Chromatics – Music For Kids Who Can't Read Good

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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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.

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)

Album Art Lover: Blurry

For this edition of my ongoing album art lover series (where I discuss album art trends and stuff), I’m focusing on the album covers using blur, an effect I’ve seen pop up more and more this year, from Cloud Nothings to The Antlers to Chromatics. Probably the most iconic blurry album photo is Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde, which was thought to symbolize the dazed and druggy times of the mid-60’s (but was actually because it was freezing cold the day of the photo shoot).

From the 60′ on, blurry and out-of-focus album art continues to be popular aesthetic choice, used to evoke feelings of confusion, intoxication, dizziness or unrest, or it could just be that artists think it looks cool. Whatever the case, below is a mix of 15 albums featuring blurry covers. View the cover art and download an track from each album below, just make sure to take your dramamine first.

MP3 The Antlers – Drift Dive

MP3 The Cure – In Between Days

MP3 Cloud Nothings – Wasted Days

MP3 Bob Dylan – I Want You

MP3 Blur – Beetlebum

MP3 Tom Waits – Hell Broke Luce

MP3 The Gloria Record – The Arctic Cat

MP3 James Blake – The Wilhelm Scream

MP3 Moonface – Fast Peter

MP3 Avril Lavigne – Complicated

MP3 The Raveonettes – She Owns The Streets

MP3 My Morning Jacket – Heartbreakin Man

MP3 Black Sabbath – Paranoid

MP3 Nada Surf – Popular

MP3 Chromatics – Kill For Love

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Chromatics @ Pitchfork Music Festival (6/14)

Chromatics released one of my favorite albums this year in Kill For Love, so despite soundcheck difficulties that had them start twenty minutes late, I stuck around to watch the Portland electro-pop quartet. The band opened with “Tick of the Clock”, the instrumental which was featured in the opening scene of Drive, which led seamlessly into one of the many highlights from their new album “Lady”.

The band’s vibe of gently throbbing electronica, ultra-melodic guitar lines and wispy vocals may be best suited for slinky dance clubs and late-night drives, but I thought it worked just fine during their early evening set. Before I booked it to watch Hot Chip, I got to hear the hypnotizing “Kill For Love” with it’s grandiose New Order-like synths and disco beats, and that made me very happy.

MP3 Kill For Love

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

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