musicforants.com's Best Albums of 2012

(photo by cubagallery)

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

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24. Hospitality – Hospitality

MP3 Eighth Avenue
MP3 Friends of Friends

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23. Dirty Projectors – Swing Lo Magellan

MP3 Gun Has No Trigger
MP3 About To Die

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22. Allo, Darlin’ – Europe

MP3 Capricornia
MP3 Tallulah

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21. Jessie Ware – Devotion

MP3 Wildest Moments

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20. Bowerbirds – The Clearing

MP3 Tuck The Darkness In
MP3 In The Yard

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19. Cloud Nothings – Attack On Memory

MP3 Stay Useless
MP3 Wasted Days

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18. First Aid Kit – The Lion’s Roar

MP3 Emmylou
MP3 King of the World

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17. Bat For Lashes – The Haunted Man

MP3 Laura

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16. Titus Andronicus – Local Business

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

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15. Shearwater – Animal Joy

MP3 You As You Were
MP3 Breaking The Yearlings

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14. Lord Huron – Lonesome Dreams

MP3 Time To Run
MP3 Brother

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13. DIIV – Oshin

MP3 How Long Have You Known

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12. The Mountain Goats – Transcendental Youth

MP3 Cry For Judas
MP3 Harlem Roulette

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11. Sigur Rós – Valatari

MP3 Ekki múkk

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10. Twin Shadow – Confess

MP3 Five Seconds
MP3 When The Movie’s Over

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9. Hot Chip – In Our Heads

MP3 Don’t Deny Your Heart
MP3 Flutes

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8. Andrew Bird – Break It Yourself

MP3 Eyeoneye
MP3 Danse Carribe

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7. Spiritualized – Sweet Heart, Sweet Light

MP3 Hey Jane

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6. Japandroids – Celebration Rock

MP3 The House That Heaven Built
MP3 Younger Us

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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

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4. Chromatics – Kill For Love

MP3 Kill For Love
MP3 Lady

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3. Beach House – Bloom

MP3 Myth
MP3 Lazuli

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2. Grizzly Bear – Shields

MP3 Speak In Rounds
MP3 Yet Again

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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…

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

Pygmalion Festival – Day Three (Grizzly Bear / Dinosaur Jr. / Cloud Nothings / UMO / Frankie Rose / Lower Dens)

Whereas most days at Pygmalion Music Festival you’ll find yourself bouncing around from place to place to catch all the good bands, for the grand finale everyone was centralized in one place, downtown Champaign at the Highdive Outdoor stage. It was an amazing set-up and led to perhaps my favorite day of live music in Pygmalion’s 8-year history.

After a number of local Champaign/Urbana acts warmed up the stages (my personal favorite being folk/pop quartet Grandkids), current Grizzly Bear-tourmates Lower Dens kicked things off with their atmospheric, guitar-driven Krautrock, playing a number of tracks from their acclaimed 2012 album, Nootropics. The band’s expertise is creating hazy, trance-like soundscapes so while much of their music is probably better suited to headphones listening, dreamy singles like “Brains” and “Propagation” were mesmerizing.

MP3 Lower Dens – Brains

Former Vivian Girls drummer Frankie Rose took the stage with her band for a early evening set of reverb-heavy indie-pop from her acclaimed sophomore album Interstellar. The band’s lush, super-melodic tunes like “Know Me” and “Night Swim” sounded great on stage and considering the smallish crowd at the outdoor side-stage, Rose put on an engaging and enjoyable set.

MP3 Frankie Rose – Know Me

Unknown Mortal Orchestra were one of my most anticipated acts of the night and they didn’t disappoint. The Portland psych trio injected a healthy dose of druggy guitar jams to the festival proceedings, led by perpetually laid-back singer-guitarist Ruban Nielson. What the band lacks in an energy though they more than make up for with their visceral, fuzzed-out sound, made even better by the impressive rhythm section that gives tunes like “Ffunny Ffriends” and new single “Swim and Sink” their intoxicating psych-pop bounce. Grizzly Bear were obviously taken by the band as well, thanking them multiple times during their set, and it’s easy to see why.

MP3 Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Swim and Sleep (Like A Shark)

It was a huge thrill to see Dinosaur Jr. at Pygmalion, given that they were one of the pivotal bands of the 80’s alternative rock scene, inspiring countless bands from Pavement to Nirvana. Unlike many of the bands from the pre-grunge era still kicking though, these guys are no nostalgia act. Following their reunion in 2007, they’ve released three solid albums and as they proved here, their live show destroys. On stage, the band is an ultra-tight three-piece, led by J Mascis’ incredible guitar heroics and cracked falsetto with powerful backup from Lou Barlow’s unrelenting bass and Murph’s thundering drums.

Dinosaur Jr. played just about the best (and loudest) set I could ask including all of my favorite classic tracks like “Keep Choppin'”, “Freak Scene”, “The Lung” and “Little Fury Bugs”. The highlight had to be “Feel The Pain” though, with it’s breakneck tempo changes and face-melting guitar solo. The band closed with their thundering cover of “Just Like Heaven” (complete with the abrubt ending), topping off an explosive set that proved beyond any doubt that J Mascis and co. still got it.

MP3 Dinosaur Jr – Feel The Pain

Cloud Nothings put on easily one of the most memorable sets at Pitchfork Festival this summer, partially due to the torrential downpour that they played through and eventually shut them down, so I was definitely looking forward to seeing them play a full set. The band absolutely delivered, playing a rager of a set and inciting one of the craziest mosh pits I’ve witnessed.

The band opened with their catchiest track, “Stay Useless”, but the bobbing heads and sing-a-long melodies quickly turned to fist-pumping and all-out thrashing as the band ferociously stormed through “Fall In”, “Cut You” and especially “Wasted Days”. Even sandwiched between veterans Dinosaur Jr. and indie royalty Grizzly Bear, the band more than held their own, playing an profoundly energetic, boisterous set.

MP3 Cloud Nothings – Stay Useless

Closing out this year of Pygmalion Festival was a performance from one of the most extraordinary bands working today (indie or otherwise), and the Grizzly Bear put one of the best shows I’ve seen at this or any festival. Opening with what happens to be my favorite song from their new album, “Speak In Rounds” the Brooklyn quartet awed the crowd with their unique brand of rock music that balances lush harmonies, dynamic instrumentation and complex yet engaging songwriting. The band just released their latest masterpiece, Shields an extremely ambitious, progressive that builds upon the band’s ten years of musical experience without attempting to replicate their previous albums, Veckatimest and Yellow House.

The new songs sounded breathtaking live, and provided a wonderful showcase for the band’s exceptional musicmanship, most notably Chris Bear’s improvisational drumming style and the band’s exuberant harmonies. “Yet Again”, “A Simple Answer” and “Sun In Your Eyes” stood out to me as highlights, joining the pantheon of great Grizzly Bear tracks like “Two Weeks”, “Knife”,  “Ready, Able” and “While We Wait For The Others”, all of which were played on Saturday night to perfection. The band closed with an energetic performance of “On A Neck, On A Spit” before expressing their gratitude at being asked to play Pygmalion Festival. After witnessing their awe-inspiring performance, the pleasure was all ours.

MP3 Grizzly Bear – Speak In Rounds
MP3 Grizzly Bear – Yet Again

Follow the jump for lots more Pygmalion Festival Day Three photos. Click here to see the full set.

Autumn (Or What It Feels Like To Fall) Vol. 3

After the record-breaking hot and humid summer we just had, Autumn and the cooler temperatures that come with it, is a most welcome change. Who doesn’t love pulling out their sweaters and scarfs, admiring the lovely shades of reds and yellows, and the smell of the bonfires and apple cider in the air? With the changing trees and temperatures, the music I most associate with the season is different too, focusing on the wistful, laid-back and mostly acoustic songs that wrap around you like a warm sweater. As we always do at Music For Ants, we’re proving a new mix of songs for you put on while you’re walking across the quad with leaves crunching under your feet or drinking your hot Pumpkin Spice Latte on the way to work in the morning. Download below or listen at Spotify. Enjoy!

MP3 A.C. Newman – I’m Not Talking
MP3 The Tallest Man On Earth – Little Brother
MP3 Memoryhouse – Heirloom
MP3 Father John Misty – Only Son Of The Ladies Man
MP3 The National – Exile Villify
MP3 Air Review – America’s Son
MP3 DIIV – Earthboy
MP3 Sharon Van Etten – Leonard
MP3 The Helio Sequence – October
MP3 Grizzly Bear – Gun-Shy
MP3 Wild Nothing – Through The Grass
MP3 Andrew Bird – Lusitania
MP3 Evans The Death – Letter Of Complaint
MP3 Sun Kil Moon – Among The Leaves
MP3 Bowerbirds – In The Yard
MP3 Band of Horses – Slow Cruel Hands Of Time
MP3 TW Walsh – Natural Causes
MP3 First Aid Kit – King of the World
MP3 The Walkmen – Song For Leigh
MP3 M. Ward – There’s A Key
MP3 Sarah Mary Chadwick – Fools Like Me
MP3 Farewell J.R. – A Thought, A Mind
MP3 Wilco – Rising Red Lung
MP3 The Mynabirds – Greatest Revenge

Download the full mix here: AutumnMix-Vol3.zip (177.99 MB)
Spotify Playlist: Autumn (Or What It Feels Like To Fall) Vol. 3

Listen: Grizzly Bear – Sleeping Ute

Here at MFKWCRG, we usually try not to tell you something you already know, so let this post serve as reiteration: Grizzly Bear released a new song, and you need to listen to it.

With the continued fracturing of any zeitgeist, “event” albums are becoming a rare thing, but there are a few bands (Arcade Fire, Beach House) that can get everyone salivating with just a drop of new music. And that’s exactly what Grizzly Bear do with “Sleeping Ute”; the song is firmly planted in the band’s wheelhouse, but with enough interesting flourishes to hint at an expansion of sound and vision.

You can preorder the yet-to-be-titled record starting today over at Warp.

50 Songs Of The Decade (2000 – 2009)

(photo by dcdead)

I released my 50 albums of the decade list two years ago with all intentions to follow it up with a matching songs list. Days turned into weeks and weeks into months. No such list ever materialized and I kindof gave up on the idea. That is until earlier this summer when I took a weekend trip to visit some friends in Chicago and decided to soundtrack the drive with a playlist of my favorite songs from 2000-2009. I thought the mix turned out pretty good so I chiseled it down to my absolute favorite 50 songs, gave them a mostly-arbitrary ranking and now I’m sharing it with you. Of course, belating this list for two years has given me the necessary perspective to narrow this list down to only the essentials. These are the tracks that I play over and over and never get tired of, the songs that always make me turn the volume up when they shuffle on my iPod, basically the songs that are “really, really ridiculously good looking” and not just “so hot right now”.

A few words of about this list, I’m not claiming to have made an end-all be-all “greatest songs of the naughts” list, just my personal favorites. A few folks took offense to the lack of  some genres (ahem, hip hop) on the albums list but hopefully this one will counterbalance that woeful underrepresentation somewhat. Furthermore, I didn’t do full reviews of each track, because seriously, who has that kind of time, but I’ve created a Spotify Playlist where you can listen to all of the tracks (there’s also vimeo/youtube videos linked to each one). In keeping with my yearly songs lists I’ve limited myself to one track per artist.  If you scroll all the way down you’ll see some songs that “just missed” and some per-year stats (‘05 reins supreme again in my book). So here it is, the long overdue top 50 songs of the decade according to me. Feel free to dispute or agree with my choices in the comments. Enjoy!

music for kids who can’t read good presents: 50 Songs Of The Decade (2000 – 2009)

Most easily found on: The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place

Most easily found on: The Execution Of All Things

Most easily found on: Bows + Arrows

Most easily found on: Veckatimest

Most easily found on: Sticking Fingers Into Sockets

Most easily found on: Black Sheep Boy

Most easily found on: White Blood Cells

Most easily found on: Let It Die

Most easily found on: Shut Up I Am Dreaming

Most easily found on: Give Up

Follow the jump to see the rest!

We Are Trees

The days of spending hours in record shops seem to be up on the shelves. Oh, how we’d drift like modern day explorers, wandering through aisles of alphabetized chaos. There was and still is something exciting about never knowing whether or not something is worth purchasing–or should I say being extremely hopeful where it really doesn’t seem to matter… and now, we sit, greedily, in the comforts of coffee shops, arrested by the arms of our chairs as we tirelessly indulge on a wireless connection. I can’t count the hours I’ve spent clicking away on every Twitter, Tumblr, and Social Network alike. The rate at which information is received could easily be considered instantaneous, yet it still functions on the basis of being passed on from one person to another… and has narrowed itself so far down that I am now blessed with the luxury of being contacted by artists themselves, asking to be featured, asking to be heard.

This one-degree of separation indirectly begged the question of what really separated us and the more I looked into it, the less I found… which is the real essence of what James Nee has done here with We Are Trees (whom I can’t thank enough for reaching out). He has produced a sound so honest you can’t help but want to be closer and in that very moment you’ll realize just how close you are. This four-piece band from Virginia Beach sits tangled with triumph and defeat, yet are so in tune with their emotions it is almost weightless. James pushes through the wood work with the vocal charm of Daniel Rossen (Grizzly Bear), calmly taming a tempered echo of drums while simultaneously reverberating the heavy-eyed strings of a violin. The harmonies found throughout his debut EP Boyfriend are akin to that of the Fleet Foxes, with the lyrical content being a little more youthful and perhaps embodying a more comparative case of human emotions… something I know we are all too eager to relate with.

Pre-order a 12″ Vinyl off Collective Crowd Records.

MP3 We Are Trees – Sunrise Sunset
MP3 We Are Trees – Daniel Chan Marshall

Good Cover Version

Cheryse recently wrote about First Aid Kit, a band that first came to my attention thanks to this cover of Fleet Foxes’ “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song”. Re-listening to that cover got me thinking about other covers I’ve enjoyed over the past few years, so I decided to compile and share some of my favorites with you guys. There really weren’t any strict guidelines, but I tried to stick to more recent songs that I felt people either overlooked or forgot about, like TV on the Radio’s “Mr. Grieves”, or that I thought were just as good (or better) than the originals, like the Futureheads’ “Hounds of Love”. Of course, I couldn’t resist throwing in one of Sue Jorge’s Bowie covers.

If you have any good covers to add to the mix, be sure to leave them in comments. If I get enough, I’ll probably do an update to this post later this week.

Cat Power – Sea of Love
First Aid Kit – Tiger Mountain Peasant Song
Gil Scott-Heron – I’m New Here
Grizzly Bear – Deep Blue Sea
José González – Teardrop
Local Natives – Warning Sign
Robyn – Cobrastyle
Samamidon – Sugar Baby
Seu Jorge – Rebel Rebel
The Flaming Lips – Can’t Get You Out of My Head
The Futureheads – Hounds of Love
TV on the Radio – Mr. Grieves
Xiu Xiu- Ceremony

Childish Gambino

I don’t know why I’m just now finding out about this, but I’m glad I did. You know Don Glover? He currently plays Troy on “Community,” arguably the best new comedy of the season, and wrote for “30 Rock” prior to that, where he was featured on the amazing “Werewolf Bar Mitzvah.” He also does stand-up, which you can watch this Friday on Comedy Central, and a bunch of other things, like Derrick Comedy, that are all pretty much great. And that includes the music he makes under the name Childish Gambino.

On paper, it sounds goofy. Comedian raps over Grizzly Bear? But in Glover’s case, it totally works. Despite his day job, Childish Gambino sounds like serious business. His verses are filled with witty one-liners you would expect from someone of his comedy pedigree, just not in the context you would expect. Glover’s two recent mixtapes are filled with quips like “Get new kicks everyday like an ottoman” and “I move real quick like Nestle” over things like Animal Collective and Neon Indian. Childish Gambino has a new album, Culdesac, coming out soon, featuring Yes Giantess and “other cool special guests” If the I Am Just a Rapper mixtapes are any indication, I’m expecting Glover to come out guns blazing.

I’ve included two tracks from the first volume of I Am Just a Rapper, including my personal favorite of Gambino over Sleigh Bells’ “Crown on the Ground,” but you should really just head over to his website and download both volumes right now. While you’re there, check out his mc DJ remix album and the freestyle he did for Force Feed Radio. It’s far too flithy and awesome to re-post here.

MP3 Childish Gambino – New Prince
MP3 Childish Gambino – Look at Me

Commercial Watch: The xx, Grizzly Bear, Lou Reed + more

With the Olympics and the Super Bowl it’s been an ad frenzy the last couple of months, so it seems like the perfect time for another Commercial Watch. For those unaware, every once in a while I showcase a few of my favorite songs on commercials that you’re probably skipping over with your fancy Tivo / DVR machines. Click the links to watch the commercials (when available) and download the MP3s.

AT&T: Apollo Ohno

This is a visually a very cool ad and The xx’s sparse, resonating guitars that open their self-titled album are a great fit. I’d take Apollo Ohno and The xx over an out-of-shape Luke Wilson any day.

MP3 The xx – Intro

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Volkswagen: Punch Dub

This was one of my favorite commercials that premiered at the Super Bowl this year, a take on the classic “punch buggy” game with Grizzly Bear’s sunshiney pop masterpiece soundtracking the spot. Gotta love that Stevie Wonder / Tracy Morgan cameo at the end.

MP3 Grizzly Bear – Two Weeks

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Apple iPhone: Hold Us

The Boy Least Likely To’s “Be Gentle With Me” was featured in a Coca-Cola Recycling ad last year, and the twee poppers have another song on this Apple ad showing off iPhone’s multi-tasking features that premiered just this week. Apple has shown time and time again that they love their indie pop (Feist, Chairlift, The Submarines), so this is no surprise.

MP3 The Boy Least Likely To – Stringing Up Conkers

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NFL.com: Always Football

Arcade Fire turned a lot of heads when they licensed their anthemic epic, “Wake Up” to the NFL with all proceeds going to Haiti relief, especially since last time their music showed up in the Super Bowl they weren’t too pleased. I think it worked out well for them, the commercials were well done (and appeared often throughout the night) and got so much buzz for the band that “Arcade Fire” was at one point a Twitter trending topic during the game.

MP3 Arcade Fire – Wake Up

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AT&T: Gretchen Bleiler

Here’s another of AT&T’s Olympic ads that shows snowboarder Gretchen Bleider half-piping in outer space. Again it’s very visually striking and although the song is likely about heroin (note it’s usage in the film Trainspotting) it’s matches the tone of the ad perfectly.

MP3 Lou Reed – Perfect Day

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Pringles: Multigrain

I haven’t been able to find the commercial online for this, but from my recollection the commercial featured a bunch of teenagers running around in a wheat field, chowing down on some multigrain Pringles with The Cloud Room’s 2006 blog smash “Hey Now Now” playing in the background.  If you have any luck finding this spot online, please send link!

MP3 The Cloud Room – Hey Now Now

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Coca-Cola: Olympic Medal Ceremony

This commercial, I believe, was first shown at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and Coca-Cola liked it so much they’re showing it again. The music is “Breathe Me” by Sia, which was most famously used on the Six Feet Under finale and just about every inspirational montage video on Youtube.

MP3 Sia – Breathe Me

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Let me know if there’s any other good commercials out there I’m missing.