Best of 2012 (so far)

Best of 2012 First Half:

Albums:

Patrick Watson’s Adventures in Your Own Backyard is:
A gorgeously orchestrated, intimate, grower of an album; lush & lovely; Familiar & Transporting

Andrew Bird’s Break it Yourself is:
The finest, most accessible record from a contemporary legend: his most emotional, musically consistent & palatable record yet

Lost in the Trees’ A Church That Fits Our Needs is:
A cinematic & heartwrenching record; a masterful display of the power of music: as catharsis in the face of tragedy, as fitting & gorgeous elegy

Sharon Van Etten’s Tramp is:
Basically the realization of a 21^st century indie-rock/singer-songwriting Carole King & a subtle triumph for Aaron Dessner (whose production here is spot-on)

Fiona Apple’s “The Idler Wheel…” is:
Predictably brilliant, yet still somehow fresh & captivating; we’ve come to expect genius from her, & here again she delivers, but this time with addition via subtraction: the starkness is jarring and powerful, & the drumming is brilliant

---
 

EPs (because there are some really good ones this year):

Daniel Rossen’s Silent Hour/Golden Mile is:
Better than Veckatimest

Josh Ritter’s Bringing in the Darlings is:
A cute, quiet little stop-gap meditation on love & stuff

Burial’s Kindred is:
Proof that Burial is an electronica legend, I guess you might say

Honorable Mention:

Regina Spektor’s What We Saw from the Cheap Seats is:
Kind of Regina’s sellout record & similarly kind of like Fiona Apple’s Extraordinary Machine (A record also produced by Mike Elizondo); but an album which nonetheless buoys Spektor’s quirkiness & talents with big, fun noises when necessary

Dry the River’s Shallow Bed is:
A great Brit/indie debut: something for fans of both Third Eye Blind, & Mumford & Sons, & The Head & the Heart

Django Django’s Eponymous debut is:
Another great British debut albeit quirkier & artier; a quirky, contemporary update of sounds found in the best of Pink Floyd & 80’s art-rock i.e. The Talking Heads

Simone White’s Silver Silver is:
Hauntingly beautiful. The first two tracks about the loss of a friend & about talking down a depressive respectively is possibly the most powerful opening tandem of the year. A hidden gem.

Killer Mike’s R.A.P. Music is:
A balls-out Hip-Hop record; fierce & fearsome: a man on a mission backed by seriously banging production from El-P

Big K.R.I.T.’s Live from the Underground is:
A solid debut from a smooth-ass dude; a good neo-soul, southern hip-hop record.

Mark Lanegan Band’s Blues Funeral is:
The welcome return of a badass dude at pretty-much-top-form.

Bobby Womack’s the Greatest Man in the Universe is:
Kind of a miracle, & a testament to the genius of Damon Albarn as much as anything .

Also:
 

Lower Dens’Nootropics
 

First Aid Kit’s The Lion’s Roar
 

Kishi Bashi’s 151a
 

Norah Jones’ Little Broken Hearts (Norah Jones does Danger Mouse)
 

Jack White’s Blunderbuss (Jack White is an asshole)
 

Dr. John’s Locked Down (the best Black Keys record ever made)
 

The Shins’ Port of Morrow
 

Best Coast’s The Only Place (Thank you, Jon Brion)
 

Exitmusic’s Passage (The shoegaze record I’d rather listen to than Beach House)
 

The Walkmen’s Heaven (Their best-ever imo)
 

Father John Misty’s Fear Fun (A more-fun albeit less-good Fleet Foxes record)
 

Spiritualized’s Sweet Heart, Sweet Light
 

El-P’s Cancer for Cure (A production monster)
 

A bunch of really great Electronic Stuff including Actress & LHF

---

Link to my favorite songs of the first half of 2012 on Spotify (via the facebook):
https://www.facebook.com/music/playlist/Best-of-2012-So-Far/10150612588021935

The Best 125 Songs of 2011

A playlist of these songs can be accessed here: http://8tracks.com/notchocheesier/the-best-songs-of-2011/edit

Top Songs of 2011:

1. Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes
2. Countdown by Beyoncé
3. Someone Like You by Adele
4. Bizness by tUnE-yArDs
5. Born This Way by Lady Gaga
6. Holocene by Bon Iver
7. Strange Mercy by St. Vincent
8. Lippy Kids by Elbow
9. Lotus Flower by Radiohead
10. Art of Almost by Wilco
11. You Can Count on Me by Panda Bear
12. The Words That Maketh Murder by PJ Harvey
13. 1+1 by Beyoncé
14. Rolling in the Deep by Adele
15. The Otherside by The Roots Featuring Bilal & P.O.R.N.
16. Midnight City by M83
17. Paraty by Mia Doi Todd
18. Take Care by Drake Featuring Rihanna
19. I Follow Rivers by Lykke Li
20. N***** in Paris by Jay-Z & Kanye West
21. Bubble by King Creosote & Jon Hopkins
22. R4 Theme Song by Big K.R.I.T.
23. The Undiscovered First by Feist
24. Ritual Union by Little Dragon
25. Knots by Lisa Hannigan
26. Come on Baby by Saigon Featuring Swizz Beatz & Jay-Z
27. Rolled Together by the Antlers
28. Go Outside by Cults
29. Heart Attack by Raphael Saadiq
30. The Shrine/An Argument by Fleet Foxes
31. Home is a Fire by Death Cab for Cutie
32. Civilian by Wye Oak
33. Cruel by St. Vincent
34. Tree by the River by Iron & Wine
35. Real Slow by Megafaun
36. Tip the Scale by The Roots
37. An Argument with Myself by Jens Lekman
38. Separator by Radiohead
39. All and Everyone by PJ Harvey
40. Novacane by Frank Ocean
41. Honey Bunny by Girls
42. Cats and Dogs by the Head and the Heart
43. You Turn Clear in the Sun by Telekinesis
44. So Beautiful or So What by Paul Simon
45. Dead and Gone by the Black Keys
46. East Harlem by Beirut
47. We Found Love by Rihanna Featuring Calvin Harris
48. Ghetto Dreams by Common Featuring Nas
49. Romance by Wild Flag
50. Down by the Water by the Decemberists
51. Otis by Jay-Z & Kanye West (I refuse to acknowledge that this is “Featuring Otis Redding”)
52. Shake it Out by Florence & the Machine
53. Tennessee by Gillian Welch
54. Second Song by TV on the Radio
55. House of Balloons/Glass Table Girls by the Weeknd
56. Rigamortus by Kendrick Lamar
57. Dirty Rain by Ryan Adams
58. Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People
59. Middle Brother by Middle Brother
60. El Camino by Amos Lee
61. Estate Sale Sign by the Mountain Goats
62. Is This Power by the Field
63. Hurts Like Heaven by Coldplay
64. Gang (Starting Never Stopping) by And So I Watch You From Afar
65. Encanto by CLDSCP
66. Chicago by Tom Waits
67. Prizewinning by Julianna Barwick
68. Free Press and Curl by Shabazz Palaces
69. The Bump by Deer Tick
70. Vessel by Zola Jesus
71. Run the World (Girls) by Beyoncé
72. Montezuma by Fleet Foxes
73. Surgeon by St. Vincent
74. Let England Shake by PJ Harvey
75. Bats in the Attic by King Creosote & Jon Hopkins
76. Slow Motion by Panda Bear
77. Make Me Proud by Drake Featuring Nicki Minaj
78. Calgary by Bon Iver
79. The Bad in Each Other by Feist
80. Youth Knows No Pain by Lykke Li
81. Your Fake Name is Good Enough For Me by Iron & Wine
82. Grown Ocean by Fleet Foxes
83. Open Arms by Elbow
84. Oh My God by Cults
85. Rewrite by Paul Simon
86. The Invitation by Saigon Featuring Q-Tip and Fatman Scoop
87. My Baby Lives in Paris by Mia Doi Todd
88. Caught a Long Wind by Feist
89. Bloom by Radiohead
90. Looping State of Mind by the Field
91. Champagne Year by St. Vincent
92. My Country by tUnE-yArDs
93. Graveyard by Feist
94. Make My by the Roots Featuring Big K.R.I.T.
95. England by PJ Harvey
96. Cheerleader by St. Vincent
97. Perth by Bon Iver
98. Stone Rollin’ by Raphael Saadiq
99. Over My Dead Body by Drake Featuring Chantal Kreviazuk
100. End of Time by Beyoncé
101. Walking Far From Home by Iron & Wine
102. No Church in the Wild by Jay-Z & Kanye West Featuring Frank Ocean
103. Last Night at the Jetty by Panda Bear
104. Getting Ready for Christmas Day by Paul Simon
105. Enemies by Saigon
106. The Believer by Common Featuring John Legend
107. Skipping Stones by Mia Doi Todd
108. Lost in My Mind by the Head and the Heart
109. Killer Crane by TV on the Radio
110. Gotta Get it Right Now by Telekinesis
111. Abducted by Cults
112. I Don’t Want Love by the Antlers
113. The Afterlife by Paul Simon
114. The Greatest Story Never Told by Saigon
115. Bad as Me by Tom Waits
116. Give Up the Ghost by Radiohead
117. Sleep by the Roots Featuring Aaron Livingston
118. It’s Up There by the Field
119. Blue Sky by Common
120. How Come You Never Go There? By Feist
121. Surfer’s Hymn by Panda Bear
122. Get Some by Lykke Li
123. The Magic Place by Julianna Barwick
124. Half Moon by Iron & Wine
125. Jesus by Amos Lee

The Best Albums of 2011

A few notes: This list represents my favorite records of the year roughly in order of my preference for them. My top five are all really kind of tied for first. It would be hard for me to definitively say that I prefer any of these above the other. They are all very different records and I love them all a great deal.

As always, this list is by no means exhaustive. There are a lot of things that I didn't get to as thoroughly as I would have liked to, among them: Middle Brother, Deer Tick, Telekenisis, the new Black Keys, the M83 record (which I do like), Civilian by Wye Oak, etc.

And one last thought: Lady musicians absolutely owned 2011

Let England Shake by PJ Harvey

Is: More than the sum of its parts.

Is: a master-class in record-making; combining poetry, history, and straight songwriting-ballsiness into one hell of an album.

Is: the very definition of contemporary musical cohesiveness

W H O K I L L by tUnEyArDs

Is: Plain and simple, a badass record: a meditation on violence and contemporary womanhood, and a display of raw, extraordinary talent; Merrill Garbus does things with her voice, some floor toms and a ukulele, that astonish and amaze me.

Is: goddam refreshing, dammit; like nothing else you’ve ever heard this year, while still remaining not only palatable by pleasurable.

Strange Mercy by St. Vincent

Is: in a way, a sexier, more listenable W H O K I L L

Is: either the most fun challenging record of the year, or the most challenging fun record of the year

Is: The work of an extraordinary talent (and quite possibly the love of my life) coming into her own; the textures, density, crunch, and imagery are all there, and Annie Clark can straight slay a guitar

Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes

Is: A record that could not have been made in New York City

Is: (Ironically) The anti-Williamsburg record

Is: Hands-down, the best “traditional” guitar-based record of the year

Is: A great album made by a band that, at their best, can hit highs that maybe all but ten other bands on the planet right now could only dream to hit

4 by Beyoncé

Is: The most fun I had listening to music all year

Is: The top-to-bottom best pop record of the year

Is: A compelling collection of compulsively-listenable songs

The King of Limbs by Radiohead

Is: A difficult, alienating record that, in true Radiohead-fashion, is still absolutely worth-it

Is: to In Rainbows, what Kid A was to OK Computer

Undun by the Roots

Is: Hands-down the best Hip-Hop Record of the year, and quite possibly the best Roots record ever made.

Is: Probably a fucking masterpiece

Is: Proof that Black Thought is criminally underrated, and proof that the Roots deserve their status as legends.

Bon Iver by Bon Iver

Is: Despite being a great record, still a lot of fun to poke-fun at.

Is: Nevertheless, still a really good record

Is: In the words of Alex Garnett, almost perfectly: Bon Iver now sounds like Lionel Ritchie on Saddle Creek. Not bad, but also not nearly as earnest as you thought.

Is: Still, again, a great record.

Metals by Feist

Is: Less pop-forward than Feist’s own excellent “The Reminder” and yet somehow even better for it

Is: Very nearly a masterwork of breathy understatement within the world of pop-music

Cosmic Ocean Ship by Mia Doi Todd

Is: a great little neo-Joan Baez record, instantly spanning decades with ease and comfort, and while remaining confident, delicate, and soothing

Is: Kind of what I imagine it feels like to be wrapped in a warm, delicious blanket by a sexy lady after a long, exhausting day, with her kissing you, cutely, right on the forehead before you fall asleep

Is: Unfortunately, an almost universally-overlooked little record

-

Take Care by Drake

Is: Post-Hip-Hop; a uniquely 21st century record, that sees it’s star grappling with a lot of what it’s like to be alive and young (and, nevertheless, struggling with the very thought of what it means to be alive) in the current day and age.

Is: Nevertheless, not as slickly or smartly done as Kanye West’s MBDTF which, for better or worse going to be the standard-bearer for post-hip-hop until something de-thrones it

Watch the Throne by Jay-Z & Kanye West

Is: Not as good as I wanted it to be based on Kanye’s last two outings, but is, nevertheless, a damn fine pop/hip-hop record with some deliciously silky-sex production and lotioned-ass-smooth (if occasionally absurd (and predictably navel-gazing)) rapping.

The Greatest Story Never Told by Saigon

Is: The Second-best hip-hop concept record of the year behind only The Roots’ Undun

Is: A great and compelling concept album with some awesome rapping, but an album whose bombast is also its biggest fault; it would almost certainly be more listenable if it was twenty minutes shorter.

Wounded Rhymes by Lykke Li

Is: A drum-bangingly good record; an ostensibly innocent battle-cry from a Scandinavian siren that will nevertheless steer you towards shipwreck

Tomboy by Panda Bear

Is: A delicious reverb-sandwich

Diamond Mine by King Creosote & Jon Hopkins

Is: Sweet and soothing; a rainy Sunday morning record; “transporting”

Is: Just compelling enough

Build a Rocket Boys by Elbow

Is: Another good record from one of the most consistently good (and underrated) bands of the decade

Is: A glorious meditation on small-town nostalgia; a love letter from your old best friend

HM:

Nostalgia, ULTRA by Frank Ocean

Is: Fun, if inconsistent; a preview of good things to come

The Return of 4 Eva by Big K.R.I.T.

Is: A solid mixtape from a tight, smooth M.C.

Stone Rollin’ by Raphael Saadiq

Is: An exhilarating tour through the greatest-hits of the last 60 years of African-Americana.

Burst Apart by the Antlers

Is: A solid sophomore follow-up to a promising debut; an often-challenging task performed here admirably

Wild Flag by Wild Flag

Is: A blistering power-pop debut from a female super-group; and it’s a hell of a lot of fun

21 by Adele

Is: The most recent work of 2011’s most (and well-deservedly) hailed artists; the work of a phenomenal talent, and home to several of the best songs of the year.

So Beautiful or So What by Paul Simon

Is: Extraordinary in countless ways, least of all being that Paul Simon is 70 years old and he made this record which is really rather good, nostalgia and past-accomplishments aside

Is: The home of several of my favorite guitar noises and textures of the year.

Megafaun by Megafaun

Is: The best album of 2011 by a band that Justin Vernon used to be in, but is not now in (though he does make a cameo)

The Head and the Heart by the Head and the Heart

Is: Such a good indie debut record that Pitchfork HATED the ever loving hell out of it.

The Dreamer/the Believer by Common

Is: A record that sees Common comfortably toeing the line between “radio-friendly MC” and “best MC of all time”

Black Up by Shabazz Palaces

Is: Supposed to be the most-important Hip-Hop Record of the year (Hooray, subpop!)

Is: Not the most important Hip-Hop Record of the year

The Whole Love by Wilco

Is: Probably a “return to form” (whatever that means)

Is: Absolutely better than “Wilco, the album”

Is: A really good album that I can’t get into as much as I would like to, but holy hell if “The Art of Almost” isn’t an absolute doozy and itself worth the price of admission.

Bonus Reissue:The SMiLE Sessions by the Beach Boys

Is: Kind of a miracle

Bonus: Records without words:

The Magic Place by Julianna Barwick

Is: Fascinating if occasionally boring

Looping State of Mind by the Field

Is: My favorite Phillip Glass record that came out this year (that wasn’t made by Phillip Glass)

Is: Could just as aptly be named either: “The Art of Understatement” or “The Art of Minimalism”