Mike's Top 20 Albums of 2012

Just as Greg listed his top albums, it's now my turn. This year was a fantastic one for albums that were brave enough to try something different, become innovative, cross genres and break conventional molds. As Greg reiterated before, this list is meant to be put up for fun, but opinions are like assholes--everybody has one. So let's here your favorites and whether you agree with our choices.


1. Punch Brothers--Who's Feeling Young Now?
2. Alt-J--An Awesome Wave
3. Tame Impala--Lonerism
4. The Walkmen--Heaven
5. Father John Misty--Fear Fun
6. Royal Headache--Royal Headache
7. Dr. John--Locked Down
8. Dirty Projectors--Swing Lo Magellan
9. Michael Kiwanuka--Home Again
10. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
11. Titus Andronicus--Local Business
12. Mac Demarco--2
13. Ty Segall--Slaughterhouse
14. Frank Ocean--Channel Orange
15. Animal Collective--Centipede Hz
16. Bob Dylan--Tempest
17. The Men--Open Your Heart
18. Kimbra--Vows
19. Grizzly Bear--Shields
20. Kendrick Lamar--Good Kid, m.a.a.d city

2012: Greg's Favorite Albums of the Year

A few notes before you being painstakingly critiquing my picks...

- These lists are meant to be fun.

- I haven't heard every record that was put out this year (if I have listened to a few hundred albums then I would be happy with that), so don't be upset when you don't see records that "deserved" to make it.

- Who cares what some nerd picks for his albums of the year? All I am hoping for is that a few of you will read this list and give some of these albums a listen.

- This has been an unbelievable year for music. Just thinking about it, I heard some serious contenders for my "album of the year" from multiple genres: R&B, Rap, Punk, Dream Pop, Psychedelic Rock, Electronica, Jazz, Folk, Adult Contemporary, Indie Rock, and whatever genre Alt-J is...

Honorable Mentions

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti -- Mature Themes

The Bad Plus -- Made Possible

Divine Fits -- A Thing Called Devine Fits

Dr. John -- Locked Down

The Evens -- The Odds

Fang Island -- Major

Flying Lotus -- Until The Quiet Comes

Goat -- World Music

Passion Pit -- Gossamer

Wild Nothing -- Nocturne 

30.) John Talabot -- fIN

29.) Spoek Mathambo -- Father Creeper

28.) Andy Stott -- Luxury Problems

27.) Kishi Bashi -- 151a

26.) Spiritualized -- Sweet Heart Sweet Light 

25.) Regina Spektor -- What We Saw from the Cheap Seats

24.) Stars -- The North

23.) Hospitality -- Hospitality

22.) Lotus Plaza -- Spooky Action at a Distance

21.) Karriem Riggins -- Alone Together

20.) Sharon Van Etten -- Tramp

19.) Cat Power -- Sun 

18.) Father John Misty -- Fear Fun 

17.) Woods -- Bend Beyond

16.) Lambchop -- Mr. M

15.) Beach House -- Bloom

14.) Chairlift -- Something

13.) The Mountain Goats -- Transcendental Youth

12.) Cloud Nothings -- Attack on Memory

11.) The Walkmen -- Heaven

10.) Jack White -- Blunderbuss

9.) Punch Brothers -- Who's Feeling Young Now?

8.) Japandroids -- Celebration Rock

7.) Dirty Projectors -- Swing Lo Magellan

6.) Kendrick Lamar -- good kid, m.A.A.d city

5.) Tame Impala -- Lonerism 

4.) Grizzly Bear -- Shields 

3.) Alt-J -- An Awesome Wave

2.) Frank Ocean -- channel ORANGE

1.) Fiona Apple -- The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than The Driver Of The Screw & Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do

2012: Greg's Favorite Songs of the Year

The end of the year: a time for family, friends, holidays, drinking, and end-of-the-year lists. Sadly, making and reading end-of-the-year lists is the thing I look most forward to.... Wait! Who am I kidding? I love getting hammered and arguing with my family. Seriously though, I love this time of the year because it represents a time of discovery. As much as I love arguing with my fellow music nerds about songs/albums of the year, what is more important is that we all can read these lists and marvel at how amazing this year was for music. I am kicking FILWAD's end-of-the-year lists off with my favorite songs.

Enjoy,

Greg

30.) Cat Power -- "Sun"

29.) Passion Pit -- "Take A Walk" 

28.) The Shins -- "Simple Song"

27.) The Bad Plus -- "Pound For Pound"

26.) Jack White -- "Hip (Eponymous) Poor Boy"

25.) (∆) alt-J -- "Dissolve Me"

24.) John Talabot -- "Destiny" (feat. Pional)

23.) Kendrick Lamar -- "The Art of Peer Pressure"

22.) Fiona Apple -- "Hot Knife"

21.) Tame Impala -- "Elephant"

20.) Punch Brothers -- "Who's Feeling Young Now?"

19.) Grizzly Bear -- "Sun In Your Eyes"

18.) Dirty Projectors -- "Gun Has No Trigger"

17.) Father John Misty -- "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings"

16.) Cody ChesnuTT -- "''Til I Met The"

15.) Chairlift -- "I Belong In Your Arms"

14.) Animal Collective -- "Moonjock"

13.) Regina Spektor -- "Small Town Moon"

12.) Pond -- "You Broke My Cool"

11.) Miguel -- "Adorn"

10.) The Avett Brothers -- "Live and Die"

9.) Grizzly Bear -- "Sleeping Ute"

8.) Cloud Nothings -- "Stay Useless"

7.) Fiona Apple -- "Werewolf"
6.) Bobby Womack -- "Please Forgive My Heart"

5.) Tame Impala -- "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards"

4.) Japandroids -- "The House That Heaven Built"




3.) Frank Ocean -- "Thinkin Bout You"



2.) Kishi Bashi -- "Bright Whites"



1.) Mackelmore & Ryan Lewis -- "Same Love"

Documentary Presentation: Andrew Bird, "Hands of Glory"

Pitchfork takes a trip up to violin virtuoso Andrew Bird's studio barn where he cut his recent album, "Break It Yourself." In this documentary, Bird and company strips back the gadgets and loops for a bare bones performance of "If I Needed You."

Blog Pigeons and Planes Lists 20 Rare Audio Tracks of Jimi Speaking Just in Time for his Birthday

In honor of Jimi Hendrix's birthday, Complex magazine music blog, Pigeons and Planes, has included a list which features 20 audio clips of Hendrix speaking from interviews and other forms of media.

Hendrix may have made a statement with his pioneering guitar work, but was usually very soft spoken and playful when he spoke in conversation. In one audio track, Hendrix discusses his fear of playing on stage when he was younger:

"It was so very hard to me, because at first man, I was so scared. I wouldn't dare go on stage... Plus, you get so very discouraged, you hear bands playing around you and the guitar player seems like he's always so much better than you are, you know?"

Today would have been Hendrix's 70th birthday. Happy Birthday, voodoo child.

Tame Impala Pay a Visit to Jools Holland

The impossible has finally happened: Perth, Australia's own Tame Impala have made it to Jools Holland.

 

During their visit the band played "Elephant" and "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards" off their sophomore album "Lonerism." The group nailed every sound, gesture and dreamy stare into the camera, making it Jools Holland official as a band to watch for in the coming times. Watch the videos of their performances below.

   

Mac Demarco: "Ode to Viceroy" Video

   

Vancouver's do-it-yourselfer Mac Demarco has released the video for "Ode to Viceroy" off of his fantastic sophomore album, "2." The track pays homage to the British-American brand of cigarettes in a track that could fit into the the world of Kevin Smith as well as into the mouth of a bored and angsty Jay and Silent Bob.

 

 

Bradford Cox To Star Alongside Jared Leto, Matthew McConaughey in "Dallas Buyers Club"

Deerhunter/Atlas Sound frontman Bradford Cox will be playing the lover of Jared Leto's cross-dressing character in the upcoming film "Dallas Buyers Club," which tells the story of Ron Woodruff (Matthew McConaughey), a man who took matters into his own hands when he treated himself with non-approved FDA drugs after begin diagnosed with AIDS in 1986.

The cast also features Jennifer Garner, Griffin Dunne and Denis O'Hare.

 

Matthew McConaughey as Ron Woodruff (left)

Jared Leto in character for "Dallas Buyers Club

 

Local Natives Share Video for 'Breakers' Off New LP, "Hummingbird"

       

Local Natives have released the video for their single, 'Breakers' from their new LP "Hummingbird" which is set to be released January 28. In all honesty, the video makes absolutely no sense at all. But hey, that's the thing about great art. You can have astronauts on beaches and lead singers rolling down concrete stairs and other various terrains and not have to explain yourself at all about it. As strange as it is, the video compliments the song through and through with what looks to be washed out, watery live performance footage. I know I left my ironic mustache around here somewhere...

Gavin McInnes Tells Us Why We're Here...And He's Kinda Right

One of my favorite writers, Gavin McInnes, is probably one of the loudest, wirer-y, frantic, ridiculous, controversial and libertarian writers out there in media today. One of the founders of Vice magazine in 1994, he has gone on to write his own memoir, "How to Piss in Public," as well as start his own advertising company, Rooster NY. In his recent column at his blog Street Carnage, McInnes tells us why we need WWII vets. In the McInnes way, he discusses their rise through motorcycle clubs which led to rebellion which then led rock and roll. Check it out here. 

Tame Impala's Kevin Parker Has the Coolest Guitar I've Ever Seen

  In Pitchfork's weekly YouTube show--uh, "Pitchfork Weekly--Tame Impala members Kevin Parker and Jay Watson stop by the studio to perform a stripped down version of one of their songs of their sophomore album, "Lonerism." However, we never do know what that song is. What we do know is that Parker has one of the coolest guitars I've ever seen and heard. It's a 1980s Casio guitar; a mix between a a synth and an electric guitar in which Parker claims is the most difficult thing to play. The members also discuss favoring stripped down production over clean-sounding, professional production.

Jim James Releases "Know Til Now" Off Anticipated Debut Album, 'Regions of Light and Sound of God'

  My Morning Jacket frontman and all around musical messiah Jim James has announced his debut album, "Regions of Light and Sound of God," along with the first single, "Know Til Now."  

The album, inspired by the 1929 novel "God's Man" by Lyn Ward, "chronicles an artist's struggles with temptation and corruption, along with finding true love," according to a press release.

 

According to James:

 

"I wanted the album to sound like it came from a different place in time. Perhaps sounding as if it were the past of the future, if that makes any sense—like a hazy dream that a fully-realized android or humanoid capable of thought might have when it reminisces about the good old days of just being a simple robot."

  This will be James' first venture into solo original work but not the first time he's temporarily parted ways with the boys from MMJ--in 2009, under the name, Yim Yames, James released an EP of acoustic-based George Harrison songs. Just from the sound of "Know Til Now," James seems to take every musical influence he's ever come under to make one of the most innovative compositions in both the MMJ and Yim Yames catalogue combined. Check out the track above via Soundcloud.

"Regions of Light and Sound of God" will be released February 5, 2013.

The Fordham Observer Presents...A Playlist for New York

In lieu of Hurricane Sandy and the destruction she brought upon the east coast of the U.S., notably New York and New Jersey, I have made a playlist to celebrate New York (we tend to celebrate the greatest city in the world every day just by living in it, but this is special). Our city is a tough old broad who has lived through the worst of moments and has certainly seen the best. The playlist is made up of artists from different parts of New York as well as artists who wish they were. Check it out here.

New My Bloody Valentine Album to Debut This Year, Says Kevin Shields

According to NME, the 21 year-long-album-in-the-making from Irish shoegazers My Bloody Valentine will finally be released later this year, said frontman Kevin Shields. The album, which has yet to be named, will be available on Shields' website before the year is out. This will be the group's unvailing of new music since their classic 1991 album, "Loveless."

"I think with this record, people who like us will immediately connect with something," said Shields. "Based on the very, very few people who’ve heard stuff – some engineers, the band, and that’s about it – some people think it’s stranger than 'Loveless'. I don’t. I feel like it really frees us up, and in the bigger picture it’s 100 per cent necessary."

In an interview with Pitchfork in April, Shields stated that the group had started working on another album that would was planned to succeed "Loveless" but was halted after the group split up. The new album will contain those unreleased songs, soon followed by an EP of more new material set for release next year.

Tame Impala's New Video for "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards" is Everything You Want It to Be

   

Tame Impala out of Perth, Australia have one of the best albums out this year. It's called "Lonerism"; a pop-oriented but dedicated rock experimentation into soundscapes that easily rival their breakout album "Innerspeaker." Their video for their new single "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards," which has been also covered by the likes of Staten Island's PS.22 choir, takes a cue from early morning kindergarten specials on PBS that seemed to be put together with an unlimited arts and crafts supply from Michaels. A little construction paper and glue can go a long way.

The Avett Brothers Choose a Winner in the "Live and Die" Cover Contest

     

Corcord, North Carolina's Avett Brothers announced the winner of their "Live and Die" cover contest today, handing the award to Toronto-Montreal-based threesome Honeyman and the Brothers Farr. The band was chosen out of hundreds of submissions via YouTube for their warm three-part harmonies that seem to twist and turn the Avetts' original into something that is beautifully vine-like and skillfully layered. As the winners, the band will receive a Martin D-35 acoustic guitar, the same Seth Avett has been playing for over 10 years. Watch the video above of the band's award-winning cover. Congratulations, guys.

Dropkick Murphy's Are Back with "Rose Tattoo"

According to RollingStone, Boston sons Dropkick Murphy bring back their brash brand of Irish scally-cap punk with a new video for their song "Rose Tattoo" off their eighth studio album, "Signed and Sealed in Blood." The video, probably their most attractive out of the catalogue, is more an homage to life long D.M. fans who have brandished their own dedication to the group through some of their own ink. With a pleasing black and white aesthetic, the boys are seen on what seems like another Saturday afternoon in Southie: poker, cigarettes, pints, mandolins, and yes, tattoos.

Titus Andronicus Lead the Punk Patriotism Movement

Lead singer Patrick Stickles, Titus Andronicus

There seems to be a new movement undergoing the youth of America (the youth being an outstretched age range between 18 and 30). This isn't your Dad's patriotism--this "punk patriotism" as it is being called--reverts back to the history books; the nostalgia for what America was at it's infancy and at the turn of the century; Civil War-era values; entrepeneurialship for simple goods for simple people; an appreciation for the hard workers and eloquent talkers. These lessons and values taken from those who came before us, are infused today into men's fashion, literature, art and design and, the most effective, music. Titus Andronicus, one of Fell In Love With a Drummer's favorite bands, has led this burgeoning movement since the success of their second studio album, "The Monitor," through songs infused with Lincoln speeches, Civil War imagery, and the greatest of all, bagpipes. But it's this form of patriotism that has helped escort a certain number of youths to this idea of what freedom is, regardless of age, class or political agenda--almost an amalgamation of rock and roll in it's essence.

Stereogum's Liz Pelly has written an incredibly interesting and attention grabbing essay observing this semi-philosophical ideaology. Fantastic read, Liz. You knocked it out of the park. Check it out here.

New Dumbo Gets Mad: "Radical Leap"

    Dumbo Gets Mad is an Italian duo lead by Luca Dumbini who create psychedelic soundscapes via 30 years of transferred U.S. pop under a Mediterraenean sun. Dumbo have some of the most fuzzed out, texture-laden vocals and guitar parts this side of the Atlantic, but that's the problem: no one hardly knows them this side of the Atlantic--which is a problem. With their last album, "Elephants at the Door," Dumbo became part of a burgeoning scene of international groups whose love for nostalgia seemed to pay off in regards to successful albums and catchy songs. Today, Dumbo have released a new song off their sophomore album, "Quantum Leap" called "Radical Leap." I give it five years before these guys end up with a flagship song on an iTunes commercial.

Titus Andronicus: "In a Big City"

New Jersey is represented the right way--the red, white and blue way--in Titus Andronicus' new video for their latest single.
      Jersey rockers Titus Andronicus have released a video for "In a Big City" off their recent LP, "Local Business"; a rollicking battle-cry that pays homage to the boys' homestate and the big city that sits just across the Hudson. The video follows singer Patrick Stickles through the nooks and crannies of Weehawken--a small town right outside the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel--as he wanders aimlessly with the band at his back. "In a Big City" only enhances the "Jersey Pride" that runs deep with so many youth that have grown up there, including myself. It's about time my state got a new anthem, and "In a Big City" provides that with flying colors.