86 thoughts on “FMD: End of 2012”

1. .
   .
   1. Guster - "Parachute" - Parachute
   2. The Allman Brothers Band - "Good Clean Fun" - Stand Back
   3. The New Pornographers - "Use It" - Twin Cinema
   4. The Hold Steady - "Hostile, Mass." - Almost Killed Me
   5. Interpol - "PDA" - Turn on the Bright Lights
   6. Cake - "Open Book" - Fashion Nugget
   7. Belle & Sebastian - "Sukie in the Graveyard" - The Life Pursuit
   8. Ryan Adams - "Sweet Lil Gal" - Heartbreaker
   9. Soul Coughing - "Soundtrack to Mary" - Irresistible Bliss
   10. The Beatles - "The Long and Winding Road" - 1
   B. John Legend & the Roots - "Humanity (Love the Way It Should Be)" - Wake Up

2. 2012 was a year that I listened to more pop music than I have in 10 years, but by the end started to tap into 80's new wave and college music.

   Bands I liked released album and I bought them, only to be disappointed. I'll list my 8 favorite new and old albums that I discovered this year

   1. The Replacements - 'Let It Be' jiminy christmas. this album was released in 1984 and I finally get around to listening to it. I can see why The Replacements are hug influences on a lot of bands. This is is full of raw emotion, wicked guitar hooks, and quirkiness. This is probably in my 'inner circle' favorite albums ever. Now I gotta listen to 'Hootenanny' and 'Tim'.
   2. The Little Willies - 'For the Good Times' Im not a huge fan of country music, but this album of old country song covers hits a sweet note. This album sit in my cd player for about 3 weeks straight.
   3. Nick Lowe - 'Jesus of Cool'
   4. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - 'Fever To Tell'
   5. Green Day - 'Uno' I actually liked this album. If Green Day would have focused on putting out 1 quality album instead of 3 sort of half assed albums, I bet this would have been killer.

   6. Mayer Hawthorne - 'How Do You Do' Saw these guys on PBS one night and was hooked. Not a fan of the first 3 songs of the album (Snoop Dogg wrote and performed on one of them), but then kicks into this neo-soul thing that is beautiful
   7. The Hives - 'Lex Hives' I listened to this a bunch when it came out, but havent touched it in at least 2 months.
   8. Depeche Mode - 'Violator'

   Like I said, I listened to a lot more pop music this year. Here are some of my favorite tracks

   Walk the Moon - 'Anna Sun'
   The Wallflowers - 'Reboot the Mission'
   Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen - 'Good Time'
   Of Monsters and Men - 'Little Talks'
   Norah Jones - 'Happy Pills'
   Muse- ' Madness'
   Grouplove - 'Tongue Tied'
   Gotye - 'Somebody That I Used to Know'
   Fun. - 'We Are Young'
   The Avett Brothers - 'Live and Die'
   Imagine Dragons - 'Its Time'
   Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, Krist Novocelic, Pat Smear - 'Cut Me Some Slack'

   1. Wow DW, Let It Be, Fever to Tell, and Jesus of Cool are "must haves." Glad you got to them.

      1. I am not lying when I say that after 'I Will Dare' finished I said out loud to myself "this is awesome."

         1. ahem

            1. The Replacements are my next chapter in "OBCBYL" I'm looking forward too it

               1. "Let it Be" is a great album, but the best Replacements song is 'Here Comes a Regular' from "Tim" (full disclosure: I am not a Replacements expert). It's one of those that I listen to 2 or 3 times in a row every time I come across it.

                  1. I absolutely love that song!

      2. I was really expecting an "Ack!! Depoche Mode. Kill. Die." from you there, free.

         1. I know, I know I'm slowing down. DW didn't say if he liked it however so I focused on the positive.

            1. I did enjoy it. #8 was a tossup between that and Rolling Stones Some Girls, but I put Violator there because I already knew half the Stones songs on that album.

            2. number 8 on "8 favorite new and old albums [he] discovered this year"

               DW, Songs of Faith and Devotion is pretty good too, and I'm quite fond of the singles from Ultra. They get their guitars crunchier on SoF&D (though "In Your Room" would fit easily on Violator) and they get a little Trip-hoppy on Ultra, so YMMV.
               Avoid the pointlessness of SoF&D Live though. Might as well be SoF&D: Rough Takes with Bonus Audience Noise IIRC.

3. 1. Customer -- The Replacements
   2. Color Me Impressed -- The Replacements
   3. New York Town -- Woody Guthrie
   4. Heart of Gold -- Neil Young
   5. In the Street -- Big Star
   6. Let's Get Married -- Al Green
   7. Happy Jack -- The Who
   8. Castles Made of Sand -- Jimi Hendrix
   9. Tinfoil -- The Handsome Family
   10. Could You Be Loved -- Bob Marley
   B1. You Can't Do That -- The Beatles

   DW's just coming across Let It Be must have inspired my I-pod to spit out two Replacements songs.

   Albums of the Year:
   1. Researching the Blues --Redd Kross;
   2. Boys & Girls -- The Alabama Shakes
   3. Bears for Lunch

   Songs of the Year:
   1. I'm Writing a Novel -- Father John Misty
   2. Hold On -- The Alabama Shakes
   3. The Unsinkable Fats Domino -- Guided By Voices

   Concerts of the Year:
   1. Built to Spill -- First Avenue
   2. Dinosaur Jr. -- The Cabooze
   3. The Wedding Present -- 400 Club

   1. Oops, that Bears for Lunch album is by Guided By Voices. One of three they put out this year and of course you could make one album for the ages by eliminating the one-offs and keeping the great songs.

      1. Oh and if my lists went to 4, Japandroids would have made it.

   2. Argh. You mentioned that Redd Kross album before, and I was going to check it out. And then...

      I've made a note. I may or may not follow through on this.

4. 'Chop Suey!' - System of a Down Toxicity
   'Dont Be Cruel' - Cheap Trick Lap of Luxury
   'Shambala' - Three Dog Night 20th Century Masters
   'The Unforgiven' - Metallica Metallica
   'Fernando' - ABBA Gold

   'Without You' - Nilsson Nilsson Schmilsson
   'Take the Long Way Home' - Supertramp Breakfast in America
   'Slip Away' - Clarence Carter 'Almost Famous' OST
   'American Music' - Violent Femmes Add It Up (1981-1993)
   'Never Go Back' - Grace Potter and the Nocturnals The Lion The Beast The Beat

5. I want to start the Great Purge, but I have to do some prep work. If you remember, I was having HD problems around last Christmas. As such, my music library was effed up, and still is slightly. My iPod library isn't the same size as my HD library (it's slightly larger). I need to figure out what the discrepancy is so I can reverse sync what I'm missing, and then properly purge. I've been meaning to do this for months, but the Great Purge is the motivation I've been looking for.

   1. I recently purged Sufjan Stevens Age of Adz, some Arctic Monkeys, some Klaxons, along with some other various songs here and there.

   2. This is getting me nowhere. My iPod and library both say they have 238 artists, but my iPod claims 3326 tracks, and my library 3377. I checked and all the artists are the same, so now I'll have to go through track by track.

      On the plus side, I did find out I lost tracks 6-15 of Mermaid Ave. Vol II, so I'd be much obliged if someone here could assist me in recovering those tracks.

      1. Got it, I hadn't synced my versions of "In Cold Blood". I still had 3 discs in my library that I'd deleted from the iPod. They're both at 3326 now.

         1. The artist and track counts match, but when I go to sync my iPod, it tells me 231 tracks will deleted. Would it make sense that these are tracks where I've adjusted the ID3 tags so the player doesn't recognize them as "the same" and will delete and put them right back on?

            1. That would be my guess.

6.  
    
   1. “ain’t it strange” – dr. dog – we all belong
   2. “新しい日々” – つじあやの – CALENDAR CALENDAR
   3. “when that evening sun goes down” – van morrison – tupelo honey
   4. “shankill butchers” – the decemberists – the crane wife
   5. “black” – bonnie “prince” billy – i see a darkness
   6. “upon settling on the frozen island, lecithin presents claude and coquelicot with his animal creations for them to approve or reject (the rejected inventions walk towards the reverse magnetizer)” – of montreal – coquelicot asleep in the poppies: a variety of whimsical verse
   7. “corona” – calexico – convict pool
   8. “let’s call it off” – peter bjorn and john – writer’s block
   9. “rider to the sea” – anna calvi – anna calvi
   10. “now is the hour” – werner muller – hawaiian swing

7. 1. On the Road Again - Willie Nelson - Revolutions of Time
   2. Wisdom Has Its Way - Michael Nesmith - From a Radio Engine to the Photon Wing
   3. I'm Going to Memphis - Johnny Cash - Unearthed
   4. Message to a Friend - Charlie Haden/Pat Metheny - Beyond the Missouri Sky
   5. St. Matthew - Mark McKay - Papa Nez: A Loose Salute to the Work of Michael Nesmith
   6. Without Love - Nick Lowe - Labour of Lust
   7. Chuckin' - Kenny Burrell - Blue Lights
   8. Just a Passing Glance - Don Carlos - Real Authentic Sampler
   9. Roll Plymouth Rock - Brian Wilson - Smile
   10. Ugly - Fishbone - Rhythm Come Forward, Vol. 2

8. I gotta remember to put together a list one of these days. Or get an ipod.

9. I've been greeting each of the past 3 FMD's with a sigh of relief that I didn't miss the opportunity to post and participate in the discussion. I kept thinking, I'll get that list together and be ready with it when the day comes...that day has come and I'm not ready.

   sigh

10. In 2012, I really discovered what type of hip hop/rap music I like. So, in honor of my discovery I did 2 lists. The first one is my random iPod play and the 2nd is from a random shuffle of my "rap" genre.

    1. Sister Hazel - "Concede" - ...Something More Familiar
    2. Journey - "Don't Stop Believin'" - Greatest Hits - Journey
    3. Flight of the Conchords - "Think About It" - Flight of the Conchords
    4. Soul Position - "Keep It Hot for Daddy" - Things Go Better with RJ and AL
    5. Sister Hazel - "So Long" - ...Something More Familiar
    6. Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings - "She Ain't a Child No More" - I Learned the Hard Way
    7. Dessa - "Dixon's Girl" - Castor the Twin
    8. P.O.S. - "I Play the Matador (Redo)" - Ipecac Neat
    9. Death Cab For Cutie - "Someday You will be Loved" - Plans
    10. Macklemore - "The Town" - The Unplanned Mixtape
    (Note: Macklemore's "Thriftshop" was just the first single by a Seattle artist to go Platnium since Sir Mix A Lot's "Baby Got Back" )

    1. P.O.S. - "Terrorish" - Never Better
    2. Blueprint - "American Dream (Feat. Adora)" - Deleted Scenes
    3. Felt - Paul Reubens - Felt 3: A Tribute to Rosie Perez
    4. Soul Position - Right Place, Wrong Time - 8,000,000 Stories
    5. P.O.S. - "Optimist (We are not For Them)" - Never Better
    6. Blueprint - "Big Girls Need Love Too" - 1988
    7. Eyedea and Abilities - "Color My World" - First Born
    8. Felt - "We Have you Surrounded" - Felt 3: A Tribute To Rosie Perez
    9. Sims - "The Veldt" - Bad Time Zoo
    10. Atmosphere - "Something So" - The Family Sign

    1. I think you're confused about the nationality of the "Baby Got Back" artist. Clearly he must be from the U.K.

    2. Fixed your html there for you, sheenie.
       Question: when we met at the minicaucus, I was reluctant to use your wgom handle, even though that felt more natural. Would that have been inappropriate or even weird to you? I ask because of the similarity to an ethnic slur, as it's a line I couldn't cross without your prior approval.

       1. True story, on my old website a random commentor (someone who never commented on any other post on my site either before or after), kept attacking me for calling her Sheenie.

          1. That's exactly who I thought of when I saw AMR's comment.

          2. that could be why I'm even aware it's a slur

             1. I first learned of it when I watched Miller's Crossing

    3. rap playlist

       I like the cut of your jib.

    4. I really discovered what type of hip hop/rap music I like

       So basically, either MN artists, artists on MN a MN label, of Macklemore?

    5. I think it's kind of neat/odd that this was a year you discovered hip hop, since it was a year that generally turned me off of it. I felt like everything was too samey this year (particularly the stuff played on The Current). I go through phases with rap though, and I guess I'm in an "off" phase.

       1. I grew up with Southern Gangsta rap (terrible stuff), so I used this year to find out who and what Rhymesayers, Doomtree, the difference between East Coast/West Coast/Midwest/Southern Rap is. Will - you know that I have also discovered Kendrick Lamar, Lupe Fiasco, Gangstagrass, Nas, etc. I just listen to them on Youtube. Probably should make it over to Electric Fetus one day to buy music.

          And to the Sheenie comment, I do usually prefer my first name, but that is just me. Not because of the ethnic slur, but just because. I have been called Sheenie since high school. I didn't even know it was a bad thing until the comment on Will's website.

          1. I grew up with Southern Gangsta rap (terrible stuff)

             I resemble that statement! UGK is the greatest rap group that ever was or ever will be.

       2. And why are you going to the Current for new hip hop (unless you are listening to Redefinition Radio)?

          1. I'm not going there for the new hip hop, I'm just getting exposed to it there.

             These days I don't have nearly as much time for music as I used to, so it's pretty much all The Current and WGOM.

             1. Try Youtube. I have a playlist there and every now and then it "suggests" someone I should listen to.

11. First the random:

    * Shaking Through - R.E.M. - Murmur
    * Don't Cry No Tears - Neil Young - Zuma
    * Structure - Emptyset - Demiurge**
    * Looking At the Invisible Man - The Dead Weather - Sea of Cowards**
    * Clapping - Elektro Guzzi - (self-titled)
    * Street Walkin' - Dan Auerbach - Keep it Hid
    * Empty Spaces - Pink Floyd - The Wall**
    * Tourette's - Nirvana - From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah
    * Drain You - Foxy Shazam - Newermind: A Tribute Album
    * War? - System of a Down - (self-titled)

    ** Neil Young into Emptyset is not a smooth transition.

    ** Jack White is on Austin City Limits tomorrow, if you're so inclined - sounds like he's playing mostly from Blunderbuss.

    ** I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I'm pretty sure my iPod plays way more of "The Wall" than it should based on random chance, it always seems to come up.

    1. Random chance makes it likely that some songs would be played more than would be expected by random chance, no?
       "A man won the lottery a second time! The odds of that happening are one in a few quadrillion!" Not really. The chances for that man were, but the chances that any person would over a long period of time is quite different. Just like the chances of you and I having the same birthday is remote, but the chances of two citizens sharing a birthday would be quite robust.

       1. Random chance makes it likely that some songs would be played more than would be expected by random chance, no?

          Yes. Apparently those songs are from "The Wall" on my iPod. An observation, that's all.

          1. Random chance makes it likely that some songs would be played more than would be expected by random chance, no?

             Head asplodes!!

             1. This is why people don't understand SSS.

12. And now a list-like thing:

    Nothing really blew me away in 2012, and I find myself on an electronic kick here at the end of the year, so I'm sure my list will skew in that direction more than it maybe should. That said, in no particular order, here's stuff I liked.

    Morkobot - Ultramorth (from Morbo)

    An Italian group with two bassists and one drummer. That's it. Nonetheless, I was about 20 seconds into this song when I decided I was going to get the whole album. The rest of the album doesn't quite stand up, but this song is awesome.

    Japandroids - Celebration Rock

    What everyone else said. I listened to it a lot. I liked it a lot.

    Brambles - Charcoal

    This was filed under "Modern Composition" on the site where I first heard of it (A Closer Listen - for ambient, drone, experimental, etc.). I'm not sure what that means, but it's close to ambient, close to classical, with electronic influences. It's quiet, but insistent. Another one that I've listened to a lot over the last couple months.

    Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel...

    If I could pick one artist that really doesn't fit in my music library, it's her. But every album I end up liking much more than I expect I will. She's 4 for 4 now, I should stop being surprised by that.

    Emptyset - Collapsed

    Doing what they (he? she?) do best. Dark, deliberate, noisy music.

    Swans - The Seer

    Yes, I linked to 'Song for a Warrior' to purposefully misrepresent what the other 100 minutes of the album are like.

    This year it seemed like I was disappointed by a lot of artists that I had previously enjoyed (Deftones, Earth, Heartless Bastards, Sleigh Bells, Jack White, GYBE, Black Keys, Neil Young, Demdike Stare, etc.) Not so with these last three, perhaps no one more than Swans. This album seems so much bigger than it is. Over at nibbish's we both commented that the sheer number of memorable music moments on this is staggering.

    Silent Servant - Negative Fascination
    Barker & Baumecker - Crows (from Transsektoral)
    Raime - Quarter Turns Over a Living Time

    Three dark techno/house albums that I'm rotating between right now. I'm certain one or two of these will turn out not to have staying power, but right now I can't decide which it will be.

    Two Gallants - The Bloom and the Blight

    Nothing too complex here. I think I just like how the singer just goes for it, song after song.

    Metz - (self-titled)

    Loud. Fast. Fun(?). When a song called 'Nausea' feels like a breather on the album, you know you're in for something intense.

    Voices from the Lake - (self-titled) or Nuel - Trance Mutation

    I put these together because they're both related to Donato Dozzy (he's in VFTL, and he produced Nuel) and they are clearly variations on the same theme. 'Voices' is the better album - you put it on, and suddenly it's 30 minutes later and you're not sure what happened except you got sucked up into the ebb and flow of it. I heard Nuel first (last year), so I'll include that here since it's a pretty clear influence, and a good album too.

    Hilary Hahn & Hauschka - Silfra

    Wait, don't go! I know what you're thinking - "Prepared Piano? Like when they put screws in the strings or whatever? No thanks." I thought the same. I was wrong. This is really good stuff, all improvised by the two artists, but mesmerizing.

    Mariel Roberts and Andy Akiho - 21
    Mariel Roberts - Nonextraneous Sounds

    One cello album. I hadn't heard of Ms. Roberts or most of the composers, but picked this up on a recommendation. My favorite is "Formations" written by Tristan Perich and Andy Akiho's "Three Shades, Foreshadows". I couldn't find a video of either of those, so enjoy Roberts and Akiho playing Akiho's "21".

    1. Oh yeah! Also Grimes - Visions. It was there on my list, and then I was skipping around to truly get that "no particular order" feel, and left it out.

       "Oblivion" does the most to get this album into a reply comment to my top 10-15 of 2012, but I've found a few other tracks that stick with me as well.

       Also I wanted to mention Chromatics - Into the Black (from Kill for Love) [Rated NSFR_R]

       Pitchfork drew the parallel betwixt this Chromatics album and the movie "Drive" (which I think Chromatics contributed to?) and it's hard to shake that same mood while the album plays. I don't the whole album makes it into my favorites of 2012, but this woozy Neil Young cover is what pulled me in, so I think it deserves a mention.

       I'm stopping now. I swear.

       1. Yes, Chromatics is on the Drive soundtrack. It's a really good soundtrack. I just have to get around to seeing the movie. I was listening to that soundtrack whilst walking alone at night down some empty streets in Prague and I creeped myself out hardcore. I had to switch my iPod over (I don't remember exactly what to, something upbeat).

          httpv://youtu.be/vWD7k6TrJ-g

          1. That album really picks out a certain mood and just nails it. If I had found it at the right time, I could see it getting non-stop play for a few weeks.

             Also, you should see "Drive". It's violent, but it's very very good. If you like the soundtrack you will love the movie, I think.

             1. Drive is a great movie. I found it to be better upon second viewing, and even better thinking back on it.

                1. It has definitely been on the list for a year or so. Just haven't gotten around to it.

                   1. Definitely get around to it - I'll second Mak & nibs in saying that it's very worthwhile viewing.

          2. Apparently at one point Johnny Jewel was in talks to score the soundtrack for Drive. Apparently it inspired him anyway and he released a huge instrumental double album that shares the mood. I think the score turned out basically perfectly, but I'm really curious what it would've sounded like if Johnny finished it. Night Drive and Kill for Love are two of my favorite "mood" albums ever. I'm very excited to hear what they do next.

             1. I listened to that "not Drive soundtrack" album (one of the first albums I listened to last year, actually. It's pretty great.

    2. I am going to have to pay closer attention to the stuff you listen to this next year. There's a lot of awesome there that I was completely oblivious to.

       1. So much hipster cred!

          1. And it's all going to be mine in 2013.

    3. Thanks for reminding me of the Raime album. I've got two or three EPs, and wanted to hear the album. IIRC, those EPs have a lot of tension through the beats basically never changing, which can be good at some moods, boring at others.

       I'll listen more to more of your list in a bit.

13. I listened to a lot of music this year. I mean, I always do, but this year I listened to somewhere in the range of 100 albums from 2012 alone, alongside a lot of albums that I had missed from previous years/decades. My full album list is over at the site, here's the top twenty.

    20. Aesop Rock - Skelethon (watch the 'zzz top' video. it's pretty fun)
    19. El-P - Cancer 4 Cure (not as solid, i don't think, as a lot of his earlier stuff, but worse El-P is better than most other stuff)
    18. The xx - coexist (disliked it, then resented it, then liked it, then was bored by it, then loved it. it's complicated)
    17. Metz - Metz (brooks is right on with this one)
    16. Sigur Rós - Valtari (beautiful. excited to go to this show in April)
    15. Swans - The Seer (intense listen filled with moments that drop your jaw. the most solidly 'difficult, but rewarding' album I've heard in forever)
    14. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles (III)
    13. ...and you will know us by the trail of dead - Lost Songs (I've resigned myself to liking just about anything these guys put out, though I will admit that I was happy that they dialed back the proggishness to focus on a more straightforward rock style)
    12. Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory
    11. Clams Casino - Instrumentals 2 (I still have to digest the Lil B playlist that Zack gave me. in the meantime, this gives me the beats without the swag. I like that)
    10. Purity Ring - Shrines (what I kind of wanted Grimes to be all along)
    9. Sleigh Bells - Reign of Terror (I think it's a solid second album from a band that couldn't have been expected to make an even passable second album)
    8. P.O.S. - We Don't Even Live Here (it's scatterbrained and all over the place, and I still love it)
    7. Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid, Maad City (worth the hype)
    6. Beach House - Bloom (have you heard Beach House? yeah? then you already know whether you'll like this or not)
    5. Ramona Falls - Prophet (great arrangements, great songs)
    4. Sharon Van Etten - Tramp (ditto what AMR said. 'Give Out' is the best song of the year and it's not all that close)
    3. Mind Spiders - Meltdown (fun garagey rock/punk in the Jay Reatard vein)
    2. Burial - Kindred EP (did you ever listen to this or the new single, AMR?)
    1. Japandroids - Celebration Rock (rock returns. I didn't really care for Post Nothing, but they've fine tuned their sound and seem to hit all the right chords without losing any of their immediacy)

    I was going to include Frank Ocean's album in my top 20, but it's just too uneven. Pyramids is amazing, Thinkin Bout You is amazing, and there's two or three other really good songs. The rest is merely decent. I was excited for the Animal Collective CD, and it turned out to be incredibly 'meh', I didn't hear Grizzly Bear's CD nearly enough to form any concrete opinion on it.

    1. Have you listened to the prior Swans album? I gave up on it after about two spins and always skipping past it on shuffle. How does the new one compare? If I wrote of the last should I give the new one a try anyways? I wrote it off before even sampling because of the last album.

       1. If you didn't like My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky, I don't think you'll like The Seer.

          Hell, sometimes I'm not sure I like The Seer.

          1. I finally hunkered down and listened to My Father... right before The Seer came out and I'd probably agree with DG.

             I love that new Swans sounds like the child of the original Swans stuff and the stuff Gira did with Angels of Light, which I think is seriously underappreciated. And honestly, I'd be pretty sad if it wasn't since I really adore all of the Angels albums.

          2. If you didn't like My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky, I don't think you'll like The Seer.

             Hell, sometimes I'm not sure I like The Seer.

    2. 9. Sleigh Bells - Reign of Terror (I think it's a solid second album from a band that couldn't have been expected to make an even passable second album)

       I see your point, but I would downgrade it from solid to passable. Couple good songs, but nothing that blew me away, and a lot of songs that I wouldn't recognize if I had the tracklist in front of me.

       13. ...and you will know us by the trail of dead - Lost Songs (I've resigned myself to liking just about anything these guys put out, though I will admit that I was happy that they dialed back the proggishness to focus on a more straightforward rock style)

       You're going to make me pick up another Trail of Dead album aren't you? Damn it, nibs.

       1. You could always Spotify it first if you're tentative, but really, when has Trail of Dead ever let anyone down?

          **shifty glances**

    3. 16. Sigur Rós - Valtari (beautiful. excited to go to this show in April)
       I sent a response to your e-mail last month...suffice it to say, I'd be interested.

       1. Yeah. So long as you're interested, we'll definitely hit it up.

14. Uhh, so, yeah, my musical tastes this year remained the same as last year. So, no best of lists for me.

    01. Entombed - "Retaliation", Inferno
    02. Armored Saint - "Symbol of Salvation", Symbol of Salvation
    03. Tool - "Forty Six & 2", Aenima
    04. Running Wild - "Evil Spirit", Branded and Exiled
    05. Kreator - "The Patriarch", Violent Revolution
    06. Iron Maiden - "Sanctuary", Iron Maiden
    07. King Diamond - "Mother's Getting Weaker", Them
    08. Iron Maiden - "Aces High", Powerslave
    09. Brainstorm - "Mask of Life", Liquid Monster
    10. Atheist - "An Incarnation's Dream", Unquestionable Prescence

    1. 03. Tool - "Forty Six & 2", Aenima

       This is another of those songs that I could listen to multiple times in a row.

       Also, I don't think I've ever seen Tool in a cheaptoy list before. Have I just missed it? Or is this a relatively new occurrence?

       1. I've got Aenima and Undertow and have had the discs since college. I think I just missed them many years ago when I first digitized my cd collection. A few months ago I came across a whole bunch of cd's that hadn't been ripped, so a lot of music was added to the ol' iPod.

          1. Good additions then. Tool is about the only "heavy" stuff I listen to unless you count 90's grunge acts (PJ, STP, AIC, etc.) or older stuff like Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest...uhm, does Metallica count?

          2. Well we could now have the same songs on our random ten in the same week! It's possible!

15. Not sure if I liked 2012 more or less than 2011. I think I only went to 10 albums on the list last year, so I may have at least liked more things this year, since now we're going to 15.

    15. Titus Andronicus - Local Business
    Not their best record, but it's got some strong moments.

    14. Lotus Plaza - Spooky Action at a Distance

    13. Liars - WIXIW

    12. Japandroids - Celebration Rock
    I got a little sick of it, and then I went back to it after a long while and it didn't hit me quite the same, but I liked it enough initially to put it here.

    11. Sun Kil Moon - Among the Leaves
    Sad Bastard Koz finally reveals his dickish side that most of his concert-going fans were aware of on a record. Still pretty good.

    10. Moonface with Siinai - Heartbreaking Bravery
    I'm glad Spencer Krug decided to record with a band again and not just with his organ, since most of the good stuff that happens here is due to the band while he just does Kruggy things over them.

    9. Baroness - Yellow & Green
    The only "metal"-ish thing you'll see here, and I'm not sure it counts as metal any more either.

    8. The Walkmen - Heaven
    I think as a Walkmen album I like this a little less than their last two.

    7. Ramona Falls - Prophet
    I said before I thought Brent Knopf stepped up a lot from his first RF album, and I still think that. Hope he produces a little more frequently now that this is his only project.

    6. Beach House - Bloom
    One of the 2012 examples of "DK just got into them this year".

    5. Father John Misty - Fear Fun
    Just the right combination of earnestness, cynicism, and nonsense.

    4. Menomena - Moms
    I thought it might make a really strong record if you took the best three songs off Prophet and combined them with four each out of Seim and Harris' five respective songs from here, but that would probably hurt the thematic cohesiveness that these guys have achieved for the first time with this.

    3. Divine Fits - A Thing Called Divine Fits
    Some indie label suit must have thought "Getting Britt Daniel and Dan Boeckner together would be the perfect DK-bait. Let's make it happen".

    2. Tame Impala - Lonerism
    Liked their first record well enough, loved this one.

    1. Grizzly Bear - Shields
    My favorite 2012 example of combining musical diversity with lyrical and thematic consistency.

    1. I always look forward to this list.

       15. Titus Andronicus - Local Business

       Huh. I'll have to try it again. I loved The Monitor - a lot. I barely got through my one listen of the new one, though. Maybe I was in the wrong sort of mood? It just seemed really badly mastered or something. Usually audio fidelity and mastering doesn't bother me in the slightest, but something about the drum sounds drove me nuts.

       One of the 2012 examples of "DK just got into them this year"

       Exact same scenario. Every other year, when I listened to Beach House, they just annoyed and bored me. This year, I got pretty heavily into Teen Dream, then along came Bloom, and I loved that, too.

       Grizzly Bear seemed like it would be top ten, maybe top five, but I didn't hear it for the first time until 12/22, so it seemed a little disingenuous to include it.

       You've got a bunch of stuff (Baroness, Menomena, Tame Impala, and especially Divine Fits) that I really need to listen to, since I've given all of those albums one listen at most.

       Solid list, top to bottom.

       1. Man, I wanted to like Titus Andronicus. I listened to 'The Monitor' 4 or 5 times before I admitted to myself that it just wasn't for me.

          That has nothing to do with this list, but I still get a little bummed every time I see them mentioned.

          1. I'm with you, although I gave them fewer listens.

          2. And I get really bummed everytime I see Titus Andronicus and realize they aren't Titus Welliver. (Seriously.)

       2. Yeah, I'm not usually hugely aware of production or mastering issues myself (unless it's something really egregious). I do agree there's something off with the way Local Business was produced, although I'm not sure exactly what it was, and it didn't completely turn me off of the album. There are a couple big clunker tracks there, however.

          1. Yeah, this is one of the few albums where I've ever thought "man, I should like this, but I don't like the way it sounds".

16. "Ancients" is kind of cool, AMR. I can see exactly how it gets the reaction you describe.

    Black Dice ... I got Beaches and Canyons when it came up in one of the FMD discussions, but never got around to giving it a real listen. It didn't grab me on the first couple passes, but I'm not dismissing it yet.

17. Finally, I can post some 2012 favorites (though in a lazy sort of way). These are my Top 15 songs (and corresponding albums...in most cases) but in no particular order. They're at the top of my "Top 25 most played" list in iTunes and, although for instance, I listened to Old Friend more than any other song, I don't necessarily think it's my song (or album) of the year. The other caveat here is that this is only iPod stuff - I may not own songs that should be on this list, but I wanted to get something up. If anyone's still paying attention, here it is:

    Sea Wolf - Old Friend - Old World Romance
    The Tallest Man On Earth - 1904 - There's No Leaving Now
    Santigold - Disparate Youth - Master of My Make-Believe
    Strange Names - Potential Wife - Strange Names EP
    Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks - My Head Is an Animal

    Silversun Pickups - Bloody Mary (Nerve Endings) - Neck of the Woods
    Passion Pit - Take a Walk - Gossamer
    The Shins - Bait And Switch - Port Of Morrow
    Ramona Falls - Bodies of Water - Prophet
    First Aid Kit - Emmylou - The Lion's Roar

    Trampled by Turtles - Alone - Stars and Satellites
    Willie Nelson & Lukas Nelson - Just Breathe Heroes
    The Lumineers - Ho Hey - The Lumineers
    Punch Brothers - Movement and Location - Who’s Feeling Young Now?
    IAMDYNAMITE - Where Will We Go - Supermegafantastic

    1. I dialed up the Punch Brothers song on YouTube (from The Current studios!) and its a lovely song.

       a general observation: is it a requirement to have a mandolin to perform at The Current studios? O think the last 10 clips I have watched has had a dude or dudette playing one.

       1. Agreed...on both points. Been following their lead singer since my little brother gave me a copy of this song:

          httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZN68jjhAPA

          cleaner edition here:

          httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYmDXWPPBdI

18. I think I probably listened to less new music this year than any year before. With that in mind, here are a few notes about those albums off the top of my head.

    1-Fiona: This was my favorite album of the year, without question. "Werewolf" and "Hot Knife" as especially outstanding tracks.

    2-Heartless Bastards, Arrow: Lady singers taking the first two spots. The first half of this album is outstanding.

    3-Craig Finn Clear Heart, Full Eyes: I really liked this disc and was surprised that this hasn't made anyone's list, at least on a mention. "No Future", "When No One's Watching" and "Balcony" and the best tracks I'd say.

    4- Boss, Wrecking Ball: Springsteen gets forgotten because his albums aren't as good as they were thirty years ago. Then again, very few people can boast that. It isn't for everyone but I can take it in doses.

    5- Alabama Shakes, Boys & Girls: The songs from EP last year were the four best tracks on the album. The rest of the album sounded a little to Kings of Leon-y to me.

    5-Langhorne Slim, The Way We Move: If you like him you will like this disc.

    6-Japandroids, Celebration Rock: The first song is pretty cool.

    7- Sharon Von Etten, Tramp: I haven't even listened to this album in full yet. This is more of an honorary nod to Bootsy.

    8- Titus Andronicus, Local Business: The Monitor was so, so, so good. One of my top 10 albums of the past 10 years, for sure. This is more of a song disc than an album disc.

    9-Walkmen, Heaven: I will buy all of their albums, I don't have to like all of them the same.

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