Greetings good readers... 2001 is coming to a end.....quick. Tonight's show was dedicated to the music of this ending year. I can't hear every release, and I certainly can't play it all, but here are some of the best stuff I heard in this odyssey of a year. Music For Listeners 12/29/01 The best releases from 2001. 1)Spiritualized-"On Fire" From the CD 'Let it All Come Down'. 2)Mercury Rev-"Chains" From the CD 'All is Dream'. 3)Built to Spill-"In Your Mind" From the CD 'Ancient Melodies of the Future'. 4)Embrace-"Wonder" From the CD 'If You've Never Been'. 5)Electric Light Orchestra-"Stranger on a Quiet Street" From the CD 'Zoom'. 6)The Dining Rooms-"Numero Deux" From the CD 'Numero Deux'. 7)The Murder City Devils-"Midnight Service at the Mutter Museum" From "'Thelma E.P". The last release for this band under this name it seems. 8)The Charlatans-"Judas" From the CD 'Wonderland'. 9)R.E.M.-"She Just Wants to Be" From the CD 'Reveal'. 10)Idlewild-"Let Me Sleep (Next to your Mirror)" From the CD '100 Broken Windows'. Put out in the UK in late 2000...came out here in the states in March of this year. One of the most overlooked "best" albums of the year. It was getting good press, then it dropped out of sight. 11)Orbital-"Shadows" From the CD 'The Altogether'. 12)The Beta Band-"Human Being" From the CD 'Hot Shots II'. 13)The Strokes-"Is This It?" & "Barely Legal" From their excellent debut CD 'Is This It?' Most likely the best new band of the year. 14)DJ Logic-"Michelle" From the CD 'The Anomaly'. 15)The White Stripes-"Hotel Yorba" From the CD 'White Blood Cells'. 16)Creeper Lagoon-"Chance of a Lifetime" From the CD 'Take Back the Universe, and Give Me Yesterday'. 17)James-"Senorita" From the CD 'Pleased to Meet You'. 18)Ben Folds-"Rockin' the Suburbs" From the CD 'Rockin' the Suburbs'. 19)Spoon-"Fitted Shirt" From the CD 'Girls Can Tell'. 20)Luna-"23 Minutes in Brussels (Live)" From the CD 'Live'. 21)Air-"How Does it Make you Feel?" From the CD '10,000 Hz Legend'. 22)Chomsky-"Gravitate" & "Inside" From the CD 'Onward Quirky Solders'. This album and the Ben Folds CD 'Rockin' The Suburbs' happened to end up in a tie for the best album of the year. Go get either of them...you will not be unhappy. 23)Aphex Twin-"Vordhosbn" From the CD 'Drukqs'. 24)Low-"Sunflower" From the CD 'Things we Lost in the Fire'. 25)Radiohead-"You and Whose Army" From the CD 'Amnesiac'. Best concert of the year, period. (....that I saw anyway) 26)"The 3 A.M. Recording" It's not the best album of the year, but for me, it was one of the most awaited albums of the year. I am certainly comparing this latest CD to earlier releases because this is by far not their best album. However, this CD's content doesn't give any reason for me to turn a blind eye to it. Last week I listened to this album all the way through for the first time in months, and it was time well spent. I will admit, when this CD came out in March I seemed very devil-may-care about the contents, (Having a downloaded version of it for 5 months prior may have has something to do with that too.), but now after it has aged a bit, it still has so much to offer to even a huge "old school" fan like me. A change in direction with much more in the lyric department than previous albums, but the melodies are just as abundant as the earlier efforts. Their signature grooves and silly samples still run a plenty as well. It certainly has some things missing, mainly co-writers and performers from earlier recordings, but it's still a great piece of work. Looking back on my list of albums that I've played for the 3 A.M. recording, this is the third full length that I've featured from this band. So I guess you could say that they will never fail to amuse and delight my musical senses. Again....for those new to the Orb, think Pink Floyd with a dance beat, and you're close, but not close enough. Tonight I am featuring the Orb's 2001 release 'Cydonia' all the way through. Of course....props to Orbgirl on this one. She's the biggest Orb fan I know...including me. "This is your wonder drug." Peace, hugs and may your 2002 be a bit brighter than your 2001. Michael This show was recorded for your future listening pleasure. Show note: I couldn't find my copy of 'No More Shall We Part' by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. I also couldn't find The Shins CD either. They both should have been represented on this show, as they were two great albums from the year 2001. listen in live 1:05 AM-4:00 AM Friday Night/Saturday mornings in San Antonio FM 91.7 or world wide at www.krtu.org Music For Listeners web-site: http://hometown.aol.com/orbfile23/myhomepage/index.html Mpeg3 of the week site: http://home.satx.rr.com/music4listeners/Mpeg3%20of%20the%20week/