so... we are half way through 2012...

[Fourthisto]

Been a pretty solid year so far, and I've enjoyed these (in no order) immensely:

Brian Jonestown Massacre - Aufheben
Porcelain Raft - Strange Weekend
Lotus Plaza – Spooky Action at a Distance
Chromatics - Kill For Love
Beach House - Bloom
Lower Dens- Nootropics
The Walkmen- Heaven
P.S. I Love You - Death Dreams
Violens - True
the Features - Wilderness
Allo Darlin' - Europe
Liars - WIXIW
the Spruce Campbells - Bipolar Coordinates
Trust - TRST
Chairlift – Something
Alt-J - An Awesome Moon
Wintersleep - Hello Hum

Almost, but not quite.

You only had to wait an hour and half more Drinkey to be correct in the future

You guys need to think outside of the box. Eastern Time FTW!

[TallGuyCM]

Updated Top 10, now that we're literally at the halfway point.


1. Lotus Plaza – Spooky Action at a Distance
2. Liars – WIXIW
3. Beach House – Bloom
4. Sigur Ros – Valtari
5. Ty Segall Band – Slaughterhouse
6. Dirty Projectors – Swing Lo Magellan
7. Japandroids – Celebration Rock
8. Oren Ambarchi – Audience of One
9. Ceremony – Zoo
10. The Men – Open Your Heart

[nosurprises12]

The new Dirty Projectors has made quite the impression on you, eh?

[TallGuyCM]

For sure. Keeps getting better.

[nosurprises12]

I've really enjoyed it as well, especially after listening to it on my good headphones last night. I was just a bit surprised to see it so high up your list after being out for only a week or so.

[TallGuyCM]

The list is very tentative. Most of the albums on there, especially the bottom half of the list, haven't gotten more than a few spins. Definitely more of a first impression list than anything, but that's how my lists always are at this time of the year.

[nosurprises12]

That makes sense; I always find numbering/listing/ranking to be a bit arbitrary, anyways. I will say that I've enjoyed the new DP more after each listen, and for me that's usually a good indicator that it will be one of my favorites of the year.

[swhite423]

Still have to listen to ALOT, but so far:

1. Japandroids - Celebration Rock
2. Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory
3. The Men - Open Your Heart
4. Metric - Synthetica
5. Lotus Plaza - Spooky Action at a Distance
6. Beach House - Bloom
7. Alabama Shakes - Boys and Girls
8. Heaven - The Walkmen
9. Blunderbuss - Jack White
10. Valtari - Sigur Ros
11. Unpatterns - Simian Mobile Disco
12. Old Idea - Leonard Cohen
13. My Head is an Animal - Of Monsters and Men
14. The Lion's Roar - First Aid Kit
15. Happy to You - Miike Snow

[ods..]

Because I'm an asshole who likes making lists.


1. Julia Holter – Ekstasis
2. Schoolboy Q – Habits and Contradictions
3. Ab-Soul – Control System
4. Peaking Lights - Lucifer
5. Killer Mike – R.A.P. Music
6. Grimes – Visions
7. JMSN - Priscilla
8. Fiona Apple – The Idler Tree
9. The Men – Open Your Heart
10. Liars – WIXIW
11. Evy Jane – Evy Jane EP
12. John Talabot – ƒin
13. Future – Pluto
14. Ty Segall Band – Slaughterhouse
15. Spiritualized – Sweet Heart Sweet Light
16. Chromatics – Kill for Love
17. Dirty Projectors – Swing Lo Magellan
18. Screaming Females – Ugly
19. Daughn Gibson – All Hell
20. SpaceGhostPurrp – Mysterious Phonk
21. Mirroring – Foreign Body
22. Lotus Plaza – Spooky Action at a Distance
23. Kindness – World, You Need a Change of Mind
24. Casey Abrams – Casey Abrams
25. Oren Ambarchi – Audience of One
26. Ilyas Ahmed – With Endless Fire
27. Esperanza Spalding – Radio Music Society
28. Shifted – Crossed Paths
29. Vtgnike- Meowchi
30. Death Grips – The Money Store
31. Japandroids – Celebration Rock
32. Laurel Halo - Quarantine
33. The Tallest Man on Earth – There’s No Leaving Now
34. Voices from the Lake – Voices from the Lake
35. Sigur Ros - Valtari
36. LIL UGLY MANE – MISTA THUG ISOLATION
37. Usher – Looking 4 Myself
38. The Black Atlass – The Black Atlass
39. Cloud Nothings – Attack on Memory
40. Twin Shadow – Confess

[theklein25]

Now that I've had some time to think about it here's my list in alphabetical order.

1. Animal Kingdom - The Looking Away
2. Band of Skulls - Sweet Sour
3. fun. - Some Nights
4. Japandroids - Celebration Rock
5. Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music
6. Last Dinosaurs - In a Million Years
7. Linkin Park - Living Things
8. Lotus Plaza - Spooky Action at a Distance
9. Matt Skiba and the Sekrets - Babylon
10. Metric - Synthetica
11. Miike Snow - Happy to You
10. Morning Parade - self-titled
11. Of Monsters and Men - My Head is an Animal
12. Offspring - Days Go By
13. Orbital - Orbital
14. Shins - Port of Morrow
15. A Silent Film - Sand & Snow

[Alchemy]

1. Fiona Apple – The Idler Wheel…
2. The Tallest Man on Earth – There’s No Leaving Now
3. Dirty Projectors – Swing Lo Magellan
4. Beach House – Bloom
5. Spiritualized – Sweet Heart Sweet Light
6. Twin Shadow – Confess
7. of Montreal – Paralytic Stalks
8. Liars – WIXIW
9. Hot Chip – In Our Heads
10. Chairlift – Something
11. Lotus Plaza – Spooky Action at a Distance
12. Jack White – Blunderbuss
13. Andrew Bird – Break It Yourself
14. The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Aufheben
15. Death Grips – The Money Store

[chiapet]

I'm so completely far behind on checking out new releases this year that it'd be impossible for me to post a list, but y'all have given me a lot of stuff to check out (that I've listened to once or twice casually or haven't listened to at all).

[bmack86]

So far....

1. Liars - WIXIW
2. Screaming Females - Ugly
3. Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory
4. The Men - Open Your Heart
5. Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music
6. El-P - Cancer 4 Cure
7. Japandroids - Celebration Rock
8. Liberteer - Better to Die on Your Feet Than Live on Your Knees
9. Mike Wexler - Dispossession
10. Spiritualized - Sweet Heart Sweet Light

I still haven't listened to the Death Grips, Beach House or Sigur Ros. I need to give Lotus Plaza, Chromatics and Blondes more time.

Brad, tell me about Mount Carmel

1. Frank Ocean - channel Orange
2. Baroness - Yellow and Green
3. Liars - Wixiw
4. Screaming Females - Ugly
5. Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music
6. Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory
7. Mike Wexler - Dispossession
8. Liberteer - Better to Die on Your Feet Than Live on Your Knees
9. Japandroids - Celebration Rock
10. Purity Ring - Shrines

New stuff is picking up.

[Mr. Fuzz]

While I am thoroughly enjoying "RAP Music" by Killer Mike, at the moment, I doubt that the album will be as interesting by the end of the year. I can’t believe that it has cracked so many people’s top 5s.

[Drinkey McDrinkerstein]

On a huge metal kick right now. I've been lsitening over and over again to:

Baroness - Yellow & Green
Old Man Gloom - No
Bréag Naofa - Untitled
Alcest - Les Voyages De L'Âme
If These Trees Could Talk - Red Forest

Also still really loving:
Niki & the Dove - Instinct
Yellow Ostrich - Strange Land
Light Asylum - s/t

I like a whole bunch of stuff this year though, i could list 50 albums easily. trying to not listen to new stuff for a little bit and just digest all this stuff. Can't even begin to rank things. my top 10 changes week to week.

[kreutz2112]

I've tried listening to that Alcest album a few times and it just seems so cheesy to me at most times.

[Drinkey McDrinkerstein]

Huh, i've never once thought of it as being cheesy, but i am a fan of big, sweeping, operatic metal.

[chiapet]

Drinkey, I pretty much put everything you like on my list of things to check out.

I feel like I've listened to nothing new this year, but when I think about it, I have, it's just that it's been very oriented towards festival research, and I've only done EDM festivals this year so it's very unbalanced. Plus there are so many things I've listened to only once or twice and don't feel I've really absorbed yet. Anyway, here is a start.

Olafur Arnalds & Nils Frahm - Stare [EP] 5/5 (the digital copy also has a Max Cooper remix, but the entire EP is beautiful & I've probably played this record more than anything else I've purchased this year)
Max Cooper - Egomodal [EP] 4.5/5
Todd Terje - It's the Arps [EP] 4.5/5
Blondes - Blondes 4/5
Squarepusher - Ufabulum 4/5
John Talabot - fin 4/5 <-- Talabot's FACT magazine mix is probably my favorite thing of the whole year.
Actress - R.I.P 4/5
Blawan - Long Distance Open Water Worker [EP] 3.5/5
Camea - City Watching Over Me [EP] 3/5
Lalapaux - When You're Gone 3/5

I'm really poor at making distinctions between singles and EP's for EDM, like there may be things that even the official release refers to as an EP but if you've got a track and 2 or 3 remixes of the same track, I have trouble calling that a EP. Anyway. Here's a few singles or short format releases that I didn't list above but that I liked a lot.
RRose - Artificial Light 4.5/5
Lucy & Xhin - LX4/LX5 4/5
Max Cooper - Mechanical Concussion 3.5/5
Function - Obsessed [EP] 3/5
Ben Sims - Disco Trix Vol. 2 2.5/5

MOST of the indie I've listened to so far this year has not suited me at all... but I still have a few dozen things queued to listen to.

[wmgaretjax]

Some reissues:

Pierre Schaeffer ‎– Le Trièdre Fertile
Guy Reibel ‎– Granulations-Sillages / Franges Du Signe
Pauline Oliveros ‎– Reverberations: Tape & Electronic Music 1961-1970
Porter Ricks - Biokinetics
Panabrite ‎– Sub-Aquatic Meditation
Egisto Macchi ‎– I Futuribili
Gruppo Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza ‎– Niente
Vatican Shadow - Kneel Before Religious Icons
Seth Price ‎– Army Jacket
John Duncan - First Recordings 1978-1985 V1.2
Francisco Meirino & Dave Phillips ‎– We Are None Of Us
Robert Turman - Flux
Henning Christiansen - Kreuzmusik Fluxid Behandlung Op 189
Gareth Williams & Mary Currie - Flaming Tunes
Toshi Ichiyanagi/Michael Ranta/Takehisa Kosugi - Improvisation Sep. 1975
Bruno Spoerri/Betha Sarasin ‎– Kunst Am Computer

[Drinkey McDrinkerstein]

Heidi, of all of the stuff I just posed, make sure you check out Light Asylum, I think it's the most up your alley. i fucking love it!

[swhite423]

Still have to listen to ALOT, but so far:

1. Japandroids - Celebration Rock
2. Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory
3. The Men - Open Your Heart
4. Metric - Synthetica
5. Lotus Plaza - Spooky Action at a Distance
6. Beach House - Bloom
7. Alabama Shakes - Boys and Girls
8. Heaven - The Walkmen
9. Blunderbuss - Jack White
10. Valtari - Sigur Ros
11. Unpatterns - Simian Mobile Disco
12. Old Idea - Leonard Cohen
13. My Head is an Animal - Of Monsters and Men
14. The Lion's Roar - First Aid Kit
15. Happy to You - Miike Snow

WOW, some great stuff has came out even since I made this list. Narrowed it down to a tentative ten.
1. Japandroids - Celebration Rock
2. Frank Ocean - Channel ORANGE
3. Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan
4. Baroness - Yellow and Green
5. Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel...
6. Lotus Plaza - Spooky Action at a Distance
7. Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory
8. Beach House - Bloom
9. Killer Mike - RAP Music
10. EL-P - Cancer 4 Cure

lots of awesome albums this year though.

[Spooks]

Nas-"Life is Good" will be in my top 10.

[DerekClapton]

mmmmmm 2012


1. Austin Cesear- Cruise Forever
2. Windy & Carl- We Will Always Be
3. Sun Araw, M. Geddes Gengras, The Congos- Icon Give Thank
4. Frank Ocean- Channel ORANGE
5. Japandroids- Celebration Rock
6. Death Grips- The Money Store
7. Peaking Lights- Lucifer
8. Inner Tube
9. Julia Holter- Ekstasis
10. Cloud Nothings- Attack On Memory
11. Beach House- Bloom
12. Black Dice- Mr. Impossible
13. Actress- R.I.P
14. Burial- Kindred
15. Lower Dens- Nootropics
16. Dirty Projectors- Swing Lo Magellan
17. Nina Kraviz
18. Liars- Wisheewoo
19. Loops Of Your Heart- And Never Ending Nights
20. Lotus Plaza- Spooky Action At A Distance
21. Mirroring- Foreign Body
22. Forest Of Tongue- Body Pains
23. Laurel Halo- Quarantine
24. Cool Ghouls
25. Clams Casino- Mixtape 2
26. Ariel Pink/ R. Stevie Moore- Ku Klux Glam (It's down here because I don't think I've even come close to finishing it)
27. Ty Segall/White Fence/Ty Segall & White Fence
28. Spiritualized- HUH?
29. Words And Music By Saint Etienne
30. Chromatics- Kill For Love


about to listen to the new Haunted Graffiti










smok3

[GuyInTucson]

In no order:

Nas - Life Is Good
Hot Chip - In Our Heads
Simian Mobile Disco - Unpatterns
Justin Martin - Ghettos and Gardens
FSOL - Environments 4
Sigur Ros - Valtari
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes - Here
The Tallest Man on Earth - There's No Leaving Now
Japandroids - Celebration Rock
Squarepusher - Ufabulum
The Shins - Port of Morrow
Jack White - Blunderbuss


I still have a lot more to listen to and I'm sure there are a few releases I have left out.

[Pea]

Alcest - Les Voyages De L'Ame
First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar
Perfume Genius - Put Your Back N 2 It
Andrew Bird - Break it Yourself
John Talabot - Fin
Father John Misty - Fear Fun
Niki & the Dove - Instinct
Japandroids - Celebration Rock
Kent - Jag Ar Inte Radd For Morkret
Alex Winston - King Con
Gossip - A Joyful Noise
Chromatics - Kill for Love
Death Grips - The Money Store
Exitmusic - Passage

Quite a few updates since my original post. Currently listening to the new Gojira and El-P and could possibly see those ending up on my list soon.

Alcest - Les Voyages De L'Ame
First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar
Perfume Genius - Put Your Back N 2 It
Andrew Bird - Break it Yourself
John Talabot - Fin
Father John Misty - Fear Fun
Niki & the Dove - Instinct
Japandroids - Celebration Rock
Kent - Jag Ar Inte Radd For Morkret
Alex Winston - King Con
Gossip - A Joyful Noise
Death Grips - The Money Store
Exitmusic - Passage
The Tallest Man On Earth - There's No Leaving Now
Diplo - Express Yourself EP
Stepdad - Wildlife Pop
Ihsahn - Eramita
Purity Ring - Shrines
Twin Shadow - Confess
Daughn Gibson - All Hell
Enabler - All Hail the Void
Passion Pit - Gossamer

[GolfWang]

Pluto and Channel Orange are interchangeable. They switch places weekly.

1. Frank Ocean - channel ORANGE
2. Future - Pluto
3. Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan
4. Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel
5. Julia Holter - Ekstasis
6. Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music
7. Dr. John - Locked Down
8. Ab-Soul - Control System
9. Mina Tindle - Taranta
10. Odd Future - The OF Tape Vol. 2
11. Lambchop - Mr. M
12. Liars - WIXIW
13. Perfume Genius - Put Your Back N 2 It
14. Jack White - Blunderbuss
15. Schoolboy Q - Habits & Contradictions
16. Django Django - Django Django
17. John Talabot - Fin
18. Don Trip - Guerilla
19. Shady Blaze - The Grind, Hustle & Talent
20. Daughn Gibson - All Hell
21. Curren$y - The Stoned Immaculate
22. Action Bastard - The Shark
23. Of Montreal - Paralytic Stalks
24. Chief Keef - Back From The Dead
25. King Tuff - King Tuff

[ods..]

Pluto is so solid.... seriously infectious album. Everyone I show it to can't stop playing it. Guess I need to listen to the OF Tape again... I didn't really like it the first time through. Should revisit.

[GolfWang]

I keep expecting to get bored with Pluto because I play it too much, but it just never seems to get old.

[send me ctrpllrs]

It's 3 months old now, but did you all see the best of 2012 so far list at The Quietus? Over the last few days I've been going through some of the stuff I hadn't heard and there are some really good albums on there.

[TallGuyCM]

September was a pretty big month for new releases and leaks. Now that we're at the 3/4 year point, where does everything stand for you as of now?

The best of what I've listened to as of now:

1. Frank Ocean – channel ORANGE
2. BEAK> - BEAK>>
3. Mount Eerie – Clear Moon
4. Lotus Plaza – Spooky Action at a Distance
5. Liars – WIXIW
6. Grizzly Bear - Shields
7. Beach House – Bloom
8. Deerhoof – Breakup Song
9. Sigur Ros – Valtari
10. Ty Segall Band – Slaughterhouse
11. Quakers – Quakers
12. Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Mature Themes
13. Flying Lotus – Until the Quiet Comes
14. Oren Ambarchi – Audience of One
15. Ceremony – Zoo
16. Animal Collective – Centipede Hz
17. Toy - Toy
18. The Men – Open Your Heart
19. Ambalance – Cokewave EP
20. Blondes – Blondes
21. Dirty Projectors – Swing Lo Magellan
22. Bob Mould – Silver Age
23. Japandroids – Celebration Rock
24. Ty Segall & White Fence - Hair
25. Fiona Apple – The Idler Wheel…