Top 12 of 2012

I’ve a penchant for flippant hyperbole. But when it comes to honestly making lists of favorite albums from any given year, it can take me forever. Unlike years past when I waited a couple months to post my lists, I’ve only missed my self-imposed New Year’s deadline by a few days, so I consider this progress.

I do know some people take my recommendations seriously, so I’ve really put some thought into this list. This is not necessarily what I consider to be last year’s best albums. It’s simply a list of the ones I enjoyed the most in 2012. With seemingly everyone on Spotify or Rdio these days, I hope you all can listen to most of these (multiple times each). If you don’t have access to those services, I’ve included links to a choice song from each album. Enjoy.

12. Dumb Gold by Motel Beds

Another year, another record from another Dayton band that I adore. Maybe it’s too simplistic to say that Motel Beds are a combination of The Ventures and T. Rex, but that’s not too far off, either. If they make a record next year, I’m sure it’ll be in my year-end list then, as well.

Song: Valentimes

11. The Bears for Lunch by Guided by Voices

I thought that, when bands reunite, they’re supposed to just tour and play their hits. Never would I imagine that Guided by Voices’ classic, early-nineties lineup could reunite and release three(!) albums of new material in one year. Then again, I guess most bands don”t have a super-prolific songwriter like Robert Pollard. The Bears for Lunch is its third, and most consistent, album of the year. Not surprisingly, the band is preparing a new EP and full-length album for next year…

Song: The Challenge is Much More

10. Departure Songs by Hammock

A friend characterized Hammock’s music as “post-rock version of The Church,” which sounds as good as any description to me. This record finds the band at its most epic and lush, nearly beating Sigur Ros and M83 at their game. A full two discs in length, Departure Songs is an exhausting, yet very rewarding listen if you don’t mind losing yourself in endlessly reverberating guitars and sweeping orchestrations.

Song: Ten Thousand Years Won’t Save Your Life

9. Dwarf Mountain Alphabet by Joy Electric

I’m pretty sure Ronnie Martin is the only guy out there making synthpop with only analog synthesizers. No drum machines or computers here. If his work ethic alone doesn’t convince you, know that he has delivered his most focused and dancey collection of pop songs since 1997’s Robot Rock. Oh yeah, and his vocals have never sounded better.

Song: Whose Voice Will Not be Heard

8. Shields by Grizzly Bear

I don’t care how predictable Grizzly Bear’s spot in my year-end lists is becoming; I love this band. At the heart of its best songs is a folky-pop thing that I adore. Of course, the band dresses it up with great drumming, lush background vocals and thoughtful horn/string arrangements. I think Grizzly Bear occasionally gets backlash because of its rising popularity and the fact that Ed Droste’s vocals sound so good. Oh, that more bands pay such attention to arrangements, harmonies and lyrics!

Song: Yet Again

7. Lonerism by Tame Impala

Trailing close behind my love for great songwriting is weird sounds. On its last album, Innerspeaker, Tame Impala delivered psychedelia and killer guitar jams. This time around, the band uses more synthesizers and plays up its Paul McCartney and Todd Rundgren influences. A weird and totally perfect album.

Song: Mind Mischief

6. Melody’s Echo Chamber by Melody’s Echo Chamber

So Melody Prochet worked with Australian band, Tame Impala, to make a sugary pop record. Except that, around the seventh track, the band derails the process and the album drops off a cliff into fuzzy, new wave-influenced psychedelia. And it’s beautiful.

Song: I Follow You

5. Places by Sam Billen

I guess admiration could muck up our friendship, but I’ve always envied Sam’s songwriting and musicianship. Songs like “It’s My Life” and “Someday You’ll Regret” that he wrote for his old band, The Billions, were monumental in my personal and musical discovery/development. While I’ve loved his solo recordings up to this point, they’ve never captured the magic of the demo CDs he recorded ten years ago. But this year, Places did it for me. I feel like Sam has finally captured my feeling of driving off from The Billions’ farmhouse, playing one of his collections of mature, difficult songs and rupturing my cerebellum. I love you, Sam.

Song: It’s Not a Lie

4. >> by Beak

Beak, a side project of Portishead’s Geoff Barrow, is quickly becoming a favorite band. It plays to the right influences, most notably Neu! and Syd Barrett. (And you should know that I love Krautrock. Neu!, Cosmic Jokers and Agitation Free are some of my all-time favorite bands.) With vocals taking a backseat to some luminous, motorik grooves, this is perfect music for 2:00 am.

Song: Wulfstan II

3. Kill for Love by Chromatics

Come on now, how can you make an album of hazy, eighties Italian disco with reverb-drenched guitars and expect me not to like it?

Song: The Page

2. Bloom by Beach House

I’ve followed Beach House since its first record, so Bloom didn’t really come out of nowhere for me. I can’t help but feel like this dreampop fad in indie rock might be just a little too trendy. Just as long as bands remember to match the sound with great songs, I’m okay with more albums like this.

Song: Other People

1. Nootropics by Lower Dens

I’m not sure why it’s suddenly hip to sound like a Krautrock band, but I like it. While I loved Bloom by Beach House, Nootropics was just more dark and murky and German, tipping the scales for me. True, I found it to be one of the year’s least-immediate albums, but all that extra work I’ve put into understanding it has made it my favorite of 2012.

Song: Brains

Honorable mentions (or albums that I liked and don’t want to not mention in this blog post): Attack on Memory by Cloud Nothings, The Loudest Sound Ever Heard by The Choir, Until the Quiet Comes by Flying Lotus, Sweet Heart Sweet Light by Spiritualized, Oshin by Diiv, Plumb by Field Music, and My Height in Heels by She Does is Magic.

Stuff I didn’t hear in 2012 (but would probably make my list if I had):Europe by Allo Darlin’, Wild Peace by Echo Lake, Cancer for Cure by El-P, Ark by Halls and Nocturne by Wild Nothing.

Episode 95: Like a Wrecking Ball

Motel Beds' most recent album, Tango Boys

The thing I hate (and that some of my friends love) about best-of lists is the sheer act of making a definitive statement. No matter how much time I sink into them, I inevitably return to my lists and realize an omission. This was again the case with my Fifteen Favorites of 2011 list that I posted only two days ago. Only a few hours after posting it, I realized I had left Real Estate’s new album off the list. So take my lists (and especially the albums’ rankings) with a grain of salt.

At any rate, a friend suggested I take some episodes to play a song from each album in that list. I don’t know I can remain focused enough for more than one show, but I’ll give him at least this one. I tried to pick songs you may not have a chance to hear (like with the Robert Deeble and Motel Beds tracks) and deep album cuts I don’t want you to miss (as in the case of Wire, The Decemberists and The Joy Formidable).

Enjoy.

1. “Hopeless” – Motel Beds (Tango Boys | No More Fake Labels | 2011)
2. “Nightcrawlers” – Widowspeak (Widowspeak | Captured Tracks | 2011)
3. “A Flat Ten” – Wire (Red Barked Tree | PinkFlag | 2011)
4. “Heart Like Feathers” – Robert Deeble (Heart Like Feathers | independent | 2011)
5. “Chapter 2” – The Joy Formidable (The Big Roar | Atlantic | 2011)
6. “This is Why We Fight” – The Decemberists (The King is Dead | Capitol | 2011)

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1415312/95radiofreeraytown.mp3″

Radio Free Raytown – Episode #95 (1/6/12)

Episode 72: In the End, Everyone’s Happy

4-4-1's classic album, Sacrifice

For the past two weeks, when I’ve not been listening to the new Radiohead record, I’ve taken refuge in jangly pop.  Or perhaps more accurately, I’ve interrupted my usual pattern of voraciously listening to jangly pop bands with the new Radiohead album.  (Don’t worry, I’ll probably discuss The King of Limbs in a future episode.)

At any rate, Dayton’s Motel Beds have released two fantastic albums in the past two years.  Both are incredibly solid slabs of moody power pop that you’d expect from the town that birthed Guided By Voices.  I think Motel Beds is an awesome band, and I hope you dig the show.

1. The Lights #9 – Motel Beds (Sunfried Dreams / independent / 2011)
2. Pinkies – Motel Beds (Feelings / Fictionband Mechanics / 2010)
3. Mr. Fool – Let’s Active (Every Dog Has Its Day / I.R.S. / 1988)
4. Beautiful Places – 4-4-1 (Sacrifice / Broken / 1988)
5. Never Let Me Go – Bono and the Million Dollar Hotel Band (The Million Dollar Hotel: Music From the Motion Picture / Island / 2000)
6. Kentish Town – Tracey Thorn (Love and its Opposite / Merge / 2010)

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1415312/72radiofreeraytown.mp3″

Radio Free Raytown – Episode #72 (3/4/11)

Concerning Year-End Lists…

There seems to be an expectation that if one is a discerning music enthusiast, he must develop year-end lists with best/favorite albums from that year.  I always wait until the year is actually over to create such a list.  (And if you’re lucky, in a month or two, you’ll receive a copy of the annual Song’s in Jon’s Beard, a mix CD of my favorite songs from the year.)

I am unsure whether I am hesitant to make a definitive statement or whether it really is that hard to decide.  One thing I can say is that Katy and I continue discovering some really good releases from 2010 (like the new Motel Beds album).  So if I had made a list two months ago, like a friend of mine, I would have missed quite a few excellent records.

All that said, I’ll try to have a list created and annotated by the end of January.