Top 45 Albums Of 2012: 5,4,3,2,1

As I mentioned before, 2012 was a year of old friends.  There were some new projects by new musicians that turned my head, but for the most part it was the familiar stuff that drew me in.  What was great about the familiar stuff, though, was hearing the maturation and growth in the new material.  And as I've personally matured and grown the music that has provided the soundtrack to my life continues to do so in parallel fashion.

Anyway, finally, here we are!  My favorite albums from a span of time that ended three months ago.  I never claimed to be relevant, just persistent.

5) Leonard Cohen - Old Ideas

Despite being 150-years-old, Cohen is sexier and saucier than ever, and somehow he pulls that off with an album that is more-or-less an end-of-life farewell.  Age, introspection, and retrospection are the themes here, all of it spiritually contextualized.  The poetry and wordplay is simple and perfect, as is the music behind it.  And as Cohen faces death, rather than fearing its inevitability, he shrugs with the knowledge that it was all part of the deal.  Old Ideas would be a dark and depressing album in anybody else's hands, but Cohen is too wry and to suave a lyricist and vocalist to let that happen.  Instead we have his deep, soft, weathered vocals gently talking us toward the end of the road.

4) El Perro Del Mar - Pale Fire

It's to talk about Sarah Assbring's new material without contrasting it with the older stuff.  She first fluttered into my radar with her sparse-sounding lo-fi acoustic albums.  Her sound has evolved over the years, and now with Pale Fire we have these sonically full and musically complex songs.  Assbring has retained some elements that permeate every El Perro Del Mar project.  She continues to expertly used lyrical repetition to her advantage, and her pixie voice has always been somewhat haunting.  But now instead of guitars she uses synthesizers and drum loops and other snazzy technological instruments to create this upbeat (well, upbeat for El Perro Del Mar) and funky (well, funky for El Perro Del Mar) album.

3) Converge - All We Love We Leave Behind

Hey you guys, Converge is still awesome!  And I hate to use the word "still" as if there were a period of time where Converge sucked, but since they only release albums every three years or so it is easy to let them slip from the forefront of our consciousness.  The first track is... different.  Coherent vocals?  Accessibility?  Face-smashingly awesome, of course, but is this the direction Converge is going?  Nope.  All We Love quickly shifts back into quick-draw frenzy-metal territory, and Jacob Bannon gets on with the business of shredding his vocals into gut-chewing oblivion.  If you've grown up with Converge this album will put a big fat smile on your bloody face.  And if this is your first time... well, you never forget your first time.

2) Damien Jurado - Maraqopa

Though Maraqopa is Jurado's eleventh(!) studio album, this is only the second time he has teamed up with producer Richard Swift.  Swift helps steer this album into jazzy ambient directions, and if you've listened to any of those other Jurado albums you know this is something new.  Jurado's music, based in folk, has traditionally been very straight-forward, but he pulls this off magnificently. Everything is still quite laid back with sad-ish lyrical overtones, but Swift has given these tracks a sort of spacey, almost surf-rock vibe to them.  I don't know if this is a direction Jurado will continue to explore, but for now I'm content to let these songs envelop me.  Recommended for sunset driving in the American southwest.

1) mewithoutyou - Ten Stories

I was tremendously disappointed with their last album.  The music of mewithoutyou had, until that album, carried very powerful weight, and I felt they had forgone that when they opted to go into new musical directions.  But now I am pleased to see the band is back to form, challenging us and rocking us right out.  And you would think a concept album centering around a 19th century traveling circus would seem kind of silly, but mewithoutyou uses this backdrop to explore the nature of man, what it means to be a part of creation, and the nature of our relationship with God.  It's heavy stuff, and Aaron Weiss's lyrics (delivered via talky-singing and talky-shouting) poetically lay it out in metaphorical stories.  Musically mewithoutyou is capable of rocking it HARD, but they hold back most of the time, and that puts greater emphasis on the times they do rock it HARD.  It's all very carefully crafted and all enjoyably brilliant and all unexpectedly enriching.  My favorite album of 2012, easy.

Top 45 Albums Of 2012: 10 - 6

Let it be known that I love the ladies.  Four of the next five entries feature women on vocals.  (Bob Dylan sneaks his way in there, as he is completely allowed to.)  Even the crassest female vocal has rounded edges, a feminine curvature about itself that penetrates the innermost parts of a male listener the way nothing else can.  And when a competent woman (that is, a woman who knows precisely, exactly, what she is doing) lends her voice to a properly accommodating piece of music the results can be soul-stirringly moving.

Here is half of my top 10 albums from 2012.  Everything beyond this point is highly HIGHLY recommended.

10) Poliça - Give You The Ghost

Poliça is a cool band to be aware of.  Though this is their debut full-length album, its music has been featured in various TV shows and the band itself has become something of a trendy indie darling.  You will understand why if you quit being so snooty about it and just listen.  Haunting echoey female vocals tremble over a subtly funky bed of post-disco bass and electronics.  Hypnotic as the music is, Poliça begs too much of your attention to be classified as chill.  Recommended for late night midtown driving.

9) Bob Dylan - Tempest

Bob Dylan is by this point a very old man.  And on Tempest he sounds every bit the however-many-hundreds-of-years-old man he is.  But though his voice has turned to dying gravel, Dylan the lyricist is wittier and sharper and feistier than ever, and Dylan the musician/songwriter is swaggier than ever.  Here he expertly dabbles in swampy Mississippi blues, bittersweet ballads, long stories and short stories, each song comprised of piss and vinegar.  This isn't the album one puts together during his final days.  Tempest is Bob Dylan, done Bob Dylan's way.

8) Sharon Van Etten - Tramp

Van Etten is a new discovery for me, and I wish I had been on board sooner because of all the things I am a sucker for, I am suckeriest for lady singer-songwriters.  As for Tramp, Van Etten all at once appears vulnerable and confident, peeling through her songs with a warbled voice that perfectly and unapologetically communicates how and what she's feeling.  Contributors to the album include members of The National (including Aaron Dressen, who also produced), Wye Oak, and Zach Condon of Beirut, so you know this album is folkishly indie-riffic!

7) Kathleen Edwards - Voyageur

My wife thinks I'm in love with Kathleen Edwards.  I'm not.  I'M NOT.  Just mildly obsessed with her.  If her songs sucked it wouldn't be that way.  If her tweets weren't grade-school hilarious (@kittythefool) it wouldn't be that way.  But regardless of what I think of Kathleen Edwards, Voyageur is another tremendous collection of music.  Produced by that guy from Bon Iver, Voyageur sonically sounds different than Edwards' previous releases but still retains that Tom Petty/Americana feel to it.  "Change the Sheets" would have been the summer song of 2012 had it not been released as a single in the middle of winter.  Elsewhere on the album Norah Jones makes an appearance as a background singer, so listen up for that I guess.

Also, don't watch the video to "Chameleon/Comedian" if you're eating.  You've been warned.

6) Susanne Sundfør - The Silicon Veil

I've casually followed Susanne Sundfør's career for the past few years.  She has that angelic Norwegian voice, and it was obvious early on that one day she was going to write the perfect set of songs and get the perfect producers to engineer the most perfect sounding songs that she could absolutely crush with her perfectly perfected vocals.  Well, this is it.  Here we are.  The Silicon Veil is a journey, and Sundfør floats you through it while a cloud of electro-classical music envelops you.  These songs are dramatic and cinematic and icy and celestial in that special Scandinavian way.  I don't know what's next for Susanne Sundfør, but The Silicon Veil will be dang hard to top.

Top 45 Albums Of 2012: 15 - 11

So it turns out I like duos.  Four of these next five groups are duos.  There is less interference with duos.  You get something close to the singular artistic vision with twice the musical talent.  Also there is something nice about the idea of hanging out with your bud and creating something awesome.

I also like how diverse these next five musicians are.  All over the map.  Different attitudes.  Different intents.  Different sounds.  All of them good in their own special (and sometimes disturbed) way.

Hey, a top ten is on the brink.  And it's only March of the following year!

15) Cat Power - Sun

I don't know where Sun fits on Chan Marshall's career arc.  Before this album her sound had evolved from moody alternative girl folk rock whateverness to bluesy loungy mellow goodness.  And now we have this.  Sun is still mellow, less croony, and bits of her old alternative rock self poke through.  It would almost seem more of a musical regression rather than evolution, but she has delivered these new tunes upon a soft inviting bed of electronics.  It is understated -- this isn't an electro album by any means -- but it adds a whole new dimension to Cat Power.

14) Crystal Castles - III

You basically know what you're going to get with Crystal Castles.  It will be shrill and glitchy, a pulsating wall of calculated chaos.  Each of their full-length albums have been better than the one before, not so much by leaps and bounds, but in the subtle way a craftsman steadily improves their craft.  Through the screeching you can hear the growing maturity of their sound.  Their songs are sounding less like hiccups and more like conversations.  Granted, those conversations are taking place inside of a shattered disco ball asylum, but on III the connections between artist and listener are more realized than ever.

13) Beach House - Bloom

Like Crystal Castles, Beach House is a one-guy/one-girl duo.  Like Crystal Castles, Beach House has steadily matured with each album while maintaining musical consistency.  Unlike Crystal Castles, everything else. Beach House's music is so blissful and ethereal, every song is like a dream.  With Bloom the dreams are more focused and clear, though no less beautiful.  Rather than haunting us like in albums past, these songs take us by the hand and lead us to... I don't know, some place bright and far and catchy.

12) Exitmusic - Passage

As far as debut albums go this is tremendous.  These songs soar and dip and leave you trembling.  Another guy/girl duo (I love guy/girl duos), you might actually recognize Aleska Palladino from all those TV and movie appearances she's made.  But here, teamed up with her husband and music buddy Devon Church to create music straight out of the exploding heavens, she is 100% brilliant songstress. 

11) Xiu Xiu - Always

Jaime Stewart's music has always been visceral and personal, raw and sans filter.  Listening to Xiu Xiu is like taking your personal demons on a carousel ride.  These songs can be difficult, they can be unnerving, but there isn't anything else like it.  Through the frantic vocals and unpredictable turns of music Stewart lays himself open and lets you inside his manic head.  He's been doing this for years and Always shows just how good he's gotten at showcasing himself as the guy you're too afraid to befriend, too afraid because of what he will inevitably show you about yourself.

Top 45 Albums Of 2012: 20 - 16

Crackin' the twenty.  After this I only liked fifteen more albums from last year (but I liked them incrementally better).  This portion of the list contains a lot of mellow, except for the Casket Lottery who louden it all up.  There are also a few albums that signal triumphant returns for old friends who fell off the grid for a while.  Musical prodigal sons are the best kinds of prodigal sons.

20) Bowerbirds - The Clearing

I may soon burn out on indie folk rock, but Bowerbirds broaches the genre so directly that they avoid sounding like everybody else even if there isn't anything radically different about their music.  That's the power of good songwriting.  The Clearing has that woodsy feel to it and the lyrics are full of nature imagery.  This is an album for sunsets on the trail, introspective and safely wandering (and wondering).

19) Beachwood Sparks - The Tarnished Gold

Years ago my wife tried to tell me how awesome Beachwood Sparks was.  She said they're a band I would really like, but I ignored her because I'm a fool.  Then they dropped off the map and never crossed my mind again.  Until now.  In June the band released their first full-length album, The Tarnished Gold, in eleven years.  I decided to give it a spin because, hey, weren't these the guys my wife tried to tell me about a long time ago?  I will never doubt my woman again.  Mellowfied west-coast alt-country goodness right here.  You can hear the influences, from Gram Parsons to Jackson Browne to Uncle Tupelo, and it melds together warmly and wonderfully.

18) The Casket Lottery - Real Fear

The most pleasant surprise of the past year was the release of a new Casket Lottery album.  The band broke up (or went on hiatus or whatever) back in 2006, its members wandering off to concentrate on other projects.  But, unbeknownst to myself, they got back together in 2011 and set to work recording a fiery set of songs fit for an uprising.  Real Fear is The Casket Lottery taking a mature step forward, focusing on uniting melody and atmosphere.  What we get is something a little more sonic but no less devastating.

17) Beth Orton - Sugaring Season

You know who else we haven't seen in a while?  Beth Orton, who hadn't released anything since '06.  There were good reasons for this, but it is great to have her back.  In fact this could be my new favorite Orton album.  Sugaring Season is sultry, serious without being depressing, quiet but not hushed.  Croony, but too rich for lounge.  One song is a William Blake poem.  Another was co-written with a member of the Chemical Brothers.  And somehow it is all distinctly Beth Orton, and it all cohesively fits the album.

16) Stars - The North

The North is so ear-friendly, so easy to get along with.  This album is comparable to middle-era Death Cab (you know, before Ben Gibbard became a little too bothersome), though Stars focuses more on gentle catchy hooks and sounding nice.  There are synthesizers and hints of 80s, but these things give the music a fuller sonic feel as opposed to directing the music into fashionably retro directions.  Of all the bands who employ turn-taking male and female vocalists, Stars is the only one where I find the dude and girl equally listenable.  Great album from a great band.  Also, Canada.

Top 45 Albums Of 2012: 25 - 21

I don't know about you but I've already had a year's worth of crazy stuff happen, and we're only just breaking into February.  I'd like to say that music helped me through the tough times, but honestly things were so manic I didn't have time to listen to anything at all.  Maybe some radio tunes while driving around, but it was background noise.  Nothing to explore.  Nothing mind-blowingly new and awesome.

But I'm floating back to earth now, and music IS helping with that.  Lots of oldies, the good stuff from the 1950s and 60s.  I've listened to that all my life, and it keeps me connected somehow.  I don't know... I'm less interested in why that kind of music effects me the way it does and more interested in letting it work it's golden magic.

And I'm also coming back to my favorite songs from 2012.  These albums will certainly have very specific memories attached to them, and maybe in some years I'll look back at them with bittersweet fondness.  But for now they're my soundtrack, and this movie ain't over yet.

25) Titus Andronicus - Local Business

 

Titus Andronicus is not at all interested in nonsense, no matter the album.  "Here's a big juicy plate of meat and potatoes," each song says.  "It's five minutes long and you must eat it all right now."  And then the song ends, and another starts, and the force-feeding begins again.  It's all quite wonderful.  Though not quite as ambitious as The Monitor (which was a punk rock 'n' roll ode to the American Civil War, so really, what could possibly top that?), Local Business is still a great album full of east coast swag and knowing nods to old-school punk.

24) Two Gallants - The Bloom And The Blight

 

I like rock 'n' roll duos.  Two performers doing all the instrumentation, keeping it stripped and real.  Two Gallants, comprised of a pair of San Franciscans with musical chops, shred it on The Bloom And The Blight.  Blistering passionate vocals, tumbling drums, the crunchy guitar, all awesome when things get revvin'.  But hold up, aren't these guys folkish?  They sure are, and when they bust out the acoustic and the harmonica and the tambourine you get the best rootsy folk-rock this side of Bringing It All Back Home.  But really it's about those loud songs.  Crank it.

23) Chris Staples - American Soft

 

Probably the most apt album title on this whole list, the songs of American Soft are gentle introspective little ditties.  They are very straightforward and it's easy to overlook the intelligence of Staples' lyrics.  In fact everything is so low-key it's nearly so easy to overlook entire songs.  But Staples has a knack for hooks and something on this album will make a cozy little home in your brain, a welcomed guest you're not so anxious to shake out.

22) DIIV - Oshin

 

Oshin is the first full-length release from DIIV (pronounced "dive" I think, as the band used to be called Dive).  It is dense and hazy yet upbeat and rhythmic, the soundtrack to a brooding, busy apocalypse.  The vocals are sparse, and even when they are present they are sunk so far back into the music that the lyrics are not easily discernible.  I'm okay with that.  Vocals here work like instruments contributing to the atmosphere and FEEL of the music.  And there is indeed a lot of atmosphere and FEELIES fogging up those sound waves.  Oshin is good for a sundown drive or background filler for 2 a.m. music blog writing.

21) The Mynabirds - Generals 

 

I don't know much else about The Mynabirds short of what I just looked up on Wikipedia.  The band is signed to Saddle Creek Records and have released two full-length albums.  Generals, album number two, is a triumphant and moving little collection of songs.  Think a relaxed Florence + The Machine.  Think twee pop too serious to be twee pop.  And oh man, did somebody sneak synthesizers in there?  And oh man, did somebody sneak Richard Swift in there?  Double yeses.  Also, mastered by TW Walsh.  More icing on the cake.

Top 40 Albums Of 2012: 30 - 26

Hope you had a merry Christmas, y'all.  Hope you got all that cool crap you wanted.  More importantly, I hope you were able to spend good time with those people you love.

As this list approaches #1 (and one day it eventually will) I'm having a tougher time organizing these albums.  They're ALL good, almost interchangeably so.  So really, no matter what ends up in the top five or top ten or top thirty, everything is worth listening to.  Promise.

In this set of five: Old-school hip-hop.  Underground hip-hop.  Indie rock.  Finns.


30) Aesop Rock - Skelethon

I like Aesop Rock, but I have a hard time deciphering what Ian Bavitz is saying.  That's not necessarily a bad thing as words and word usages play a large part of Aesop Rock's music, and the poetry here is often just too rich for my comprehension.  Nonetheless, comprehensive or not, exquisite lyrical images are painted and set to sweet no-nonsense beats.  Rob Sonic and Kimya Dawson, who are pretty much on opposite ends of the musical spectrum, make contributions.

29) Pinback - Information Retrieved

The great thing about Pinback is how consistent they are.  Newer Pinback sounds a lot like older pinback, and older Pinback is awesome.  Newer Pinback is awesome.  It's all awesome.  And even though they hadn't released a full-length album in five years, Information Retrieved continues right along, dishin' out those mellowfied jams.

28) Grizzly Bear - Shields

I really liked Yellow House, which came out back in 2006, but for whatever reason I skipped out on 2009's Veckatimest.  So Shields, for me anyway, is like a grand reuniting.  And I was pleasantly surprised to see how they've changed over the years.  While the instrumentation is still breathy and ethereal, Shields is considerably more focused.  There are a lot of words (whereas on Yellow House there were hardly any), and the music itself doesn't meander so much.  This makes Grizzly Bear quite a bit more accessible and, honestly, more rocktastic.  I like it.

27) Burning Hearts - Extinctions

Finnish indie-rock!  Burning Hearts is all those things I can't help but like: hushed lady vocals, Scandinavian  accents, SYNTHS, some atmosphere, good hooks.  There's some New Wave in there that gives the whole thing a subtle '80s vibe, hints of classic rock to give it a subtler '70s vibe, enough jangle to squeak in vague '60s and '90s vibes.  Extinctions is music for all time!  Little bit haunting, quite a bit catchy, completely excellent. 

26) Public Enemy - Most Of My Heroes Still Don't Appear On No Stamp

Public Enemy released two albums in 2012.  Most Of My Heroes is the one that I had a chance to listen to.  Sorry, other album.  Anyway even though Public Enemy has been fairly consistent about releasing an album every few years, every time they do it's considered a comeback.  I call this the Weird Al Syndrome.  But don't call it a comeback.  Public Enemy is just as relevant and unabashedly direct and BEAT-tastic as ever.  Chuck D still spits his intimidatingly confident message, and Flava Flav is still the group's exclamation point.  And, above all, Most Of My Heroes is GOOD.  This record JAMS.  Dig it.

Top 45 Albums Of 2012: 35 - 31

If the end of the world is eminent I'm sorry for having wasted your time.  If it is December 22nd or beyond (meaning, congratulations! you survived), I'm only slightly less sorry for having wasted your time.  But either way, decent tunes do make the day go by so much better.  So whether you're dodging asteroids, hopping over newly-opened bottomless chasms, surfing the lava flows, or getting yanked out of your clothes by a good ol'-fashioned rapture, I hope you've enjoyed your past-year's soundtrack as much as I enjoyed mine.

I count two Canadian bands in this five.  Northern saturation is nearing completion.  Perhaps the end IS near.

35) Project 86 - Wait For The Siren

Man, I like this one.  I initially gave Siren a courtesy listen just to see what Project 86 was up to.  I hadn't bothered with them in I-don't-know-how-many years, so this was like getting back in touch with an old friend.  Dude, my old friend is still awesome!  This album jumps with energy and big anthemic choruses.  And checking the credits, the personnel here is excellent.  There's frontman Andrew Schwab of course, but check out Rocky Gray on drums!  How did he get here?  And the second track features devastating guest vocals from Bruce Fitzhugh.  That alone is worth the price of admission.

34) Deerhoof - Breakup Song

YEP, DEERHOOF IS STILL WEIRD AND QUIRKY.  And if you know what to expect when you're expecting Deerhoof, then you'll find Breakup Song is full of those songs that you've been expecting.  And they're as glitch-tastic as ever.  When comparing this album to previous ones I can't say Deerhoof brings too many new things to the table, but since they're in their own bizarre world anyway everything still stands out as bizarre genius.  Amidst the bloops and the bleeps are these fantastic moments of musical clarity.  And Satomi Matsuzaki's perfectly imperfect vocal delivery is... perfect.  There are so many endearing things about Deerhoof that when they release just another album it's still something special.

33) Metric - Synthetica

Over the years Metric has developed their own specific and easily identifiable musical formula and, wisely, they've stuck to it for Synthetica.  Like that upbeat catchy synthish rock-'n'-roll that was absolutely made to be accompanied by Emily Haines' no-frills vocals?  Good, here's more!  Synthetica is a good starter album for anybody trying out Metric for the first time.  At this point in the band's career they've got their sound down to a science.  All of the songs here are instantly accessible, even that track near the end that features Lou Reed.

32) ... And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - Lost Songs

Trail of Dead is still making music and I bet you didn't even know.  I like Lost Songs.  It's rawer and angrier and more direct than their past few albums, and a band like Trail of Dead really thrives on aggression.  Lyrically, according to Wikipedia, this album is a response to the indie scene ignoring important world events like wars and social injustices and all that other stuff that rightfully should evoke responses from a creative community.  Anybody craving a political Trail of Dead album, well, here you are.  But lyrics are pointless if the tracks don't jam, and Lost Songs will rock you right out.

31) The Luyas - Animator

Animator is a cool little mellowful thing.  Haunting, but not in a creepy sort of way.  Lush, but not in a pretentious sort of way.  Call it astral twee.  And because I'm a sucker for airy lady vocals this is right up my bowling alley.  Despite the light and fluffy nature of the music, upon repeat listens I'm struck at how solid these songs are.  There is nothing passive or cute or shy going on here.  It's just good celestial indie-pop dripping its chill all over you.

 

Top 45 Albums Of 2012: 40 - 36

First of all let me explain how I write.  I have a full-time job that's just mundane enough for me to mentally work out the things I want to blog about.  I type out some vague notions in my mind, then I come home and spit it out here where I can shape it into something more coherent.

Those awful events in Connecticut occurred less than twenty-four hours ago.  I read about it, followed the news for a bit, then went to work.  And at work I couldn't stop thinking about the children.  I couldn't stop.  I have a child.  I have another one on the way.  They are the most valuable things I have.  They are more valuable than myself.  I would give everything.  And I was thinking of my children and those children and the frustrating senselessness of it all.  I didn't want to think about big stupid Flo Rida or my dumb inconsequential list of other people's music.

But music is therapeutic, and music is comforting, and music is an outlet and a channel.  Writing is also all of these things.  And I know I'm not writing "War And Peace" here, but I've got feelings, and they've got to go somewhere constructive, even if it's towards a project that is merely, ultimately, a fun little distraction.

So while I am still deeply troubled at what happened, more troubled than I've ever been at anything, I do feel better.  Not happy -- I don't feel like I have that right yet -- but, yes, better.

In a surprising turn, it is Flo Rida who gives us the most appropriate lyrics for this situation.  We are all, one way or another, human beings on complicated journeys.  Life is a tumultuous, precious, REAL thing.  I gave my daughter extra hugs before I left for work.  I'll give her some more when we wake up in the morning.

Here are some songs I like.  They helped me a little bit.  I hope they can help you too.  If not, that's okay.  I hope your own jams help you through in your own way.


40) Flo Rida - Wild Ones

So... Flo Rida.  I know.  I KNOW.  Shut up.  First of all, "Good Feeling," despite being overplayed and appearing in every TV commercial and promo, is pretty much a perfect song.  It could be the power of Etta James, but Flo Rida appropriates her into his own jam flawlessly.  Secondly, I like Flo Rida's flow.  He bounces those rhymes so smoothly, yet so rhythmically.  And he spits those words faster than I can mentally process them.  I don't know what he's saying because I can't think that fast.  Thirdly, whistling.  And fourthly, and most importantly, Wild Ones is not a boring album.  These are perfectly crafted pop songs, and they don't screw around.  They have one purpose, and that's to get your head a-bobbin'. 

39) David Byrne & St. Vincent - Love This Giant

Man, this is an odd collaboration, and it is sorta supposed to be.  Odd, but at the same time it makes a little bit of sense, and it's sorta supposed to be that way too.  I don't know.  Love This Giant is full of these serendipitous contradictions.  This could be a David Byrne album as much as it could be a St. Vincent album, but somehow this doesn't sound at all like a David Byrne or St. Vincent album.  Are you confused?  GOOD, because even though these songs are weird, they are still completely accessible.  And even though you'll be scratching your head, you'll also be groovin' your sweet groove-maker.

38) Bloc Party - Four

The Party is back!  And they're getting back to their raw roots.  Angular guitars!  Intensity!  Rock 'n' Roll!  This -- this -- is the band we used to love, and they've dropped whatever fluff they've accumulated over the years.  Kele Okereke still remains one of my favorite vocalists and here he delivers the goods.  Four is right in your face and would make a great soundtrack to an urban English heist film.  I would totally watch that film.

"Coliseum"

37) Ellie Goulding - Halcyon

Ellie Goulding may not have the big voice, but she knows how to make big songs.  She still has a tremendous vocal range, but rather than belting it out from her gut, she measures her voice out just so, using it to dot the i's, cross the t's, and accent the ñ's.  It's angelic.  These songs are angelic.  And these angelically voiced angelic songs, they're about love and broken love and vague poetic interpretations of personal things, and they soar and they fall and they hush themselves to silence and then they soar straight up again.

36) Rosie Thomas - With Love

It always takes me a couple tries to connect with Rosie's albums.  The first time around I'm always a little bored, but it's because I'm not really paying attention.  I'm tryin' on the pants but I'm not zippin' up the zipper.  But all at once I'll find I'm listening -- like, really listening, like I'm in a good conversation.  And she'll say something that resonates with me, and I'll nod my head because I'll understand what she's trying to say, and I'll nod my head because this is also music.  And she has the most beautiful voice in the history of music, and somehow it's both fragile and bold, and I have to be careful which songs I listen to because I get right devastated.  Anyway, With Love is disarmingly sweet and honest and soft.  Listen closely for Sam Beam, extra closely for David Bazan, and probably Sufjan Stevens too because he's always somewhere in these things.

Top 45 Albums Of 2012: 45 - 41

It's big end-of-the-year list time!  Time to categorize all those favorite things that defined this past year.  And while we'll forget everything about 2012 by April of 2013, we can still take time to recall the past twelve months before our abysmal short-term memory wipes everything clean.

Musically 2012 will be remembered as the year of the old friends, at least in my mind.  We saw new releases by No Doubt, Garbage, Soundgarden, and many more.  Most of that stuff I never bothered with.  I try to leave my fond '90s memories untainted.  But memories from the 2000s?  Fair game.  Check out who all came back from hiatuses, broken-upness, and generally long pauses.  Pinback!  The Casket Lottery!!  Project 86??  And more!

So what follows for the next few weeks/months are the albums I liked.  Old friends, new friends, guilty pleasures, etc.  I tried to rank them, but I have such a hard time picking favorites and my opinion will change shortly anyway.  BUT FOR NOW this is a temporarily definitive list of my top albums from 2012.

Like I mentioned before, I didn't listen to everything.  There's a lot of good stuff I completely ignored for one reason or another.  But of the things that slid across my radar, here are the ones that rubbed me the right way and struck those special chords that hold my guts together.  Hopefully there are some nice things here you'll like as well.

Let's do this.

45) Further Seems Forever - Penny Black

It's hard not to compare Penny Black to The Moon Is Down.  We associate a band so closely with its lead singer that when that particular lead singer leaves for a decade (maybe to pursue his own whiny solo career) and then comes back, we expect the band to sound like they did a dozen years ago.  But no, these band members have been busy maturing as musicians and human beings, and when they decide to get back together and do something productive they're not going to spit out another The Moon Is Down.  They couldn't if they tried, so they didn't.  And I like these new songs, really!  But I'm trying not to admit to myself that it means something when my summary of an album is only a defense of it that pays more attention to previous works.  GUH.

Anyway, Chris Carrabba is still a hottie.

44) Eternal Summers - Correct Behavior

Honestly I don't know much about Eternal Summers.  Sorry.  But I know the band is from Roanoke, and I kinda like Virginia.  And I know I dig the lead-lady's vocal style (direct, but not TOO direct, and pretty, but not TOO pretty).  And I know I dig the music itself (teetering between post-punk and shoegaze, both of which I'm suckers for, especially if it's female-fronted).  So Correct Behavior, it's full of all this stuff.  I'd recommend this if you're running out of ideas for super-hip party background music.

43) Tilly and the Wall - Heavy Mood

It's been four years since their last album, so it's about dang time.  Tilly and the Wall have foregone the tapdance-as-percussion schtick and have really matured as songwriters and musicians.  You'd imagine that would translate to something more maudlin, but there are some triumphant and anthemic moments on this album.  Sometimes it's okay to be less cutesy and more serious, especially where rock 'n' roll is concerned.

42) Dunes - Noctiluca

Noctiluca is cooool.  Casual female vocals, airy guitars, muffled drumming, just-right distortion.  It all comes together nicely and mellowly.  And while listening you'll get the feeling that they're capable of completely shredding, like they're just on the brink.  But this is a measured collection of songs, and the attitude and atmosphere is perfectly sustained from beginning to end.  You'll like Noctiluca is consistency is your thing.  This is the Dune's first album, so the future looks bright.  But probably they'll break-up right away because all good bands die too soon.

41) Godspeed You! Black Emperor - 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!

Man, where have these guys been for the past decade?  You can't just put ten years between full-length albums.  Well, maybe you can as long as the new stuff is as ambitious and lush and majestic and PARANOID as the old favorites.  And this time around it is.  If you're planning on tackling 'Allelujah you'll have to make an effort.  Two of the album's four instrumental tracks are twenty minutes long, and breaking this thing down into bite-sized chunks would be like watching "The Godfather" in ten-minute YouTube increments.  So take an hour-long drive by yourself and let Godspeed provide the soundtrack.  The music is very cinematic and you'll feel like something serious is happening, and maybe you'll even have a nice panic attack.

"Mladic"