Thursday 20 December 2012

Top 10 albums of 2012...



1. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Mature Themes

There's no question that I listened to this album more than any other throughout 2012, and despite the bias of me being a huge fan of all things Ariel, it genuinely stands up as a worthy victor.  It's out there, it's dark and it's goofy, but it still glows with that familiar magic we heard back on Before Today and all of his other previous releases.  'Symphony of The Nymph' and 'Baby' have taken me through the second half of the year, and so in addition to some other unique and captivating moments, the result is Mature Themes, my number 1 release for 2012.



2. Tame Impala - Lonerism

After 2 years of hammering their debut, Innerspeaker, the wait had began to take it's toll for Tame Impala's next offering.  Thankfully came an album that blew me away the first time, but then continued to bedazzle for months and months to come.  With huge Led Zep drumbeats and an ever-present haze of psychadelic prog-pop-rock madness, the album's infectious riffs and gorgeous vocals gripped me from start to finish and continue to do so.



3. Kendrick Lamar - good kid m.A.A.d city

I hadn't really heard much of Kendrick Lamar before his major label debut dropped, but like all of the albums on this list, it made an instant impact.  With a great blend of chilled out, mellow jams such as 'Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe' and 'Money Trees' and the thrilling street parable of 'The Art of Peer Pressure', Compton's Lamar has already made his footprint in modern hip-hop.  I can only say I feel a bit sorry for him - the amount of pressure he will recieve building upto his 2nd proper release is surely going to be monumental.



4. Grizzly Bear - Shields

Easily their best album in my opinion - the band just grow and grow with every release.  A nice, modest 10 songs that feels so much more in length due to the grand ambition and epic proportion it exudes as a whole, Shields could definitely wear the term "masterpiece".  Swashbuckling guitars, amazingly large drums and an unusual, medieval vibe throughout makes it sound like it was written and composed hundreds of years ago.  Lucky that Ed Droste's vocals soothe and ache on every track, taking the controlled chaos down a notch into stunningly sincere territory.  Opener 'Sleeping Ute' and the MASSIVE closer 'Sun in Your Eyes' stand out as my favourites, alongside the peculiar 'Gun Shy'.



5. Flying Lotus - Until The Quiet Comes

One of the weirder albums on my top 10.  I only got into FlyLo a couple of months ago but he has dominated my recent musical intake in a big way.  All 4 albums are great but I think this has to the best.  Sensual, funky, a little foggy at times but always melodic, interesting and worthy of your attention.  Straight from the opener 'All In' you are guided on a cosmic journey through space with the genius that is Steven Ellison, swirling via heavy beats and slick jazz grooves.  All I can say is: listen to this album.  Embrace it.  And spread the word.



6. John Frusciante - Letur-Lefr EP

OK, so it's not strictly an album, but Frusciante's EP (that preceded his latest full-length PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone) stands up there with the best LP's of 2012.  An unpredictable (as always), twisting, turning ride through electronica, breakbeat and other experimental sounds for a renowned guitarist to explore, the EP is one of the most unusual things I have listened to all year.  With a little help from his wife Nicole Turley (of Swahili Blonde), friend RZA and a couple of Wu-Tang affiliates, Frusciante manages to delve even further into uncharted territory, which says a lot considering he has a plethora of other equally fascinating material as a solo artist.  The track 'FM' also shows that if he focused his sites more specifically towards hip-hop, there would be no reason he couldn't shape-shift once again into other genres.



7. Ty Segall - Twins

It was a struggle to choose which of Segall's 3 fantastic releases of 2012 would make my list, as all of them blew me away.  I was introduced to the music of Ty over summer by my dear friend Luke, who was new to the San Franciscan's music himself.  We we were both hooked and I went on to devour all of his material (which is a lot for a young musician), seeing him live twice in Manchester within a few months.  Twins is probably the most straightforward of the the 2012 trilogy, filled with stripped down glam rock foot-stompers and balls-out garage carnage.  But whilst it is more accessible, it's still as impressive as Hair and Slaughterhouse.



8. Paul Banks - Banks

Technically Banks' 2nd solo release, after the Julian Plenti moniker he used from 2009, Banks doesn't exactly break new ground or sound massively different to his other material, but his voice could be the main reason for this - it's hard not to associate Banks with Interpol, but for me the reason is because they are just too iconic in their sound.  Banks does step away from Interpol in his solo writing in some respects - his songs swim away from the strictly post-punk stadium atmospherics into softer, more poignant offerings.  'The Base' is huge, 'Young Again' has one of the simplest but most effective choruses of the year, 'Arise Awake' oozes charm and sex appeal, and instrumental 'Lisbon' is cold as ice.  Cannot wait for my 4th sighting of Banks in the flesh when he plays at Sound Control in January.




9. Royal Headache - Royal Headache

Sydney's Royal Headache released their first album this year, which consists of mostly short and highly melodic punk songs that possess such soul and elation that I had to include it in my top 10.  The thing that will strike you most is the singer's voice: he goes by the name of Shogun and his husky, throaty but beautiful vocals will blow your face off.  He croons in the Beatles-y 'Distant & Vague', he shouts in the urgent rocker 'Girls' and he pleads with passion in 'Never in Love'.  A truly talented singer, his lyrics are complemented by a tight band who hammer their instruments when necessary but caress them lovingly when the time arises, which can be seen in the stunning instrumental 'Wilson Street'.  12 songs long, Royal Headache's debut is instant and snappy without being stingy, and I'll be listening to it for some time to come.




10. Death Grips - The Money Store

The first of the Sacramento crew's 2 releases of 2012, The Money Store struck me as being a more interesting and exciting album than NO LOVE DEEP WEB.  Whilst it relies on more complicated and gimmicky components than NO LOVE's raw, stripped down punk output, there seems to be more layers and more reasons for repeat listens on the tracks.  The sheer euphoria of 'The Fever (Aye Aye)' alone puts it on the map, whilst the kick in the bollocks that is 'I've Seen Footage' is another contender for track of the summer.  With The Money Store we really got to see how dark Death Grips could be, their frightening punk-rap project shining brightest when covered in murk, flowing over deep basslines and shrouded in mystique despite the insistent bellows of Stefan Burnett.  And live, well, they were just fucking insane.

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