Gonna keep this a little more basic compared to previous years.

Still going a little overboard because I'm me.

To start - my favorite comps/reissues of 2012:


1. Can - The Lost Tapes
Did you guys know I like Can? I do! This is unreleased material, mostly from their peak period, 1968-74, with a few tracks from their later years. I love it.


2. Captain Beefheart - Bat Chain Puller
Did you know that I also like Captain Beefheart? This is the first release of this album which Zappa had withheld from Beefheart for some reason or another so Beefheart sort of re-recorded it with some different tracks and some left out and released it as Shiny Beast. I like this more than Shiny Beast.


3. Codeine - The White Birch
I didn't think I really liked Codeine that much based on just having heard Frigid Stars, but I thanks to this reissue (2xLP + CD), I gave this album a shot and really, really like it a lot. A-Grade slowcore.

4. Paul and Linda McCartney - RAM
5. My Bloody Valentine - EPs 1988-1991
6. Feedtime - The Aberrant Years (only made it through this whole thing once so far, but this band is totally in my wheelhouse)
7. Moss Icon - Complete Discography
8. John Maus - A Collection of Rarities and Previously Unreleased Material
9. Archers of Loaf - Vee Vee Deluxe


Next: EPs, singles, 7"s, other things shorter than album-length

White Birch is definitely one of my favorite slowcore/dreampop albums - gonna put that on tonight.

Look forward to the list! I've really been slacking.

I really like that Can collection, as well.

OK this is dragging out way too long.

EPs, singles, 7's, etc. Everything I listened to from best to worst.


01. Jason Molina – Autumn Bird Songs
It was great to have new music from Jason Molina this year even if it was really old music. This seemed like a really modest collection of unreleased songs at first, but it kinda just kept growing on me. I like the sound of this sort of thing much more than most of his full band Magnolia Electric Co. stuff.


02. Daniel Rossen – Silent Hour/Golden Mile
This just about floored me. I didn't care too much about Grizzly Bear anymore after Veckatimest even though that album was highly acclaimed and generally considered an artistic success. Somehow I felt like their sound had become muddy and boring. But here we've got Grizzly Bear's secret weapon, guitarist Daniel Rossen, releasing some songs that apparently were written but not used for Grizzly Bear's Shields that came out later in the year. It's excellent. It got me excited about Shields to say the least, but it's also better than the majority of Veckatimest or anything Rossen's other band Department of Eagles has done to date.


03. Mouse on Mars – WOW
Mouse on Mars made kind of a comeback this year although I don't think too many people noticed. This is a nice companion to the album Parastrophics that they had put out earlier, both of which are the best things they've done since Idiology and its accompanying Agit Itter It It EP. This is a little rougher, sounding more like sketches than fully fleshed out pieces, but it's still distinctly MOM and still very entertaining.


04. TNGHT – s/t EP
This kind of took me by surprise. I typically don't expect critically praised and popular (maybe?) electronic music to be this playful and weird.
"Easy Easy" is one of the most fun and creative new electronic tracks I've heard in a long time. Enough with the dark and serious shit and the generic and formulaic "fun" dance music. This is what I want from electronic music.

Also very good:
05. Lower – Walk on Heads
06. Times New Viking – Over & Over
07. Pete Swanson – Pro Style EP
08. Animal Collective – Honeycomb/Gotham

Good:
09. Lumerians – Horizon Structures
10. Carlos Giffoni – Evidence (Truly strange. Not sure what else to say.)
11. Mac Demarco – Rock and Roll Night Club (The album 2 is way better, but this has its charms.)
12. The Walkmen – Dance with Your Partner
13. Burial – Kindred
14. Buke & Gase – Function Falls
15. Fucked Up – Year of the Tiger
16. Burial – Truant/Rough Sleeper

OK:
17. Dirty Projectors – About to Die (Their leftovers aren't as strong this time around as they were for Bitte Orca)
18. Androgynous Mind – Nightstalker (This is Pat Flegel, singer/guitarist from Women. Four tossed off noise pieces and one really nice song.)
19. Spider Bags – Teenage Eyes
20. Racebannon – Unwanted Sounds (This is a noise cassette that has really neat packaging. Also a pretty listenable effort at a noise record by this band.)
21. King Tuff – Wild Desire
22. Deerhoof/Of Montreal – split 7”
23. Animal Collective – Transverse Temporal Gyros

Um:
24. Humans – Obsolete Medicine (This isn't bad, actually. It's only a minute-and-a-half of low-bit-rate math rock, and it's on a 3.25" floppy disc. Talk about novel physical formats. It was thrown in for free with my order when I got the Racebannon cassette. The thing itself is kind of cool looking.)

Next: albums

i'll have to check out tnght

sounds prty cl

Used to be a huge Jason Molina fan... read about that one and didn't even listen to it (unreleased old cuts while he's working on a rehab farm and not making music anymore?). But based on your recommendation I'll have to check it out now.

TNGHT kind of reminds me of weird bass tapes I would hear as a kid. I mean maybe it doesn't really sound anything like that, but it's kind of whimsical bass music that brings back those memories.

I wasn't very excited about or interested in the Jason Molina thing when it was announced, but there are some good songs on it. I like how most of it sounds rough and sparse.

Before I start the full album list, here's a rough ranking of 2012 stuff I just started listening to in the past couple of weeks.

These five would probably end up fairly high on my list (Top 40-ish) if given more time:
Foxygen – Take the Kids Off Broadway (Hate that I didn't hear this earlier, but better late than never)
Shackleton – Music for the Quiet Hour/The Drawbar Organ EPs
Melody’s Echo Chamber – s/t (RIYL - Stereolab, Broadcast, Chris Cohen)
Demdike Stare – Elemental
Sic Alps – s/t (Funny that right after I write this band off, they finally make the record they always should/could have)

These are also good:
THEESatisfaction – awE naturalE
Aaron Dilloway – Modern Jester
Motion Sickness of Time Travel – s/t
White Lung – Sorry
Cindy Lee – Tatlashea (This is also Pat Flegel from Women. An ugly, noisy mess, but intriguing.)
Pallbearer – Sorrow and Extinction
Starkey – Orbits
Nü Sensae – Sundowning
Bill Fay – Life Is People
Mutilation Rites – Empyrean
…And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead – Lost Songs
Calexico – Algiers
Captain Murphy – Duality
Bereft – Leichenhaus

These not so much:
Crystal Castles – (III) (Not sure why anyone cares about this band anymore.)
Big Boi – Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors (Really all over the place, but a couple of really good songs.)


Next I'm going to run through every album I did listen to enough to put on a list, from the worst to the best.

My full list is 112 albums.

Here are 112-76. There's not much bad stuff as I think I've gotten pretty good at filtering through things to find what I'll like.

Bad
112. Purity Ring – Shrines. This is really irritating! Hands down my least favorite album of 2012.

Meh
111. Chromatics – Kill for Love. I don't mind their other stuff, but not only is this album way too long, each individual track is, too.
110. Frankie Rose – Interstellar

OK
109. Frank Ocean – Channel Orange. Like it a lot on first listen. Thought it was OK 2nd time through. Each time after that has been a slog.
108. John Talabot – Fin. Another one I find boring and hard to get through.
107. Spiritualized – Sweet Heart Sweet Light. I guess I just don't really care for anything Jason Pierce has ever done, Spacemen 3 included.
106. Julia Holter – Ekstasis
105. The Flaming Lips – The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends. Thought "hey this isn't bad" at first, and while it does hang together surprisingly well, more than half of it gets super-annoying after a few listens.
104. Scuba – Personality. Disappointing new direction after Triangulation, which I liked.
103. Pop. 1280 – The Horror. Great sound, terribly dumb and distracting lyrics.
102. KTL – V. Maybe the most inconsistent noise/drone record I've ever heard? One awesome track, three dull ones, and one awful one (the closer).
101. Alabama Shakes – Boys & Girls. "Hold On" is great, but the rest isn't.
100. Japandroids – Celebration Rock. I guess I only like this a little less than their debut although there's no one track here that really grabs me like "Heart Sweats" did.
99. Chairlift – Something
98. Sun Kil Moon – Among the Leaves. I went into 2012 on something of a prolonged Kozelek kick, but it ended abruptly here. The songwriting voice throughout this album is so fundamentally unlikable to me. I just can't get past what an asshole he sounds like here, and I never felt that way about any of his past albums. That, and most of the songs just aren't that good and have some really terrible lyrics here and there. Still a few keepers and some nice guitar.
97. Kendrick Lamar – good kid, m.A.A.d city. This is fine. I just don't get what the big deal is. Plus, I only heard it about a month prior to this, but I think I like Section.80 better.
96. Mika Vainio, Kevin Drumm, Lucio Capece, Axel Dorner – Venexia
95. The Tallest Man on Earth – There’s No Leaving Now. He's been on a downward arc since his last EP. Following an M. Ward trajectory, apparently.

Decent
94. Squarepusher – Ufabulum. Decent as far as his recent stuff goes, but forgettable and ultimately unnecessary.
93. Actress – R.I.P.
92. Twin Shadow – Confess. Really disappointing follow-up. All '80s pastiche, no songs outside of "Five Seconds".
91. Miguel – Kaleidoscope Dream. OK, so I'm really just not big into R&B. Still kind of a fun record. I like it more than Frank Ocean, anyway.
90. Cut Hands – Black Mamba. Where's the noise? What's this mushy ambient crap? What's with the lame beats? Big letdown after Afro Noise I, one of my favorites of 2011.
89. Aesop Rock – Skelethon
88. Holly Herndon – Movement
87. Pinkish Black – s/t
86. Spacin’ – Deep Thuds
85. Carter Tutti Void – Transverse
84. Zammuto – s/t
83. Krallice – Years Past Matter. Just realized last year that Mick Barr of Orthrelm is in this band. I like his crazy, obnoxious, noodly stuff more than this.
82. La Sera – Sees the Light
81. Peaking Lights – Lucifer
80. Moon Duo – Circles
79. Baroness – Yellow & Green. Might be better than I've given it credit for. The un-heaviness has taken getting used to.
78. Four Tet – Pink
77. Gojira – L’Enfant Sauvage
76. HEALTH – Max Payne 3 Official Soundtrack. Actually pretty impressive for what it is. A mostly instrumental, hour-long video game soundtrack that's easy to get through in a single listen. I still think these guys potentially have a great album in them.

It's interesting. I think we have similar tastes in "older" music (though I've noticed that you somehow find the time to listen to *everything* and I cannot), but reading the above (particularly your take on Purity Ring and Japandroids) we apparently didn't like much of the same stuff in 2012. That said, we agree on Twin Shadow and I haven't heard any of the others in their entirety.

I don't even have kids! How do you do it?

I can listen to music all day at work. That's where 90% of my listening takes place. My home stereo system is collecting dust. I don't buy much vinyl anymore because I never have time to listen to it.

I did bite off more than I could chew, and I didn't get to listen to these as much as I did albums from previous years. I plan to keep listening to all of these for a while, and this whole ranking could change pretty dramatically over the next few months. Might as well go ahead and post it how it stands, though.

75-41.

Good
75. Beak> – > >
74. Six Organs of Admittance – Ascent. This is better than the last Comets on Fire album and the last few Six Organs albums I bothered with.
73. Sharon Van Etten – Tramp
72. El-P – Cancer 4 Cure
71. Dustin Wong – Dreams Say, View, Create, Shadow Leads. I wish Ponytail was still together, but this is nice.
70. The Evens – The Odds
69. Black Dice – Mr. Impossible. Best thing they've done in a long time.
68. Blut Aus Nord – 777: Cosmosophy
67. Fiona Apple – The Idler Wheel…. Some of this is great and some is a little irritating. Good, but I never got into it in a big way.
66. Brian Eno – Lux

65. Spider Bags – Shake My Head. Pretty fun, raucous rock record with a great opening track (Keys to the City"") that contains the couplet "I been livin' in the same town my whole life/Now I'm cheatin' on my girlfriend with my ex-wife".
64. Keith Fullerton Whitman – Generators. Not to be confused with the somewhat inferior Generator (singular) released a couple years ago.
63. Turing Machine – What Is the Meaning of What. I think this was the last record Jerry Fuchs played on? I don't know, but it's good Kraut-y stuff with excellent drums.
62. The Intelligence – Everybody’s Got It Easy But Me. Sounds like the work of about six different bands, but some pretty songs.
61. Death Grips – The Money Store. "Hacker" is awesome, and the rest is kinda fun.
60. Thee Oh Sees – Putrifiers II. Not bad at all, but pretty disappointing after Carrion Crawler/The Dream. Too soft/muted/polite-sounding.
59. Converge – All We Love We Leave Behind. Actually my intro to this band. May grow on me. I was kinda never in the mood for it.
58. Andy Stott – Luxury Problems. Nice stuff, but contrary to popular opinion, not as good as his EPs from 2011! This sounds less deep and distinctive.
57. White Fence – Family Perfume Vol. 1. I probably needed to spend more time with this and Vol. 2, but I definitely like it.
56. Angel Olsen – Half Way Home. Like if Will Oldham had a little sister who wasn't quite as insular and full of herself.

55. Divine Fits – A Thing Called Divine Fits. I like this just fine. Might not be as good as most Spoon records, but it's certainly better than anything Wolf Parade-related.
54. Elephant9 with Reine Fiske – Atlantis. Pretty cool jazzy psyche-rock record. Best when it's at its most intense. Gets a little proggy/Weather Report-y in parts.
53. Yowie – Damning with Faint Praise. Nuttiest instrumental guitar band on the planet. Like The Magic Band on meth.
52. King Tuff – s/t. I love "Bad Thing". Pretty good Slade/T. Rex/glammy/garagey stuff all around.
51. The Men – Open Your Heart. On the one hand a slightly lazy-sounding disappointment after Leave Home, on the other a really fun rock record.
50. Merchandise – Children of Desire. Good post-punk-y stuff.
49. Hilary Hahn & Hauschka – Silfra. Very pretty but not as unique and interesting as Hauschka's Salon des Amateurs from 2011.
48. The Soft Moon – Zeros. Still a great sound, but nothing as striking as on their previous album and EP.
47. Lower Dens – Nootropics. Solid record, but it didn't hit me like their debut did. Getting a little bored with polished, mellow Krautrock-y stuff.
46. Woods – Bend Beyond. Consistently good band makes yet another good album.

45. Animal Collective – Centipede Hz. Did anyone really expect this to measure up to MPP? It's a good album with a few really good songs. This band already defined and refined their sound over the better part of a decade. Doubtful we can expect much better than this from here on out.

44. Kevin Drumm – Relief. Brutal noise assault but with an underlying tonal structure that makes it feel more musical and purposeful than a lot of noise stuff. In the style of Sheer Hellish Miasma, but it doesn't follow the same kind of arc that album does and isn't as good. Better than the follow-up to SHM, Land of Lurches, was, though.

43. Death Grips – NO LOVE DEEP WEB. Stupid penis cover, goofy backstory and all, I just like this record better than The Money Store overall. It doesn't have a standout like "Hacker", but I feel like holds together better as an album.

42. Lotus Plaza – Spooky Action at a Distance. Part of Deerhunter, kinda sounds like Deerhunter but a little more dream pop. Nothing new but done really well.

41. DIIV – Oshin. Like Lotus Plaza, this is clearly nothing new. Yet another dream pop/shoegaze-derived new band, but they've got some really good songs. "How Long Have You Known" is addictively beautiful and soothing.

While I'll have this way higher than you, I couldn't agree more with regards to Wolf Parade. Just never cared for their particular brand of kool aid.

To be honest, I don't think I've ever listened to a whole Wolf Parade album all the way through. And I probably won't any time soon.

Actually, the part of Wolf Parade I think I really don't like is Spencer Krug, and he's not involved in Divine Fits. I had an album by his band Sunset Rubdown that I really came to dislike.

Hoping to be done with this tomorrow.

40-26.

Very Good, Part 1


40. White Suns – Sinews
Look at that cover. It's sort of unsettling but not exactly disturbing or unpleasant. Fitting for the music. This is like if Sightings were more of a punk/hardcore band. The songs are more song-like and recognizably song-structured, but they're still ugly and a little unnerving.


39. Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Mature Themes
I don't like this as much as Before Today, but it's still a worthy follow-up. While I generally enjoy his humorous, often nonsensical approach, his detached wit can start to feel overly cynical, and while sometimes I feel like I relate to that cynicism and am "in on the joke", other times it can be wearying.


38. Dan Deacon – America
Not as good as Bromst, but still a very worthwhile and unfortunately underrated record. The first half contains two awesome "pop songs" and a few other serviceable ones, and on the second half Dan Deacon stretches out and explorers his serious composer side. I like both halves pretty much equally.


37. White Fence – Family Perfume Vol. 2
Really cool art-damaged garage-y band. Came onto my radar via their great collaboration with Ty Segall. I like this one maybe a little better than Vol. 1, but as I was fairly late in the year getting around to them, that could change. Positive that I dig them both a lot, though.


36. Flying Lotus – Until the Quiet Comes
Another follow-up not quite as good as it's predecessor, but it's still Flying Lotus so it's still really good. Packed with details and restless twists and turns. Even when he's not at his best he makes so much other electronic music sound lazy and generic.


35. Neneh Cherry & The Thing – The Cherry Thing
Great pop-jazz collaboration. Mostly covers and a few originals. They nail pretty much all of it, including their version of The Stooges' "Dirt" and a stretched-out version of Madvillain's "Accordian".


34. Ty Segall – Twins
The last of three Ty Segall albums released in 2012 and the first (lowest) on this list. It would probably be higher if he hadn't released two albums I happen to like more in the same year. Dude was on a roll. Hope it continues.


33. Liars – WIXIW
Liars have pretty much settled into their own sound at this point so it can seem a little bit unexciting and dated. There is only one Liars, though, and I'm glad to have them continuing to do what they do. I also think this is a better album than Sisterworld or their debut so it's a welcome addiction to their catalog.


32. Mind Spiders – Meltdown
Just really fun glammy garage punk. A total blast from start to finish, but opener "You Are Dead" in particular is one of my favorites of the year.


31. Dope Body – Natural History
Only band I know of right now that manages to make drawing influence from early '90s rap-rock like Faith No More, RHCP, and RATM somehow sound cool. It's pretty amazing. And a lot of fun if kinda cheesy at times.


30. Lone – Galaxy Garden
One of the best electronic albums of the year and one of my favorite album covers. Kind of reminds me of early µ-Ziq in parts.


29. METZ – s/t
Wholly derivative noise rock that picks all the right things to ape and does so with full fury and commitment. Nothing special on paper but undeniable when it's playing.


28. Swans – The Seer
Swans' second studio album since M. Gira reactivated their name and image a couple of years ago. This current incarnation of the band is a whole new animal, and nothing makes that clearer than this album, a dense, sprawling record loaded with high-profile (in the indie world) guest stars. While it's not the masterpiece some would claim, it's more than worthy of a high place in Gira's impressive discography.


27. Grass Widow – Internal Logic
Why aren't there more good all-girl punk bands? Grass Widow does a pretty good job of carrying the torch here. They draw on all the right influences - The Raincoats mostly, but also some Liliput and a little Young Marble Giants among others - and have a sound that blends just the right amounts of cute and gnarly. I might not like this as much as their previous album but both are top notch.


26. Neurosis – Honor Found in Decay
So my favorite metal band released an album in 2012, and guess what, it's my favorite metal album of the year. Admittedly I only listened to a handful of metal albums from 2012 and nearly half of them only towards the end of the year, but none of them really stood a chance. These guys are just the best of the best.

A great topic, you have to share everything you have. I like it so much.

If I pull my finger out and make a '12 list, FlyLo is a probably top 10.

Looking forward to the rest.

25-11.

Very Good, Part 2


25. Killer Mike – R.A.P. Music
Obviously I don't listen to much rap, but of what I do listen to, the stuff I tend to like is either on the weird/indie side and/or from the South. The is all the latter, none of the former, but it's one of the best straightforward hip-hop albums I've heard in a long time.


24. Mount Eerie – Ocean Roar
The second of the two Mount Eerie albums released in 2012. This is maybe a little more heavy than the other one, and I like it almost as much. There's just a little more meat to Clear Moon in terms of songs, but both albums have a wonderful sound and continue the winning streak Elverum has been on since Lost Wisdom.


23. Tyvek – On Triple Beams
Turns out Tyvek cleans up really well. They've transitioned from a sloppy, almost No Wave-ish lo-fi band to a great energetic, straightforward punk band with the songs to back it up, all while still maintaining their own unique character.


22. Deerhoof – Breakup Song
Deerhoof put out an album in 2012. It contains the really fun song "We Do Parties" which, believe it or not, you could possibly even get away with putting on at a party and not clear the room. I like this one a little better than their previous one, Deerhoof Vs. Evil, and that seems to actually be something of a consensus among Deerhoof fans.


21. Ty Segall Band – Slaughterhouse
The #2 Ty Segall album of 2012, both in terms of quality and release order. It's his most furiously rocking of the three, and it's front-loaded with some great songs. The degeneration in the second half seems like an intentional sort of narrative, the band getting caught up in the cacophony and ultimately devolving into pure noise.


20. Bear in Heaven – I Love You, It’s Cool
Underrated follow-up to Beast Rest Forth Mouth, BiH further refines their cool, detached sound and crafts another impressive album of addictive ear candy.


19. Mouse on Mars – Parastrophics
This is their best album since Idiology which came out over 11 years ago. It sounds relevant almost by accident, MOM just taking their usual playful approach, now feeling more in step with what to me feels like a shift in electronic music back toward the work of auteurs and less about the genre of the moment.


18. Scott Walker – Bish Bosch
By now we know what to expect from a new Scott Walker record, and while Bish Bosch continues in the same vein of Tilt and The Drift, there's something a little more overtly and presumably intentionally goofy going on this time around. Like Walker's almost poking fun at the pomposity of his own sound by throwing fart sounds, canned insults, and total nonsense into extremely melodramatic and serious-sounding music. I actually laughed out loud at several parts on my first listen to this album. It is a truly strange beast, at once serious and difficult while also being somewhat jokey and safe in its familiarity. There's a formula to what he's doing now, but he toys with it in subtle and very entertaining ways here.


17. Tame Impala – Lonerism
Tame Impala's mastery of melodies and arrangements makes them irresistible, even if I find their general sonic niche kind of boring. Like, I really don't want to hear a band blatantly ape The Beatles's sound (which of course they don't always do), especially not to the point of the singer doing a spot-on John Lennon impression. But it just sounds so good. So many earworms on this record. I can't help liking it.


16. Mac Demarco – 2
Operating somewhat in the same vein as Ariel Pink but not as totally fixated on AM cheese and maybe a little bit sleazier, Mac Demarco knows a thing or two about writing a good song. This is a considerable improvement over the Rock and Roll Night Club EP that he released earlier in the year, and it sounds less queasy and jokey but rather more woozy and lovelorn. There's genuine feeling at the core of these songs, something Ariel Pink seems to be missing a lot on his last record.


15. Goat – World Music
I didn't think that much of this at first. European psyche-rock hippie collective making vintage-sounding jams. But repeated listens reveal a passion, intensity, and depth that's truly something special. They really utilize the big band format to full effect, with all sorts of wailing, plucking, and clattering instruments adding to the fury, not in a muddy or convoluted way, but each in its own space with its own clarity and purpose.


14. Lindstrøm – Smalhans
My favorite electronic release is slick and seemingly straightforward on the surface, but Lindstrøm at his best adds an essential degree of nuance to all of his tracks that takes them to a higher level, becoming like aural narcotics for me. It doesn't feel like a bunch of layered loops but rather a living, breathing, slowly evolving thing. He also eschews annoying, repetitive, chopped-up vocal samples, something that has become a pet peeve of mine in electronic music. It's nothing but the good stuff here, pure and uncut.


13. Damien Jurado – Maraqopa
I'm new to Damien Jurado, and this album was probably my biggest surprise of 2012. Jurado nails every aspect of these songs - the lyrics, melodies, and arrangements. It just gets better and better with each listen. I'll definitely be delving further into his discography although I don't really like the only other album I've heard so far, Rehearsals of Departure. I'll stick with his more recent stuff for now, I guess.


12. Rangda – Formerly Extinct
Second album by this indie "supergroup" consisting of Ben Chasny (Six Organs of Admittance, Comets on Fire), Richard Bishop (Sun City Girls), and Ben Corsano (drums for lots of different things). I like this about as much as the first one which was a knotty, intricate, and intense instrumental rock album. This one feels a little smoother and more psychedelic, maybe. Great guitar, anyway.


11. Grimes – Visions
"Nightmusic", "Oblivion", and "Genesis" were three of the best pop songs I heard in 2012. Hell, three of the best songs, period. Hate on this all you want, it's pure sonic pleasure to me. One of the best pop records of the past several years.

Cool that you enjoyed feedtime, love 'em. Few I need to check out especially the Can record..

Yeah, I've listened to that Feedtime set another time through since that first post. It's great stuff. I'd put it above RAM and the My Bloody Valentine stuff now, for sure. Maybe even Codeine, too.

10-1.

Great


10. The Walkmen – Heaven
The Walkmen are simply one of the best bands going. They're the whole package and consistently bring it on all fronts. This is a very positive, sentimental album that doesn't feel the least bit sappy or overwrought. Like most of their music, it feels just right.


09. Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!
GY!BE is another band that just operates at a much higher level than most. Their surprise comeback album is everything you could want it to be. Not a progression or change in direction or reinvention. Just more of what they do better than anybody else.


08. Ty Segall & White Fence – Hair
And here's my favorite of the 3 Ty Segall albums of 2012, their collaboration with White Fence. I actually swapped this one with Slaughterhouse at the last minute, after having revisited that one. Both are among the best music of the year, but this one has probably my favorite song of 2012, "I Am Not a Game"*, and after listening to the two White Fence Family Perfume albums, I've gained a greater appreciation for their contribution here. This was a really awesome pairing, and I hope they do more together in the future.


07. Beach House – Bloom
Very nearly as good as Teen Dream, and I can't really fault them for not meeting or surpassing that high water mark or for not changing direction or trying to shake things up. It's more of the same, but it's something they've perfected. Beach House's are carefully considered and economical, and it always manages to endear itself over time rather than wear out its welcome. Their sound is intoxicating, and as long as they can churn out songs like "Wishes" and "Myth", they needn't change a thing.


06. Mount Eerie – Clear Moon
The first of Phil Elverum's two Mount Eerie albums of 2012 and the one I like a little better. At this point, Elverum has developed so much depth as a songwriter, arranger, and producer, and this record's dynamic range and sonic palette is something savor. The songs themselves are really good, too.


05. Cloud Nothings – Attack on Memory
Another indie rock album influenced by '90s indie rock, but this one demonstrates not only a depth of understanding and knowledge of what came before but also also really has something to say. I mean, I won't profess to know what all of these songs are about, but there's an appropriate feeling of frustration and desperation and a real clarity of purpose. Actually having Steve Albini produce it didn't hurt, either. Perfect sound with the songs to match.


04. Dirty Projectors – Swing Lo Magellan
This is the best thing that Dirty Projectors have done to date, and it's also the simplest and most direct. The melodies are free to shine and sink in unencumbered by overly complex arrangements and showy vocal acrobats. There's still some of that on this record, just enough to make it sound like Dirty Projectors but not enough to ever detract from the essence of the songs.


03. Keiji Haino/Jim O’Rourke/Oren Ambarchi – Imikuzushi
Every year there's a heavy, noisy, instrumental (or mostly instrumental, in this case) album near or at the top of my favorites list. This time it's a collaboration featuring Japanese guitar mangler Keiji Haino shredding and wailing over the top of Jim O'Rourke and Oren Ambarchi holding down a steady, almost motorik rhythm section. These three have collaborated before on far more "experimental" and "challenging" records, but here it's an all-out psyche-rock assault. It's a total blast from start to finish.


02. Chris Cohen – Overgrown Path
It's neck and neck between my two favorite albums of 2012. This one is maybe the more modest of the two. A singer-songwriter album by a guy who was in Deerhoof during their best period and has also played with Ariel Pink as well as his own bands Curtains and Cryptacize with Nedelle Torrisi. Cohen has become one of my favorite guitarists, and this record and his last couple with Cryptacize have shown that he really knows his way around writing and arranging a song, too. The sound of this record is warm and familiar, and yet there's no mistaking Cohen's unique guitar as well as his sense of melody and dynamics. Even at this moment I'm tempted to swap this out as my #1 for 2012.


01. Grizzly Bear – Shields
I didn’t expect anything much from Grizzly Bear going into 2012, but Daniel Rossen’s excellent Silent Hour/Golden Mile EP changed that. He’s Grizzly Bear’s greatest asset, and his guitar work is a big part of why Shields works so well. Even though the style of music Grizzly Bear plays isn’t something I’d say I’m generally into (I’d put Bon Iver in the same ballpark, but I don’t really like him/them at all), I find they win me over yet again on this album by just doing every single thing right. The harmonies, the guitar, the arrangements, the flow of the album. It’s wall-to-wall ear candy. It’s music I want to immerse myself in. It fits pretty much any mood or situation I find myself in these days. It's the best thing they've ever done, and the closest thing to a perfect record to come out in 2012.


*Here's a live version of "I Am Not a Game" by Ty Segall & White Fence:

Spotify playlist, 40 songs, sequenced to kinda flow from start to finish:

http://open.spotify.com/user/chasedbybe ... 6kolJwUEVV

first listen - thanks to this thread - and this one is hitting me in the sweet spot this morning. Kevin Parker's influence is so obvious all over this album...basically a female fronted Tame Impala. for anyone who dug Lonerism this year, this one needs to be heard. very good.

i'm also finally checking out Woods, but it hasn't been as immediate a connection as this one.

Yeah I guess Tame Impala is an obvious frame of reference for Melody's Echo Chamber that sort of slipped my mind. Anyway, glad you dig it!

This is probably my favorite song from the album:

may you help me out with a dirty projectors link? somehow I forgot about that album when it went around...