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.

Album of the Week (11/13/2012)

Crystal Castles

(III)

Genre: Electronic

Crystal Castles said their new album would be bleak, and if you can't tell by the album art, it is. Eschewing all their formerly used instruments (supposedly) Castles set out to lay down a new sound for their junior record. And while it is different to their other work, (III) is still distinctly theirs. No other band can make sadness so danceable--oppression so light. If your not up for a dirge, don't worry, just look past the album cover and know that you can't understand what Alice Glass is singing anyway. If you didn't know this was basically a soundtrack to the Arab Spring, you would assume it was a dance club's playlist.

Listen:

     "Plague"

     "Wrath of God"

     "Insulin"

Album of the Week/Month/maybe Year (10/22/2012)

Bat for Lashes
The Haunted Man
Genre: Baroque Pop

Bat for Lashes' third album, The Haunted Man, is without a doubt, one of the best albums I have ever heard. Building off her amazing Two Suns, Bat for Lashes has made the most raw, emotional collection of story-telling songs that has been released this or any other year. The stripped-down sound and Abbey Road-recorded strings only highlight Natasha Khan's haunting vocals and prove her mastery of pop songwriting. As with all BfL releases, this is a dark, striking record, but it is one that makes you feel. And that is a quality very rare indeed.

Sample Song (my favorite): "Oh Yeah"

The Day(s) of Many New Albums, Part 3, Final (8/30/2012 19:00)

The fact that the Baltimore Grand Prix costs more than it brings in, and that politicians are too dumb to know that negative numbers are bad, means traffic was horrible, and I was able to finish the rest of my albums on the way home from work.

Shall we...?

Purity Ring
Shrines
Genre: Witch...house? Is that a...a thing? Listened: 8/30 while at work.

Don't judge a book by it's cover, and don't assume that a band called "Purity Ring" makes either overt Christian rock, or extremely sarcastic screamo. This might be the best new discovery apart from DIIV.  The songs are dark, but have great beats. Imagine if a three-way between Crystal Castles, Sleigh Bells, and Chromatics produced some weird offspring, that would be Shrines. If dubstep was good, it would be Purity Ring.

TNGHT
TNGHT EP
Genre: Umm..some kind of electronica? Listened: 8/30 on I-495

This album was weird, to say the least. The music wasn't particularly bizarre, it was just that it clearly should have had lyrics and didn't. No, I don't think all music should have singing, I'm not a rube. TNGHT has clearly made what should be hip-hop beats, but there's no one rapping.  The lack of lyrics means that songs crescendo for no reason and then just sort of die off. Then there's the last track, "Easy Easy," which uses a sample so annoying Gilbert Gottfried flashed out of existence, because there can be only one.

Jessie Ware
Devotion
Genre: Pop soul, because "soul pop" would mean some other kind of music. Listened: 8/30 on I-95

This is the direction that Massive Attack should have gone on their way to finding success, rather than 10,000 Windows or whatever that was. Ware's voice is amazing, and the trip-hop-style backing is the best pairing of alto R&B singer and massive bass I've heard in a very long time. Doomed to obscurity no more, hopefully.

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
Mature Themes
Genre: Psychedelia is the best thing I can come up with. Listened: 8/30 from the BP on 295 to Route 40...that's right, I got through a whole album in 1.8 miles. Thanks a lot, Grand Prix.

Pink's Before Today, despite being highly acclaimed, was the worst piece-of-crap album I have ever heard in my entire life...IN MY LIFE. That, fortunately is not the case here. To explain Pink's music is difficult. Imagine the weirdest stuff the Beatles ever wrote. No, weirder. Like "Glass Onion" playing backwards over top of "Revolution 9." Now that you're there, look off into the horizon. Far beyond that, where the curvature of the Earth makes it impossible to see, and sea monsters lie in wait for Spanish galleons, there is a land where INLAND EMPIRE is considered the greatest movie ever, cricket is a way to achieve transcendence, and Chuck Palahniuk doesn't seem like a pretentious douchebag. That is where Ariel Pink goes to get inspiration for his music, which even confuses the hell out of the people there. That said, Mature Themes is maybe the most fun I've ever had listening to an album. I mean, come on, he sings an entire song about schnitzel. How can John Maus ever compete with that?

Swans
The Seer
Genre: Experimental...to say the least. Listened: God, I could not finish this leviathan in one sitting.

Swans' The Seer is, by a wide margin, the most boring album on this list. I was going to say, "the worst," but remember, Dirty Projectors were on here two posts ago. Every song is over five minutes. One is 19, another is 23, and the title track is 32 God-forsaken minutes. It is also the most horrible thing put out since Deerhunter made a psychedelic mixtape. The first six minutes, at least, of the 32:14, is ambient...bagpipes. You read that correctly, ambient bagpipes, with, like, this clicking sound in the background the whole time. That's when I gave up. Somehow, this album is getting critical acclaim. Apparently "professional" music critics don't mind hearing the sound of their own brain melt.

Wild Nothing
Nocturne
Genre: Dream pop. Listened: 8/30 for the three tracks it took me to realize I'd heard this before.

See: Passion Pit's Gossamer on Part 2 of this article. I don't feel like expounding anymore, but let me just say that there's only so much MGMT and Beach House knock-off music one can listen too without falling asleep in a bathtub.

Matthew Dear
Beams
Genre: Electropop. Listened: 8/30 on the last stretch of Route 40 and over and over ever since.

I have been waiting all day to get to listen to this. I finished it as I started writing this segment. Matthew Dear's strange version of club music is the most awesome thing in this whole set of articles.  2010's Black City was one of the best of that year, and surely Beams will be one of this year's. It's jumpy, fun, easy to listen to, and yet so complex, it makes you want to keep listening. Thank God I got to this album before I lost all faith in music.

This has been quite the experience. I learned that DIIV, Purity Ring, and Jessie Ware are great new acts, that Matthew Dear hasn't lost his touch, and that listening to that much "experimental" music in one sitting is probably damaging to your mental health.

I suppose I should just keep up with things instead of binging like this, huh?

The Day(s) of Many New Albums, Part 2 (8/30/2012 13:45)

Continuing on the journey of sonic discovery you pass a place, the kind with a monster or some kind of weird mirror. Look into the mirror and find...

Baroness
Yellow & Green
Genre: Hard rock. Listened: Once when it came out, then switched back to Blue Record.

This was one of the albums I looked forward to the most this year. Unfortunately for me, I think Baroness was replaced by the members of Mastodon while on Valium. The music is good on a technical, theoretical level, but it's not quite Baroness-y enough. Red Album had long, guttural, sludge metal songs. Blue Record shortened the songs, but made them pack a bigger punch. Yellow & Green doubled the lengths of the songs from Red, but was apparently written by the guys from Extreme. I think it's safe to assume Baroness crashed their tour bus because they were listening to "Concainium."

Passion Pit
Gossamer
Genre: Electropop...I guess. Listened: 8/30 at lunch, then realized I already had MGMT on my iPod.

You probably already know Passion Pit, even if you don't know you know them. Their song "Take a Walk" is on some commercial, and you would recognized it as soon as you heard it. The music is really catchy, but it's been done before. High-pitched, repetitive synth lines; nasally, male (I think?) voice; simple rhythm guitar and drums in the background. I can only assume Gossamer was written when the band placed their cat on one of those floor keyboards in a room filled with strobe lights, and the cat's name was "Matt & Kim."

So far, not a good set for lunchtime. Perhaps the good stuff will pick back up on my way home from work, though I doubt it; the next band up is called "Purity Ring."

TO BE CONTINUED...

The Day(s) of Many New Albums, Part 1 (8/30/2012 11:30)

It has been a while since I reviewed a new album, and quite a few have come out. The reason...I...haven't listened to any of them. UNTIL YESTERDAY! And today!  And...probably tomorrow.  There's like 12 or something, give me a break.

Going on from when Fiona Apple released [this album title is really, really, really long], there have been a great many albums released and I shall try to review them here as I listen.

Ty Segall Band
Slaughterhouse
Genre: Punk/Noise Rock. Listened: 8/29

If you like punk, hard rock, or Jesus Lizard-ness, Ty Segall has got an album for you. It's called Slaugterhouse and it's pretty awesome.  It's mixed in a lo-fi style, so imagine OFF! or Iceage's music with Neon Indian's recording style. Great, right? You know it is.

DIIV
Oshin
Genre: Shoegaze, maybe? Whatever Sufjan Stevens would be if he only used computers. Listened 8/29

A Krautrock revival, Oshin is one of the best albums I've heard so far this year. DIIV uses driving base lines and moody synths to set up dark lyrics in the weirdest, but best next step along the path from the Johnny-Jewel-produced italo-disco sound.  There may be no real hero, real human being here, but they certainly made my night better.

Dirty Projectors
Swing Lo Magellan
Genre: The same as Pavement, which isn't a good sign. Listened 8/30 on the way to work.

What is this crap? I didn't know all your lyrics could be "oooOOooo," but the Dirty Projectors found a way. This band is more overrated than Sonic Youth, and that's saying something. There's like, one, okay song on here ("Unto Caesar") and that's because the women sing something other than "doo doo da doo doo" for once.  What? Did you think every album that came out since June was a good one?

Twin Shadow
Confess
Genre: New wave. Listened: Every day since it came out.

At first I thought Confess was a weak follow-up to 2010's awesome, Forget, but that's because I fell into the same trap as most critics...I expected the same thing twice.  Twin Shadow's new album has a different sound: more produced, more layers, harder to follow lyrical structure; but that doesn't make it bad. If I had never heard the first album, this one would be just as great. It's a little more work, and a little less "fun," but totally worth it.

Frank Ocean
Channel Orange
Genre: Neo soul. Listened: 8/30 while at work.

Very good album. Definitely one of the best to come out of the R&B school for a long time. I'm not quite sure where all the "album of the year" hype is coming from--Channel Orange is just a more-trippy, male version of Janelle Monae--but it is pretty cool to listen to. The guest appearance by Andre 3000 doesn't hurt either.

Nas
Life Is Good
Genre: Rap of some kind. Listened: Honestly, after the second song, I turned it off, 8/30.

This is the conversation my brain had with itself while attempting to listen to Life Is Good:
     Right Side: "Hey, isn't gangster rap dead?"
     Left Side: "No, Nas is still around, apparently."
     Right Side: "..."
     Left Side: "Good point."

TO BE CONTINUED...

Best Albums of 2012...So Far

2012 looks like it will be a great year for music; Queens of the Stone Age are set to release a new album, Trent Reznor's How to Destroy Angels project is rumored to be up to something, and there may even be new Tool for the first time in six years. There's also a slew of independent releases due out that could really blow us away.  However, apart from Fiona Apple, not many big names have released anything yet, but that doesn't mean the music hasn't been great.  Here's the best of what's been released so far this year.


5. Cloud Nothings
Attack on Memory

Cloud Nothings have apparently been around for a while, but no one really listened to them, or even heard of them, until this year. Attack on Nothing is definitely one of the best alt-rock albums I've heard in a while. Combing Weezer with Slint and a dash of Smashing Pumpkins, the music is both dark, melodic, and totally rockin'.

4. Sleigh Bells
Reign of Terror

To those outside the loudness-war/noise-rock arena, you may not notice Sleigh Bells' new direction. As someone who has followed their work closely since they began, I can tell you that for their second album, Derek Miller and Alexis Krauss completely changed their style.  It was all beats and make-it-as-loud-as-possible for their first effort. Reign of Terror focuses more on songwriting, vocals, and a sort of story.  Don't worry though, the noise is still there.

3. Chromatics
Kill for Love

Capitalizing off their sudden popularity following their appearance on the Drive soundtrack, Chromatics have released a brilliant, stark, and haunting follow-up to 2007's Night Drive.  "The Page" may be one of the best songs of the year, and opening with a cover of Neil Young's "Into the Black" was a bold move that paid off extremely well.  This album has everything going for it: the mood, the beats, the intricate guitar work, and Ruth Radelet's mysterious vocals all make this one of the best listens of the year.

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

Yes, I know, Worship came out before July 1 too, and it was a full-length album. While I can say I love the new sound, no one who claims to love hard rock can say they prefer it to Onwards to the Wall.  The five-song EP seemed to come out of nowhere and was probably rushed through production, but it is the best thing APTBS has done since their self-titled debut. Driving bass lines, kick punching drums, and the ever-present squall of Ackerman's feedback-laden guitar, you know, the usual.  Here, the songs are more well-rounded, and the sound is A+.  Onwards puts almost every other album in its rear-view mirror.

1. Beach House
Bloom

If the album cover's not enough to prove it, let me just quote PopMatters by saying that Bloom is called an album "in the most awe-inspiring sense of the term." Or, as MSN Music said, in perhaps the best summation of any album ever, "Bloom is the aural equivalent of the Jesus and Mary Chain frosting a birthday cake." That's good enough for me, and this album is far and away the best of the year; it's probably the best of the decade too.

Album of the Week (6/20/2012)

Fiona Apple

The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do

Genre: Alternative Rock

Seven years after her last album, Fiona Apple's songwriting a lyrical imagery are as powerful as ever. The production may be sparse, which only amplifies the emotion of each song, and accentuates Apple's vocal delivery. On this dazzlingly clever record, Fiona Apple is in complete control of the anarchy created when personal demons and awe-inspiring talent collide.

Album of the Week (5/15/2012)

Beach House
Bloom
Genre: Dream pop

Two years ago, Teen Dream was such an amazing album that it made you worry a little bit as to where Beach House could possibly go from there. This, the Baltimore duo's fourth album, is far better than anything they've done, and that's saying something. the songwriting is tighter, the lyrics are more straightforward, and Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally's experience makes all 10 songs even dreamier. This band is, by a wide margin, the best one at making you forget you're in Baltimore.