2012 Albums ----------- This was a great year for music. I often think of this as the very climax of the "peak indie" years. Lots of great stuff being released regularly, and much of it was really pushing the art form forward. At the time, I assumed life would go on like this forever. I didn't realize mainstream pop was about to become the dominant form, and I didn't realize how quickly I would start to "get old." I've noticed this is where the documentation process is starting to slow a bit. Partially because my memory of these years is getting fuzzy, partially because I am savoring the process of revisiting the past. .. image:: images/2012.jpg :width: 900 :alt: My favorite albums from 2012 .. raw:: html - *Le voyage dans la lune* by **Air** - I have been following these guys closely since their first record back in the late 90s. This is might be the closest the have come to the quality of that first record, and I fear that it might be their last release. It is very difficult to make instrumental electric music that can either fade into the background or strongly captivate the listener depending on context, but this is that kind of music. If this is the last one, it was a heck of a way to go out. [*Memory*: This was the first album on my best of 2012 Spotify list where I captured my favorites as they came out. As a result, I listened to it many times, and it never got old. I don't think it ever will.] - *Mature Themes* by **Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti** - This record was a big step up in production quality for this band. They survive the less low-fi conditions and find a new warmth in the process. Some seriously weird music with totally non-serious childlike themes. Extraordinary stuff. [*Memory*: Hearing "Symphony of the Nymph" for the first time on a car ride at night, the exact right way to listen to that song] - *Bloom* by **Beach House** - Like many people, I was anxiously waiting to see what this duo did after the amazing *Teen Dream*. The answer was: make an album that was nearly as good, and significantly more refined. I don't listen to this one as much as its predecessor, but it is another extremely pretty and atmospheric dream pop record that I'm always happy to hear. [*Memory*: I was almost afraid to listen to this for fear of disappointment. This should never be a concern with this group.] - *I Love You, It's Cool* by **Bear in Heaven** - Their brand of synthpop colored by psychedelic music didn't last long, but it was great while it lasted. "Kiss Me Crazy" is the best song they ever made, and a distillation of what made them great in a single track. This album might be the most representative artifact of the spirit of experimentation typified by this band. [*Memory*: Looking at the cover and thinking it was really ugly for such a great record. I was yet to understand the style that would morph into the vaporwave aesthetic.] - *Composed* by **Jherek Bischoff** - The short lived "indie classical" era was also peaking in 2012. This record was probably the best effort bringing together pop singers with the conventions of "fancy music school music." I knew nothing of this project until I heard a performance of it broadcast as part of the Ecstatic Music Festival on Q2 (now defunct, new music sub-channel of WQXR). Listening to new music concerts broadcast on the radio kind of sums up this time of life for me. [*Memory*: Seeing David Byrne and Amanda Palmer perform tracks of of this record at the Crossing Brooklyn Ferry festival later this year] - *Loving the Chambered Nautilus* by **Wiliam Brittelle** - A really bright and cheerful fusion of chamber music and 90s electronic music. In retrospect this fits vaguely into the vaporwave scene that was an underground phenomenon at the time. It also sounds somewhat like the kind of music that would have been in a 90s infomercial.[*Memory*: At the Crossing Brooklyn Ferry festival, I was sitting in the balcony of BAM watching the band Caveman and William Brittelle sat next to me. He was a somewhat intimidating figure with wild hair and an outlandish sense of style. I moved seats.] - *Born to Die* by **Lana Del Rey (Paradise Edition)** - I liked the big single "Video Games" but it took a while for me to warm up to this record. It really wasn't until her stunning second record came out that I came back and appreciated what was going on here. This hip hop tinged music is very far from where she is now, but much of it still really works, especially the outstanding "Summertime Sadness." [*Memory*: This album caused quite the stir at the music blog I was contributing to at the time. The general sexism and focus on style over substance from the blog owners is what drove me away.] - *Swing Low Magellan* by **Dirty Projectors** - Feels a bit like *Bitte Orca** Pt II, and I have no problem with that at all. The central partnership in this band produces another solid winner. The high water mark in white bands trying to create soulful backing vocals, but creating something completely different (that is also pretty OK). [*Memory*: This was the first time I struggled to get a new album release on vinyl, and solid evidence that many other folks were also buying records again.] - *Plumb* by **Field Music** - I have no memory of how I became aware of this record. This is one of those bands I was very aware of but had never checked out. Fits in really well with all the chamber pop and indie classical stuff I was into at the time. Reminds me a little of ELO (in a very good way). A very prog rock spirit to this record. For some reason I have never explored their other music. [*Memory*: I remember this album being a landmark decision point for me. Was I going to buy all my favorite new records on vinyl? Thankfully I decided on yes.] - *Matricidal Sons of Bitches* by **Matthew Friedberger** - Without his sister to temper his more experimental tendencies, the other half of *The Fiery Furnaces** made some truly odd, minimalist music. This is strange, repetitive stuff, but I love it for some reason. This takes the most interesting ideas of the *Solos* project and expands it into a super interesting double album. [*Memory*: I remember playing the "organ album" from the *Solos* project (the obvious direct precursor to this album) to a room full of classical organ people who crashed a party at my house. I for some reason wanted to offend their sensibilities with music that I knew wouldn't fit their taste. There was no reaction.] - *Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!* by **Godspeed You! Black Emperor** - How long was I going to enjoy what this over the top apocalyptic post-rock band was up to? Exactly this long! Not remarkably different than what had come before, but different enough for me to enjoy. I've tried the record that come later, but I feel like this is exactly the amount of Goodspeed I need in my life. [*Memory*: Seeing this band play on this tour at the Town Ballroom in Buffalo was an amazing bookend on my relationship with this band.] - *Shields* by **Grizzly Bear** - It was hard to appreciate while it was happening, but this band has been getting progressively better on each of these records. The one-two of "gun-shy" and "Half Gate" summarizes my favorite qualities of the "fancy psych" that these guys specialize in. [*Memory*: I remember listening to this album repeatedly on a road trip back to the SE Pennsylvania area in late '12] - *A Church that Fits Our Needs* by **Lost In the Trees** - [*2012 FAVORITE*] There were a couple bands that got a notable boost from the NPR program "All Songs Considered" in the early 2010s, and that included this act. I doubt they would have had a chance to make such an ambitious, sprawling record without the spotlight from the folks in DC. They still are making a lot a sound with clearly only a few musicians. The songwriter/leader of this band gives the impression of using duplicating effects and overdubs to piece together an approximation of an orchestra. Its not perfect, but very effective. [*Memory*: "Garden" is probably my favorite song from this year, and I have listened to it hundreds of times since] - *Do Things* by **Dent May** - I saw this guy back in his "magnificent ukelele" phase, as the opening act for AC Newman at the Noise Pop Festival 2009. It was kind of silly music, but there was a clear songwriting talent there, with a great sense of humor. By the time I saw him open for another act in 2011, he had cleaned things up as the front man for a slick indie-pop outfit that reminds me a little bit of XTC (and the also the Love Boat for some reason?). Fun summer music. [*Memory*: When I saw the band in 2011 I ran into May in the bathroom after their set. There was a super awkward moment when I told him how much I enjoyed the show as we both stood at the urinals. Nice guy.] - *Night Manager* by *Night Manager* - When I think of peak indie, I think of this crew. They took all the elements of early 2010s indie rock and turned them up to 11: reverb, surf rock rhythms, shouted distorted vocals, angular guitars, and a sense of adventure. This is some fairly avant garde, it is a shame they only lasted a few years in mostly obscurity. [*Memory*: This was one of the few things that I discovered from one of my fellow writers at the music blog. They actually played at BugJar the club right down the road from me, but alas I didn't go.] - *Recomposed* by **Max Richter** - OK, this project has few rules, but I said no pure classical music. I'm gonna claim this is made with a rock and roll spirit. I mean, I hate Vivaldi's Four Seasons, and this turns it into something I love. This is a classical remix, and a great one. The addition of the minimalist repetition and post-rock soundscapes really transformed this into something amazing. [*Memory*: I remember streaming a concert video premiere that Q2 (RIP) broadcast from the Greene Space in NYC. The violinist was wearing sneakers, so it's totally rock and roll and legal for this project.] - *Port of Morrow* by **The Shins** - No one does straight ahead indie-pop quite like The Shins. A perfect pop record, perfectly produced and little more to say that that. [*Memory*: I think this is the first thing that I ever discoverd from Spotify radio. I had given up on this band a bit after their third record, but one listen to "Simple Song" and I was back onboard] - *Reign of Terror* by **Sleigh Bells** - I was OK with their much hyped first record, but this is where they really get going for me. Much more ambitious an interesting than the monotone *Treats*. The perfect combination of sweet and loud. Obnoxious in the good way. [*Memory*: I saw them on the tour for this record at Water Street and it was a big disappointment. They just can't replicate their sound very well in the live setting.] - *Confess* by **Twin Shadow** - A much more refined record than his first one. I really miss the raw haziness of the first record. This is really enjoyable, but it was the start of a move away from what made this act great. [*Memory*: Standing in the orchestra pit for his performance at Crossing Brooklyn Ferry] - *Heaven* by **The Walkmen** - One of my favorite bands makes their (most likely) last album. There is a message here about growing up and getting old. Like me, they were just turning 30. The whole indie movement seemed to realize that it was aging, and so did I. [*Memory*: Co-incidentally these guys were next on after *Twin Shadow* at Crossing Brooklyn Ferry. I saw them for the last time in the front row in the orchestra pit. Great show, and I finally got a vinyl copy of their first album at the merch stand after.] - *House of Baasa* byh **Zambri** - Can a band that only has one album (and an EP) be one of my favorite artists? I think so. This is such unique music, constructed mostly from layers of distorted vocal tracks. Definitely fits in well with the darkwave revival thing that was going on, but with a unique character that is all its own. The kind of music that could only be made with two sisters who shared a room for most of their life. [*Memory*: I remember seeing them as the first band on a three band bill at Music Hall of Williamsburg in fall 2012. I miss being the kind of person who wanted to see the first band in a three band show. Also, it was cute seeing dozens of members of the Zambri family make a big fuss over the sisters after their show.]