Albums of 2012
Dec. 17th, 2012 09:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexsarllIt hasn't been a vintage year for music, has it? I've tried a fair chunk of the stuff making the more mainstream album-of-the-year lists, and at best found a track or two pleasant enough. Some of my favourite acts released profoundly underwhelming records - Pet Shop Boys have now perpetrated a couple in a row, but I had high hopes for Words and Music by Saint Etienne, only to find too much of it sounding oddly tired. Sproatly Smith, Death Grips, Martin Rossiter and Gallon Drunk all released albums which had glorious moments but felt samey when taken as a whole; Godspeed, Madness and Guillemots (that plan to release four albums this year went well, didn't it?) all seemed to be operating well within their comfort zones. And I think the only hit single I registered with any interest was 'Gangnam Style'. Still, let's attempt to pull together a Top 20 from the wreckage...
20. One Day I'm Going to Soar - Dexys
Far too direct for my tastes, and often uncomfortable but not in a good way. I always felt Kevin Rowland was a lot better when he was unwittingly following Wilde's line "Give a man a mask and he will tell you the truth" - talking about the newly wealthy peasants or Johnny Ray, covering the Monkees, he was giving me much more of his soul than he does now he's simply talking or singing about the state of it. And yet, it's Dexys, and it's like nothing else out there, and perhaps I'm just not ready for this like the world wasn't for Don't Stand Me Down, so it earns a place on trust.
19. The 2nd Law - Muse
Some of it teeters back into the hollow pomp of Origin of Symmetry, but nobody does lunatic magnificence like Muse. The two-part mini-opera about entropy, the Nietzschean Olympics song, the should-have-been Bond theme that might actually have made me go see Skyfall - people take the piss out of Muse, and rightly so, but I wish more bands operated on this scale.
18. Permissible Permutations - The Melting Ice Caps
These are not my favourite of David Shah's songs, but there's too little music which succeeds in being gentle without being beige. The cup of tea, the slice of toast, the walk are pleasures which deserve their soundtrack just as much as The Big Night In The Club, and they get it here.
17. The Something Rain - Tindersticks
Aside from That Opening Track, this could easily be considered another unambitious, comfort-zone album by an outfit too accomplished at what they do to surprise or even impress. And yet, while they may just be doing what they do, it sounds so timeless here that I can't help but find myself wowed.
16. Lost Summer - Whitey
Once I realised they were slightly more than Joy Division wannabes, my favourite thing about Interpol was always the songs which gave the weary impression of people who'd been partying for far too long and didn't know how to stop. Which you'd think electronic music could do even better, given the greater modern kinship with all the drugs - and here, that's mostly what happens.
15. No One Can Ever Know - The Twilight Sad
Overwrought melodramas wringing every last drop of angst out of a Scottish accent. This is not quite what Geneva might have accomplished, given time, but it's close.
14. The Plot Against Common Sense - Future of the Left
If Steve Albini were Welsh...he'd probably have a band called Rapesheep, and they wouldn't sound like this. But there's something in the mixture of furious thrashing and ferocious precision here which really reminds me of Big Black. 'RoboCop 4 - Fuck Off Robocop' is the famous one here, but it's not too far ahead of the rest.
13. (III) - Crystal Castles
Smoother, less fractured in some ways than the first two albums - at times this reminds me of the good bits of nineties dance, where handbag house reached its most epic. But there's always the core presence of Alice Glass unsettling that, like a possessed child haunting the floorfiller.
12. Thalidomidas Touch - The Thlyds
If the Thlyds did not exist, it would have been necessary to invent them - a voice for disaffected British youth who, crucially, aren't Plan twunting B.
11. Standing at the Sky's Edge - Richard Hawley
Another act where this is not my favourite material. But even if I prefer the smoky numbers that sound like new standards, this more psychedelic material still has a grandeur I hear too seldom.
10. The Shallows - iLiKETRAiNS
The soundtrack to blasted worlds and William Hope Hodgson apocalypses. Not so much post-rock as post-human, and not in the superpowered sense. I love the feeling of deep time they evoke.
9. In Our Heads - Hot Chip
Intricate and smart, yet also banging, but you all know what Hot Chip sound like by now. This was higher until I listened back and reminded myself how much it trails off towards the end, much like...
8. Do The Struggle - Franz Nicolay
The former Hold Steady keyboardist has, by most standards, a better voice than their singer - a huge, heart-on-sleeve thing that shares a certain overblown romantic yearning with the guy from the Bathers. Which is probably not useful information given how few people ever fell for Kelvingrove Baby like I did.
7. Singing Down The Government - Thee Faction
Remember that regular complaint a few years back about how you never heard political pop anymore? It never meant anything more than that the person complaining was lazy and ignorant, but you don't hear it so much anymore, do you? If anyone does try to resurrect it, shove this CD down their throat. Obviously I don't always agree with their analysis, but Thee Faction are a band who can be introduced on stage by Francis Wheen (or 'Funky Frank', as I shall now forever think of him) with a brief lecture, and it doesn't come across as a gimmick. That's pretty special.
6. My Own Way - Philip Jeays
Mr Jeays, on the other hand, has become less hectoring on the political numbers, more ready to wryly undercut himself, and that's good too. As ever, for me it's the bittersweet drunken numbers here which are the real attraction, and the Brel-soaked ballads. A national treasure whose nation unaccountably continue to ignore him.
5. Don't Sleep - Rebekah Delgado
In the interests of full disclosure, I should admit that my darling![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
xandratheblue contributes backing vocals, masked glamour and occasional sex noises to Ms Delgado's band. But that's not the only reason I love the bloodied-but-unbowed tone of much of this material, and the smoky late-night laments.
4. From The Mouth of the Cave - Gaggle
A lot of the lyrics here would sound pretty poor with one voice singing them. But with a choir of 30-odd, the effect is bonkers and eerie and primal. I think this may be the freshest thing on here, the youngest, certainly the most female - because from here on in, it's all old white guys.
3. The North Sea Scrolls
It was even better live at Old St Pancras church, the most remote place in central London, with the Hardy Ash mere yards behind the stage and an encore of 'Bertie's Brochures'. But even on CD, this is a baffling document. It tells of a secret history better explaining the current situation of the nation - a history explaining "the sufferings of the English", from the Mosley government to the midnight raids of the Morris Men and the martyrdom of Chris Evans. And the tellers themselves seem to have been brought together in an alternate timeline where the bullshit spun by the DJs at an underattended Love Your Enemies (which is to say, most of them) was made flesh - Cathal Coughlan, Luke Haines and the cellist from Jack brought together in pith helmets by Andrew Mueller. Its mere existence astounds me. Stranger still, it's not even the only record this year in which a nineties indie star fixates on witch-burning, but I found Darren Hayman's effort most underwhelming in comparison.
2. Old Ideas - Leonard Cohen
An old man singing about being old. And yet, compared to some of his recent material, he sounds so alive - wise rather than weak. Clearly being forced back out on to the road has relighted some spark that was fading out on Dear Heather.
1. Wrecking Ball - Bruce Springsteen
So he may be a spring chicken compared to Leonard, but still - the album which impressed me most this year is by a guy in his sixties. From the opening 'We Take Care Of Our Own' - a title as double-edged in its anger and pride as 'Born in the USA' - this is the most furious album about the state of the world, the most full of life and faith when it glimpses the possibility of something better, the most vital record I've heard all year.
20. One Day I'm Going to Soar - Dexys
Far too direct for my tastes, and often uncomfortable but not in a good way. I always felt Kevin Rowland was a lot better when he was unwittingly following Wilde's line "Give a man a mask and he will tell you the truth" - talking about the newly wealthy peasants or Johnny Ray, covering the Monkees, he was giving me much more of his soul than he does now he's simply talking or singing about the state of it. And yet, it's Dexys, and it's like nothing else out there, and perhaps I'm just not ready for this like the world wasn't for Don't Stand Me Down, so it earns a place on trust.
19. The 2nd Law - Muse
Some of it teeters back into the hollow pomp of Origin of Symmetry, but nobody does lunatic magnificence like Muse. The two-part mini-opera about entropy, the Nietzschean Olympics song, the should-have-been Bond theme that might actually have made me go see Skyfall - people take the piss out of Muse, and rightly so, but I wish more bands operated on this scale.
18. Permissible Permutations - The Melting Ice Caps
These are not my favourite of David Shah's songs, but there's too little music which succeeds in being gentle without being beige. The cup of tea, the slice of toast, the walk are pleasures which deserve their soundtrack just as much as The Big Night In The Club, and they get it here.
17. The Something Rain - Tindersticks
Aside from That Opening Track, this could easily be considered another unambitious, comfort-zone album by an outfit too accomplished at what they do to surprise or even impress. And yet, while they may just be doing what they do, it sounds so timeless here that I can't help but find myself wowed.
16. Lost Summer - Whitey
Once I realised they were slightly more than Joy Division wannabes, my favourite thing about Interpol was always the songs which gave the weary impression of people who'd been partying for far too long and didn't know how to stop. Which you'd think electronic music could do even better, given the greater modern kinship with all the drugs - and here, that's mostly what happens.
15. No One Can Ever Know - The Twilight Sad
Overwrought melodramas wringing every last drop of angst out of a Scottish accent. This is not quite what Geneva might have accomplished, given time, but it's close.
14. The Plot Against Common Sense - Future of the Left
If Steve Albini were Welsh...he'd probably have a band called Rapesheep, and they wouldn't sound like this. But there's something in the mixture of furious thrashing and ferocious precision here which really reminds me of Big Black. 'RoboCop 4 - Fuck Off Robocop' is the famous one here, but it's not too far ahead of the rest.
13. (III) - Crystal Castles
Smoother, less fractured in some ways than the first two albums - at times this reminds me of the good bits of nineties dance, where handbag house reached its most epic. But there's always the core presence of Alice Glass unsettling that, like a possessed child haunting the floorfiller.
12. Thalidomidas Touch - The Thlyds
If the Thlyds did not exist, it would have been necessary to invent them - a voice for disaffected British youth who, crucially, aren't Plan twunting B.
11. Standing at the Sky's Edge - Richard Hawley
Another act where this is not my favourite material. But even if I prefer the smoky numbers that sound like new standards, this more psychedelic material still has a grandeur I hear too seldom.
10. The Shallows - iLiKETRAiNS
The soundtrack to blasted worlds and William Hope Hodgson apocalypses. Not so much post-rock as post-human, and not in the superpowered sense. I love the feeling of deep time they evoke.
9. In Our Heads - Hot Chip
Intricate and smart, yet also banging, but you all know what Hot Chip sound like by now. This was higher until I listened back and reminded myself how much it trails off towards the end, much like...
8. Do The Struggle - Franz Nicolay
The former Hold Steady keyboardist has, by most standards, a better voice than their singer - a huge, heart-on-sleeve thing that shares a certain overblown romantic yearning with the guy from the Bathers. Which is probably not useful information given how few people ever fell for Kelvingrove Baby like I did.
7. Singing Down The Government - Thee Faction
Remember that regular complaint a few years back about how you never heard political pop anymore? It never meant anything more than that the person complaining was lazy and ignorant, but you don't hear it so much anymore, do you? If anyone does try to resurrect it, shove this CD down their throat. Obviously I don't always agree with their analysis, but Thee Faction are a band who can be introduced on stage by Francis Wheen (or 'Funky Frank', as I shall now forever think of him) with a brief lecture, and it doesn't come across as a gimmick. That's pretty special.
6. My Own Way - Philip Jeays
Mr Jeays, on the other hand, has become less hectoring on the political numbers, more ready to wryly undercut himself, and that's good too. As ever, for me it's the bittersweet drunken numbers here which are the real attraction, and the Brel-soaked ballads. A national treasure whose nation unaccountably continue to ignore him.
5. Don't Sleep - Rebekah Delgado
In the interests of full disclosure, I should admit that my darling
xandratheblue contributes backing vocals, masked glamour and occasional sex noises to Ms Delgado's band. But that's not the only reason I love the bloodied-but-unbowed tone of much of this material, and the smoky late-night laments. 4. From The Mouth of the Cave - Gaggle
A lot of the lyrics here would sound pretty poor with one voice singing them. But with a choir of 30-odd, the effect is bonkers and eerie and primal. I think this may be the freshest thing on here, the youngest, certainly the most female - because from here on in, it's all old white guys.
3. The North Sea Scrolls
It was even better live at Old St Pancras church, the most remote place in central London, with the Hardy Ash mere yards behind the stage and an encore of 'Bertie's Brochures'. But even on CD, this is a baffling document. It tells of a secret history better explaining the current situation of the nation - a history explaining "the sufferings of the English", from the Mosley government to the midnight raids of the Morris Men and the martyrdom of Chris Evans. And the tellers themselves seem to have been brought together in an alternate timeline where the bullshit spun by the DJs at an underattended Love Your Enemies (which is to say, most of them) was made flesh - Cathal Coughlan, Luke Haines and the cellist from Jack brought together in pith helmets by Andrew Mueller. Its mere existence astounds me. Stranger still, it's not even the only record this year in which a nineties indie star fixates on witch-burning, but I found Darren Hayman's effort most underwhelming in comparison.
2. Old Ideas - Leonard Cohen
An old man singing about being old. And yet, compared to some of his recent material, he sounds so alive - wise rather than weak. Clearly being forced back out on to the road has relighted some spark that was fading out on Dear Heather.
1. Wrecking Ball - Bruce Springsteen
So he may be a spring chicken compared to Leonard, but still - the album which impressed me most this year is by a guy in his sixties. From the opening 'We Take Care Of Our Own' - a title as double-edged in its anger and pride as 'Born in the USA' - this is the most furious album about the state of the world, the most full of life and faith when it glimpses the possibility of something better, the most vital record I've heard all year.
