Best Songs of 2012: Lotus Plaza - "Dusty Rhodes"

Best Songs of 2012

Dusty Rhodes // Lotus Plaza

Deerhunter guitarist Lockett Pundt's second album sounds a lot like Deerhunter, and naturally so being Pundt, somewhat under the radar due to Bradford Cox's fame, co-wrote Halcyon Digest. The melancholy melodies and quiet vocals suggest isolation, but an isolation of want and not imposition. This is loner music. For headphones and train rides and solitary car trips. And it's the best of its kind to be released this year. 

Best Songs of 2012 rolling list

Best Songs of 2012: Converge - "Aimless Arrow"

Best Songs of 2012

Aimless Arrow // Converge

Converge watered down is still scarier than most horror movies you've ever seen, but a restrained version of this +20 year old hardcore staple on All We Love We Leave Behind allows for more melodic tones and a greater range in songwriting. There's still fury here though, just listen to Ben Koller blast through fills and beats faster than most people can tap their fingers and tell me otherwise. 

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Best Songs of 2012: Indoor Voices - "So Smart"

So smart from Indoor Voices on Vimeo.

Best Songs of 2012

So Smart // Indoor Voices

Indoor Voices are another of many My Bloody Valentine-inspired shoegaze outfits, but they execute the gorgeous melodies and male/female vocals so well it's impossible not to be impressed. Looking forward to hearing more after a very promising EP, which you can download here.

Best Songs of 2012 rolling list

yvynyl:

Indoor Voices - So smart

Judging by how much I’ve been posting them lately, my inbox has been flooded over with excellent music videos. Here is the latest from Toronto artist Jonathan Relph in a collaboration with director Scott Kaija and feating the dead-eyed gaze of Irene Cortes that I’m thrilled to premiere for y’all. Heady, beautiful stuff.

Get this self-titled EP on ltd. wax from Bleeding Gold Records.

Previously: “After (feat. Sandra Vu)”

Best Songs of 2012: Beach House - "New Year"

Best Songs of 2012

New Year // Beach House

You've read it so many times now that the word dreamy is synonymous with Beach House, but you can't knock a perfect descriptor. Bloom is a continuation of the more accessible sound from Teen Dream, but with deeper textures, catchier beats and greater production value. With its triumphant chorus and a My Bloody Valentine-inspired bridge, "New Year" is an, as Filter puts it, "ethereal journey."

Best Songs of 2012 rolling list

Best Songs of 2012: Bat For Lashes - "Laura"

Best Songs of 2012

Laura // Bat For Lashes

I was unenthusiastic about watching Bat For Lashes' new video. I had a predisposition to dislike it. The heavy-hearted look of Natasha Khan as she peers into the camera, the weird, ambiguous actress at the heart of the subject matter, the fact that it's a piano ballad; none of these things appealed to me. But then that chorus hits, those victorious soft trumpets sound, and you realize "Laura" is simply too powerful to ignore. A 2012 top 5 track. 

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Best Songs of 2012: Father John Misty - "Hollywood Cemetery Forever"

Best Songs of 2012

Hollywood Cemetery Forever // Father John Misty

Joshua Tillman, previously of 'the drummer from Fleet Foxes' fame, finally broke out after seven years of releasing records under his own name as well as the moniker Father John Misty. Although Fear Fun doesn't take many chances, Father John covers a wide spectrum of influences and condenses them into folksy, pop-friendly tracks. "Hollywood Cemetery Forever" is the one that really stands out; a simple open hi-hat beat in 4/4 languidly carries a twangy minor chord progression while Tillman delivers some strong, infectious lines. The video featuring Aubrey Plaza is one of the best of the year as well. 

Best Songs of 2012 rolling list

Best Songs of 2012: The Evens - "Wanted Criminals"

Best Songs of 2012

Wanted Criminals // The Evens

Fugazi has been on hiatus for nearly a decade but that hasn't stopped Ian MacKaye from working on other projects. The Evens, a duo consisting of Ian and his partner Amy Farina in a set up nearly identical to the White Stripes, have been recording since even before Fugazi's hiatus, but The Odds is their best collection of songs yet. "Wanted Criminals" is the highlight, a song fueled by MacKaye's signature left-leaning lyricism and a Fugazi-esque culminating breakdown. The Odds might never make us forget how amazing this was, but as MacKaye eclipses age 50 he's proven he and Amy Farina can still innovate the post-punk circuit. 

Best Songs of 2012 rolling list

Best Songs of 2012: Nas - "Loco-Motive"

Best Songs of 2012

Loco-Motive // Nas

"This for my trapped in the 90's n*ggas."

Best Songs of 2012 rolling list

Best Songs of 2012: Maritime - "Peopling of London"

Best Songs of 2012

Peopling of London // Maritime

Davey von Bohlen has been writing songs for 15 years. "Peopling of London" proves he can still write a perfect piece of pop rock when he puts his mind to it. 

Best Songs of 2012 rolling list

whendidiuploadthis:

Maritime - “Peopling of London”

The Promise Ring reunion was phenomenal last night, and in listening to a lot of Promise Ring and Davey von Bohlen side projects over the past few weeks I completely forgot Davey’s current band, released an album this year. It’s a solid if unspectacular record but “The Peopling of London” is up there with some of the best von Bohlen tracks.

Best Songs of 2012: Kendrick Lamar - "The Art of Peer Pressure"

Best Songs of 2012

The Art of Peer Pressure // Kendrick Lamar

If there's one song that best sums up good kid, m.A.A.d city  it's "The Art of Peer Pressure." The autobiographical story of a night spent riding around town and wreaking havoc with his buddies, Lamar concedes he is a "sober soul" and a pacifist at heart but when he's rolling with his crew, peer pressure becomes a more powerful force than his moral fortitude. The subject matter is universal and the story is told brilliantly, full of intro and outro "skits" and a humorous cliffhanger. The beat provided by Tabu is one of the album's best and Kendrick's flow is reminiscent of Andre 3000, possibly lending credence to the idea that the title, "The Art of Peer Pressure," is giving props to Outkast's "Da Art of Storytellin'."

"The Art of Peer Pressure" is one of the best songs on the best album of the year. 

Best Songs of 2012 rolling list

Best Songs of 2012: Grizzly Bear - "Yet Again"

Best Songs of 2012

Yet Again // Grizzly Bear

Grizzly Bear return from a three year hiatus with a collection of songs darker than anything they've recorded yet. With its rich, sustained guitar chords, Droste's skillful vocals and a unique outro, "Yet Again" is Shields' best track, and one of the best of the year.

Best Songs of 2012 rolling list

Best Songs of 2012: Japandroids - "The House That Heaven Built"

If this isn't one of the most life-affirming songs you've ever heard, well then I don't know what's wrong with you. 

Best Songs of 2012 rolling list

Past Japandroid posts

Best Songs of 2012: Evy Jane - "Sayso"

Best Songs of 2012

Sayso // Evy Jane

When artists as mainstream as Taylor Swift say their new record is influenced by dubstep you know the genre's jumped the shark. But Evy Jane pull off a successful resurrection with "Sayso," a song built off of slick production and the wistful voice of Evelyn Mason. 

Best Songs of 2012: Chromatics - "These Streets Will Never Look the Same"

Best Songs of 2012

These Streets Will Never Look the Same // Chromatics

If you're looking for a sequel to the excellent Drive soundtrack, Kill For Love is your best bet. Chromatics were Initially penned to provide the movie's entire score, but Refn decided  a variety of artists would be more effective. They still provided the creepy, anxious "Tick of the Clock" for the film's opening scene. Chromatics mixes 70's/80's new wave and modern day reverby electronica, giving them a sound that epitomizes Drive-style noir. "These Streets Will Never Look the Same" is the highlight, an epic, 8-minute long auto-tuned masterpiece.

Best Songs of 2012 rolling list

Best Sogns of 2012: Cloud Nothings - "No Sentiment"

Best Songs of 2012

No Sentiment // Cloud Nothings

Remember when Pitchfork used to shit on emo? I was really surprised by their take on Attack on Memory after years of reading reviews like that one. But music is cyclical and rock is back. Regardless of where indie publications used to lean on emo and post-hardcore influenced music, they're right about this one, Cloud Nothings have created a killer record. I waffle (mmm, waffles) between "No Sentiment" and "No Future/No Past" as my favorite track but in the end I lean towards the former. That obnoxiously loud and distorted one note picked and bent ever so slightly before bursting into chaotic tremolo, the rhythm power chords, the crashing symbols, the nasally, off-key Cobain inspired vocals; what's not to love here? 

whendidiuploadthis:

Tell me this song doesn’t rock hard, I dare you to.

Best Songs of 2012 rolling list

Best Songs of 2012: Metz - "Headache"

It may be a year late, but hard rock has returned to indie in 2012. Metz is partially responsible. Their debut doesn't deal much in variation, but this throwback to 90's era rock and post-hardcore contains a few excellently crafted tracks, none of which can top the opener. "Headache" begins with a tom-driven beat before barreling down on you with crashing symbols and a monster guitar riff. Alex Edkins' vocals, which hearken to Ian Curtis, are perfectly complementary, and the production execution is spot on. Metz might be a bit too one note as a whole, but damn if these dudes haven't re-energized my love for simple, potent guitar riffage. 

Best Songs of 2012 Introduction

It’s that time of the year again, that time when all of us “pasty white dudes” begin typing our year end “best of” lists. Boy have these lists become divisive. I wonder if it’s because those who criticize them are growing older and more cynical of the music industry. Or maybe the music industry really has changed for the worst and these lists have become less about content and more about whoring your blog out for year end pageviews. Is it that the internet has become so convoluted with dudes like myself, who compile year end lists on dime a dozen music blogs, that most of them are meaningless? It’s probably all of those things. It’s probably, just as we music nerds enjoy criticizing the larger publications’ year end lists, the more sardonic pop culture enthusiasts enjoy criticizing the practice itself. But I love this time of year; I can’t wait to read Pitchfork’s and Stereogum’s and Fantano’s and Lewis’s lists for the content, and even NME’s and Rolling Stone’s and Spin’s for the funnies. More than anything though, I love making my own list. Collecting all of my favorite songs and sharing them is not only fun, but it keeps me actively engaged with current music. I don’t want to become my parents just yet, talking about how the last great album was Physical Graffiti. It’ll probably happen someday, but that day does not reside in 2012.

So, thanks for sticking with me. Tomorrow I will begin posting my 25 favorite songs of 2012. As opposed to compiling one entire list of songs, I’ll use tumblr’s format to my advantage and post a song or two a day. I hope you enjoy.

Get acclimated with my 2011 list.