, Mark Erelli, Indigo Girls, Jorma Kaukonen, The Kennedys, Phil Roy, Michelle Shocked, Linda Thompson, Susan Werner

Russ Borris

Assistant Music Director

Peter Gabriel: Up (Real World/Geffen)
Beck: Sea Change (DGC)
Andy Stochansky: Five Star Motel (RCAVictor)
Citizen Cope: Citizen Cope (Dreamworks)
Solomon Burke: Don't Give Up on Me (Fat Possum)
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers: The Last DJ (WB)
Joseph Arthur: Redemption's Son (Real World/Enjoy/Universal)
Ramsay Midwood: Shoot Out at the OK Chinese Restaurant (Vanguard)
Elvis Costello: When I Was Cruel (Island)
Gomez: In Our Gun (Virgin)

Ceol na nGael

Celtic Sunday afternoons with Deirdre McGuinness and Liz Noonan, 1-4pm
In no particular order:

Saw Doctors: Villains
The Chieftains: The Wide World Over
Solas: The Edge of Silence
Niamh Parsons: Heart's Desire
Rig the Jig: Stormy Brew
Danny Quinn: Vacant Chair
Shilelagh Law: Together in the End
Liz Carroll: Lake Effect
Winfred Horan: Just One Wish
The McCabes: Whatever Makes You Tick

Kathleen Biggins

A Thousand Welcomes - Celtic Saturday mornings, 9am-Noon
In alphabetical order:

Altan: The Blue Idol (Virgin)
Bohola: Bohola (Shanachie)
Paul Brady: The Liberty Tapes (Compass)
Liz Carroll: Lake Effect (Green Linnet)
Brian Conway: First Through the Gate (Smithsonian Folkways)
Liz and Yvonne Kane: The Well-Tempered Bow (Dawros)
Alan and John Kelly: Fourmilehouse (Compass)
Niamh Parsons: Heart's Desire (Green Linnet)
Mary Rafferty: Hand Me Downs (Larraga)
Niall and Cillian Vallely: Callan Bridge (Compass)

Others definitely worth mentioning:

Ronan Browne & Peter O'Loughlin: Touch Me if you Dare (Claddagh)
Maeve Donnelly: Maeve Donnelly (ind.)
Tony McManus: Ceol More (Compass)
Marie & Martin Reilly: Marie & Martin Reilly (ind.)
Mick Moloney: Far From the Shamrock Shore (Shanachie)

Janeen Shaitelman

Promotions Director
In alphabetical order:

The Blind Boys of Alabama: Higher Ground
Coldplay: A Rush Of Blood To The Head
Elvis Costello: When I Was Cruel
Art Garfunkel w/ Maia Sharp & Buddy Mondlock: Everything Waits To Be Noticed
David Gray: A New Day At Midnight
Norah Jones: Come Away With Me
Jorma Kaukonen: Blue Country Heart
Los Lobos: Good Morning Aztlan
Joan Osborne: How Sweet It Is
Van Morrison: Down The Road

Karin Williams

Membership Director

Joan Osborne: How Sweet It Is
Norah Jones: Come Away With Me
Angelique Kidjo: Black Ivory Soul
Ed Harcourt: Here Be Monsters
Gomez: In Our Gun
Indigo Girls: Become You
Various: 1 Giant Leap (DVD & CD)
Jorma Kaukonen: Blue Country Heart
David Gray: A New Day At Midnight
Elvis Costello: When I Was Cruel
Beck: Sea Change

Honorable mentions... These amaze me:

Cassandra Wilson: Belly of the Sun
Citizen Cope: Citizen Cope
Kenny Rankin: A Song for You
Kinky: Kinky
Medeski, Martin & Wood: Uninvisible
Speech: Spiritual People

Laura Fedele

Web Site Director

The undisputed kings of my CD player:

Gomez: In Our Gun
Citizen Cope: Citizen Cope

What great songs!

Patty Griffin: 1,000 Kisses
Indigo Girls: Become You

Better heard horizontal:

Norah Jones: Come Away With Me
Badly Drawn Boy: About a Boy
Beck: Sea Change

Turn 'em up!

Joan Osborne: How Sweet It Is
Los Lobos: Good Morning Aztlan
Various: 1 Giant Leap

Lottie Leymarie

Music Manager
In no fancy order!

Beck: Sea Change
Flaming Lips: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
Andy Stochansky: Five Star Motel
Badly Drawn Boy: About a Boy Soundtrack
Beth Orton: Daybreaker
Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Ben Folds: Live
Tori Amos: Scarlett's Walk
Ed Harcourt: Here Be Monsters
Susan Tedeschi: Wait For Me

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Tags: #Best of the Year Lists