albums of 2012 - 2. Flying Lotus - Until The Quiet Comes

2. FLYING LOTUS - UNTIL THE QUIET COMES

Listening to this shit right now at the time of writing and it's an electronic wonder / wondress. I say this because this album has masculine beats at times and femine beats. If you're queer, then you'll probably say "get born you bent dickhead". True, true. I catch ya drift.

Female presence has a say here on the vocalists like Erykah Badu. Today I had 2 blog post complaints and one letter in the post to my address - not sure how she got it - about how racist I am. Give me a break chuck.

Flying Lotus hails from a city in America named Los Angleles. I like this. It's not hip-hop. It's electronic. Aubrey Ford was right. Bam. Again I lose Sam.

albums of 2012 - 3. Tame Impala - Lonerism

3. TAME IMPALA - LONERISM

"I just don't know how to feel right / beautiful girls wasting my life" is tantamount to how this album sounds. It's so insecure and so confident at the same time. Tons of effects-pedals, feedback, punchy riffs and slow build-ups both-all. It's old and new. It's gonna shape-up as one of the best records of the decade. It reflects a lot of the things I think about - insecurity, women, hedonism - we're down.

People sometimes say "on a different day my list would be different" but I have had 2 years to digest 2012 now and I've made my mind up.  I know I flutter around like a hungry caterpillar but, hey, I'm sorry.

Tame Impala come from Australia and I'm ready for all their next glorious shit in holy technicolor all over again.

albums of 2012 - 4. Grizzly Bear - Shields

4. GRIZZLY BEAR - SHIELDS
 Album number 4 for 'the bear' and this songwriting got so refined that the richness and eloquence radiated everywhere. The sheer quality of playing here stands up to any band on the planet. At the time of writing, it's been a few months since I listened to this but closer "Sun In Your Eyes" is a perfect illustrator as to how some of the dusky parts can be manipulated later with glisten shining through.

New Yorl City has an extremely special place in my heart and bands like The National, The Strokes, TV on the Radio, Dirty Projectors and Grizzly Bear show how perhaps it has been the best city in the world for indie music over the last few years. Oh yeah, I shouldn't discount Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Man, grab this motherfucker - it's worth your time.

albums of 2012 - 5. Perfume Genius - Put Your Back N 2 It

5. PERFUME GENIUS - PUT YOUR BACK N 2 IT 

Doing the annual visit back to the UK always yields interesting opportunities and for me, in 2012, I grabbed the chance to see this band live with both hands. What resulted was one of the tenderest performances I have ever seen. The voice is tender and wobbly and times, but soars at others.

The closest point of comparison I can give for Seattle's Perfume Genius would be Bright Eyes or Phil Collins - there is a certainly an 80's feel to this sophomore outing- but all in all, it seems that Mike Hadreas and his boyfriend managed to lay down they own ethereal concoction that evolved the sound and the overall quality. Perfume genius; it's impossible to forget the name and the music for shizzle, though the name of the album title is somewhat misleading, especially when this is music for softies!!!

Albums of 2012 - 6. Land Observations - Roman Roads - iv - xi

6. LAND OBSERVATIONS - ROMAN ROADS IV - XI 

These instrumental guitar tracks have a digital feel to them, even though of course they are recorded analogue style. They certainly have an electronic mimicry in the way that the guitar licks envelope and unfold carefully, highlighting the idea of planning and construction that is clearly the motif in the albums title.

I'm a huge fan of this chiming guitar sound, as put forth by musicians like Mark McGuire and Dustin Wong. Now, we can add James Brooks to that canon. This sterling work deserves more exposure and let's hope his next offering fleshes out even more in terms of  length of output and reputation.

Albums of 2012 - 7. Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan

7. DIRTY PROJECTORS - SWING LO MAGELLAN

Albums that polarize opinion are cool in my book. I saw this band in Brighton in 2009 at the time of Bitte Orca and they blew my mind with the sheer bend on the guitar and the vocals of Amber and Haley. It's like when mermaids cry. Massively otherworldly.

David Longstreth is cool too. pPople will say it's his band but oh! you can hear! ideas! Others' ideas heres too. David, Amber and Haley, oh how I idolize you. What are you? You must be from NYC? Hey peeps! Classic songwrting with an avant-spin for a dickhead that wants something different.

Albums of 2012 - 8. Burial - Kindred

8. BURIAL - KINDRED

I know that it might not be an album but I have to ben the rules for this list. It's my list anyway. Call it an EP technically but it's longer than some albums so fuck it. "Untrue" was one of the best albums last decade and Burial has come through in spectacular fashion, releasing a string of these EP's, though there was a four year wait.

When the quality is this high though, he can be forgiven for sure. I hate saying it's the sound of London. It's the sound of urban sprawl and travelling to work in the rain. Itis grainy and there are imperfections running through it. Not everything that Will Bevan touches is perfect - this guy was anonymous for a few years - but for me the quality rarely dips. Call it dub; call me a thug; I hate to categorize it.

Albums of 2012 - 9. Neneh Cherry & The Thing - The Cherry Thing

9. NENEH CHERRY & THE THING - THE CHERRY THING

There are so many styles of jazz, sometimes lilting and somethimes thundering, packed into this collaborative effort between soul/pop legend Neneh Cherry and Scandinavian improv jazz band The Thing.

The best thing here was that it came as a complete surprise, felt like it came from the vaults, even though it was contemporary. There have not been many jazz albums on my lists over the years, but I hope this will provoke a bit more movement in that genre, around these parts, in this bolognaise.

Albums of 2012 - 10. Action Bronson - Blue Chips

10. ACTION BRONSON - BLUE CHIPS

I don't care what anybody says. This man stole Ghostface Killah's voice. Hardly matters though. Action Bronson truly delivered with this mix-tape after pairing up with shit-hot producer Party Supplies.

The witty wordplay discusses food,(after all, Bronson is a chef) women and of course Bronson himself. This man is arrogant and self-deprecating. He's witty where Kanye is boring. Bronson is captivating where Kanye is overwleming and finally he's vital where Kanye is insultingly shocking.

Albums of 2012 - 11. Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory

11. CLOUD NOTHINGS - ATTACK ON MEMORY 

Where I come from, if you like screams in your music you'd be called a "mosher." I have never been one of those but this album may change that. We have eight tracks here that are fuzzy, scuzzy that are perfect to fall into.

"Fall In" for example is a jolly good example of an upbeat number that would perhaps even get this writer in a mosh-pit.  However it's not really representative of the overall sentiment on display here, and that is self-hatred, self-disgust and the like. The epic, epic "Wasted Days" displays the amazing line "I thought I would be more than this" as Dylan Baldi wails over and over again.

Steve Albini produced this album and the sound opus he has made is magnificent. I hope he works with the band again to make such colossal music.

Albums of 2012 - 12. The xx - Coexist

12. THE XX - COEXIST

Following up a debut classic album is a tall order for sure and these Londoners didn't disappoint with this stellar sophomore outing. The distance and space created by the separation anxiety that the characters are feeling is utilized so well by Jamie xx's production and the to-die-for vocals of Romy and Oliver.

The xx may be icy, but they pack a lot of soul into their music. The way the band evolved and honed their strengths, rather than throw the kitchen-sink at the creative process is admirable as fuck. This long player has the longevity of an age and that's to be toasted.

13. Cate Le Bon - Cyrk

13. CATE LE BON - CYRK

At the time of typing -2013- looking back - it's hard- this is great- it's folky - the Super Furry Animals reccommended it - she's amazing - she uses beautiful percussion - her voice is lovely- she uses mashed up ideas - she brings it!

Those hyhens are hypens of guilt. I'm trapping my lips together and eating humble pie when I listen to this. Beautiful record. Welsh Carribbean. This should be in the top 10. Such a good year for music.

Albums of 2012 - 14. Actress- R.I.P.

14. ACTRESS - R.I.P.

This one is a soundscape. You can't, um, you can't just like, um, i-phone the tracks. Just used i-phone as a verb. The reason I talk this shit in this paragraph is because this song reminds me of the digital revolution we live in.

Aight, so this thing is about 22 tracks and bleeps and clicks and whooshes. It's micro. Don't like genres? You'll be alright. Just click it. Just do it you bell-end! You wanna fight me? Fuck off. I know some crazy bouncers you cunt-wolf!

Albums of 2012 - 15. Sun Kil Moon - Among the Leaves

15. SUN KIL MOON - AMONG THE LEAVES
Mark Kozelek used to be in Red House Painters, a folk band created in 1989. I know of the name but have never checked out their back catalogue. Instead I got into Kozelek a bit late, very late through his Sun Kil Moon project after stereogum.com praised this album.

This shit's lovely. It's a biggie of 17 songs and he sings about his cats, his old tours, England sucking, getting in through the door and having backache. It's a songwriters album about songwriting. When I listen to it, I smell the seasons. It's comforting without being dull, spellbinding without being fantastical. The instrumentation is stellar. Listen to it, he's a legend and not a bell-end.

Albums of 2012 - 16. - John Talbot - fIN

16. JOHN TALABOT - FIN

This guy is based in Barcelona and this debut electronic album is all over the shop. All over the house. Take "Oro y Sangre" for example, the screams are there; it's sinister haunted-house for halloween. The Balearic feel to opener "Depak Ine" is very different. Talbot follows the Animal Collective inspiration of sampling crickets and brings beanbag-house for starry nights.

Other standouts include rhe old-school style of "When the Past was Present" and the scuba-deep "Missing You." The commendable thing here is that the styles don't jar; they gel. They don't stutter or splutter; the melt together like butter. John Talbot has the potential to become one of the best electronic acts and DJ's in the world without ever being a commercial cuntwolf of a punk.

Albums of 2012- 17. Windy & Carl - We Will Always Be

17. WINDY & CARL - WE WILL ALWAYS BE

Usually you'd say to not judge a book by it's cover. Here, you have to. What do you see? Say what you see! Do it. I see a sunflower. I see summer....

...Wrong peeps, even though I just said it. This album is actually for any season. It's chill with a bit of drone - everyone knows I hate genreizing. Shall I create some now? Okay : Cuntstep, 8-disco-ball, soccer-thud, who's- your- mate now-then-house"

I did a shit job there. But these guys didn't mess. Forget to mention it's a bit folky too. Is this the laziest blog in the world? Yes it is!

Albums of 2012 - 18. Thee Oh Sees - Putrifiers II EP

18. THEE OH SEES - PUTRIFIERS II EP

 I know nothing about this band, other than I have seen their low-profile presence in the underbelly of the blogosphere. I don't really go to blogs, they come to me. I don't really like smart-phones. I actually can't be arsed with most shit. This band however, are worth the time.
I just googles them and thought "oy yeah, now I remember." They are from San Fran and are pfolific as shit. They have changed their name a bunch of times and have released a million albums. Maybe it's why I have ignored them or kind of subliminally rejectied them.  However, I'm a firm believer that if something is so good with la musica, then sooner or later it will be found.  For the most part anyway. And, for the most parts mates, this albums finds a "form band" apparently blasting out great, pressure-free, avant-garde garage rock. Just look at that weird animal thing in the pic. Do you know how many times it took me to get that image thing saved on here? Too many, it's a crazy beast.

Albums of 2012 - 19. El-P - Cancer 4 Cure

19. EL-P - CANCER 4 CURE 

Jaime Meline is right back in this shit. Jaime Meline is El-P and he dropped some fat fucking albums in the previous decade. In 2012, this boy and Killer Mike have torn shit up all over the shop. Meline sure can produce. Two albums of this year have almost defined it. This one is so apocolyptic and future sounding and "R.A.P. Music" for Killer Mike, with Meline on production just boils down all the core ingredients of hip-hop and pushes the product in such a hard-boiled way, more about that later, higher up this list.

For now, Cancer 4 Cure  is bassy, relentless and confident. I wouldn't even classify this as hip-hop, though of course there's spoken word over it, it's BASS MUSIC. Not down for copying and pasting any lyrics, they're sure good but the key thing is the bass and the production. Amazing work.

Albums of 2012 - 20. Daughn Gibson - All Hell

20. DAUGHN GIBSON - ALL HELL

A new kind of style if you will. It's country music mixed with lo-fi and sometimes Daughn digs out the electronic production. Get's murky and stuff, but overall it's rather polished; this antithesis serves this debut well. It takes a good few risks and has a plethora of characters baked in wit, most notably "Ray:"

My first child stumbled home
And woke me up when he hit the floor
He looked like a movie star
But he grew up to be totally worthless

Ray, let's go
Towards the waves
Follow me
And knock this off

Daughn Gibson is a good one to watch. I'm writing this with a bit of hindsight in 2013, and his second album didn't match the heights of All Hell,  but I'll be tracking him closely in the future and so should you, you cunt.

Albums 04 2012 - 21. The Men - Open Your Heart

21. THE MEN - OPEN YOUR HEART

Seems to a big cluster of rock records back-to-back here on this list now and 2012 really was a great year for it. The Men are a"proper" band. This was their third album. I'd say that these 10 songs flutter many different styles and lengths, but overall it's thrilling as a boozy night out in Brooklyn, which is where these donuts come from. Again, the wiki mentions their style better than I can do justice:

Musical style[edit]

The Men's musical style has been described as post-hardcore, punk rock, neo-psychedelia and post-punk.^[1] Influences for The Men include The Replacements, Buzzcocks, Fugaziand The Velvet Underground.^[21] For the band's third and fourth full-length albums (Open Your Heart and New Moon), the band incorporated influences from country music, classic rock, Americana, doo-wop and surf rock.^[17][22]

 

 

Albums of 2012 - 22. The Evens

22. THE EVENS - THE ODDS

“Need a job, need a job, need a job, need a job/People need something to do/ They’re gettin’ angry/ So the bosses came up with a hell of a plan/ security job for each and every man/ more alligators for their boats/ keep ‘em hungry/ What if every single person was a deputy?/ Writing on the wall/ Jails in search of prisoners...”

---'Wanted Criminal' ----by The Evens

A 13 song blast by the couple of Ian MacKay and Amy Farina, the former previously of 80,, 90's & 00's post-hardcore band Fugazi. The Odds fights for equality, but twists lyrics and messages. It coils around itself, shakes friction and pours out against fucked up America with wisdom and conviction.

You can feel the way these two bounce off each other like they're riding the dodgems, feeling pissed-off against the other cunts who wanna smash into them, but The Evens realize that we're all bumper to bumper here, and the execution here is both prickly and polished.

Albums of 2012 - 23. Jack White - Blunderbuss

23. JACK WHITE - BLUNDERBUSS

The man who burst onto the scene around 15 years ago, had an illustrious career with The White Stripes, declared that there should be no cars on the road, played on "is she his wife or his sister?" ambiguity with Meg White; Jack White has it all - the blues, the raw talent and some classic, enigmatic WTF.

This LP utilizes everything that came before it - a belter of a six disc discography with the Stripes and cumulated in a lovely blues offering. Less spectacle than before, meaning less pressure. The brakes were off, but the instrumentation and songwriting was even richer and graceful. Can't really stammer "one to watch" but White looks set for a glistening solo career after this debut solo outing. :)