31st December 2012
I considered 2012 to be an epic year for music, and I absorbed so much over the last twelve months due in part to Rdio finally launching in the UK, and our new project Rushmore. So, having set my stall out with my 2010 and 2011 roundups, I felt compelled to trawl the year and document the orchestrated noises I couldn’t leave alone in 2012.
So many good albums in 2012. When I first heard Grimes I lost it, so good and unexpected was that album and her talent. I’d loved Sharon Van Etten’s earlier EP, so the new album got right under my skin. Patrick Watson was an unexpected discovery that I’ll treasure. Ultimately, I thought Grizzly Bear’s album was incredibly ambitious without ever feeling pretentious, and spending time with it gradually revealed more and more wonderful, magical bits and pieces.
Summer Heart: About a Feeling, Title Fight: Floral Green, Cat Power: Sun, Paul Banks: Banks, Tennis: Young and Old, Frank Ocean: channel ORANGE, The Maccabees: Given To The Wild, Sigur Rós: Valtari, Metric: Synthetica, Hospitality: Hospitality, Sea of Bees: Orangefarben, DJ Shadow: Total Breakdown: Hidden Transmissions From The MPC Era, 1992-1996.
Grizzly Bear’s Half Gate and Sun In Your Eyes pairing was my fave album closer of the year, but nothing topped the sheer beauty of Beach House track Myth. I played Simple Song to death for three months, the only real highlight of The Shins comeback. Gentle beauty from Patrick Watson and The Tallest Man on Earth are well worth their place too.
Santigold: Disparate Youth, Hospitality: Friends of Friends, Dog Is Dead: Get Low, Cat Power: Cherokee and Ruin, Frank Ocean: Pyramids, The Maccabees: Pelican, Wild Nothing: Nowhere, Paul Banks: Young Again.
Not much really, but new EPs from two of my favourite artists are worth a wee note. Dum Dum Girls kill it with EPs, less so with albums.
Why, yes. If you want to listen to the year through my brain then activate this lengthy Rdio playlist of my 2012 Faves. Happy ears.
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