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. 

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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.

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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."

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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. 

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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. 

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