Your Top 10 Albums of 2012
 

Well we are at that mid way point 6 months in 2012 already. Man ...only 6 more months till the end of the world according to the mayans but who cares about dat post your top 10 albums of 2012 so far !!!!!!!!!!..nothing official tho since things will prob change and what not :P


1. ††† (Crosses)-EP †† - EP

2. J Devil -EP

3.Daniel Rossen-'Silent Hour/Golden Mile' EP

4.The Mars Volta: Noctourniquet

5.Wolvserpent-Perigaea

6.Schoolboy Q-Habits & Contradictions

7.Reggie Watts-A Live At Central Park

8.Love and Death-Chemicals (feat. Brian "Head" Welch) - EP

9.Jack white-Blundergrass

10.Lil b -White FLame

In no order...

Anaïs Mitchell - Young Man In America
Dirty Three - Towards the Low Sun
Susanne Sundfør - The Silicone Veil
Mark Lanegan - Blues Funeral
The Shins - Port of Morrow
First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar
Father John Misty - Fear Fun
Beach House - Bloom
Lost in the Trees - A Church That Fits Our Needs
Tu Fawning - A Monument

Revenge - Scum.Collapse.Eradication

...

I think that's the only album out this year which I've both heard and thoroughly enjoyed.

are u a boy or girl ?????

lil b? lol

LIl b is FYA whats so funny ????

i'm young enough to know who lil b is but not as stupid to actually like him lol jk..no but seriously he's too silly to be considered a artist..
his message is great but his lyrics and music is trash :/

Eh I'm not very up-to-date with this year but I think it's safe for me to say that I like The Money Store by Death Grips the most so far.

Anaïs Mitchell - Young Man In America
Beach House - Bloom
Death Grips – The Money Store
Big K.R.I.T. - 4Eva N A Day
Himanshu – Nehru Jackets
Quakers – Quakers
El-P – Cancer For Cure
BadBadNotGood – BBNG2
Billy Woods – History Will Absolve Me
THEESatisfaction – awE naturalE
Killer Mike – R.A.P. Music
Killing Joke – MMXII
Clams Casino – Instrumental Mixtape 2
Portico Quartet – Portico Quartet
Kiran Leonard – Bowler Hat Soup
Young Fathers – TAPE ONE
Unsane – Wreck
Black Swan – Aeterna
Perfume Genius – Put Your Back N 2 It
Torche – Harmonicraft

About that "Top 10".

^Best list so far!

El-P, Killer Mike, Beach House, and Death Grips have made the best albums so far this year imo.

I haven't been listening to as much new music this year as I'd like but I'm aiming to rectify that in the next half of the year. 2012 overall has been a bit of an underwhelming year for me so far, I've listened to quite a few underwhelming albums but despite this there has been some real highlights.

10. Nicholas Szczepanik - We Make Life Sad
A very enjoyable ambient/drone album. It keeps things short and sweet instead of overwhelming you with long, drawn-out compositions.

9. Jack White - Blunderbuss
I've been wanted him to release a solo album for a long time and it didn't disappoint. Beats the hell out of The Raconteurs.

8. School Of Seven Bells - Ghostory
A confident push towards a more streamlined electronic pop sound, and moving further away from the dream-pop of Alpinisms. Probably their most consistent album to date although still not perfect.

7. Chairlift - Something
There's nothing particularly original or ground-breaking going on here but this album is just so damn catchy and addictive. Not quite sure whether it will still be high up in my rankings come the end of the year but we'll see.

6. Mirrorring - Foreign Body
A collaboration between Liz Harris of Grouper and Jesy Fortino of Tiny Vipers. A great combination of ambient drone and acoustic-led folk.

5. Beach House - Bloom
It's not a radical departure from Teen Dream but it does capitalise on it a bit. They sound like a band on top of their game here.

4. Japandroids - Celebration Rock
A no-frills indie rock thrill. It's an album packed with unforgettable songs and an overall high-energy rush. Will definitely be high up come the end of the year.

3. Sharon Van Etten - Tramp
Sharon has a great gift for writing simple and moving songs. The album overall has a very melancholic mood and feeling of love lost and has produced one of my favourite singles of the year in 'Serpents'.

2. Allo Darlin' - Europe
On first listen this album didn't quite grab me in the same way that their self-titled debut did, but when it did eventually click it revealed itself to be a very clever and enjoyable indie pop album.

1. Sigur Rós - Valtari
This album was long-awaited and was a pleasant surprise when I first wrapped my ears around it. It's a step towards less commercial territories but this is every bit as good as Takk.., ( ) or Ágætis byrjun. A very beautiful and inspiring album.

You can see my list here, which I'm updating as I go along:
2012

Metric-Synthetica
Japandroids-Celebration Rock

"4. Japandroids - Celebration Rock
A no-frills indie rock thrill. It's an album packed with unforgettable songs and an overall high-energy rush. Will definitely be high up come the end of the year."

Bored me to tears if I am honest.

That's where you and I differ I guess.

No particular order
 

A Place to Burry Strangers - Onwards to the Wall (EP)
Their are creating a very unique sound, very haunting

James Iha - Look to the Sky
Way better than his first release, it has everything the new pumpkins is missing

IdiotHead - Free Market Music (EP)
Polish band, a form of industrial nu-metal, don't know exactly how to describe, they used to be called Co.In and they used to be heavier, but this is good also

Last Step - Sleep
IDM composed while Aaron Funk (Venetian Snares) was falling asleep. Very interesting.

mewithoutyou - Ten Stories
I dislike the indie route they were following, so they decided to turn the electric guitars again, it's not their best, but it is good

Sarah MacIntosh - Current
Gospel/folk with orchestral and electronic arragements, very rich music

Mark Lanegan - Blues Funeral
Amazing electronic album. His voice isn't the same as it used to be on the Screaming Trees, but it fits perfectly the new musical direction.

††† - EPs
I guess I like everything from Chino Moreno, though Team Sleep is still my favorite.

Disappointments:
- Smashing Pumpkins - Oceania, it is not bad, but I was expecting much more from the samples...
- Marilyn Manson - Born Villain, I have no idea why I gave this a try

Still haven't checked out:
- The Samuel Jackson Five - Selft Titled, post-rock with vocals, couldn't find a link
- Nada Surf - The Stars are Indifferent to Us, I listened to it, but didn't pay much attention, their last album was very good
- P.J. Harvey - Let England Shake, also didn't payed much attention, gonna give it another try
- Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel..., if it is as good as her past releases I'm going to have a new favorite for the year
- Blue Foundation - In My Mind I Am Free, not very familiar with this trip-hop collective, but people are enjoying this a lot
- The Mars Volta - Noctourniquet, I have listened to the samples but I was at work, don't remember much
- Jack White - Blunderbuss, I have no idea why I haven't checked this already

Looking foward to:
- The Killers - Battle Born
- MGMT - MGMT
- Tool - ? (if they are really releasing something)
- The Wallflowers - ?
- Beck - ? (The single with Jack White was awesome)
- Deftones - Eros (Diamond Eyes was awesome)

Die Antwoord - Tension
Ingenting Kollectiva - Fragments of Night
Nurse with Wound - Rupture
Fenn O'Berg - In Hell
Laurel Halo - Quarantine

And that's all good :)

Didn't you say you liked POD or something? Lol

i did when i was like 11/12

This is a kinda down year for me in terms of listening to new albums...I think I can make a good 10 though for the midway point. No particular order though, too soon for that.

Suis La Lune - Riala
With this album they continue to prove they are one of the best modern emo bands around. They don't get too caught up in screaming and they are able to put together a hugely emotional, extremely powerful album.

You Blew It! - Grow Up, Dude
This album just shows how much fun a band can have playing music together, it sounds like it was made in just one take, it's raw yet intimate and inviting with fantastic vocals.

Madeline Ava - Still Gonna Be Fine
Exactly what I expected from her, it's awkward but so incredibly charming and sincere. Very simple, but the subtleties she includes are great to find.

Japandroids - Celebration Rock
It's just a fun album straight through. Up-tempo indie rock at its finest. This is an early frontrunner for my overall favorite of the year.

Ramshackle Glory - Who Are Your Friends
It's a little bit odder than Live The Dream but Pat's lyrics remain remarkable and the clips they use in their songs tell fascinating stories, with the music in the background acting almost like a dirge. Powerful.

Ghost Mice - All We Got Is Each Other
I've been waiting years for a new release from them and I wasn't disappointed. This is a very touching tribute to Chris' late best friend, his lyrics are as strong as ever.

Allo Darlin' - Europe
Much poppier overall than their first release, but it's a great improvement. Morris' lyrics have that great balance of insecurity and hopefulness and the instrumentation is upbeat and lively.

Joyce Manor - Of All The Things I Will Soon Grow Tired
Much shorter than their debut full length, but they pack a lot into a very short time. Just a great fun punk album, listen to it for 15 minutes and it will immediately lift your mood.

Alabama Shakes - Boys & Girls
I went into this not expecting to like this nearly as much as I did. Brittany Howard's voice is so strong and she sings with such passion and force. It reminds me a lot of Janis Joplin.

The Saddest Landscape - After The Lights
Another great album from this band. They have their sound completely figured out and can play it perfectly. The vocals are much more in control but they don't lose any of their emotion and fire.

Also some bonus EP's because I listened to a lot of those.

Mott Bonnott - Warm Fuzzies Vol. 1
The Wonder Years/Stay Ahead Of The Weather - Punk Is Dead. Get A Job
Pity Sex - Dark World
Elijah and the Lions - The Day Before EP
s / s / s - Beak & Claw

Stuff I still need to listen to.
Hop Along - Get Disowned
Joie De Vivre - We're All Better Than This
The Tallest Man On Earth - There's No Leaving Now
The Walkmen - Heaven

I already expect much rolling of eyes and comments that these are too mainstream, but this is what I listen to, so for what it's worth...

I haven't listened to all that many new albums this year, and some of those I have listened to have been good but not great, and some have been downright awful. All I can muster is a paltry top five, and here they are, make of them what you will.

5. Bruce Springsteen --- Wrecking ball (The Boss still has it!)

4. Hawkwind --- Onwards (almost half a century later, Hawkwind can still deliver the goods)

3. Fadeout --- To protect our way of living (Absolute find of the year)

2. Joseph Arthur --- Redemption City (A real candidate for album of the year, even at this midway point, but just beaten out by....)

1. Half Moon Run --- Dark eyes (Debut from a Canadian band you can expect to be hearing a lot more from!)

I think Beck and Jack White made two singles, so find that other one. I don't know if they're doing a whole project together or not though...

Thats sad news :(

I totally agree. Songs all sound similar and are all rather bland imo

Very interesting mate, I've never heard of any of those, but I'll definately check em out. :beer:

Hey Ant! Have you heard Diablo Swing Orchestra?

Indeed I have! Loved their debut in fact. :P

Well this Japandroids album is actually really good. Didn't bother with it at first but I'm listenign right now and it delivers a great energy rush. The Money Store is still my favorite album from this year but this one is still awesome.

Oh god, this is so awesome!

Yeah it's brilliant, isn't it? I'll be reviewing the full album ("Sing along songs for the damned and delerious") in my journal soon. Meantime, they have a new one out this month folks!
https://encrypted-tbn2.google.com/im...VAP8aJ0ZQExIzA

Oh yeah I should listen to more of DSO, considering I already really liked The Butcher's Ballroom. Maybe their new stuff will end up in my top 10 of this year. Then again, I have a LOT to listen to.

I haven't been particularly blown away by much this year. There's been a lot of okay or good albums, but nothing transcendent. I also haven't had much to listen to from genres outside of metal, but here's a list of the albums I have been enjoying or see myself still enjoying come December 18, 2012.

10. Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory

Sure the album is a little schizophrenic as it bounces between post-hardcore and pop-punk, but the band is still young enough to be enduring. It's almost like they just discovered all these really cool bands from the '80's and are in such a hurry to tell everyone about them. I would have rearranged the track order a little bit and had "Wasted Days" as the closer, but with it being the second track it definitely does take hold of you and keeps you there till the (anticlimactic) end.

9. Matt Elliott - The Broken Man

This is such a miserable sounding album and was absolutely the perfect backdrop for the dreary months of January/ February. Lengthy acoustic folk songs about loneliness, heard break, and misery, delivered in a tone that really sounds like it understands those mind states. Definitely not for everyone, but I sure as hell loved it.

8. Diablo Swing Orchestra - Pandora's Pinata

I've enjoyed their music stretching back to their 2006 debut, but while their music is at least refreshing, I found it only worked in small doses. I enjoyed key tracks off their first two albums, but never found myself particularly engaged listening to the whole thing. Luckily this changed with Pandora's Pinata which is a trippy uh.. trip through jazz infused metal that keeps you hooked all the way through till the strange almost dub-steppy end.

7. Paradise Lost - Tragic Idol

One of my favourite bands of all time is Type O Negative. I love their melodramatic sense of pacing and their slight sense of self-deprecating humour. Paradise Lost has the former but plays the rest of it straight, which is pretty funny for a band that changes styles more than most metalheads change their underwear. Tragic Idol is an unrelenting cheese-fest that isn't being ironic or played for laughs, but it does so with such conviction that it doesn't make you feel embarrassed belting out the chorus while in the car with friends. I'm very excited to see them with Katatonia, Stolen Babies, and Devin Townsend in September.

6. Death Grips - The Money Store

I almost don't want to put this up, but so far this is really the only hip hop album that has really stayed with me throughout the year. Killer Mike's album had some awesome beats but were somewhat marred by his lyricism and propensity to get bogged down with conspiracy lyrics. Big K.R.I.T.'s album was good and I will definitely go back to revisit it later in the year, but it didn't leave that same sense of immediacy that Death Grips did. Now maybe this feeling won't be here by December 18, maybe the gimmick will wear off, but considering they have a new album coming out in the fall I doubt it. Whether you like their take on hip hop or not, they're here to stay and they want you to know that.

5. BADBADNOTGOOD - BBNG2

I do think these guys rely a little too much on the "Nobody in the making of this album was over 21" shtick which I'm guessing is suppose to make you really impressed by their prowess, but the thing is if you listen to the album without knowing that tidbit you'd already be impressed by their musical abilities. Jazz fusion can be a tricky genre to critique or even describe, but this album really does its best to not go overboard in any one area and tries to give each genre its own fair play. It's free from their website so there's no reason not to at least give it a try.

4. Lunar Aurora - Hoagascht

Generally I'm pretty picky when it comes to atmospheric black metal, as is so often the case the band just tries to be Agalloch or Burzum. While the Burzum influences definitely shine throughout Hoagascht, the album does have a certain sense of identity all of its own and it does stand out among the other atmospheric black metal albums also released this year. It's been a great album while on the treadmill at the gym, and has even found its way into my CD rotation in my car. If you're true kvlt I can't see you getting much out of this album, but if your head isn't lodged up your arse you can probably get a couple of really good plays with this, and maybe even an mention at the end of the year.

3. Sigh - In Somniphobia

I'm really liking this album more than 2010's Scenes From Hell because it really feels like a callback to 2001's Imaginary Sonicscape but without feeling like a carbon copy. It's definitely an attempt to make lightning strike twice, and while the walking creature isn't exactly the same thing, it's likable enough to give it your time.

2. Leonard Cohen - Old Ideas

If there's one thing Leonard Cohen continues to do well, it's give a real sense of sincerity to his music. There isn't one song on this album that feels phoned in or even that sappy. While I've heard some people criticize the backing instrumentation as sounding too cheap, I find it sounds more worn out, kind of like how I'm think Leonard himself feels. I mean the guy is past 80 now and he's still releasing music, not necessarily out of love of doing it, but as a means of financial support. In a way it kind of reminded me of William Shatner's 2004 magnum opus Has Been (seriously if you haven't heard this album, GO GET IT!), a sense of losing your place in the world, but being unable to find where your new home could be.

1. Killing Joke - MMXII

Words cannot accurately describe how much I love Killing Joke. Besides being one of the most important bands in alternative music history, inspiring every band you probably like that wears the label, they've given so much of themselves to the industry and haven't really received much in return. I've been hard pressed to find a lot of people on this forum who want to talk about them, and have had even less success in the real world. Yet despite all that they keep on making music, and not just half-arsed music like some other bands from this time period, but music that actually feels new, while still retaining the qualities of their past selves. Their 2010 album Absolute Dissent felt very much like a 21st century album, and was far heavier than much of the music bands half their age were putting out, MMXII conversely feels like a 20th century album, that's been pushed through the filter of 21st century technology. Not only that, but this feels almost like it's a glance at their 30+ year history, rather than Absolute Dissent's latter material focus.


So that's my list, I expect to see at least 3-4 of these on my end of the year list.

He's not past 80 yet! But I do agree he's probably feeling pretty worn at this point, especially since he's been writing about being old for several decades now. I also agree with you about the instrumentation—IMO it's far better than on his last few albums. It has a rougher sound to it, which suits him much better than the muzak-ish style he had been using for a while.

80+... 77... it's all the same. I think once you hit 75 it all just blurs together in a miasma of "what's that sonny?"

1. Ne Obliviscaris - Portal of I
2. iamamiwhoami - kin
3. High on Fire - De Vermis Mysteriis
4. Last Step - Sleep

still looking out for QOTSA, Baroness, Tegan and Sara, Pinback, Gojira, and a number of others

Cloud Nothing's Attack On Memory is a fantastic album. Definitely one of the best so far this year.

At the moment my list looks something like

10. Lotus Plaza - Spooky Action at a Distance
9. Mirrorring - Foreign Body
8. Dr. John - Locked Down
7. Tindersticks - The Something Rain
6. Belbury Poly - The Belbury Tales
5. Frankie Rose - Interstellar
4. John Talabot - Fin
3. Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory
2. The Flaming Lips - The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends
1. Of Montreal - Paralytic Stalks

Much better year than 2011 already, though I expect only a few of these to remain in the top 10 as I get on with it, if that.

That album may wind up on my revised list come December, I absolutely love the first track.

boo. No fans of the new Revenge? It managed to reinvigorate the extreme metal sound by seemingly narrowing influences, narrowing the sounds used, and being incredibly reactionary:




^^^ it's wonderfully narrow-minded.

Lana Del Rey - Born to Die

Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball

Civil Twilight - Holy Weather

I've been a bit disappointed with music in 2012. MDNA (Madonna) and Vows (Kimbra) both fell below my expectations. I'm still waiting on the new Alanis and the new Duran Duran live record.