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Chromatics: Kill for Love
First Aid Kit: The Lion's Roar
dEUS: Following Sea

I will go through my collection and post more titles this afternoon.

I'm not sure what I'd suggest. Have lots of records I like a lot (FOTL, Swans, El-P, Hot Chip, PiL, Orbital, Beak>, The Chap, Can, Holy Mountai, Death Grips, Curren$y, RM Hubbert, Liars, Human don't be angry, run walk, Twin Shadow) but the one that I find I'm constantly revisiting is Aesop Rock's 'Skelethon'.

Still got very little idea what 90% of the lyrics are about but am addicted to all the little intricacies in the backing music and his general flow. I really hope more people pick itup a give it a chance.

Debo Band
Swans - The Seer
Corin Tucker Band - Kill My Blues
John Talabot - Fin
Horseback - Half-Blood

Cloud Nothings, obv. but everyone's heard that, yeah?

Foe and Yppah (Film Burn is an amazing track), my two favourite albums this year are alt-j and Polica.

Here are 2 great albums that were not reviewed by DiS

Lilacs & Champagne - s/t The producing-team behind Grails, Alex Hall and Emil Amos http://open.spotify.com/album/5ko1PYf4k4QWtcKg19ly0L

Broadcaster feat. Peggy Seeger - Folksploitation Dance/electronic producer Broadcaster with vocals from 77 year old American Folk legend Peggy Seeger (Widow of Ewan Maccoll) http://open.spotify.com/album/2pIe6eNLTg9AaRyq3xz3pe Especially check out first time ever

Orbital - Wonky
Garbage - Not Your Kind of People
Jessie Ware - Devotion
Ultravox - Brilliant
Sleigh Bells - Reign of Terror
mind.in.a.box - Revelations
Toy - Toy
Ulrich Schnauss & Mark Peters - Underrated Silence
Ladyhawke - Anxiety

Woodpecker Wooliams album although it hasn't been reviewed on DiS has got incredible review across the board mostly and although I'm biased it's easily my favorite and most listened to album of the year.

Woodpecker Wooliams - The Bird School of Being Human

Is up on Spotify now.

Death Grips
Action Bronson
Animal Collective
El-P
Aesop Rock
Killer Mike
Dirty Projectors
Burial's EP
Purity Ring
Exit Music
Polica
Xiu Xiu
Holy Other
WHY?
Young Magic

really like that. Gonna check Aesop Rock out I think.

but now I've digested them all properly, Aesop Rock's probably the best of the three.

Not given El-P a listen yet, will look into his stuff as well.

swans - the seer
carter tutti void - transverse (suprised more people havent fallen in love with it)
motion sickness of time travel - s/t. i think it's one of the strongest ambient releases of the last few years. i'd say on the same standard as emeralds last (which was AOTY here)
and of course wixiw by liars. probably their strongest release after DND
burial - kindred ep.

so I guess that's one people 'should' give a spin before the list making commences.

Big fan of Yppah, bought Eighty One on the spur of the moment 'cos I was bored and saw Jordan's thread on here.

But rarely find myself wanting to digest the whole thing at once. It does deserve a bit more coverage though.

is currently my favourite album of 2012. It's bright, uplifting, full of heavy riffs, punk elements and sludgy-pop.

Good work Sean.

Beak - >>

I didn't expect to really engage with this, but there's an off-centre eerieness, a compelling sense of unease; it's propulsive like a HAZMAT-suited, jeep-bound inspection of the sunny off-white wasteland of an abandoned biochemical research site, a deceptive calm with death all-pervasive but invisible in the air.

KTL - V

there's no mistaking the goings on here for anything less than skin-prickling horror and cold sweat lucid nightmares in the domain of pure psychosis.

again, so much more than I expected;gaping crevasses of coruscating stillness, the ungodly singing of some great gothic mansion's unknowable dimensions, possessed by the manifestation of mankind's potential for evil.

Mirrorring - Foreign Body

yeah, this is really great and all. the heightened, heady immersion of a summer night in bloom, drifting through the perfumed air, a trip backwards through time on the branes of of piqued senses.

But I suspect that I'll be loving How to Dress Well, the XX and Stealing Sheep before the end of the year...

yeah, I find it so overwhelming, can't even decide if I like it or am just experiencing it.

that record is exceptional. Definitely gonna in the upper echelons of the DiS list this year I reckon. Anyone who loved the Julia Holter record, but hasn't heard this should really give it a go http://motionsicknessoftimetravel.bandcamp.com/album/motion-sickness-of-time-travel

shared some more that people have probably already checked out due to DiS coverage, chatter on here, etc... :-p

jesus christ, people

don't like it.

might have just felt a bit too stressed when I listened, but it made me want to break things. like my earphones.

life is really excellent for you SHUT UP FRANK.

it's perfect

and Tigercats

I just haven't given it a chance.

and the Sun Araw/Congos/Gengras one is so good.

and Zammuto and both Mount Eerie and Perfume Genius.

Death grips
Liars
Perfume Genius
Killer Mike
Black Breath
The Walkmen
Simian Mobile Disco
JJ DOOM
Torche
Agalloch
Sun Araw, M. Gedde Gengras, The Congos

Jam City - Classical Curves

VCMG - SSSS
I'm kind of surprised how this has passed by with little comment. I know a few people who thought it was great, but all seem to have forgotten about it already. I reckon it's great.

Grimes - Visions
I know this one splits opinion. I've played it to death, and it is starting to wear a little now. Also, I saw her at The Arches and was left disappointed. Still, an album worth listening to as it'll be in all the press lists somewhere.

Admiral Fallow - Tree Bursts in Snow
I liked this one, though not as much as 'Boots Met My Face'. It has grown on me though and it won't be on many peoples AOTY lists, but it's worth a wee listen I think.

I was entirely disappointed by that VCMG album. I checked it out 'cause The Quietus were bigging it up loads, but I just couldn't get into it.

when I think about it (or go purely with my heart), 'Put Your Back N 2 It' is an easy winner.

all his songs sound roughly the same (you have a split between the floatier and more grounded ones, but it's two sides of the same coin), and still yet the it never seems like sounds formulaic due its pathos and grace.

it's also deceptively simple music; unaffected and real, but neither clichéd or shallow. it's his own take on that Galaxie 500 trick, piano in place of guitar, where no one else could sit down with the same chords and create the same beauty. alchemy of sorts.

that paragraph >_<

and yet it never sounds formulaic due to its pathos and grace.

Or Mount Eerie - Clear Moon (already mentioned)

The new Flying Lotus is one I have to listen to for sure. Loved by many already.

Mystical Sun - 26000. Best album I`ve heard in years.
Motion Sickness Of Time Travel - S/T
Stephen Hummel - Meld
Nothing But Noise - Not Bleeding Red
Module - Imagineering
Cymophane - S/T
Kilowatts - Acceptitude

japandroids - celebration rock
the walkmen - heaven
lotus plaza - spooky action at a distance
liars - wixiw
animal collective - centipede hz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mftogj-eS0

Beautiful, heart breaking, powerful. Plus, live she's ace

Plus I like Beach House - not saying its AOTY but deserves an honourable mention at least, and no-one here's going to mention it(awaits derision)

Petar Dundov - Ideas from the Pond
Ukkonen - The Isolated Rhythms of Ukkonen
Damien Jurado - Maraqopa
Dustin Wong - Dreams Say, View, Create, Shadow Leads

Meld, Imagineering and possibly Acceptitude. They`re all on Bandcamp.

is probably Matthew E. White - Big Inner
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj7J4x1Qv1A

HUNDRED WATERS. Subtle electronics, layered percussion, beautiful vocals etc...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qk0AhHGbUU

Inez Lightfoot ~ Three Weaving At the Well [Biological Radio]

Pretty sure her upcoming LP for digitalis will turn a lot of heads, but this little cassette has really been doing it for me and should really gather more attention.
RIYL: Julia Holter, Folky stuff.
http://inezlightfoot.bandcamp.com/album/three-weaving-at-the-well

Bernardino Femminielli ~ Double Invitation [Desire]

This isn't out properly yet I don't think but i've had it for a bit and have been listening to it at least once a day. Somewhere between super cheesy and beautiful, the youtube below is from his 'Sprezzatura' cassette from last year and gives you a clue of what to expect once the drums and his italian whispers kick in.
RIYL: John Maus, Italo-disco, the drive soundtrack/Chromatics, swooning.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85xP5yAogfQ

Dont ~ AR005 [Atelier]

Really wonderfully messed up post-punk from Berlin, the guys Norwegian (i think?) drawl suits the messy technoid sound so well.
RIYL: This industrial revival thats going on at the minute with guys like Factory Floor, Carter Tutti Void et al.
http://hardwax.com/66179/dont/ar-005/

Villalobos ~ Dependant & Happy [Perlon]

The best thing Ricardo has put to a record in a fair while, some incredibly beautiful and kicking bits without losing any of his own weird sound.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FWHpCbqM18

Nina Kraviz - Nina Kraviz [Rekids]

Just.. really gorgeous downtempo House, it's got this beautiful sanguine quality to it~ there's been an awful lot made of the fact the album is made by an (undoubtedly) good looking woman, but it uses space very well and has a lovely softness to it.
RIYL: Uh, I can't really bring anything to mind.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzvPbmEq6ds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXauiygSSA8

still 2 of my favourite releases from this year, I'm glad my initial reaction of being underwhelmed from FOEs release was short lived as it's a really good & heavily pop influenced Rock record & it probably does it better then anyone else in recent memory.

Is an absolute surprise top 3 entry for me. weird and wonderful in equal measure, best use of wah wah ive heard in decades.

Keiji Haino, Jim O'Rourke & Oren Ambarchi - Imikuzushi
a difficult first listen album but after repeated listens it makes sense.

Ahleuchatistas - Heads Full Of Poison
Great follow up to last years Location, Location.

Mutilation Rites - Empyrean
This years Tombs/Liturgy-esque BM.

It's awful and doesn't make any sense.

I've loved new albums from Cloud Nothings, Alt-J, Actress, Hot Chip, Perfume Genius, Twin Shadow, Django Django and Flying Lotus.

http://soundcloud.com/doldrumss

Ryat’s up there as well on the Brainfeeder front: http://soundcloud.com/ryat/howl

And I imagine Metz (In Utero/Jesus Lizard/No Age/Les Savy Fav) and Daphni (dancey Caribou side-project) will do well with you lot, as they’re fucking ace:

Metz - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGF3qH1FOfc&feature=fvwrel

Daphni - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKFX-i2F4ec&feature=fvsr

Chairlift
How To Dress Well
Divine Fits

Bear In Heaven just missing out.

mewithoutYou - Ten Stories
Wonderful kinda concept album about a circus train crash in the late 1800's. A mix of their rock and folky sides with brilliant melody and lyrics.

Japandroids - Celebration Rock
Heard them mentioned on here a lot but didn't know what they sounded like so I checked them out and it turns out they've made the best Hold Steady album since Boys and Girls in America. And by that I mean a record full of classic rock party anthems about drinking and being young.

The Crimea - Square Moon
Finally released it's a fantasic double album of quirky indie folky pop with great lyrics and gregorian chanting. Prob the best songwriters in Britain today.

I imagine it'll still be there at Christmas. Amazed it keeps getting missed off these lists for so long.

The pure syrup nectar of human filth and squalor. Gira's finest hour, and perhaps humanity's as well, at least, until we return to the primordial ooze.

also:
Laurel Halo - Quarantine.
Motion Sickness Of Time Travel - S/T.

But post-dubstep does make sense to me, in the same way that post-rock does (more so, really). Music that employs a lot of the same distinctive sounds and hallmarks of dubstep but in a... quieter way I guess.

1. Perfume Genius
2. Grimes
3. Jens Lekman

Listening to that Chromatics record for the first time, quite liking this.

My album of the year.

I usually try and give something like this the benefit of the doubt musically because many people claim it to be a work of art. But its just a slog sometimes.

no one has actually nominated the Julia Holter album. In my top 5 this year.

Alabama Shakes
Bruce Springsteen
Spiritualized
Beach House
Chromatics
Tame Impala
Swans
Menomena
Lotus Plaza
Fresh & Onlys

Played to death, still adore it.

Shearwater, AU, El-P, Sharon Van Etten, School of Seven Bells

A Whisper in the noise - to forget
Orcas - Orcas
Geographer - Myth
Trst - Trust
Purity Ring - Shrines
Humans - Traps

Collection 1 by Friendzone

'Cloud rap' instrumentals or whatever, kinda like Clams Casino but softer. Main Attraktionz use a lot of their stuff. It's real good though.

that's fucking excellent

re-released from last year but boy, it's a killer 27m package. highly recommended for fans of brevity, garage rock and a strong vocal presence

are in addition to Flying Lotus, Burial, Perfume Genius, Cloud Nothings, John Talabot, Killer Mike etc

is 77 minutes long. COME ON. They're not frigging Tool...

sun araw, m.geddes gengras and the congos - icon give thanks

Shame, another beautiful piece of work.

Mark Lanegan, Fiona Apple, Grizzly Bear, The Walkmen

Lotus Plaza
Menomena
Dirty Projectors
The Divine Fits
Efterklang
Thomas White

Or only given a quick listen. Really need to go back to that A Whisper in the Noise album for starters.

"Sweet Heart Sweet Light" is still one of the best records of 2012.

To make matters worse, the new system deleted all the posts from a load of old users too, so most old threads are broken/deleted.

Goat - World Music
Laurel Halo - Quarantine
Ty Segall Band - Slaughterhouse

"I Will Be My Own Hell Because There’s A Devil Inside My Body" noisy punk/indie/garage rock goodness

also

Ravenous - Splendid (I'm still expecting this band to be massive at some point)
Flying Lotus - Until The Quiet Comes
Spiritualized - Sweet Heart Sweet Light
Laurel Halo - Quarantine
Extra Life - Dream Seeds (I still listen to this at least once every week)
An Autumn For Crippled Children - Only The Ocean Knows (one of the best examples of the post-bm/blackgaze I've heard)

but we're right

Hard to find, but rewards nicely :) I found a sampling-
http://open.spotify.com/track/4nZ87ywPhYOX1HJDVKs8w7

encore deux de mes versions préférées de cette année, je suis heureux que ma première réaction d'être déçue de l'album de FOE a été de courte durée car c'est un disque rock vraiment bon et très pop influencée et il le fait sans doute mieux que quiconque dans l'histoire récente.

I'd probably whack the Her Parents album somewhere. and Chris Brown AND JOHN LENNON

Perfume Genius
Anais Mitchell
Cold Specks
Feist
Cat Power
Jack White
Japandroids

Future of the Left - Plot Against Common Sense
Pulled Apart by Horses - Tough Love
The Cribs - In the Belly of the Brazen Bull
Jah Wobble/Julie Campbell - Psychic Life
Four Tet - Pink
dEUS - Following The Sea

Incredible songwriting and haunting voice

Dirty Projectors
of Montreal
Ariel Pink
Delicate Steve
Mount Eerie
Xiu Xiu
Dan Deacon
Why?

John Talabot
Kindness
Jack White

there's an unbearably precious/fastidious way in which the guy details the story - 'brown paper and string-wrapped parcels', 'china cups of camp (?) coffee and plates of custard creams', 'two bottles of Holsten Pils', 'she made us proper hot chocolate, not the instant shit you get from a machine' - that sets my teeth on edge.

it reads really nicely, and the story is brilliant, but I swear I can hear the lint on his fucking cardigan.

I mean, it's no wonder this guy got seduced by a transvestite. Staples does spoken word with graceful grit, tempering his bleeding heart with a noirish, manly deadpan; he'd never get into that kind of mess.

the music is grand, and the rest of the album is excellent. getting past that 'Chocolate' without cringeing myself into a singularity is the problem.

A MUST hear? It's OK.

Perfume Genius
Pulled Apart By Horses
Prinzhorn Dance School

sun kil moon
mountain goats
neil halstead
metz
divorce
the music tapes
swans
dinosaur jr
allo darlin
lots of good stuff this year...

future of the left. that was awesome. looking forward to having a little earful of some of the stuff mentioned above that i've not been lucky enough to hear yet.

chromatics
john talabot
bear in heaven

in your opinion, maybe not.

but the new Trail Of Dead album has been on constant rotation for the past few weeks and is (to my ears) the best they've done since Source Tags.

Japandroids
Future Of The Left
El-P
Twilight Sad

Records I can't see the fuss over: Death Grips
Records I'd probably include in this if/when I get around to hearing them: Actress, Killer Mike, Cast Of Cheers, Gallows.

I know quite a few folks who checked it out and were pleasantly surprised.

by Title Fight

Thee Oh Sees
Toy
DZ Deathrays
DIIV
Ariel Pink
Apache Dropout
Baroness
Tame Impala
Melodys Echo Chamber
Pond
Phedre

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGaRkBOSSYM&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6aHWgM74OQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQSsHP-Qd-M&feature=related

is an absolute cracker. Not a duff track on it.

Grimes - Visions (if you don't mind high voices)
Black Swan - Aeterna (if you like that sort of thing)
Now Now - Threads (if you like indie rock and DCFC, and women vocalists)
Matthew Dear - Beams (if you like electro sort of stuff)

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!
Voices From The Lake - ST

I quite like it. Listened to it quite a few times, but it didn't stick and haven't felt any desire to go back to it.

Scott Walker and Deftones, for sure!

BATS - The Sleep of reason
http://drownedinsound.com/releases/17293/reviews/4145626

Stream here:
http://iheartau.com/2012/10/album-stream-bats-the-sleep-of-reason/

Don't see how you couldn't love this record to bits if you're a fan of progressive, clever, blisteringly original rock music.

Joint album of the year for me in a strong 11 months so far.

sorry Torche. :(

Beast

Couldnt come to the notts gig as I had to work in London. I expect it was amazing?

This is probably going to be my album of the year I think. I'd love to see this get some love from people outside of the usual DiS hip hop guys, because;

1) I think it's the best written rap album of the year. The lyrics are intricate, funny, poignant and yes, difficult, but there are puzzles and couplets here that I'll spend years joyously dissecting.

2) It's a record that took longer than a few months to record and as a result it sounds different to Aesop's previous output. This isn't a rehashing or rewording of ideas Aesop has expressed a hundred times - he took his time and crafted a record full of new, interesting thoughts. As good as Kendrick's record is, to use one example, a lot of its themes have been covered on other Kendrick albums released within very recent memory. That's not to Kendrick's discredit, it's more the nature of the world he's part of, whereas Aesop comes from a place outside of the hip hop industry and can march to his own beat.

3) What's great about Aesop is that as complex as his lyrics are, his songs don't ever sound dry. That's partly down to his delivery, but this record has some DRUMS on it as well as a self-contained "album's album" quality.

Anyway, I'm sure the likes of Killer Mike and El-P will pick up votes, I just hope Skelethon gets an equal chance.

Some links;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52d1CcpEEl8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_EKoKyfI2s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dbd4h1kaFlY

http://open.spotify.com/user/theogb/playlist/6STgwHZ47os3m6M6TzU9Lx

I have aptly titled this: 2012 Albums you should listen to before you make your wanky album of the year list like me.

Techno, Ostgut Ton.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNxaWh-SR-o

Bass, Hessle.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2bRADvCdgI

Been a fan of his work for years but I think it's truly a landmark album about some really interesting points in a persons life and a record that I find something new in with every spin.

Still need to review it for DiS but a bit terrified I can't do justice to how much I love it.

and not just because they're from glasgow

which I guess is part of the reason I love it so much.

This is as good as I've read on it; http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16814-skelethon/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/mbrj

On Hyperdub, awesome album.

An absolute belter and no mistake.

and probably my fav song this year 'girls'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiXXAiA0YGQ

We Trippy Mane

Sharon Van Etten
The XX
Leonard Cohen
Django Django
Daphni
Cat Power
Mark Lanegan
Burial
Divine Fits
Liars

RIP, one of my best purchases in a good while.

Centipede Hz, I think it's cracking.

Big fan of their album "Everything Touching" - well worth a listen

Not ground-breaking, but a very good album.

(I know I've posted about this before, but it's such a beautiful album and it seems that most people are unaware of it - just listen to Arrow or Ship for instance).

Also:
Perfume Genius
FOE
Fiona Apple
Anthony And The Johnsons (live album)
Hot Chip

I enjoyed the Yeasayer album quite a bit as well, but I'm not including it on the list because the best song on it ("Reagan's Skeleton" appears to be a ripoff).

Dez Mona: A Gentleman's Agreement
video 'Suspicion': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv-oZYfmNns
This is the most poppy single of the album.

definitely not

This album just seems to get me in the guts emotionally. It also has such a beautiful sense of space.

I'm newly obsessed with America, Dan Deacon's record from this year. Pitchfork gave it a pretty lukewarm review. But to me it's not just serious AOTY territory, it's the kind of album that gets you sweating over that big, scary word: masterpiece. I think it's exceptional, anyway.

And let me catch up.

That Fantasy Rainbow album is pretty cool. Not AOTY level or anything but well worth a listen if you're into that kinda lo-fi indie pop stuff (awful awful description)

agree more. love the record but that track is nauseatingly twee.

a masterpiece in the making - I don't know if its latest is his best yet, but I bet the next one or the next one after that will be.
Pitchfork will be eating out of his hand very soon ...

second listen that it's not that wonderful a life for Frank.

Too much going on...!

Sharon Van Etten - Tramp
Trail of Dead - Lost Songs (Heart of Wires is my song of the year)
Now, Now - Threads

Runner up has to be the Clark record, Iradelphic.

I honestly despised that Foe record, it sounded like a record that ticked all the boxes but her voice is so polystyrene squeak/nails on blackboard. Nope, sorry.

Mine's still not here :(