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musicforants.com's Best Albums of 2012

We’re quickly approaching the end of 2012 and/or the world depending on your interpretation of Mayan prophecy, and that can only mean it’s time to reflect on the best albums of the year. For me, one record stood head and shoulders above the rest in 2012, so album of the year was an easy decision, but there was much deliberation for the other 24 positions (plus, honorable mentions). This was one of the most diverse years of music in recent memory, with pop, guitar-oriented rock, folk music, indie-pop and electronica all being represented just about equally. It was also a year where lots of debut albums and new favorites dominated my listening, with 3/5 of the artists making their first appearance on one of my year-end album lists.

I want to thank you guys for continuing to read and support this blog. Next year, musicforants.com will be making some changes / transitions. I’m dedicated to continue sharing my music recommendations, mixes, lists, musings and whatever else, but for a variety of reasons, that won’t look the same in 2013 as it does now (stay tuned for more info on that). As always, feel free to leave a comment if you like what you see on this list and let me know if you have any of your own favorite albums to add. Have a wonderful holidays!

25. Father John Misty – Fear Fun

MP3 Nancy From Now On
MP3 Hollywood Forever Cemetary Sings

24. Hospitality – Hospitality

MP3 Eighth Avenue
MP3 Friends of Friends

23. Dirty Projectors – Swing Lo Magellan

MP3 Gun Has No Trigger
MP3 About To Die

22. Allo, Darlin’ – Europe

MP3 Capricornia
MP3 Tallulah

21. Jessie Ware – Devotion

MP3 Wildest Moments

20. Bowerbirds – The Clearing

MP3 Tuck The Darkness In
MP3 In The Yard

19. Cloud Nothings – Attack On Memory

MP3 Stay Useless
MP3 Wasted Days

18. First Aid Kit – The Lion’s Roar

MP3 Emmylou
MP3 King of the World

17. Bat For Lashes – The Haunted Man

MP3 Laura

16. Titus Andronicus – Local Business

MP3 Still Life With Hot Deuce On A Silver Platter
MP3 In A Big City

15. Shearwater – Animal Joy

MP3 You As You Were
MP3 Breaking The Yearlings

14. Lord Huron – Lonesome Dreams

MP3 Time To Run
MP3 Brother

13. DIIV – Oshin

MP3 How Long Have You Known

12. The Mountain Goats – Transcendental Youth

MP3 Cry For Judas
MP3 Harlem Roulette

11. Sigur Rós – Valatari

MP3 Ekki múkk

10. Twin Shadow – Confess

MP3 Five Seconds
MP3 When The Movie’s Over

9. Hot Chip – In Our Heads

MP3 Don’t Deny Your Heart
MP3 Flutes

8. Andrew Bird – Break It Yourself

MP3 Eyeoneye
MP3 Danse Carribe

7. Spiritualized – Sweet Heart, Sweet Light

MP3 Hey Jane

6. Japandroids – Celebration Rock

MP3 The House That Heaven Built
MP3 Younger Us

5. Jens Lekman – I Know What Love Isn’t

MP3 I Know What Love Isn’t
MP3 The End Of The World Is Bigger Than Love

4. Chromatics – Kill For Love

MP3 Kill For Love
MP3 Lady

3. Beach House – Bloom

MP3 Myth
MP3 Lazuli

2. Grizzly Bear – Shields

MP3 Speak In Rounds
MP3 Yet Again

1. Frank Ocean – channel ORANGE

MP3 Pyramids
MP3 Thinking About You

Honorable Mentions:

Moonface – with Siinai: Heartbreaking Bravery
Grimes – Visions
The Tallest Man On Earth – There’s No Leaving Now
Tame Impala – Lonerism
Chairlift – Something
Kindness – World, You Need A Change Of Mind
Alabama Shakes – Boys & Girls
Porcelain Raft – Strange Weekend

Spotify Playlist: musicforants.com’s Best Albums of 2012

Thanks again to everyone for reading! Stay tuned…

musicforants.com's Best Songs of 2012

(photo by cubagallery)

These are 50 tracks that delighted, inspired and fascinated us in 2012 and that we think are worthy of remembering long after the year is over. We present them here in highly unscientific ordered list form, with Matt’s songs marked with a “-MG” and my choices with a “-TJ” next to them. To better spread the love, we’ve stuck with the one song per artist rule. Click here to download all the tracks in a zip and subscribe to our Spotify Playlist to stream them all. Enjoy y’all!

50. Porcelain Raft – Unless You Speak From Your Heart MP3

Porcelain Raft’s Strange Weekend is one of my favorite debut albums of the year, and this swelling synth-pop anthem is the shining moment. -TJ

49. Sharon Van Etten – Give Out MP3

“Give Out” is Sharon Van Etten exploring the tension of exciting possibilities that she knows will inevitably lead to resentment. It exists in this weird space of breakups that haven’t actually happened yet. -MG

48. Moonface – Teary Eyes and Bloody Lips MP3

One of our generations’s most gifted songwriters delivers this soaring new-wave guitar anthem that sits as one of the best (and most explosive) tracks in Spencer Krug’s extensive catalog. -TJ

47. The xx – Chained [stream]

Even if “Chained” wasn’t really indicative of the rest of The xx’s new album, it proved that their first round wasn’t a fluke. They sound even more sure of themselves here, stripping away their sound until we’re left with something simple and pure. -MG

46. Hundred Waters – Me & Anodyne MP3

Hundred Waters have proved to be one of the most promising new bands of the year with tracks like this otherworldly gem, filled with layers of vocals, synth textures and bubbling electronica. -TJ

45. Dirty Projectors – About To Die MP3

The best part of any Dirty Projectors song is trying to figure out why they put these particular sounds together, and “About to Die” provides plenty of puzzlers. It’s simultaneously weird and accessible, a combination few pull off as well. -MG

44. Bobby Womack – Please Forgive My Heart MP3

Soul legend Bobby Womack delivers a passionate, heartfelt vocal performance in this electro-soul confessional produced with gorgeous sonic flourishes by Damon Albarn. -TJ

43. Nite Jewel – One Second Of Love MP3

“One Second of Love” sounds homemade, but not lo-fi. It’s intimate, but still gives off the vibe that it could pour out of speakers if it needed to. -MG

42. Eternal Summers – Millions MP3

The Virginian indie pop duo, Eternal Summers captivate with this dreamy, sunkissed power-pop tune that captures the very essence of summer in a brisk 2 minutes and thirty seconds. -TJ

41. Death Grips – I’ve Seen Footage MP3

“I’ve Seen Footage” was Death Grips’ shot across the bow of 2012, and by the end of the year the band had courted more than their share of controversy. It’s a reminder of a simpler time, when they were just assaulting eardrums instead of offending eyeballs. -MG

Follow the jump below to see the rest of the list!

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Favorite Live Shows of 2012

As a result of certain life events due to transpire next year, I may not be going to concerts / festivals at the same rate I used to, so it’s a good thing that I went all out this year. This was my first year I went to Bonnaroo in addition to my usual Pitchfork Fest / Pygmalion coverage, and I got to see some of all-time favorite, bucket list artists for the first time like New Order, Jeff Mangum and the Beach Boys. Below are my 20 favorite live shows of the year. You can visit the musicforants.com flickr page to view all my concert pictures.

20. Santigold @ Bonnaroo (Manchester, TN)

MP3 Santigold – Lights Out

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19. Wild Flag @ Pitchfork Festival (Chicago)

MP3 Wild Flag – Romance

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18. The Head and the Heart @ Canopy Club (Urbana)

MP3 The Head and the Heart – Sounds Like Hallelujah

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17. Alabama Shakes @ Bonnaroo (Manchester, TN)

MP3 Alabama Shakes – Hold On

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16. Lord Huron @ Pygmalion Festival (Champaign/Urbana)

MP3 Lord Huron – The Stranger

Continue reading “Favorite Live Shows of 2012” →

seenyourvideo.com's Top 50 Music Videos of 2012

We’ve come to the end of year one of our music video blog, Seen Your Video, and there’s been an explosion of talent in music videos in 2012. Unlike some years that have been dominated by an elite group of ultra-talented directors, this year saw an extremely diverse collection of new talent taking center stage. Among the up-and-coming directors that impressed me this year are Emily Kai Bock, who’s received much acclaim for her aesthetically cutting-edge work and Ninian Doff, who’s incredibly inventive concept videos have wowed me again and again. It was also a great year for Yoann Lemoine who continued his visually spectacular videos (and is quickly breaking into the mainstream), DANIELS who are still the most exciting and groundbreaking directing team out there, and enduring oddball favorite, Andreas Nilsson who can pretty much do no wrong in my book.

The following is my list of the top 50 music videos of the year and I’ll note that it was both difficult to narrow this list down and also come up with any type of sensible ranking for the excellent selections, so consider the order to be about about 80% arbitrary. The best music videos this year encompassed the entire spectrum, with remarkably inventive concepts, biting social and political commentary, beautiful visual pieces, breathtaking animation, and dramatic, poignant storytelling all factoring heavily into the year’s best. These are the music videos from 2012 that I felt pushed the envelope of the medium and are worth your valuable time to watch and rewatch. The first 10 videos are embedded below, and hit the continue reading link below to go to seenyourvideo.com for the rest of the list. If you have any favorites that you think I missed, feel free to leave them in the comments. Enjoy!

50. St. Vincent “Cheerleader” (dir. Hiro Murai)

MP3 St. Vincent – Cheerleader

49. Mint Julep “To The Sea” (dir. a nice idea every day)

48. Hilary Hahn and Hauschka “Draw a Map” (dir. Eric Epstein)

47. Of Monsters and Men “Little Talks” (dir. WeWereMonkeys)

MP3 Of Monsters and Men – Little Talks

46. tUnE-yArDs “My Country” (dir. Mimi Cave)

MP3 tUnE-yArDs – My Country

45. Flying Lotus “Tiny Tortures” (dir. David Lewandowski)

44. Delta Heavy “Get By” (dir. Ian Robertson)

43. Grimes “Oblivion” (dir. Emily Kai Bock)

MP3 Grimes – Oblivion

42. JUSTICE “New Lands” (dir. CANADA)

MP3 Justice – Newlands

41. Danny Brown “Grown Up” (dir. Greg Brunkalla)

MP3 Danny Brown – Grown Up

Continue reading at Seen Your Video »

Cover: Chromatics – "Ceremony" (New Order)

I’ve been in blog hibernation the last couple weeks (I’ll use the excuse that I’ve been working on year-end lists) but I’ve been snapped out by Chromatics‘ gorgeous cover of New Order‘s “Ceremony”, from Johnny Jewel’s Black & White mix.

Chromatics and New Order are a perfect match given both their affections for dreamy synth-pop with big hooks, and the Portland trio truly does the classic track justice, swapping out the original’s throbbing bassline and driving drumbeat with sweeping synths and minimalistic percussion, putting the focus on Ruth’s ethereal vocals and that iconic guitar line.

MP3 Chromatics – Ceremony (New Order Cover)

Listen to Johnny Jewel’s Black & White mix on Soundcloud.

Commercial Watch: Best Coast, Passion Pit, Perfume Genius, Santigold, Das Racist + more

Today is Black Friday, the holiest of holy days for mindless consumerism, so what better time for another edition of Commercial Watch! Like always, I’m featuring all the latest hip, indie tracks that advertisers are using in their never-ending pursuit to get people to buy more stuff. Since the last edition I’ve found twenty more commercials you can watch below with MP3s / streams of the songs included. Make sure to click the continue reading link to see them all!

Windows 8: Best Coast

MP3 Best Coast – The Only Place

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Honda Accord – We Know You

MP3 Perfume Genius – Dark Parts

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Taco Bell: Doritos Locos

MP3 Passion Pit – Take A Walk

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Kmart: Layaway Giveaway Gasp

Girl by Das Racist

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Acura: The Innovative Acura ILX Car Installation

MP3 Metric – Help I’m Alive

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Continue reading “Commercial Watch: Best Coast, Passion Pit, Perfume Genius, Santigold, Das Racist + more” →

My thoughts on Sufjan Stevens "Silver & Gold" Xmas EPs

As someone who unapologetically enjoys Christmas music (both religious and secular) and is a huge fan of Sufjan Stevens, I take his Christmas albums very seriously (I’ll point out that my second post on this blog was about Sufjan’s Christmas EPs). Every year around the holidays, I look forward to bringing out Songs For Christmas, so I’m thrilled to have five more volumes of music to play with today’s release of Silver & Gold.

With Sufjan Stevens’ evolving music sensibilities, this is clearly a much different collection than Songs for Christmas, but (for the most part) it’s consistently excellent, delivering many songs that stand with his finest work. So here’s my unfiltered thoughts on Volumes 6-10 of Sufjan’s Holiday EPs with one recommended MP3 from each EP available for download.

Vol. 6 – Gloria!

Gloria! is a collaboration with The National‘s Aaron and Bryce Dressner and Richard Reed Parry of Arcade Fire, and much of it was recorded in attic in Aaron’s Brooklyn home which gives it a quaint, community atmosphere. It’s certainly as traditionally folky as any of Sufjan’s music, and with the Dressner’s contributions, it features some gorgeous guitarwork. The highlight is the second track which is really two songs, the upbeat, fiddle-happy “Lumberjack Christmas” and the lovely, introspective “No One Can Save You From Christmases Past”. The EP ends with a wonderful banjo sing-a-long to “Auld Lang Syne” which features a singing saw solo.

MP3 Lumberjack Christmas / No One Can Save You From Christmases Past

Vol. 7. – I Am Santa’s Helper!

This is by far the oddest entry into Sufjan’s Christmas albums, sounding more like his unpolished early album A Sun Came than anything he’s released in the last five years. It features 23 mostly original tracks, most of them less than 90 seconds in length and vary between solemn hymn-like tunes and ramshackle electric guitar one-takes like “Ding-A-Ling-A-Ring-A-Ling” and “Mr Frosty Man”. Overall it’s kind of a mess, but there’s a few keepers from it, notably “I Am Santa’s Helper” which samples part of “Majesty Snowbird” and “Christmas Woman”, a cheerful, bouncy tune that wouldn’t sound out of place on one of the earlier Christmas EPs.

MP3 I Am Santa’s Helper

Vol. 8 – Infinity Voyage

This album is Sufjan in full-on Age of Adz mode, which is a great thing if you love that album as much as most sensible people. Infinity Voyage was available on the internet previously but the songs have all been rearranged and rerecorded for this boxset, definitely a huge improvement. This volume is full of highlights from the majestic version of “Angels We Have Heard On High”, to the gorgeous original song “Christmas In The Room”, a funky cover of Prince’s “Alphabet St.” and an an amazing rendition of “Joy To The World” that includes part of “Impossible Soul”. The EP concludes with Sufjan at his most experimental, with the 15-minute “Child With The Star On His Head”.

MP3 Joy To The World

Vol. 9 – Let It Snow!

This volume seems to be one where Sufjan decided to record a bunch of classic secular Christmas tunes such as “I’ll Be Home For Christmas”, “Let It Snow”, “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”, “Sleigh Ride” and “Holly Jolly Christmas” (if you’re anti-religious songs this may be the EP for you) and they’re all predictably solid renditions. There’s also a few original tracks, two short, ethereal songs “Sleigh in the Moon” and “Christmas Face” and an Adz-like electronic tune “Xmas Spirit Catcher”.

MP3 Xmas Spirit Catcher

Vol. 10 – Christmas Unicorn

As with Songs for Christmas, Sufjan ends this boxset with a truly amazing and ambitious EP. The volume includes a triumphant take on “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”, his Vesper Stamper-collab “Up on the Housetop” and an exuberant rendition of Muppet Christmas classic “We Need A Little Christmas”. What really shines about this volume though, is the last two tracks, “Justice Delivers Its Death”, a haunting acoustic track reminiscent of “John Wayne Gacy Jr” and the incredible “Christmas Unicorn”, a 12-minute epic with introspective lyrics describing Sufjan’s unique relationship with Christmas. The track builds to a breathtaking climax that mixes all the orchestral and electronic instrumentation with an exhilarating cover of Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart”, a feat I’m sure only Sufjan could pull off.

MP3 Christmas Unicorn

Silver & Gold is available for purchase on vinyl / CD and includes stickers, temporary tattoos, posters, ornaments, coloring books and songbooks. The entire 58-song collection is available to stream here.

Kiss! Kiss! Bang! Bang! (The James Bond Mix)

James Bond has long been one of my favorite film heroes. Growing up I would watch and rewatch my favorite Bond films (mostly taped on VHS from TBS “15 Days of 007” marathons) and although the franchise’s quality is pretty hit-or-miss, I’ll always have a particular fondness for the suave secret agent.

The latest Bond film Skyfall opens today, and I’ve been anticipating it way more than usual due to the amazing cast (Javier Bardem is an inspired villain choice) and director Sam Mendes (of American Beauty / Road to Perdition fame). In honor of the new film, I’ve made the Kiss! Kiss! Bang! Bang! mix (which is what international folk call James Bond movies, as well as an awesome Robert Downey Jr film). Download the tracks below and click here to listen on Spotify.

MP3 Chromatics – Kill For Love
MP3 PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
MP3 The Wrens – Faster Gun
MP3 Pulp – I Spy
MP3 Simon & Garfunkel – Roving Gambler
MP3 U2 – Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
MP3 Franz Ferdinand – I’m Your Villain
MP3 Camera Obscura – James
MP3 Clive Tanaka y Su Orquestra – International Heartbreaker
MP3 The Roots – Pussy Galore
MP3 Florence and the Machine – Kiss With A Fist
MP3 Lupe Fiasco – Go Go Gadget Flow
MP3 David Bowie – Always Crashing In The Same Car
MP3 The Raveonettes – Bang!

Spotify Mix: Kiss! Kiss! Bang! Bang! (The James Bond Mix)

New Order @ Aragon Ballroom (10/21)

I’ve always appreciated New Order as a groundbreaking dance-pop band and one of the most consistent hit-makers of the 1980’s, but in the last five years my love for them has increased dramatically. I now count them among my very favorite bands of all time, so having the chance to see them live (even sans one of it’s founding members, bassist Peter Hook) was an absolute thrill especially since they rarely tour the US (the last time was seven years ago). The Manchester synth-pop legends lived up to my high expectations with an extraordinary, triumphant concert in Chicago.

For a band that’s 30+ years old, the crowd was surprisingly diverse, with a fairly equal spread of twentysomethings, middle-aged folk and college-aged kids showing up to historic Aragon Ballroom to see the band work through a setlist that mixed all their big singles, classic album tracks and even some old Joy Division favorites. Running contrary to their reputation of being cool and detached, the band actually put on a very enthusiastic stage show led by singer/ guitarist Bernard Sumner who proved to be an engaging, charismatic frontman. Of course, he’s backed by heroic drummer Stephen Morris, Gillian Gilbert on synth and bassist Tom Chapman, who turned out to be a very capable replacement for Peter Hook.

New Order arrived the stage with possibly the coolest walk-on music ever, Ennio Morricone’s “The Ecstacy of Gold” from The Good, The Bad and the Ugly soundtrack (which famously plays during the 3-way Mexcian stand-off at the climax). That led straight into the band’s own instrumental theme, the ominous “Elegia” from Low-Life and then their 2001 single “Crystal”. The music video for “Crystal” (which played on the LED wall behind the band) inspired both the The Killers‘ name and their concept for their “Somebody Told Me” video, offering a reminder of how influential New Order has been on the current music landscape.

The band worked their way back with a great rendition of 1993’s “Regret” (easily my favorite song of their post-80’s output) and then the very first New Order single “Ceremony”, which was actually a Joy Division track prior to Ian Curtis’ death (as was noted by Bernard Sumner in the song’s intro). Another early track followed, the spectacular “Age of Consent”, opening song to 1983’s Power Corruption and Lies and then “Love Vigilantes” which Sumner pointed out was not an Iron & Wine song (I think the fact the band is even aware of Iron & Wine’s cover is pretty amazing).

The middle of the set included a couple more new tracks “Here To Stay” from the 24-Hour Party People soundtrack and “Close Range” from 2001’s Get Ready along with a couple of album tracks from Power Corruption and Lies, the gorgeous, melodica-featuring “Your Silent Face” and they highly danceable “5 8 6”. The final stretch of the set though is where things really started to take off, playing through much of their brilliant 1987 singles collection Substance, starting with my personal favorite “Bizarre Love Triangle”. The track saw Bernard Sumner putting down the guitar and roaming the stage as he led a sing-a-long to the song’s infectious chorus. The momentum continued with epic performances of “True Faith”, “Perfect Kiss” and “Blue Monday”, which saw Sumner holding up his mic to Chapman’s bass as he played the song’s iconic riff. The best was saved for last though as the band went into an ecstatic performance of “Temptation”, with the “Up! Down! Turn Around!” chorus setting the crowd on an absolute dance frenzy, encouraged by a disco ball that dropped on stage for the track.

New Order are known to do encores a little differently, in their early shows they’d sometimes skip them altogether, and when they did play them they usually opted to play a rarity or cover instead of one of their hit songs. For this show, the band played three Joy Division tracks as a moving tribute to their former bandmate and friend, Ian Curtis. They began with the Closer track “Heart and Soul” (a first for the tour) and then played Joy Division’s two most iconic songs “Atmosphere” “Love Will Tear Us Apart”, both posthumously-released tracks that hinted at the beginnings of New Order’s synth-heavy, dance-pop sound. It was truly amazing thing to witness and managed to make their wonderful performance even more memorable.

MP3 New Order – Temptation
MP3 Joy Division – Love Will Tear Us Apart

Follow the jump for more New Order photos. Click here to see the full set.

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