Yeah, I've never really been a fan of "year's best" lists. They tend to be weighted heavily towards whatever has been on the commentator's CD player/turntable for the last few weeks or months, forgetting the stuff that might have come out earlier in the year. And when you have as big of a musical year as you did in 2012, there is a lot of stuff that can just disappear without knowing it. So, instead, I'm going to do a post about some of the albums that came out this past year that were my favorites (with an occasional nod to a single or two, and some non-traditional releases as well).
This isn't a "top" anything list, other than being some of the stuff that I enjoyed listening to over the last twelve months or so. They aren't listed in any particularly order, just how they pop out of my mind and how they showed up in my Winamp player.
I own a lot of music, in a lot of formats and in a lot of styles. Hopefully this list will reflect that. I will share links to some YouTube videos, where I can, for those of you who may not have heard all of the bands that I am going to talk about today. Strap yourselves in, folks, we are in for a bit of a bumpy ride.
I'm going to start this post out with an honorable mention, because even though the CD came out last year, in 2011, I played the hell out of it this past summer. If you don't know Grouplove's record Never Trust A Happy Song, you really should. One of the things that I enjoyed most about this record was the fact that the songs have a variety of musical styles, from pure pop to songs with more of a rock quality to them, that keeps it from getting boring to the ear. Their song Naked Kids was one of my "summer fun" favorites, becoming part of my soundtrack to the past summer. Maybe it is just because I live on an island, but the song made me think of summer nights here, out on the beach, with the sea wind in my hair. It has a certain Beach Boys classic beach music quality to me, but updated to the 21st century.
Unfortunately, there isn't an official video for Naked Kids, so I have to improvise. Just listen to the music and let it roll over you, like the waves coming into the beach at sunset.
One of the big deals to happen in music in the past year has to be Amanda Palmer's Kickstarter project. She raised a lot of money and, along with the Grand Theft Orchestra, put out a great record in Theater Is Evil. Say what you will about Palmer, her music or her business savvy, but she managed to finish a Kickstarter project ahead of time. That's more than most people running Kickstarter projects of any sort can say. I liked this album because it showed an evolution of Palmer's style. She could have easily rehashed the Dresden Dolls, or the music of Amanda Palmer Is Dead, but instead she decided to try to grow musically, Thankfully, her fanbase didn't get all pissy about this, as fans can often do when a creative person decides to try to change. I have the Kickstarter edition of Theater Is Evil, but this album is out in the store now and you should probably buy it. Do It With A Rockstar is probably one of my favorites off of the record.
By the way, if you haven't heard Amanda's record of covers of Radiohead songs done with the ukelele, you really should track it down.
Now, let's talk about fun. and their record Some Nights. Radio seems to have started picking this up in the last few months, which to me is a good thing because it means that more people will actually get to hear them. Some Nights isn't the band's first record, but I think that it features them coming together with a tighter sound than previously. Nate Ruess' vocals are a big part of the band's appeal for me. He manages to sound modern while at the same time giving that vibe of a singer from another era, almost like someone standing before a Big Band. Maybe it is the use of an orchestra on the record, which isn't something that you hear everyday any more. And the band is fun, why you could even say it is right there in the band's name. (So sorry about that terrible joke.)
For those interested in the genealogies of bands, Ruess former fronted the band Format and after it split up former fun. with Jack Antonoff (also of Steel Train) and Andrew Dost.
The lead single off of Some Nights was (for me at least) late night party anthem of We Are Young that also featured R&B singer Janelle Monae on guest vocals. We Are Young, even though I am not, hit me as one of those songs about the regrets, and hopes, that well up as the party is ending for the night (morning?). The song Carry On is one of those "after the breakup" kinds of songs that pop music (and romance-prone listeners of it) like, but the lilting vocals and orchestration of the music elevates the song beyond the average.
Do you like blues rock? Sure, who doesn't? Thanks to bands like the Black Keys and musicians like Jack White, and I'm sure others that people will point out to me, becoming massively popular over the last few years, there has been an explosion in this style of music lately. I consider that to be a good thing. A very good thing.
Sadly, for this list at least, a couple of my favorites of this genre came out in 2011. Ohio's Black Keys released El Camino, The Kills dropped Blood Pressures and Vancouver B.C.'s Pack A.D. released Unpersons. Seriously, if you don't have these albums you should probably stop reading this post, go and get them and come back after you've had a chance to listen to them about 10-15 times. Don't worry, I'll wait. 2012 may have been a great year for listening to music from this style, but not so good for it being released. That's OK, I'm playing fast and loose with my definitions for this post anyway, and besides...does it really matter if it came out this year or last, as long as the music is cool? Yeah, a music journalist I am not. So...go check out the blues rock stuff and come back.
OK. Now that you're back, let's talk about a couple of bands who actually released stuff in 2012 in this style (since this is supposed to be a Favorites of 2012 post).
Let's talk about dance music for a little bit. M.I.A. is probably a name that you've heard over the last few years. She was nominated for an Academy Award for her work on the soundtrack to Slumdog Millionaire, which is where a lot of people first heard of her. She's collaborated with Diplo (a great DJ and producer). This year saw a new single come from her, from the album Matangi due to be released next year. If your only exposure to this woman is from the controversy she generated at the Super Bowl, then you're missing out.
Seriously, if just hearing the opening of that song didn't make you want to dance I think your soul is dead inside, or something.
Now, here is the name that will probably generate some eye-rolling: Lana Del Rey. Yes, I can hear the eye rolling and gasps as people clutch their pearls. Hear me out on this, because it might take a little work. Whether people like it or not, Video Games just might be one of the best songs to come out in 2012. I'll wait for the next round of eye-rolling and laughter to stop. Anyway, this is a good song. The studio recording (and endless multitude of remixes) is a good, solid recording. Sadly, it seems that Miss Del Rey's pipes aren't really up to snuff when it comes to live performance, but I blame the recording industry's self-cannibalization on that. The time, effort and money that record labels used to spend on A&R and developing new artists just isn't there any more, and because of that there a lot of people who work great in the studio that are thrown out into the wilds of live performance who just aren't ready for that yet. Lana Del Rey is one of those performers.
If this had been 30 years ago, someone from Miss Del Rey's label would have spent the time working her up through the club circuit, until she was ready for things. Instead, today, they just stood behind the curtain and gave her a push out onto the stage. We all know what this lead to. It is a shame that third or fourth rate talents get more practice, training and face time with coaches and producers on a season of American Idol than they people who have actual recording contracts get anymore. I think it is one of the real problems with the recording industry any more.
And yes, Video Games is dance music. Not every dance has to be a fast one.
From Lana Dell Rey I am going to talk about a couple of the surf revival bands who put out new stuff in 2012. I will say that I think Wavves really need a new album. Two of my favorites from this style (which is different from Grouplove that I mentioned above, because these bands do come from using 60s-style surf music as a starting point more than them) that put out new stuff this year are Best Coast and Tennis.
Best Coast is a Los Angeles band, and one of the first to rise up out of this waves of surf revival music. Their second album, The Only Place was released this past summer, which was a perfect time for it. Part of the reason that I like Best Coast, and Tennis, is because of the mellowness of their sound. This is the music of summer evenings and late afternoons, watching the sun set in all of its burning glory into the waters. If you have never experienced a sun set into the water, you really need to.
Tennis is a band from Colorado, of all places, that started making garage-oriented surf music. Their first album, Cape Dory, was recorded on a boat while the husband and wife band traveled up and down the East coast of America, making songs about their trip and the places that they visited on their journey. It's a great record, really. Their album from this year is called Young and Old, and features a more mature evolution of their sound. When going with a lo-fi approach, there really aren't a lot of directions that you can go in, but singer Alaina Moore's voice has grown stronger with this release and the band isn't afraid to demonstrate that on songs that are more uptempo and allow them to rock a bit more than their first.
I have to admit that this post has gone on a lot longer than I expected it to. Hopefully many of you have stuck it out to the bitter end. At this point, I am going to throw out a couple of albums that I really liked, for your edification and then try to wrap things up without writing too much more.
Perfume Genius released his second album back in February. Put Your Back N 2 It isn't as much of a departure as it is a maturing. The music that he puts out is not complicated, but its simplicity still holds a great deal of emotion in it. While these emotions are not as on his sleeve as the songs off of his first record Learning, those touchstones are still there. I know that this probably isn't for everyone, but sometimes I need some emotional purity along with my slickly produced music. I look forward to hearing how he grows with his third record.
I'm going to wrap this post up with Cate Le Bon's (no relation) magnificent CYRK, bringing things back to the pop music sensibilities that I enjoy. I'm not sure why this album ended up sticking with me. I think that I came across a post about it on some music blog or another (they start to blur together after a while). I gave the songs that I could find a listen and wanted it. Actually, I got CYRK and Put Your Back N 2 It both at the same time, so I was listening to these records at the same time. Not as delicate as Perfume Genius, Cate Le Bon does have a fragility to her music that is sort of hidden behind the music.
That's my personal musical wrap up for 2012. You may have heard some stuff that you haven't heard before. Hopefully this post expanded some horizons for you and causes you to go out and get some new (or new to you) music. Believe me, there is a lot more that I could have inflicted upon you. You should probably be grateful for that.
This isn't a "top" anything list, other than being some of the stuff that I enjoyed listening to over the last twelve months or so. They aren't listed in any particularly order, just how they pop out of my mind and how they showed up in my Winamp player.
I own a lot of music, in a lot of formats and in a lot of styles. Hopefully this list will reflect that. I will share links to some YouTube videos, where I can, for those of you who may not have heard all of the bands that I am going to talk about today. Strap yourselves in, folks, we are in for a bit of a bumpy ride.
I'm going to start this post out with an honorable mention, because even though the CD came out last year, in 2011, I played the hell out of it this past summer. If you don't know Grouplove's record Never Trust A Happy Song, you really should. One of the things that I enjoyed most about this record was the fact that the songs have a variety of musical styles, from pure pop to songs with more of a rock quality to them, that keeps it from getting boring to the ear. Their song Naked Kids was one of my "summer fun" favorites, becoming part of my soundtrack to the past summer. Maybe it is just because I live on an island, but the song made me think of summer nights here, out on the beach, with the sea wind in my hair. It has a certain Beach Boys classic beach music quality to me, but updated to the 21st century.
Unfortunately, there isn't an official video for Naked Kids, so I have to improvise. Just listen to the music and let it roll over you, like the waves coming into the beach at sunset.
One of the big deals to happen in music in the past year has to be Amanda Palmer's Kickstarter project. She raised a lot of money and, along with the Grand Theft Orchestra, put out a great record in Theater Is Evil. Say what you will about Palmer, her music or her business savvy, but she managed to finish a Kickstarter project ahead of time. That's more than most people running Kickstarter projects of any sort can say. I liked this album because it showed an evolution of Palmer's style. She could have easily rehashed the Dresden Dolls, or the music of Amanda Palmer Is Dead, but instead she decided to try to grow musically, Thankfully, her fanbase didn't get all pissy about this, as fans can often do when a creative person decides to try to change. I have the Kickstarter edition of Theater Is Evil, but this album is out in the store now and you should probably buy it. Do It With A Rockstar is probably one of my favorites off of the record.
By the way, if you haven't heard Amanda's record of covers of Radiohead songs done with the ukelele, you really should track it down.
Now, let's talk about fun. and their record Some Nights. Radio seems to have started picking this up in the last few months, which to me is a good thing because it means that more people will actually get to hear them. Some Nights isn't the band's first record, but I think that it features them coming together with a tighter sound than previously. Nate Ruess' vocals are a big part of the band's appeal for me. He manages to sound modern while at the same time giving that vibe of a singer from another era, almost like someone standing before a Big Band. Maybe it is the use of an orchestra on the record, which isn't something that you hear everyday any more. And the band is fun, why you could even say it is right there in the band's name. (So sorry about that terrible joke.)
For those interested in the genealogies of bands, Ruess former fronted the band Format and after it split up former fun. with Jack Antonoff (also of Steel Train) and Andrew Dost.
The lead single off of Some Nights was (for me at least) late night party anthem of We Are Young that also featured R&B singer Janelle Monae on guest vocals. We Are Young, even though I am not, hit me as one of those songs about the regrets, and hopes, that well up as the party is ending for the night (morning?). The song Carry On is one of those "after the breakup" kinds of songs that pop music (and romance-prone listeners of it) like, but the lilting vocals and orchestration of the music elevates the song beyond the average.
Do you like blues rock? Sure, who doesn't? Thanks to bands like the Black Keys and musicians like Jack White, and I'm sure others that people will point out to me, becoming massively popular over the last few years, there has been an explosion in this style of music lately. I consider that to be a good thing. A very good thing.
Sadly, for this list at least, a couple of my favorites of this genre came out in 2011. Ohio's Black Keys released El Camino, The Kills dropped Blood Pressures and Vancouver B.C.'s Pack A.D. released Unpersons. Seriously, if you don't have these albums you should probably stop reading this post, go and get them and come back after you've had a chance to listen to them about 10-15 times. Don't worry, I'll wait. 2012 may have been a great year for listening to music from this style, but not so good for it being released. That's OK, I'm playing fast and loose with my definitions for this post anyway, and besides...does it really matter if it came out this year or last, as long as the music is cool? Yeah, a music journalist I am not. So...go check out the blues rock stuff and come back.
OK. Now that you're back, let's talk about a couple of bands who actually released stuff in 2012 in this style (since this is supposed to be a Favorites of 2012 post).
Let's talk about dance music for a little bit. M.I.A. is probably a name that you've heard over the last few years. She was nominated for an Academy Award for her work on the soundtrack to Slumdog Millionaire, which is where a lot of people first heard of her. She's collaborated with Diplo (a great DJ and producer). This year saw a new single come from her, from the album Matangi due to be released next year. If your only exposure to this woman is from the controversy she generated at the Super Bowl, then you're missing out.
Seriously, if just hearing the opening of that song didn't make you want to dance I think your soul is dead inside, or something.
Now, here is the name that will probably generate some eye-rolling: Lana Del Rey. Yes, I can hear the eye rolling and gasps as people clutch their pearls. Hear me out on this, because it might take a little work. Whether people like it or not, Video Games just might be one of the best songs to come out in 2012. I'll wait for the next round of eye-rolling and laughter to stop. Anyway, this is a good song. The studio recording (and endless multitude of remixes) is a good, solid recording. Sadly, it seems that Miss Del Rey's pipes aren't really up to snuff when it comes to live performance, but I blame the recording industry's self-cannibalization on that. The time, effort and money that record labels used to spend on A&R and developing new artists just isn't there any more, and because of that there a lot of people who work great in the studio that are thrown out into the wilds of live performance who just aren't ready for that yet. Lana Del Rey is one of those performers.
If this had been 30 years ago, someone from Miss Del Rey's label would have spent the time working her up through the club circuit, until she was ready for things. Instead, today, they just stood behind the curtain and gave her a push out onto the stage. We all know what this lead to. It is a shame that third or fourth rate talents get more practice, training and face time with coaches and producers on a season of American Idol than they people who have actual recording contracts get anymore. I think it is one of the real problems with the recording industry any more.
And yes, Video Games is dance music. Not every dance has to be a fast one.
From Lana Dell Rey I am going to talk about a couple of the surf revival bands who put out new stuff in 2012. I will say that I think Wavves really need a new album. Two of my favorites from this style (which is different from Grouplove that I mentioned above, because these bands do come from using 60s-style surf music as a starting point more than them) that put out new stuff this year are Best Coast and Tennis.
Best Coast is a Los Angeles band, and one of the first to rise up out of this waves of surf revival music. Their second album, The Only Place was released this past summer, which was a perfect time for it. Part of the reason that I like Best Coast, and Tennis, is because of the mellowness of their sound. This is the music of summer evenings and late afternoons, watching the sun set in all of its burning glory into the waters. If you have never experienced a sun set into the water, you really need to.
Tennis is a band from Colorado, of all places, that started making garage-oriented surf music. Their first album, Cape Dory, was recorded on a boat while the husband and wife band traveled up and down the East coast of America, making songs about their trip and the places that they visited on their journey. It's a great record, really. Their album from this year is called Young and Old, and features a more mature evolution of their sound. When going with a lo-fi approach, there really aren't a lot of directions that you can go in, but singer Alaina Moore's voice has grown stronger with this release and the band isn't afraid to demonstrate that on songs that are more uptempo and allow them to rock a bit more than their first.
I have to admit that this post has gone on a lot longer than I expected it to. Hopefully many of you have stuck it out to the bitter end. At this point, I am going to throw out a couple of albums that I really liked, for your edification and then try to wrap things up without writing too much more.
Perfume Genius released his second album back in February. Put Your Back N 2 It isn't as much of a departure as it is a maturing. The music that he puts out is not complicated, but its simplicity still holds a great deal of emotion in it. While these emotions are not as on his sleeve as the songs off of his first record Learning, those touchstones are still there. I know that this probably isn't for everyone, but sometimes I need some emotional purity along with my slickly produced music. I look forward to hearing how he grows with his third record.
I'm going to wrap this post up with Cate Le Bon's (no relation) magnificent CYRK, bringing things back to the pop music sensibilities that I enjoy. I'm not sure why this album ended up sticking with me. I think that I came across a post about it on some music blog or another (they start to blur together after a while). I gave the songs that I could find a listen and wanted it. Actually, I got CYRK and Put Your Back N 2 It both at the same time, so I was listening to these records at the same time. Not as delicate as Perfume Genius, Cate Le Bon does have a fragility to her music that is sort of hidden behind the music.
That's my personal musical wrap up for 2012. You may have heard some stuff that you haven't heard before. Hopefully this post expanded some horizons for you and causes you to go out and get some new (or new to you) music. Believe me, there is a lot more that I could have inflicted upon you. You should probably be grateful for that.