2012 in music. • Page 2

1. Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid, MAAD City
2. Taylor Swift - Red
3. The Early November - In Currents

4. Tame Impala - Lonerism
5. Jack White - Blunderbuss
6. John Mayer - Born & Raised
7. Vacationer - Gone
8. Alt-J - An Awesome Wave
9. Ingrid Michaelson - Human Again
10. Passion Pit - Gossamer

11. My Chemical Romance - Conventional Weapons
12. Regina Spektor - What We Saw From the Cheap Seats
13. Smashing Pumpkins - Oceania
14. Blink 182 - Dogs Eating Dogs
15. DIIV - Oshin
16. Childish Gambino - Royalty
17. The xx - Coexist
18. Bloc Party - Four
19. Basement - Colourmeinkindness
20. Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel

Honorable Mentions to Ben Folds Five and Japandroids

 

close fun one

 

honorable mention

 

1. Pye Corner Audio - Sleep Games
2. Deftones - Koi No Yokan
3. XXYYXX - XXYYXX

Honourable Mentions

• Gojira - L'Enfant Sauvage
• Death Grips - The Money Store
• Beak> - >>
• CFCF - Exercises
• Brian Eno - Lux
• Raime - Quarter Turns Over A Living Line
• Evil Needle - Cirrostratus

 

1. Menzingers - On the Impossible Past
2. Dinosaur Jr. - I Bet on Sky
3. Deftones - Koi No Yokan

4. Less than Jake - Greetings and Salutation
5. Hot Water Music - Exister
6. Millencolin - Meloncholy Connection
7. Astpai - Efforts and Means
8. The Holy Mess - Cande Ru Las Degas
9. Soundgarden - King Animal
10. Smashing Pumpkins - Oceania

 

I need to check out that Purity Ring album. I've never really got round to listening to that band.

 

That first album is like if Chvrches went full goth. It's such a fucking delight. Second album leaned heavier into an almost edm sound. Everything since had been pretty good but doesn't touch those first two.

 

Thanks to this thread for reminding me about celebration rock. Currently blasting it down the highway, screaming my lungs out.

 

Sweet

 

1. Japandroids - Celebration Rock
2. Grimes - Visions
3. Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid, MAAD City
4. Taylor Swift - Red
5. Death Grips - The Money Store
6. Chromatics - Kill for Love
7. The Menzingers - On the Impossible Past
8. Beach House - Bloom
9. Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
10. Purity Ring - Shrines
11. Passion Pit - Gossamer
12. Perfume Genius - Put Your Back N 2 It
13. The Gaslight Anthem - Handwritten
14. Grizzly Bear - Shields
15. Killer Mike - RAP Music

 

Ah wow I totally forgot about Grimes. I played the shit out of the album, definitely should’ve been in my top 10.

 

1. The Menzingers - On The Impossible Past
2. Dry The River - Shallow Bed
3. Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d city

 

Never done any of the other years so apologies for just hopping in now but 2012 is such a weird year for me to look back on musically speaking. 2011 was stacked comparatively but I was also still pretty close-minded with my listening so a lot of bands weren't even on my radar until a few years later.

I listened to mostly warped tour pop punk/metalcore and was just getting into the emo revival wave. I really don't care about most of what was in my rotation anymore outside of emo stuff. Parkway Drive, Amity Affliction, The Ghost Inside, Enter Shikari all dropped LPs in 2012 for instance and I couldn't care less about any of them at this point.

1. Basement - Colourmeinkindness
   
   
2. Circa Survive - Violent Waves
   
   
3. Wild Nothing - Nocturne
   
   ________________________________
   
   
4. Title Fight -Floral Green
5. DIIV - Oshin
   
6. Deftones - Koi No Yokan
7. Tame Impala - Lonerism
8. Daytrader - Twelve Years
9. The Menzingers - On The Impossible Past
10. Mac Demarco - 2

 

Definitely a lesser year for me but still plenty of gems:

01) THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM - Handwritten

Merging their love of Springsteen and Pearl Jam, TGA made a bid for the big leagues and while it may not have found them headlining arenas, it was my most enjoyed release of the year.

02) FUN - Some Nights

A well-derverd mainstream breakthrough, Fun essentially set the template for alternative radio for the decade

03) ALT-J - An Awesome Wave

Nerdy and studious indie rock which unfolds in an amazing way and is still a record I often return to

04) HOT CHIP - In Our Heads

Hot Chip's finest release stacking one banger after another with effortless hooks and shiny keyboards

05) FOXY SHAZAM - Church Of Rock & Roll

Though they never got anywhere close to headlining arenas, this was Foxy's big for Queen-inspired stadium rock

06) JAPANDROIDS - Celebration Rock

A "Dudes rock" legend, this album still sounds amazingly powerful with just guitar, vocals and drums

07) PASSION PIT - Gossamer

Michael Angelakos apparently labored over this nearly to death and it sounds like it, given the note-perfect modern indie/R&B pop set to some dark lyrics

08) ALABAMA SHAKES - Boys & Girls

Soul-driven rock and roll led by Brittany Howard's amazing vocals chops.

09) TAME IMPALA - Lonerism

Pyschedelic rock driven by a lonesome studio rat made for an excellent listen

10) DEFTONES - Koi No Yokan

This could be titled Diamond Eyes pt 2 based on how it sounds but the Deftones continued their excellent run with this

11) FIONA APPLE - The Idler Wheel...

Fiona comes out of hiding to give us another modern pop masterpiece

12) NEON TREES - Picture Show

Following up a big debut with an album that sounds both bigger and more intimate, it's a shame Neon Trees weren't bigger than their two hits

13) THE XX - Coexist

A natural continuation of their excellent debut giving us a lovely set of dark and dreamy songs

14) SIGUR ROS - Valtari

This Icelandic group is simply unable to NOT make beautiful music and Valtari demonstrates what they do best.

15) ANBERLIN - Vital

Major label swan song for Anberlin but one of their fiercest and most biting releases since since their days on Tooth & Nail

16) GARBAGE - Not Your Kind Of People

90's legends roar back after a long hiatus with a modern sounding collection of powerful electric-tinged hooky rock.

17) BEACH HOUSE - Bloom

Building and refining off of Teen Dream, Beach House soundtrack another hazey afternoon and/or late night stoned dream

18) GREEN DAY - Uno! Dos! Tre!

Grouping these togther as they function well as a whole. Some dips but more or less a snazzy collection of power-pop, pop/punk, garage rock and Green Day's new love of stadium bombast

19) THE DARKNESS - Hot Cakes

Somehwat of a comeback after their hiatus, this record didn't make much of a dent in the US market but it's a nice return to form for those who loved Permission To Land

20) SCISSOR SISTERS - Magic Hour

NYC'S kings of glammy camp come with another hook-heavy release

21) JACK WHITE - Blunderbuss

Breaking out on his own allows Jack to layer his songs with more instrumentation as well as his most personal collection of songs.

22) FATHER JOHN MISTY - Fear Fun

The funniest and most talented guy from the Fleet Foxes breaks out and begins his legacy a folk-y irreverent wiseass

23) MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK - Go

Apparently Justin Pierre's least favorite of MCS's discography, Go is probably their most singer/songwriter-driven album bust still great

24) OF MONSTERS AND MEN - My Head Is An Animal

Folk-rock was huge in 2012 and this debut was the best it had to offer in 2012

25) MARINA AND THE DIAMONS - Electra Heart

As Stereogum noted, this was a key contributor "Tumblr pop" in 2012

26) WALK THE MOON - Walk The Moon

Catchy and dance-y pop/rock labeled as "indie" was hugely en vogue around this time and Walk The Moon's debut is a great collection of song.

27) MUMFORD & SONS - Babel

Probably the biggest band of 2012, Babel takes their folky banjo tunes and injects them with enough power to reach the cheap sheets

28) SEIGH BELLS - Reign Of Terror

A logical next step after Treats, while it didn't match their debut it came close

29) LINKIN PARK - Living Things

Coming back to earth after their big proggy experiment, Living Things is a well-rounded synth-heavy version of Linkin Park

30) THE BIG PINK - Future This

More indie landfill but some big hooks and cool synth-pop songs on this one

 

Don't know how I forgot that Marina album. One of my fave pop albums ever.

 

Just remembered how much I loved Floral Green in 2012, and yeah it still slaps

 

Man, where's the discussion?! Let's talk about what songs we don't like on Celebration Rock or Channel Orange and get it popping in here!

I remember when the song Bad Religion came out I was mildly upset that it would now come up every time you'd google the band (this was in the height of my Bad Religion fandom).

 

Channel Orange is almost as overrated as GKMC. Bloated and pretty boring.

 

I think most of us were on this site in 2012 so the discussion is probably exhausted haha.

 

That's true. I can only talk so much about how I didn't like Fun.'s "Stars" until I was older.

 

What are your thoughts on Blonde because that's how I feel about that album

 

I don't see it making people's lists but 2012 was also when Imagine Dragons "Night Visions" was released which was a HUGE record.

 

Although they're pretty much the same length I think Blonde feels like a more succinct record than CO for sure. I think both are pretty great though!

 

If Stars was the last song I heard before I died, I would be very ok with it

 

I like Blonde more, but I don't think he's made a (or his) masterpiece yet. He has it in him, though.