The Top 10 Albums of 2012

This was a pretty awesome year for music, and while Queens of the Stone Age still hasn't released their sixth record, I am inclined to say it was still great given what did come out.

If the Top 20 Songs are any hint, this list won't be all that surprising, but 2012 had a lot of pleasant surprises, great new discoveries, and some balls-out rock.

Anyway, here goes...

10. DIIV
Oshin

DIIV has produced one of the best debut albums I've heard in a while. Pulling from chill-wave influences like Neon Indian, and more electro-pop, like Mute Math, imagine if Sufjan Stevens used more electronic instruments. That is DIIV's Oshin, a loud-yet-pretty, bass-driven album full of catchy, repetitive hooks and choruses that will carry this band for quite a while.
"How Long Have You Known"

9. Matthew Dear
Beams

If there's one thing you can count on, it's for Matthew Dear to make some creepy, but totally wicked dance beats and lay the most extreme loops over top of them. Beams builds on the more experimental sound of 2010's Black City and utterly kills while doing so. This should be the soundtrack to every club. No one makes better ethereal dance music than Matthew Dear, and this album is no exception.
"Earthforms"

8. Purity Ring
Shrines

When I first heard of Purity Ring, I thought that a band with that name couldn't be very good. I was very wrong. Despite the flack dub-step gets these days (and much of it rightly so), Purity Ring has made an album of futuristic pop, not the bogged-down dub your used to, with flighty vocals and cleanly produced beats that transport you to a Blade-Runner-esque science-fiction.
"Fineshrine"

7. Cloud Nothings
Attack on Memory

Since Nirvana shot to fame in early 90s, music has changed drastically...or has it? As bands came and went trying to copy the Seattle Grunge sound and then it seemed to be left behind forever, as the "indie" sound moved on to smaller production, and more experimental sounds. Not Cloud Nothings. Attack on Memory is a shocking kick-in-the-pants to an otherwise humdrum indie scene. Powerful chords, big bass, massive drums, angsty lyrics--this is what all those post-Nirvana bands were supposed to sound like.
"Wasted Days"

NOTE: From this point on, not one of these albums has a single downside.

6. Deftones
Koi No Yokan

As terrible as it sounds, Deftones have been better since the loss of bassist Chi Cheng. Their music is more angry, less self-pitying. The sad, somber turntable is gone, metal is king. This is the heaviest that desert rock can sound without becoming sludge metal. This is the darkest nu-metal can get without being Tool. The songs are challenging, but delivered effortlessly, and create a cohesive, textural experience that crushes you with it's weight while lifting you with its messages. Deftones is a masterful band finally coming into their own, redefining the genre that made them, crafting a record that blends ass-kicking rock and melodic soul into a single sound.
"Goon Squad"

5. Crystal Castles
(III)

Not so long ago, there was a duo that made fun-sounding dance music out of old Nintendo cartridges and weirdly distorted vocals out of B-movie samples ("Don't worry, dear Pamela. I'll do my scientific best to command your fleet"). That duo was Crystal Castles, and judging from the sound of (III), that duo is dead. Instead of partying to the point of loneliness, (III) touches on subjects as lighthearted as bride burning, equal access to medication, the persecution of homosexuals, political oppression, and the regimented slaughter of hundreds of thousands whose only crime is desiring freedom. To say that this new Crystal Castles is dark is to say that Syria is stable. These are the depths of despair, the graphic bottom of the world's most horrific crimes laid out before us in all their 8-bit glory. There is no "good times keep rolling" on this album, only the plague.
"Kerosene"

4. A Place to Bury Strangers
Onwards to the Wall EP

I would tell you that this is the best music APTBS has written so far, but that is only half of the truth. What is showcased in Onwards to the Wall is the best music any shoegaze band has ever written. It is louder, it is heavier, the guitars crash more and create more static-filled noise. It is not enough to say that the cacophony of noise hits you like a ton of bricks; it's more like driving full-speed into, well, a wall. Never before has there been a more appropriately named album (except maybe APTBS' 2010 effort, Exploding Head). What is taking place within this band--new bassist, new drummer, both of whom are allowed to write songs now--is a complete overhaul, speeding up the pace and throwing the sound back at you more fiercely than ever. Onwards is more complete, better organized, and just more awesome than almost anything else out there...and it's only five songs.
"Drill It Up"
"I Lost You"

3. Chromatics
Kill for Love

Somewhere, in the depths of our collective conscience, ice has a sound, Christmas lights glinting off melting snow has a score, driving through a city at night in the dead of winter has a particular beat. This is what Chromatics have given us access to, that sound, that score, that beat. Too often we push away the dark and mysterious in exchange for fun and simple. Chromatics have shown here that complex and hazy can be just as engrossing, just as mind-numbing as any pop song, transporting you to a world built out of glass and candy. The woozy, drone-like loops are only enhanced by Ruth Radalet's absinthe-soaked vocals. Listening to Kill for Love makes you feel like you're in a movie.
"Lady"
"At Your Door"

2. Bat for Lashes
The Haunted Man

I think I've probably said enough about Bat for Lashes in the past couple months, and over the past few years, but even more is there to be discussed. While many critics derided Natasha Khan for eschewing her old ways--lush orchestral arrangements, mythical lyrics, complex drumming--this new version makes the music, and the themes behind it, more visceral and accessible than ever.  Khan's vocals are softer, more hurt, and resonate long after the closing of "Deep Sea Diver." The stripped-down beats and overall dearth of strings bring you closer, like story time, to the tales of loves lost. Her voice sails over massive drums on standouts "Horses of the Sun" and "Marilyn," which sound more like something off of Fur and Gold than off of her last effort, the luxurious Two Suns. And previously mentioned "Deep Sea Diver" is the best album-closer Khan has ever delivered; a fitting end to an uplifting tale of tragedy, discovery, and triumph.
"Marilyn"
"A Wall"
"Rest Your Head"

1. Beach House
Bloom

Knowing that Beach House is from Baltimore may make it seem like I'm biased towards them. You're not wrong, but that doesn't mean Bloom isn't the best album of the year. They should be considered, even by  those whose hometowns are not the same as the dream-pop duo, to have majestically woven a tapestry of music so detailed that no words can truly describe them. "Myth," the album opener, alone is better than anything you heard on the radio this year. The songs offered here are so immensely descriptive and beautifully crafted that they transport you to another plane, one where anything is possible. The entire record is a dream-scape that is both ethereal and corporeal, blending cryptic fragments into a smoky whole. The sound--no--the experience of Bloom is one where Beach House lays out questions like a breadcrumb trail, letting you discover the answers on your own. The precisely chosen delivery of every note and syllable gives you enough clues to enjoy the full range of music, without spoiling the ending.
"Myth"
"Wild"
"Lazuli"
"Irene"

The Best Albums of 2012: Honorable Mentions

The following five albums didn't make this year's top 10 list. They were pretty good, but not quite there. Some didn't deliver where I though they should, and some are here simply because, well, there can only be ten in the top 10. Either way, these are still worth a listen, but just missed being the best of the year.

In alphabetical order (by artist):

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
Mature Themes

This album sat in the top 10 for quite some time because of its originality and quirkiness. But that ended when four new albums came out in November and knocked this off the list.  It's definitely weird, but don't let that scare you away; some great songs, like "Symphony of the Nymph" and this year's #20 song, "Kinski Assassin," make it worth the effort, if only for comic relief.

How to Destroy Angels
An Omen EP

While these songs are very good, and I am wiling to give Trent Reznor a pass on just about anything, much of what is offered on An Omen is basically Nine Inch Nails' Ghosts I-IV with lyrics. Mauriqueen Maandig is an excellent vocalist, and her lyrics are more moving than ever. "Ice Age" is a massive standout, despite it's tempo and mood, using one of the most intriguing instrumental loops I've ever heard. But there's just something a little off here. Much like Ghosts, this EP doesn't sound complete. It's so close to being great, it just doesn't quite make it. If it's any indication of how the forthcoming HTDA full-length will sound, however, then we have something amazing to look forward to.

Sleigh Bells
Reign of Terror

If you were looking for Treats II, you came to the wrong place. So did Sleigh Bells, apparently. While each of the songs on Reign of Terror are good, only a few are great, and the pacing leaves something to be desired. The rock is gone, the songs are more moody, the production is cleaner, and the noise is less...loud. The only single-worthy song here was the single, "Comeback Kid," which sounds like classic Sleigh Bells. This could have made the Top 10, if only there was a little more oomph.

Twin Shadow
Confess

Twin Shadow has his thumb on the pulse of throwback-dance-rock, clearly picking up bits of Hall & Oates, and parts of Peaches and mashing them together.  While there are quite a few great songs on Confess, all but two ("When the Movie's Over" and this year's #16 song "Beg for the Night") feel really repetitive. We've covered this use-me-then-leave-me ground before, so many times people stop feeling sorry for you and just tune it out. I'd love to say this is as good as Twin Shadow's debut album, Forget, but it's literally the same album, so really, it's just two years old.

Jack White
Blunderbuss

Much like Ariel Pink up there, poor Jack White has fallen victim to numbers. If only there were 11 spaces in "ten," but alas. White's #7 song, "Sixteen Saltines," stands with the best he's ever written with any act he's been in. But other parts of this album, for me at least, tend to go on too long, or bring the mood down too far. Despite that, I can't wait for his next release, whatever that might be.

Stay tuned for the Top 10...

The Top 20 Songs of 2012

This was a great year for music. While not much has been released on the mainstream front, the more indie route has created some really great songs and albums. This is a list of the former, which for the first time ever, meant cutting songs out rather than searching helplessly for those last few songs that just ended up being kind of lame. Also, for the first time ever, multiple bands have more than one song, and one act has three. Anyway, everything below is great, and if you haven't heard one of the songs, click the links and listen. There's something for everyone, you won't be disappointed.

Here goes:

20. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
"Kinski Assassin"

Listen
A combination of the Doors and...a circus? I don't know why this song is so good, but it's just fun to listen to. I used to despise Ariel Pink, taking him for someone who made "bad" music on purpose to make some kind of hipster-point, but when I heard this, I couldn't stop laughing. The lyrics make no sense, the music is ridiculous. Just go with it.

19. Ty Segall Band
"I Bought My Eyes"

Listen

If you like punk, take this with a surfer-rock twist and see what you think. Ty Segall Band had one of the year's harder-edged albums and this is the best song from it. You can dance to it, or you can fight to it, whatever.

18. DIIV
"How Long Have You Known?"

Listen
The closest thing we'll get to chill wave this year is DIIV, which, I'm still not sure how to pronounce, quite frankly. Like, "dive?" Either way, despite its repetitive nature, "How Long Have You Known?" is one of the more simplistic and yet intriguing songs this year. It poses a fairly simple question, answers it, then gives you a few bars of technically precise, New-Order-style guitar&bass lines. How great is that?

17. Bat for Lashes
"Marilyn"

Listen
Natasha Khan, aka, Bat for Lashes has, apart from the best voice in music these days (sorry, Adele), the ability to mix intense drum machines, beautiful string arrangements, and the most moving lyrics that anyone has ever written. In my review of her newest album I called The Haunted Man one of the best albums I had ever heard...ever. Songs like this are a signature of Khan, and she never fails to amaze.

16. Twin Shadow
"Beg for the Night"

Listen
If Natasha Khan up there is the best voice in music, George Lewis, Jr., or Twin Shadow, is the best male voice in music (of the pop listening variety, okay, don't talk to me about Josh Groban or Alfie Boe). That said, his music is a pop-dance factory, recalling the best of Hall and Oates without sounding like he's trying too hard. "Beg for the Night" is the highlight of his newest album, Confess, and while the theme hasn't really changed from "meh, we did it, so what?," did you really want it to?

15. Sleigh Bells
"Comeback Kid"

Listen
If you were looking for loud, Sleigh Bells' newest album may have disappointed, except for this song. "Comeback Kid" is the Sleigh Bells we're used to, the beat-crazy, loud-ass guitar looping headbanger we all know and love.

14. Purity Ring
"Fineshrine"

Listen
So, you thought dubstep could never be good. Well, you're mostly correct, but Purity Ring has done it right--real vocals, complex beats, and no "wumpwumpwumpwumpwumpwumpwumpwumpwumpwump..." This song is equal parts beautiful and horrifyingly creepy. Yes, she is asking you to perform surgery, and it's not an innuendo.

13. Deftones
"Goon Squad"

Listen
Don't judge a song by its first 1:10. "Oh god, another boring, turntable song by Deftones," you'll say.  "Wait for it," I'll say....wait for it...aw HELL yeah!

12. Bat for Lashes
"A Wall"

Listen
It is weird to have such a rocking song like "Goon Squad" up there at number 13 be pushed out by a seemingly calm, woozy song like, "A Wall." Would it help if I admitted that there's just something about the voice? I said it earlier and I'll say it again, Khan has the best voice in music. Here she turns inspirational (sort of?) for once, as opposed to the usual doom-and-gloom. Totally a great song.

11. Beach House
"Wild"

Listen
Beach House is the best discovery of the year by far. Victoria LeGrand has one of the most interesting deliveries and writes some of the best lyrics currently being recorded. Did I mention they're from Baltimore, because they are. "Wild" showcases those startling lyrics as well as the most beautiful guitar-organ combo going written by Alex Scally, the other half of this musically mesmerizing duo.

10. Chromatics
"Lady"

Listen
In the words of Timothy Leary, "turn on, tune in, drop out." He forgot, "turn up," which is what you need to do here.

9. St. Vincent
"Krokodil"

Listen
And...back to the ROCK! What? St. Vincent rocks, you say? Yes, yes she does, and "Krokodil" will make sure you don't forget it. Whether Annie Clark meant to name this kick-ass song after a street term for bathtub heroin that eats away your skin, I don't know, but this song will melt your face off.

8. Crystal Castles
"Kerosene"

Listen
The new Castles album is dark, for certain, but far more consistent and well-produced than any of their previous efforts, and "Kerosene" is a massive standout amongst a great set of the duo's most beautiful and stark songs. It's also the one where Alice Glass' heartbreaking, straight-from-the-headlines lyrics actually come through in all their depressing glory.

7. Jack White
"Sixteen Saltines"

Listen
Now THIS is the Jack White I remember from high school. None of that "cut like a buffalo" crap. This song is awesome. I think that's all that needs to be said. If you like rock, here you go.

6. Matthew Dear
"Earthforms"

Listen
If you don't get up and dance to this song--yes, even if you're on the bus--there's something horribly wrong with you. Stop reading this, get up, and move!

5. Chromatics
"At Your Door"

Listen
This band's beautiful music deserves a second song on this list, and "At Your Door" is by a wide margin the best they have written. Listening to this song is like driving through the city when all the Christmas lights are up. It glistens in the cold, steely sounds of Johnny Jewel's production, and Ruth Radelet's lyrics resonate over the machines better than ever. Seriously, at this point, any of these songs are a potential number 1.

4. Bat for Lashes
"Rest Your Head"

Listen
If there's one thing Bat for Lashes can do, it's take a sad song and make it better (isn't that a song?). "Rest Your Head" should, by all means, be tear-forming, but Natasha Khan's ability to produce a great beat, haunting backing vocals, and a double-take hook make it the most uplifting song on an album full of beautiful melodies and memorable choruses.

3. Cloud Nothings
"Wasted Days"

Listen
For an emo Nirvana, Cloud Nothings do a great job of making one of the most awesome jams of this or several years. At almost eight-and-a-half minutes, "Wasted Days" might look long, but it sounds like a flash. The drums are massive, the guitars are crashing, and the refrain, "I thought I would be more than this," will stick in your head for days...wasted d--no never mind.

2. A Place to Bury Strangers
"Drill It Up"

LISTEN NOW!
There is not another song more rocking than this. "Drill It Up" is so awesome it redefines the word. If you look "awesome" up in the dictionary, Oliver Ackerman smashes a guitar over your head like El Kabong. And instead of seeing stars and birds when you regain consciousness, metal plates and kick-drums circle your dome. Listen to this song over and over and over for the full effect, as loud as you can before your ears bleed.

1. Beach House
"Irene"

Wow, listen.
I know, quite the comedown from A Place, but this song is...inexplicable. This is one of the most beautiful compositions I've ever heard. What seems like an inviting lyric, LeGrand's chorus becomes sad and soulful as it repeats on and on for the 3-minute outro. The music builds and builds, layer after layer until the song bursts with life and sound. A single voice rises above the din..."it's a strange paradise." Indeed it is.

Album of the Week (12/05/2012)

Deftones

Koi No Yokan

Genre: Progressive Metal?

For their newest album, and the last weekly album of 2012, Deftones have no issues coming out with their most mind-bendingly awesome rock yet. They have clearly ditched the moody, turntable-filled gloom-rock of their middle period for straight up metal. Chino Moreno's vocals still sail over the squall, whether singing or screaming, and the precision instrumentation makes Koi No Yokan this veteran band's seventh record a masterpiece.  Only Deftones have the unique ability to present silence and cacophony in the same statement, peace and violence in the same event, the calm and the storm in a single sound.