In random order, here are the best records we listened to in the past twelve months. The usual caveats and quirks apply; no one, not even professional writers (never mind us music fans), hear everything in a given year, and most of these records were released in 2012, but a few weren’t (we just heard them for the first time this year).
Most of these albums are available to stream, in full, from grooveshark.com.
Real Estate, “Days” – I hadn’t heard the buzz about their debut, so the hype around “Days” was new for me. This album is catchy, gentle, reverby, jangly, and very cohesive. It’s hard not to feel at least a little blissful when listening to this record. When I press “play,” my ears feel floaty content like they just got their wisdom teeth out and they’re taking hydrocodone. Like the first Fleet Foxes record, it takes multiple listens to be able to tell the songs apart, but it’s well worth it. -C
Deftones, “Koi No Yokan” – When “Be Quiet And Drive (Far Away)” broke in 1998, what were the odds that Deftones would release a near-perfect record in 2012? Heavily against, I’m sure, but the band crushed them. The album is an organic synthesis of all of the disparate envelopes they’ve pushed over the years, and it finds a few new edges, too. -h
Purity Ring, “Shrines” – It exhibits the EDM-influenced production of 2012, but like Peter Gabriel’s “So,” I expect that in 20 years it will be one of the records from this era that still sounds incredible, due to the strength of its songs. It didn’t grab me at first listen, but it haunted me for months, becoming one of my favorites of the year. -h
Com Truise, “In Decay” – In keeping up with my trend of getting into genres of music two years after they’ve peaked, I love this chill-wave record (thanks, Jesse Hodges!). Picture a mustachioed man windsurfing in SoCal. The year is 1984. He’s got short-shorts and a neon windbreaker on; he is confident. The sunset behind him is a dark orange and pink. This record is that in music-form. -C
Dark Satellites, “2012 Are Here” – This is a one-man amalgamation of all of Drew’s influences (I’m thinking Sabbath, No Age, MC5) made into a pizza with Drew’s unique interpretations and solos as the toppings. It’s fuzzy, it’s catchy, it’s repeatable, and… heart-warming? Also, he’s a really good drummer/singer. Unfair! -C
The Mynabirds, “Generals” – “What We Lose…” was a retro soul-love record, and “Generals” is a feminist humanitarian dance-banger. “Body of Work” will simultaneously make you want to write your senator a letter and grind all up on your shorty. Plus, it was on Grey’s Anatomy. Not that I watch that show or anything. -C
Aesop Rock, “Skelethon” – I’ve seen too many year-end lists that included El-P’s and P.O.S.’ (very fine) albums, without naming “Skelethon.” It is the boldest musical
statement I heard in 2012, and it absolutely bangs, to boot. -h
Killer Mike, “R.A.P. Music” – Mike and El-P are untouchably at the top of the game – not their game, The Game – on this record. Mike follows the template of a hip-hop classic with a mix of bangers, storytelling, boasting, and sheer verbal density, but also brings a righteous fury and a brave vulnerability to his on-mic presence that transcend genre; 100% street, 100% art. -h
Flobots, “The Circle in the Square” – Every record of theirs is undeniably Flobots, but they’re all wildly different. Their last LP, “Survival Story,” was almost like an avant-garde art project based loosely around hip-hop. “The Circle…” is more reigned in and has some of the greatest hooks they’ve written to date (“The Rose and the Thistle,” “Wrestling Israel”). -C
Mobb Deep, “The Infamous” – A stone classic that escaped me until 2012, this is dark New York boom-bap at its enveloping, monolithic finest. While its reputation is impeccable, it may not get the exposure it deserves; it’s the kind of record that, when I heard it, made me wonder why older heads had never sat me down and said “You *have* to listen to this right now!” like might happen with “Illmatic” or “Enter the Wu-Tang.” -h
Beastie Boys, “Check Your Head” and “Ill Communication” – Fifteen years too late, I’m into the Beastie Boys; san kofa, I suppose. If you don’t love them yet, pick up one of these, and start, like I did. I still haven’t found a physical environment or emotional state in which these records don’t sound great and speak to me, picking me up no matter where I start from. -h
Pallbearer, “Sorrow and Extinction” – The darkness found itself in me, and somehow with its deadly tone, paradoxically soaring/crushing riffs, and brief moments of vulnerability, made me feel accepted. -h
Liars, “WIXIW” – The band dress up their minimal, brutal art-rock in synth-pop clothes, yielding a casually enjoyable (?!?) Liars record with plenty to dig into on closer listens. It’s probably not the Liars album anyone expected or knew we’d want, but my guess is that after hearing whatever they do next, it will turn out to be one we needed. -h
Nada Surf, “The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy” – While my favorite Nada Surf records are from around 10 years ago, they are incapable of putting out a bad (or even iffy) album. As always, it’s great power-pop, but is almost a punk record, especially compared to their last two. “Clear Eye Clouded Mind” is my favorite; they always seem to put their best tracks first. -C
Bloody Knives, “Disappear,” “Burn It All Down,” and “EP” – Mars Lights played with the Knives, and their destructively moody set (two of the three members broke gear on stage) sent me straight to their Bandcamp page for everything they’d done. I’m still getting into this year’s “blood,” but 2011’s “Disappear” and the rest of their releases have been spinning steadily in my house. -h
Japandroids, “Celebration Rock” – Two dudes, guitars and drums, still sounding fresh and up for banging out punk-meets-classic-rock sing-a-longs in some stupid club in some stupid place on a weeknight. -h
Best Coast, “The Only Place” – Sounds similar to their debut (“Crazy For You”) in tones and themes, but with better production (that’s good or bad, depending on what you’re after). Also, Beth’s voice sounds better, like she’s got more confidence or talent and she wants to really belt it out. Maybe it’s just higher up in the mix. This could be the album that segues Best Coast into pop radio. -C
Divine Fits, “A Thing Called Divine Fits” – Better than the last Spoon record, Britt’s influence makes the Wolf Parade guy’s voice tolerable, and in fact, even enjoyable. It sounds like both bands at once, weirdly enough, but it remains totally cohesive. I love “Would That Not Be Nice” and “My Love Is Real,” two very different songs that mesh well. -C
Torche, “Harmonicraft” – In a nearby branch universe, these are rock radio hits. Torche are the Rex Burkhead of music; tough, nimble, flashy, straightforward, angry, and generous, each in turn, as-needed, sometimes one after the other or even, paradoxically, simultaneously. -h
Honorable mention:
Esperanza Spalding, Radio Music Society
Beach House, Bloom
Frankie Rose, Interstellar
Dirty Projectors, Swing Low Magellan
Craig Finn, Clear Heart Full Eyes
Big K.R.I.T., 4Eva N A Day and Live From The Underground
Indian Handcrafts, Civil Disobedience For Losers
Still excited to check out:
Bat For Lashes, The Haunted Man
Jessie Ware, Devotion
Tame Impala, Lonerism
Pilgrim, Misery Wizard
The xx, Coexist
Looking forward to in 2013:
Jim James, Regions of Light and Sound of God
UUVVWWZ, The Trusted Language
Ladyfinger, Errant Forms
