The Best Albums of 2012 (12-22)

Merry Christmas to all.

Sometimes Christmas surprises you.  For years I've grown complacent with Christmas presents.  Not for others.  For others I go all out spending most of the year trying to figure out exactly what they want.  What I'm referring to is what is given to me.  I'm not bitching about peoples' generosity, everyone around me is very generous but sometimes their presents miss the mark and I spend most of the day smiling and thanking people for something I'm figuring out how I'm going to return.  This year something different happened.  I'm a huge Smashing Pumpkins fan...if you haven't noticed in my Billy Corgan manlove.  I've purchased all the reissues thus far.The Pumpkins reissues have been one of the best remaster/editions to come out in years.  Though it comes close to the "wall of sound" disaster that ruined Nevermind...it toes close enough to the line to respectfully keep the original sound intact.  Naturally, I admired the Mellon Collie box set from afar.  I thought the Pisces price tag of $40 was steep...but the Mellon Collie set weighs in at over $100.  Granted you get 5 discs worth of material...plus a DVD.  It was still far above what I could handle paying.  I joked with my brother about getting it for me...knowing fair well that he would never cough up the dough for it.  My brother would rather spend $100 on polishing the tires on his Maserati than ever think about doing something like this.  Granted, his tires do get dirty very easily.  I had begun plotting how I might be able to download the bonus tracks though the availability of them was very slim.  I had resigned the fact that this one would be the box set that would just get away.  Then, Christmas morning I unwrapped it.  The last present under the tree happened to be the one thing I wanted that I never thought I'd have.  Though it wasn't from my brother...it was a bit of a Christmas miracle.

A post about this SP set will be coming shortly...

Here are the Best Albums of 2012 (12-22):

12.  Jeff The Brotherhood - Hypnotic Nights 
13.  Chiddy Bang - Breakfast 
14.  Of Monsters and Men - My Head Is An Animal 
15.  Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
16.  The Raveonettes - Observator 
17.  Crystal Castles - III
18.  Craig Finn - Clear Heart Full Eyes 
19.  Japandroids - Celebration Rock 
20.  Van Halen - A Different Kind of Truth 
21.  The Lumineers - The Lumineers 
22.  Kendrick Lamar - good kid, maad city (Bonus Track)

Buy these albums and more now!!!

The 11 Best Songs By Crystal Castles

For years Black Friday has been the day for Christmas shopping.  I never get everything I want or need on that day but I usually end up getting a good start on where I need to be.  Oddly, I usually buy more things for myself on Black Friday than I do for others.  When it comes to buying things for myself, I'm actually really good at it.  For the past couple of years, another event has compounded Black Friday into an uber event that only further rips my wallet and bank account to shreds:  Record Store Day.  Combining the two events for me is like relocating Disneyland to the strip in Las Vegas while handing out free ecstasy tabs and buckets of $50 gambling chips.  Too many choices.  BluRay players for $50 or Velvet Underground Acetate?  $3 jackets or White Stripes 45-inches?  It's not fair.

I picked up 11 releases.  Three of them...I didn't even go into the store having any interest in...but when I was there in the moment, I bought a Wanda Jackson rarities disc...and I freaking love it.  I want to take Wanda Jackson out to a nice dinner with wine and tiramisu.  It was an impulse buy.  I feel in love with the album cover and the smile on Jackson's face.  That kind of love of music doesn't exist anymore.  It's more important to be popular than to be good.  No longer can you just be a fan of the art form and take a chance on a 6-song EP of demos and outtakes for $16 and be absolutely infatuated.  This is what makes me a fan.  Standing in line for hours to buy something I didn't even know I wanted...that makes me a fan.  Sitting in front of a record player flipping over records after one song...that makes me a fan.  Sitting by the TV waiting to see what new outfit Justin Bieber wore to PF Chang's...makes me want to shoot my eyes out.

Record Store Day continues on.  The lines keep getting longer.  The releases keep getting better.  And the record industry keeps blaming internet downloading for ruining their industry.  Weird.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Crystal Castles:

1. Not In Love w/ Robert Smith (II - Big Day Out Deluxe Version)
2. Vanished (Crystal Castles)
3. Celestica (II)
4. Crimewave (Crystal Castles)
5. Lovers Who Uncover w/ the Little Ones (Lovers Who Come Over)
6. Suffocation (II)
7. Untrust Us (Crystal Castles)
8. Year of Silence (II)
9. Pap Smear (II)
10. Knights (Crystal Castles)
11. Violent Dreams (II)

Buy Crystal Castles new album, III...now!!!