Albums
of the year
2012
So it’s come to this has it? A year of music so good that for the first time I came close to wishing albums would stop being made, as anything new coming out will surely distract and take away time from enjoying the fantastic albums that came out already. I feel bombarded with so much good music, yet time to listen slowly dissolving away (as evidenced by my balding head). Granted, it’s very true that I may not branch out as much as one could, and the most frustrating part is half of what I am into based on this post (and my runners-up post next week) may look like I do nothing but wait for Pitchfork’s daily reviews to guide me on my way musically. Rest assured, that is not the case, and just merely a coincidence. Most of the times I’ve done these posts I’ve just said “HERE! This is where’s it’s at – and listen to this other person tell you why!”. Last year, I took the time to write up my own reviews (who’d a thunk it?), but after looking at my blog stats I saw that it really didn’t reach many people. Your loss! So instead of making this feel like a chore left unnoticed this year by writing relatively long reviews that would fall on deaf ears, I would simplify. In the end, let the music speak for itself, eh? Well, for the most part. So, here you go, my favorite albums of the year. I guess technically they are what I consider to be “the best”, but by saying that it means these then have to be put in some sort of order, and quantified some way. But I really can’t do that. Depending on the mood of the day, each one of these albums is “the best” at one time or another, so really out of all the albums I’ve listened to over the past year, these are my go to albums – my favorites – my “desert island discs” of sorts. I’ve shared one track from each album as well, songs that I think not only represent what is great about the entire album, but what may spark an interest in you to checking out the whole thing, because to me they are all worth your time and quite rewarding indeed. Enjoy with aloha, and as always, turn it WAY the hell up, and for crying out loud use headphones. Laptop speakers = death.
10
Onuinu
Mirror Gazer
It’s certainly fitting considering my first trip to the Pacific Northwest this year, and my resulting obsession with all things Portland, that two of my favorite albums this year are by musicians from the City of Roses, but really it is simply a coincidence. Of course I learned of this artist, Onuinu, and his very fun debut album Mirror Gazer, because I purposefully searched out new Portland bands after my trip, but I digress. His music reminds me a bit of Toro Y Moi’s first two albums, taking the somewhat hazy, bedroom recording quality of Causers of This and combining it with the few quality tracks of his followup Underneath the Pine in all their funky, dance-inducing glory. There is a strong 70’s spacey sort of psychedelic disco vibe going on here as well, sometimes making me feel like I’m listening to that massive Disco Discharge series that was introduced to me by a close friend earlier this year – but ultimately this album is rooted ever so firmly in today’s (or really, yesterday’s?) “chillwave” sound, house music and even a nod to artists such as Stevie Wonder on tracks like ‘Last Word’ and Funkadelic on ‘Happy Home’. Those big chunky beats, as evidenced by the track I’ve shared here called ‘A Step In The Right Direction’, should illustrate where I’m coming from. And luckily this album is short, clocking in at 38 minutes, and one of the tracks, ‘Ice Palace’, can be skipped all together as it’s a meandering mess of electronic squiggles and ideas that just makes no sense at all to the average listener. The majority of the album is very strong however, and because of it’s short length and the fun vibe of it all, it makes you hit replay as soon as it’s over. Equally satisfying as both a disco-pop album, and a headphones-at-full-blast calm-yourself-the-hell-down kind of experience, this one’s a real winner. PDX!