Yeah I know, but seriously, you try to rhyme something with "twelve." That's what I thought. So, we're about a whole month into 2013 and I haven't even told you about my favorite music from the past year. It's obligatory right? A blog must have an end of year top ten list of sorts right? If you remember last year I did a whole drawn out series about my favorites from 2011, unfortunately 2012 didn't quite resonate with me in the same way, this could be due to how busy I was, or maybe nothing can compare to the ridiculousness of 2011's releases, it did include a Radiohead joint afterall. In any case, I still have a collection of brilliant little albums for you to check out. The usual rules apply: I try my best to ignore mainstream, let's stick to things you might not have heard of eh? Second there's no order here, except for the last one which I consider Albomb of the Year! So this isn't a top ten at all is what I'm saying (Can't you count?). Let's get to it shall we (Btw all links are spotify openers)?
Safe Travels by Jukebox the Ghost: Let's start with something fun shall we? Imagine Ben Folds Five, y'know, the catchy piano driven trio, then mix them with a dash of They Might Be Giants, the catchy (sometimes) piano driven duo, and that's kind of what Jukebox the Ghost sounds like. All I know is that they're catchy poppy fun, and somehow manage to sound happy when they're singing the saddest songs (a la TMBG). Safe Travels may not be their best album, but "The Spiritual" may be their best song ever, and easily my favorite song from this year, hands down. Listen to it! Now! Also check out "Oh, Emily," and "Say When."
SuperMegaFantastic by IAmDynamite: These guys have a big sound for being just a duo, which I had no idea until I looked it up (Which reminds me of Buke and Gass, my Albomb of the Year 2010). They're catchy poppy fun (Seems to be a theme), totally funky, and to my ear they channel some of my oldschool favorites, including very old U2. Like "Boy" and "October" era U2. Yeah no kidding. Check em out, and see if you don't find yourself singing the hooks days later wondering where the hell they came from. I especially enjoy "Hi Lo," "Stereo," and the major oldschool U2 channeler "OEO."
Sees the Light by La Sera: Imagine a moodier She & Him and you're close. La Sera is a side project of one of the members of the punk group Vivian Girls, but here she channels the old world classics, y'know like rockabilly. Sees the Light is basically a breakup album, but with the distinct anomaly that she seems to be completely happy about it. Still moody, but totally okay with how things worked out, and I quite like her take on this particular musical dead horse (Can't imagine why I'd find this subject intriguing this past year). And seriously, check out the guitar part in the first song, "Love That's Gone," it's fucking pretty, and that warrants the inclusion on the list for that alone. Also check out "Drive On," and "I Can't Keep You in My Mind."
The Mess We've Made by Bad Veins: Props go to Mike for this one. Here's another group that sounds way bigger than the duo they are, and where IAmDynamite sounds big due to their kineticism and funk, Bad Veins sound huge because of the many intricate layers melded into their indie rock sound. Think Sufjan Stevens, but a lot less ... spacey? Fairy tale? Whatever, Bad Veins is awesome, check out "If Then," and "Doubt."
Days Away by Ronald Jenkees: Hello youtubes indeed, I've been a Ronald Jenkees fan for a while now, and if you haven't seen any of his videos you really should, he's quite the thing. Jenkees is basically a total nerd that completely fucking kills it on the keys, like here. His style is basically a fusion of hip-hop with nerdy videogame OST sensibilities and then his rockin skills overlaid on top of all that. And with this new album he actually makes it seem effortless, where his past releases felt a bit rough around the edges, he seems to have really come into his own here. Also his songs seem to have mellowed out some into more chill grooves, which is A-Ok with me. Check out "Speaker 1 Speaker 1" and "7 Times" if you're still not convinced.
Lost Songs by ... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead: I love a good build up, whether it's classic Modest Mouse three songs in one or The Decemberists sublime prog-folk, I love it. In fact I tend to gravitate towards anything with that word "prog" thrown out front, simply because it vaguely promises build ups and crescendos and layers and fun. Now I've been flirting with the idea of Trail of Dead for a long long time. I remember back in middle school hearing that they had the record for the longest band name. "Really?" I remember asking, "What kind of band is that?" "I dunno, some kind of college rock I guess." Wow, college rock, I was intrigued, rock only for college students. That was about that, other than hearing a song or two randomly from time to time. Then one day last year I noticed they released a new album. What? They're still around? And then I read it described as "prog-punk." Be still my heart, I had never heard of such a thing, and I certainly wasn't disappointed. I don't know if this is Trail of Dead's best album, but it's acted as my introduction, and man, some of their breakdowns and musical shifts are just epic. Take "Pinhole Cameras," "Up To Infinity," or "Catatonic" for example.
How To Successfully Throw a Party and Even on the Worst Nights by Mixtapes: This may be a first, but I'm listing two albums from the same band this year. It might be because, in unprecedented fashion, Mixtapes released two albums this year. Granted, many will call "How To Successfully Throw a Party" a glorified EP, but it's still all original music, and come on, listen to it, it's great fun. Mixtapes are an extremely prolific (obv.) melodic punk group, and they're catchy as all hell. Since I've stumbled on them, I haven't listened to much else. They're one of those groups that makes coming up with infectious hooks seem easy. While "Even on the Worst Nights" is a collection of these near perfect pop-punk hooks, their other release this year is actually an acoustic album, and almost comes off like Dashboard Confessional's first album if it had been happy ... and good (Burn). All I know is that they're catchy poppy fun, what more do you need? Other than some samples of course: "Something Better," "I'll Give You A Hint, Yes," "5 AM (How to Successfully Throw a Party)," "10 PM (Safe)."
Yellow & Green by Baroness: This friends, is my Albomb of the Year. I can't say enough good things about this release, if you like music you should really just buy it, or at the very least listen to it on spotify ... a thousand times. So okay, back story: Baroness was this pretty hardcore group, but one of the few I actually liked, there was something artistic in their stuff, even in their total scream-a-thons, there was always this feeling they had a deft understanding of exactly what they were doing musically, and they weren't just screaming for the sake of it. So pretty much they were known for releasing songs like this. "Yellow & Green" is a complete about face into way softer and much more experimental territory. Okay, so plenty of bands grow over time, start out way harder and mellow out over years, but I've rarely (if ever) seen such a drastic change from one album to the next. And even better, they make the change seem completely effortless, as if this is what they've been doing for years and they've just perfected it. And it's not even like they've just softened down into normal rock either, they're all over the map, I meant experimental with a capital E earlier. I have a feeling that this is going to be a sleeper hit of sorts, and one day we'll all look back and talk about the year Baroness started on this path, and you'll remember that you first heard about them from me ;-)
I don't even know where to start with the links, I could really just link the entire album, but okay, I'll try listing just my absolute favorites: "Little Things," "Cocainium," "Eula," "Mts. (The Crown and Anchor)," "Psalms Alive."
Whew that was tough. Anyway, there you have it, some of my favorite albums from the year. It's good to be back, and who knows. There may even be a Bible entry in your future (Probably not near future though, don't get your hopes too high now).
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