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.
3
Chromatics
Kill For Love
Now, back to the Pacific Northwest, with Portland’s Chromatics. I was late in the game with them and their fellow Italians Do It Better label cohorts, but glad they came into view, as this album is quite an ambitious project that is really fun to let soak in. It’s album cover is what pulled me in, with a sense of nostalgia and a sense of the epic with what to me is a nod to My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless album. And it is big, clocking in between 75-90 minutes depending on the version you get. It’s full of vision, yet very simple all the same. Anyone familiar with the soundtrack to Drive will have much to appreciate here, blending a mix of 80 throwbackery (new word) and a sense this music is of the future. It’s Blade Runner by way of John Carpenter’s Halloween with a dark moody pop dance sound; desolate, empty, rainswept city streets at 3am, moments of freedom and wide open spaces in a claustrophobic time. Not every song clicks on it’s own, but this is an album through and through, and listened as a whole, it’s quite a little treasure. Ambition on this level doesn’t always come together very well in the end, but the time and patience the creation of this album was given over the years pays off in high measure. The sound of a painting hung in a modern art museum come to life, Kill For Love is a gorgeous opus – quiet, yet grand in scale. Check out the song I’ve shared, ‘The Page’, for proof. Very highly recommended.