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 Jeff The Brotherhood

Back in the days of Dazed and Confused when teenagers hid in their parents' wood-paneled basements with green shag carpets, smoking pot and staring at lava lamps...they imagined bands making music that stretched their minds whether they were actually listening to music or still just staring at the lava lamps because side one of their record ended and no one was sober enough to get up and move the needle.  JTB is a band that was born 30 years too late.   For Record Store Day they put out an album that split a 20-minute jam over two sides.  They didn't have to do that.  They could have put the whole song on one side.  They didn't choose not to do it because it didn't make sense...they didn't it because it was the perception that they didn't give a shit.  You may think that JTB doesn't give a shit.  Sometimes music shouldn't give a shit.  When you give a shit...you get hair gel.  When you don't give a shit you get naked babies in swimming pools.  But moves like this aren't careless...they're calculated.  Image is everything.  If you want to look like you don't give a shit...you have to work hard at not giving a shit.  That's why they split up their song.  Because every person who bought the vinyl sat back and thought to themselves how bold it was for them to do it.  Despite it seeming like they're playing the game (and they kind of are) this is how great leaps and bounds are made.  By making conscious efforts to portray their image in the way people want to perceive them...you keep your audience's attention...you keep them sitting up and wanting more. 


Here are the 11 Best Songs By Jeff The Brotherhood:

1. Shredder (We Are The Champions)
2. Cool Out (We Are The Champions)
3. Bone Jam (Heavy Days)
4. Heavy Days (Heavy Days)
5. Stay Up Late (We Are The Champions)
6. I'm a Freak (Upstairs at United)
7. U Got The Look (Heavy Days)
8. Mellow Out (We Are The Champions)
9. Wastoid Girl (We Are The Champions)
10. Extra Good (Castle Storm)
11. In Space No One Can Hear You Sceam Parts 1 & 2 (Upstairs at United)

Buy Jeff The Brotherhood's new album, Hypnotic Nights...now!!

Record Store Day Recap (only a month late)

As I jump back into the world of blogging (I promise, baby, this week I'll be different), I figure I need to address the biggest music event of the past few weeks...Record Store Day.  I've been going every year and when I used to get to the store about 30-minutes prior to opening, I was upset that I was 5th or 6th in line.  But every year the line has been getting longer, forcing me to get there earlier.  This year I arrived earlier than I had ever been there...almost 3-hours prior to opening and I was 20th in line.  As alarming as that was, by the time the store opened, there were over 250 people in line...which made me a little less bitter about my placement.  I got just about everything I wanted.  Of the three items I didn't get (The Civil Wars 7", the Brad 7", and the Flaming Lips - Heady Fwends) only CW and Brad were sold out. I was bummed about the CW...and less about the Brad.  Although I was most upset about the Flaming Lips, which never even got shipped.  Even stranger...in LA, the three stores I checked out didn't get copies.  What's even stranger is that the Flaming Lips was the widest release of any Record Store Day release...over 10,000 were made.  That's close to the actual sales figures of their last album...so why in the world was it so hard to find?

That said...the rest of the day and the following two weeks began a scavenger hunt of about a dozen stores...all in hopes of finding the one gem I overlooked.  And yes, I found a few.  Overall, the 7" dominated this year with the longer album being bigger let downs (Flaming Lips production included).

So here are my 11 favorite releases of the Day...and I've heard quite a few.

My 11 Favorite Releases of Record Store Day 2012:

1. Jeff the Brotherhood - Upstairs 10-inch - Strangely, it's probably one of the few albums that didn't even come close to selling out.  I've seen it at dozens of stores...yet it might be the most enjoyable and best vinyl capture of the day.  It's really just a great underrated band jamming the fuck out...but captured on vinyl it's like being in the room with them.  This is what exclusive releases should be all about...something that would never make it as a usual release because it's so up close and intimate it's unplayable except to the people who actually give a shit.

2.  Chris Robinson and the Brotherhood - Blue Suede Shoes 7" - I bought this two weeks after RSD as an impulse buy because it was half off.  The two new songs (not on the new album) are as rocking and raw as anything Chris has done in decades...a definite find.

3.  Feist & Mastodon 7" - A release that should have never happened.  But it's so weird, raw, unlistenable but unresistable...it's a collector's dream.  Can't listen to this one enough.

4.  Arctic Monkeys - R U Still Mine 7" - Where the fuck did this come from?  Maybe the best release by the Monkeys since their debut.  Hopefully this is a good sign that we should expect other great things by them.

5. The Electric Anthology Project of Dinosaur Jr. LP - It's going to be released normally in the coming weeks...but this has to be the most fun of any of the releases.  It's Dinosaur Jr. meets the Breakfast Club.  It's fucking odd...and great at the same time.

6.  Horrible Crowes - Live At Amoeba 7" - This was another album I bought a couple days after RSD.  I was not a huge fan of the actual HC album...it was tolerable.  But these live couple of songs capture the band ripping it up live that is fantastic and deserves many repeat listens.

7.  Ryan Adams - Heartbreak 7" - After last year's super boring album...Ryan at least shows he still has something still in the tank.

8.  Ra Ra Riot - Valerie 7" - Though their are two covers on this record...the Valerie cover is so exceptionally good...it's worth the price of admission all on it's own.

9.  The Flaming Lips - Heady Fwends LP - I never actual got a physical copy...but I have heard this release.  I can't say I'm blown away...or even that upset that I didn't get a copy.  But it's just that crazy that it's worth seeking out to listen to...just once.

10.  Jay Farrar - New Multitudes 10-inch - A companion to possibly one of the best actual albums of the year.  These four songs feature a couple of demos that rock as hard as anything on the album.

11.  Animal Collective - Traverse Temporal Gyrus LP - I don't know if I liked this...or love this...or hate this.  Again, this is what is great about RSD...they can feature album that should never be released in any other fashion except to hardcore fans.  Sure it's experimental bullshit...but I have a copy and you don't.

The ones that got away...

1.  Flaming Lips - Heady Fwends - I have it digitally...but sure wish I had a physical copy.

2.  Brad - Waters Deep 7" - had no idea this would sell out so fast.  Had no idea anyone knew who they were.

3.  Civil Wars - Covers 45 - I've heard the Billie Jean cover...but have sleepless nights dreaming about hearing that Portishead cover.

4.  Mike McCready/Star Ana - A co-worker got a copy and I have to say I'm quite jealous...heard it's pretty good too.

5.  Atmosphere & Aesop Rock - The album had a freaking C-side!  Yes, it had 3 sides!!  That's just epic.

6.  Shabazz Palaces - Live - Just wish I had it.

The 55 Best Albums of 2011 (12-22)

No song was more infectious this year than Foster the People's Pumped up Kids.  What started as a catchy indie rock diddy took off and became an international hit rocketing up the Billboard charts and propelling rock album sales.  Most people still don't know the song is about a school shooting.  Maybe that why despite its popular success, it's still retained its indie cred.  Hopefully this is a sign that there's still a place for rock music on the charts...or maybe it's opening the floodgates for a rock music revival.  One can only hope.

Send in your BEST OF LISTS!!!  I want your top 20 albums of the year...or as many as you would like to send.  Just stick them in the comment section or email them to me.  I will compile a list by New Year's and share it with you all.

Here are the 55 Best Songs of 2011 (12-22):

12.       War on Drugs - Slave Ambient (Baby Missiles)

13.       Bright Eyes - The People's Key

14.       Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math

15.       Middle Brother - Middle Brother (Portland)

16.       Wye Oak - Civilian

17.       Jeff the Brotherhood - We Are Champions

18.       Foster The People - Torches

19.       Jay-Z & Kanye West - Watch The Throne

20.       Jason Isbell - Here We Rest

21.    VHS or Beta - Diamonds and Death

22.    Dawes - Nothing Is Wrong

Buy these albums and more from 2011...all for under $5...for a limited time!!!