Tanya Donelly's Beautysleep (CAD 2201) ranks amongst the very best of her records - a warm, richly textured and emotionally complex collection of songs, shot through with her trademark soaring melodies. The making of the album was interrupted by the birth of Tanya's daughter Gracie, but you'd be hard pressed to tell from the confident coherence of the finished article, which was extremely well received by the critics.
2002 also saw another welcome return - this time from Kim Deal. The Breeders - now comprising Kim and Kelley Deal together with Richard Presley (guitar), Jose Medeles (drums) and Mando Lopez (bass) - completed Title TK (CAD 2205) during the winter of 2001 / 2002, working with Steve Albini, who had also recorded Surfer Rosa and Pod. The album was another release with a lengthy gestation period - it was the first new record from Kim since The Amps album of 1995. The album was preceded by a 10" single - "Off You" (TAD 2203) - a song of intense and fragile beauty which set the tone for the sometimes dark, sometimes throwaway, but always compelling album that followed. Another single - the raucous bubblegum romp "Son Of Three" (AD 2213) - appeared later in the year.
Neil Halstead took a brief sabbatical from Mojave 3 to record a solo album called Sleeping On Roads (CAD 2202). The record combined Neil's exquisite, quasi-folk melodies with a more wide-ranging approach to production and instrumentation. Tracks like "Seasons" and "See You On Rooftops" added gentle motorik grooves to the mix, while elsewhere vibes, organ and an array of junkstore synthesizers fleshed out the songs with intriguing texture. A promo-only 12" featured remixes from Pedro, Fort Lauderdale and Broadway Project, while the Seasons EP (BAD 2212) was released to accompany a summer tour of the UK.
A new signing to 4AD was Sybarite , the recording name of Brooklyn-based composer Xian Hawkins. Xian had attracted 4AD's attention with the fluid melodies and deft production on display in his Music For A Film album, released by the Baltimore indie label Temporary Residence, and plans for a follow-release on 4AD quickly took shape. As track titles like "Renzo Piano" and "Unica Zurn" suggested, Nonument (CAD 2207) was inspired by architecture and modern art as it was by music - the album combined live instruments - acoustic guitars, strings, trumpet - with programmed parts to conjure a free-breathing, organic whole. "Scene Of The Crime" (BAD 2206) - a companion piece single which featured songs not available on the album - also made its appearance.
Piano Magic followed 2001's Son De Mar with Writers Without Homes (CAD 2209) - a record which, inspired by This Mortal Coil, featured an array of guest appearances. Simon Raymonde (Cocteau Twins), Paul Anderson (Tram), John Grant (The Czars) and Robert Johnstone (Life Without Buildings) all made contributions, but the real coup came when Glen Johnson coaxed Vashti Bunyan out of exile to make her first recording for nearly thirty years - she appears on the haunting "Crown Of The Lost".
His Name Is Alive delivered their final album for 4AD : Last Night (CAD 2210). The album continued Warn Defever's collaboration with Lovetta Pippen, but also offered a shift on tone, replacing the sparse, state-of-the-art production touches of Someday My Blues Will Cover The Earth with a liver, earthier feel. Some of Warn's most beloved influences - cosmic jazz, funk 45s, acoustic blues - shone through, and Lovetta's vocals were once more evocative and delivered straight from the heart. Simply, it was timeless, soulful music.
Sweet Ride (GAD 2211) was a compilation which gathered the pick of Belly's studio recordings together onto one CD.
Another new 4AD signing made their first appearance for the label before the year was out. The Mountain Goats - a vehicle for inspirational songwriter John Darnielle - had released a string of primitively-recorded records on various American indies, but repeated exposure to one of these (The Coroner's Gambit, released by Absolutely Kosher) convinced 4AD that access to a proper recording budget could work wonders. It took a while for the label to track The Mountain Goats down, though, and it was only a chance encounter with Darnielle's friend Jamie Tugwell, who worked at the Rough Trade record shop, that yielded the crucial email address. With the deal concluded, Darnielle repaired to Tarbox Road Studios in upstate New York with producer Tony Doogan and a band of collaborators including Peter Hughes (bass) and Franklin Bruno (guitar and piano) to make his first proper studio album. The first single to appear was See America Right (AD 2208) a furious cyclone of a song which took its musical inspiration from The Fall and its title from the motto of the Greyhound bus company.
A label compilation - Dr Tiger's Deathless Promise (TAD 2214) - rounded off the year by showcasing a small but perfectly formed selection of current and forthcoming projects.