2012

I wanted to finish this yesterday and be wrapped up by June.  Almost.  So this is just last year, very hard of course, as it takes while to get everything.  I did  one of these  at the end of last year and now the top three is all things I had not heard at  that  time.  This time I have the "good taste" not to include Super River's This One Reminds Me The Most of Us.  This year had a rare sensation of several artists having multiple releases and I opted just to include  one just to make  it a bit easier.

10.  Will Stratton - Post-Empire
On his fourth album Stratton goes further into the sparse arrangements and  atmosphere.  Most of these  songs are built around his vocals - often accompanied, and his still growing guitar-playing.  "When You Let Your  Hair Down To Your Shoulder," has with more in the mix with the inclusion of strings and subtle electric guitar, usually the only additions.  It is also one of the quicker more upbeat tracks as most of this album has a slower and more somber tone to it, not unheard of for the artist, but more pronounced and dominant than usual.  The album does have an intimate feel with the dreamy folk milieu at some times reminiscent of some of Animal Collective's earlier work.  Yet his conversational vocals and blazing finger-picking firmly keep this album in the tradition of the finest folk music, heard best on the title track..

9.  Animal Collective - Centipede Hz
Completely going against the pattern of the prior decade, Animal Collective's latest release was absent from a lot  of lists.  Somehow I predicted that this album would be a big step down, though I have high hopes for their future.  They are still one of the best  bands on the planet and this is a remarkable album even if several tracks are not up to snuff.  The return of Deakin was, and surely will remain a good thing and the four-piece group creates the densest music yet, for once reminiscent of their other albums, particularly Strawberry Jam.  Live, the band even appears more like a traditional rock band than ever before even if there is little reason to expect that.  It is darker a darker affair than ever as the cover suggests, heard at its best on "New Town Burnout" with vocals from Panda.  Deakin himself contributes his first lead vocals on another standout track "Wide-Eyed."  Even when it is not particularly dark, this is also the group's most abrasive album and comes with a lot of attack on their opening track and continues with lead single "Today's Supernatural" and "Applesauce" one of the Collective's best songs of all.

8.  Ariel Pink's Hauunted Graffiti - Mature Themes
On the second effort a real band the Beverly Hills weirdos hone their smooth sound to perfection with more comfort in a proper studio and several years playing live together.  Pink's songs are as great as ever and only benefit from his new partners who contribute more than ever on this release.  His post-yacht sound is at its best with the title track and early release "Only In My Dreams," but the album has more of his usual weirdness on top.  Opener "Kinski Assassin" is one of his most typically psychedelic tracks and a continues his pattern of perfect opening tracks.  It hints at the sexuality that is more apparent than ever in songs like the following song "Is This the Best Spot?" and "Symphony of the Nymph" earning the album its title.  Pink's obsession with the dystopian reality and his own name succeeds again on "Pink Slime" and the drony "Schnitzel Boogie."  A lot of people were most imporessed by the cover of Donnie  and  Joe Emerson's "Baby," but I think the "originals" are what  make this album great and another one  of Pink's greatest.

7.  Mac Demarco - 2
Demarco was one of this year's best surprises with the release of two albums this year with this following the also excellent Rock and Roll Night Club.  I was not the only person in Los Angeles who thought this guy's twisted sense of humor (and name) pointed at a home in New Jersey or the surrounding area, so I was surprised to find that he is a native of Edmondton, Alberta and now based in Vancouver with close ties to another band on this list.  Not the one above, with home he does share some similarities, but this Canadian is much warmer and less disturbed, but seems to share the influence of R. Stevie Moore, such as in his unique and off-kilter guitar sound on every track.  His pop tunes are also quite smooth but with a psychedelic bend such as on the big kid anthem "Freaking Out the Neighborhood" and the sythy love song "Sherrill."  He can have more typical singer-songwriter moments such with acoustic guitars and real emotion like on closer "Still Together," but is at his best with a wink and a laugh.  The production value and greater emphasis on songs rather than ideas is that makes this the better of his two albums.

6.  Sunfighter - Sweet Machine
After the break-up of Flash Gilmore and the Funbeatles its five members went their separate ways personally and musically leaving Alameda with more bands but less energy.  Hazel James recorded a great solo album under the name Love Warrior and then changed his name to Matt Platinum and reunited with his former bandmates Mick James and the Glove to form Sunfighter.  Platinum and Mick, now known as Sam Greenleaf put together some of their best songs of their life and added the force  of Platinum's other former  band mate Fed Martinezon drums and set out for more musical conquest.  This catchy rock album has gotten some Britpop comparisons, but it is much more raw than that and has a lot of American Underground influence, particularly in the Kirkwood-esque lead of the opening title track.  With the two brothers on guitar this time the dynamics are particularly strong on every song and their energy is unwavering with these songs that get more emotional than any of their previous work such as the wailing "Radiation" and "Homebound."  As vulnerable as it can get at times this album just rocks and "Platinum Theme" and the Pavement-inspired "Daisy Days," are all the evidence you need.

5.  Guided by Voices - The Bears for Lunch
This new phase of GbV's career is real interesting to watch as they have gone from the bottom (Let's go Eat the Factory going head to head with Sandbox for worst release) and rapidly getting better and better with each release.  This being the third and last for 2012 is of course the best, and shows the newly-stable quintet finding  their perfect chemistry.  With more material building up over the years, Tobin Sprout's songs have stuck out the most on the new releases, but here Pollard is back to his best with songs like opener "King Arthur the Red" and "You Can Fly Anything Right."  Recorded in several different locations with several different kinds of machines they go back to their roots, most visibly on the great "You Can Fly Anything Right" recorded on a boombox.  Still, Sprout's songs are on top with "Waking Up the Stars" and "Waving At Airplanes" among his best of all.  What makes this album better than Class Clown Spots a UFO is its consistency, as there are fewer songs that make you want to skip with the "Finger Gang" pointing towards greater and greater things for their band's renaissance.

4.  pow wow! - Don't Stop to Look
pow wow! has been making some of the best music of its time for over five years now and the Nazareno brothers, around whom the  band  is based have been doing that for their whole lives.  They had a brush with notoriety for a while before losing their drummer and some momentum, but are now back to reclaim their reputation as one of the best bands in New York.  In addition to exhilarating live shows they have this album to back it up and this set of classic pop is an easy one to take, especially after kicking off with the stunning title track.  Newer member Amanda adds the new element of female vocals which these songs had been craving for years and transforms the old stand-by "Sister" as much as she does most of the tracks with her lead guitar.  Their sound is influenced by the greatest of 60s pop and modern indie rock, like if Belle and Sebastian could really pull off loud and heavy and the quintet pulls off a great wall of sound with their dual guitar dynamics with the addition of excellent keyboards, a top-notch rhythm section, and harmonies up to four parts thanks to bassist and loyal member John Paul Anthony.  Additioanlly, pow wow! has cultivated a very precise aesthetic that may predate the formation of the band giving them an unforgettable presence and a key band to watch.

3.  Japandroids - Celebration Rock
Kicking off with fireworks in early June, this Canadian duo made the perfect album for a Summer, so long as you want it to be a life-changer.  These eight energetic songs just go on long enough make their point across better than most of the tighter pop stylings of the day.  This is music for a generation that wants hope, energy, and emotion in their rock and with walls of distorted guitar, hard-hitting drums and heart-wrenching vocals it is achieved.  It is a classic album in approach, even including a cover of The Gun Club and has a timeless nostalgia that points to a brighter future while remembering the past with a tender love, best heard on "Younger Us."  With only two members it is amazing the kind of link that can happen after this many years of touring and entertaining people and it is amazing what they can achieve with just guitar, drums, and two voices.  Their time on the road comes out with the album's best nostalgic moment and surely the best  song ever  written about being Canadian - "Fire's Highway."  It ends as well and energetically as it starts with "The House That Heaven Built" and the sound of fireworks.

2.  Chris Cohen - Overgrown Path
After some time in Haunted Graffiti, the Los Angeles native releases his solo album and it is clear that this multi-instrumentalist was responsible for Deerhoof's three best albums.  Though the guitar on opening track "Monad" will be familiar to that band's fans, this album is a far cry from their sound and just about anything else.  With his layered harmonies and the presence of piano on most tracks this has something of a baroque flavor to it, but these pleasant songs have much more in common with psych/power-pop than folk, even on the the acoustic guitar-heavy "Heart Beat."  I will admit I have heard this album the least of them all, but it is clear that it deserves such a high standing with its creativity and refusal to be placed in a spot with any other musicians.  It is just too rock and pop for the the folk or experimental worked and vice-versa, yet could be a lost masterpiece from the 70s.  Perhaps what Todd Rundgren would create had he returned to his roots after immersing himself in indie rock of the last 15 years.  Time will remember this  one fondly.

1.  Goat - World Music
Pay special note, Californians.  This mysterious Swedish band has somehow not infiltrated your market the way they have back East (at least this was the case when I was last there) and you are missing out on some of the best heavy psych ever made.  Goat, who claims to be from the voodoo-worshipping village of Korpiliombolo and the Hatian mysticism is a clear influence on their sound along with other music from around the world, particularly of the Middle East.  They believe that all musicians should self-identify as "world music" and they make a good point as they appear open to all kinds of influence, though their music is mostly grounded in acid rock and early metal.  It is a loud, drony mix of distortion, vintage keys and percussion with female vocals, or in other words, perfect music.  The band also has an unusual symbiosis between their occult mythology and tongue-in-cheek self-awareness with their largely goat-based titles and use of masks coupled with a title like "Let It Bleed" in the mix.  Goat blood obviously, and animal sacrifice has never sounded cooler, or even more fun with "Disco Fever" being on of the top two songs of the year to mix heavy psych with dance music.  It's just an awesome set of the best kind of music there is and like Ten before it, it's even circular!

This is not the final article of this series.  Tune in tomorrow or some time soon afterward for that!