Music Was Made. The Best of 2012

S'up guys! Yes, we know it's been a year (once again) since our last post, but we've been busy prepping for the Mayan apocalypse thingy that's happening in a couple of days. Thankfully, our basement is now full of smoked meats ranging from possum to skunk to raccoon. On a related note, we believe the sanitation departments of Somerville and Cambridge owe us a debt of gratitude. No more overturned trash cans and rabies shots!

But yes, in regards to the music. Below, you'll see some albums and songs from 2012 that our staff handpicked as exceptionally listenable... with a couple of notable exceptions.

Yes, the world as we know it will most likely end in the immediate future, but at least our cadre of loyal reader(s) will have some great new music to pass the time before everyone they know and love is lost to them forever. Enjoy!


Let's begin with the bad news...


The "MERCY KILLING" Awards

You know the scene in Last of the Mohicans where Daniel Day Lewis's character shoots the British officer nobody likes because he's being burned alive at the stake? Yeah, these bands deserve a similar kindness:

Band #1: The Shins
Album that broke the camel's back: Port of Morrow

Now, while it could be said that the Shins have always been James Mercer's creative vehicle to some degree, Port of Morrow signified the departure of the every original member outside of Mercer. The evolution of The Shins from loose and lo-fi to studio stateliness (or staleness, if you ask us) was completed with this album. No whimsical, infectious tracks like "New Slang" or "Kissing the Lipless" can be found here. Hell, we at least expected another "Phantom Limb" somewhere. The closest Mercer comes to revisiting the sound he's left behind is "September," and even that bores after the first minute or so. There used to be something ramshackle about The Shins that made each listen feel like a breath of fresh air. On Port of Morrow, it sounds like someone sucked the oxygen out of the studio.


Band #2: Band of Horses
Album that broke the camel's back: Mirage Rock

Much like Mercer with The Shins, lead singer Ben Bridwell has steered Band of Horses steadily away from the sound of their stellar debut album. Losing founding members and gaining a renewed sense of affection for Southern rock, all that remains of Band of Horses's formerly rich, layered sound on Mirage Rock, their fourth album, is Bridwell's voice (which is fantastic in concert by the way, or at least it used to be). But a nice set of pipes only gets you so far when your songs are rip-offs of 1970s Americana. There's nothing wrong with folksy tunes that owe a debt to previous generations (as proven by one of the albums on our Top 10 list below), but these tracks mostly sound like pale imitations of the real thing. Even the catchier songs like "Knock Knock" fail to immerse the listener in the way you feel like they could. There's no "The Funeral" on Mirage Rock, but it effectively heaps another pile of dirt onto the grave of Band of Horses.



Now, onto the accolades...


If you remember nothing else about 2012, let it be this song:

Haim: "Forever"

It doesn't hurt that the video for this track is an absolute blast and a perfect companion for the music. Or that we have crushes on all three of the sisters that comprise this band. Also, friend of Mitchfork Alex K. recently saw Haim in concert, and by all accounts they amazed.

How to sum up this song? It's a collage of sounds (Wikipedia calls it "nu-folk–meets–nineties-R&B") from the past few decades that will make you want to get up and dance around your apartment with your romantic partner in crime (shout out to the inimitable KK), and the breakdown about 2/3rds of the way through is a show-stopper. Plus, there are handclaps! WHO DOESN'T LIKE HANDCLAPS?

Honorable Mention Goes To:

Daughter, The Wild Youth EP
Top Track: "Youth"

Technically Daughter's second release may have arrived last year, but we all know "release dates" are increasingly an archaic thing. Anyways, this here is a fragile beauty of an EP. Showcased within its four tracks are ethereal female vocals (courtesy of Elena Tonra) paired with delicate arrangements that are occasionally shattered by bursts of melodic angst. It's sort of like The xx (whose disappointing sophomore effort didn't make the cut this year), but more folky and less muted. These are emotionally vulnerable songs that conjure up images of a lost little girl seeking some sort of protection in a threatening world. Won't someone protect her?!?!


Hey look, a Top 10:


#10:

Japandroids, Celebration Rock
Top Track: "The House That Heaven Built"

More of the same from Japandroids. It's been three years since their debut Post-Nothing, during which time we at Mitchfork have all felt the cruel passage of time. But while our hair goes grayer, these guys still sound like they're 18, always prepared to leave town and never look back. The songs on Celebration Rock charge ahead one after another, full of reckless swagger.

At some point you're like "Hey, we're going 110 in a 55 mph zone -- that's a criminal offense. Maybe we should lay off the gas a bit," and Japandroids are like "And if they try to slow you down/tell 'em all to go to hell". But then you're like "Hey guys, that's not nice, I'm just looking out for our safety. I mean, come on, you're not even wearing a seat belt! Let's be smart here."

But yeah, it's a good album.


#9:

Santigold, Master of My Make-Believe
Top Track: "Disparate Youth"

Santogold is no more! Long live Santigold! On both her self-titled debut and this, her second effort, there are two types of songs on display: pretty songs and aggressive songs. The pretty songs can be aggressive too, but you quickly know which type of Santigold song you're getting. "Look at These Hoes" is an aggressive song, for example, while "This Isn't Our Parade" is a pretty song. The pretty tracks are sleek New-Wavey pop gems primed for commercial licensing, while the others are in-your-face hip-hop that show off the influence of where the album was partially recorded (Jamaica).

As you might imagine by the other albums on this list, we tend to side more with the rock-oriented side of things, but that doesn't mean we don't identify with lines like "Tear it up, I'm so damn gold". In fact, every morning we look at ourselves in the mirror and say the same thing. More or less.


#8:

The Twilight Sad, No One Can Ever Know
Top Track: "Nil"

Man, Scotland really must be a bummer, right? Three albums into their discography, and we still aren't seeing a ray of sunshine peeking in through the overcast atmosphere that permeates every song these guys produce. That said, No One Can Ever Know definitely puts another layer of studio polish on. The Twilight Sad are still morose as fuck, but the edges of that depression have been further fine-tuned. Meaning it goes down easier, even though that heavily accented voice isn't describing good times.

In fact, in our humble opinion, the intro to "Sick" sounds like it could have been pulled off of Kid A or Amnesiac. You don't agree? Well, our opinion matters more because we have a blog and you don't. Oh, you have a blog too? And everyone has online platforms in which to express their very important thoughts? News to us!

In conclusion, The Twilight Sad continue to be sad. Just with more synth now. Sweet, sexy synth.


#7:

Stars, The North
Top Track: "Hold On When You Get Love and Let Go When You Give It" 

 
We'll be honest, we were worried for Stars after 2010's The Five Ghosts. Despite a few highlights, overall it was really uneven -- it seemed as though they had forgotten the winning formula best displayed on 2005's Set Yourself on Fire. Turns out our fears were as unnecessary as the silent "u", "i" and "l" in lead singer Torquil Campbell's name.

Over a decade into their career, Stars sounds reinvigorated. They know what works (sparkling synths, soaring guitars, the interplay of Amy Milan and Campbell's voices) and they make the fusion of all those elements sound effortless again. Whether it's the gorgeous title track or "Backlines," which recalls "Ageless Beauty" from Set Yourself on Fire, The North is consistently engaging throughout. We're not always in the mood for sappy electropop (that's a lie), but when we are, we're glad for Stars. Keep the romance coming!


#6:

First Aid Kit, The Lion's Roar
Top Track: "The Lion's Roar"

It threw us for a loop when, four years ago, we first heard folk-outfit First Aid Kit. A cover they had done of Fleet Foxes' "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song" was making the rounds on YouTube, and the Swedish sisters' voices blew us away. They were both teenagers, but if you closed your eyes you could easily be convinced they had lived full lifetimes of heartache and loss.

Fast-forward to present day and those gorgeous, melancholic voices now have a rich musical canvas with which to work. Title track "The Lion's Roar" is a slice of alt-country goodness featuring an expansive sound worthy of their soaring vocals, and the tracks that follow maintain that epic scope.

Despite this talk of these ladies sounding wise beyond their years, what really makes these songs (especially closer "King of the World") work is their earnest vulnerability. They might be pulling their inspiration from the past, but First Aid Kit still sound like they're staring wide-eyed into whatever the future may bring.

#5:

Tanlines, Mixed Emotions
Top Track: "Real Life"

There used to be a time where we would have tan lines for a solid 4 months out of the year. One summer during college we worked as a landscaper, and the deep bronze we acquired was still around long into fall. Damn, we looked good.

Tanlines is here to bring a little of that summer sun into our lives, and their sound (new-wavey electropop by way of the Caribbean -- think Vampire Weekend meets Passion Pit meets "Red, Red Wine") is on full display with Mixed Emotions. There are rollicking jams ("Rain Delay," "All of Me") and more sedate tracks like "Nonesuch" that sound like they could be used during a climactic scene of a John Hughes movie.

The album's highlight though is "Real Life" (it also was the highlight of their debut, the 2010 EP Settings). This track serves up island beats which transition into a synth-laden chorus that makes you want to jump around and have a pina colada. If you like pina coladas, you'll like Tanlines. If you don't, then we don't know what else to say to you.



#4:

Cloud Nothings, Attack on Memory
Top Track: "Wasted Days"

There's a flip side to Japandroids' Celebration Rock, and it's Attack on Memory, Cloud Nothing's third album. What happens when you're all ready to peel out of town and hit the open road, but your transmission fails and you end up spending the next couple of years trying to save up money to get a new ride? Or when all the ambitiously laid plans for the future don't come to pass, and the bravado starts to fade? Lead singer Dylan Baldi knows the horrible truth!

A sense of fatalism percolates throughout these tracks as Baldi rages at the passage of time and the helplessness that stems from realizing you've squandered your potential. On the sprawling "Wasted Days," he spits out "well I know my life's not gonna change/and I live through all these wasted days... getting tired of living 'till I die". Heavy stuff, and Baldi's ragged delivery gives a sense of urgency to the words.

At Mitchfork, we have a complicated algorithm which has determined that a band/artist's third LP statistically is the most likely to be their breakthrough album. We won't share the specifics of our formula because, much like Google with internet marketers, we can't have musicians figuring out the secret to success. Well, Attack on Memory supports our findings, because it's a huge step forward for Cloud Nothings. They've managed to clean up their sound without losing any of their edge; in fact, some in Middle Earth might say their songs' hooks are as sharp as the Elvish blade Sting. See The Hobbit, in theaters now!

(editor's note: we saw The Hobbit soon after writing this, and we sincerely apologize to any readers who may have gone to see this film based on our recommendation.)


#3:

Wild Nothing, Nocturne
Top Track: "Shadow"

Where Attack on Memory reflects the dissatisfaction of frustrated youth, Jack Tatum, aka Wild Nothing, creates music that serves as a balm meant to envelop and soothe the young dreamers of the world. We at Mitchfork described Wild Nothing's debut, Gemini, as "perfect for that never-ending summer day" (yeah that's right, we just quoted ourselves), and that classification holds up for sophomore effort Nocturne. There is not a single song on this album that doesn't hold up to several listens, a fact that dawned on us during the exceptionally sunny summer of 2012. Perfect Wild Nothing weather.

When the first single "Shadow" came out, we were immediately reminded why Wild Nothing has been one of our favorite bands of the past few years. It sounds like there are 32 layers in this song, each serving a unique purpose in creating the dreamy post-punk/electropop soundscape. Meanwhile, you have Tatum's voice drifting in, surreal, crooning "I try to feel something for you, but that's all that I can do". He's doing all he can, but it's just too much for him too summon anything concrete. You wouldn't ask a summer breeze to care for you, would you? And that's all Wild Nothing is, a light musical caress meant to make you close your eyes before remembering romances long lost and a childhood never to be reclaimed.

So just sit back, relax and forget about the $20,000 in college loans you still owe. Or that the creepy looking dude who is walking across the subway car and sitting down next to you. And now he's tapping you on your shoulder with one hand while he holds out a Lyndon LaRouche pamphlet with the other. SUMMER BREEZE MAKES ME FEEL FINE (hands cover ears).


#2:

Beach House, Bloom
Top Track: "Wild"

Beach House really hit their stride with their Mitchfork-acclaimed 2010 release Teen Dream, beefing  up their dream pop sound to make it a worthy companion to lead singer Victoria Legrand's soaring vocals. Bloom starts off even stronger than its predecessor, as lead tracks "Myth" and "Wild" are two of the best songs the band has ever produced. Initially, the staff here was mildly disappointed at how the album is a bit front-loaded, but we were steadily won over when play after play refused to diminish the listening enjoyment derived from these ten songs -- there's something to be said for an album that can hold its own over an extended period of exposure.

Let's use a candy analogy. "Call Me Maybe" is a bunch of pixie sticks, an immediate rush that will make you sick before long. An album like Bloom is like a big lollypop. Each lick is enjoyable, and unless you want to break a tooth there's no real way to speed up the process. It's a steady supply of auditory pleasure, and considering how little self-control we have when exposed to great songs, that's a good thing. Songs that grow on you often have a longer shelf life than immediately appealing tracks, and our basement filled with cured varmint meat and canned beans speaks to how much we value goods that will last far into the Mayan apocalypse thingy.



1. Chromatics, Kill for Love
Top Track: "The Page"

Here it is, your top album of 2012. And it wasn't even really close. If you know the sensibilities of Mitchfork, then you can understand why an album like Kill for Love would immediately appeal. Expertly executed post-punk synth pop? Check. Haunting female vocals? Check. Atmospheric and engrossing? Check.

The most impressive thing is that there are 17 songs on this album, Chromatics' second on the Italians Do It Better label, and less than half are actually structured pop songs. The others are better suited as fodder for movies in need of mood music. The huge chunks of filler take away from the album as a whole, but it's important to note that whenever Chromatics try to create a pop song, they knock it out of the park. The first five tracks of Kill for Love by themselves represent a stunning stretch of music that showcase a band with complete mastery over the medium.

Whether it's "Back from the Grave," "The Page" or "Lady", these songs effortlessly encapsulate the bleak allure of urban life. The city landscape soundtracked by Kill For Love is harsh, but it's also irresistible. Johnny Jewel, the group's leader, might be a sweet guy in real life, but it's hard not to see him as a dealer of some sort, peddling sounds that will intoxicate another generation and convince them that New York's insane rents are somehow worth the "sexy" 3 A.M. walks down the dark city streets. Note to the fathers out there -- if your daughter comes home with a boy named Johnny Jewel, it's already too late to save her innocence.


Anyways, that's our list for 2012. If we make it to 2013 (fingers crossed), we look forward to listening and sharing new music with y'all.

Oh, and one more thing -- "We Are Young," by Fun?  It's straight-up unlistenable. We haven't heard a song in a very long time that bothers us as much as that piece of dog shit. We just needed to say that.

A Look Back at 2011 as It Related to Music

Hello again from the staff at Mitchfork. I said, hello again from the staff at Mitchfork. Anyone there?

Well, I guess it makes sense. We followed up a hiatus of almost a year with a hiatus of more than a year. In that time, plenty happened. However, none of it mattered as much as what you're about to read:

Mitchfork's official BEST OF 2011!!.

First, a summation. 2011 was not a good year for music. It was easier coming up with the disappointments than the standouts. 2011 paled especially in comparison to 2010, which was an absolutely fantastic year in music that Mitchfork did justice to with... one post at the end of November that wrapped up the year in music.

This year, in hopes of discovering some final gem, we really waited until the last minute to close the voting on the best albums. The hope was that some overlooked releases might make the cut. They didn't (sorry Yuck). That said, there was still a bunch of solid LPs that deserved a mention, as well as one great EP that made us decide to write ANOTHER post (which will we backdate to June to make it look like we actually were more dedicated to this blog than we were) regarding our favorite EPs of all-time.

But before, we get to our top 10, we'd like to draw some attention to albums who didn't deliver the goods as promised. None of these albums were awful, but we fully expected them to be top 10s and they just didn't impress. A couple of these albums were critically lauded, but we could give a flying fuck what the critics think. We're Mitchfork, and our opinions fly in the face of those made by the hipster tastemakers out there. When we saw that famous Jet review from the other Fork that had a monkey peeing into its mouth, we all bought tickets to a Jet show and loved the ever-loving shit out of it.

Anyways, we forget ourselves. Here are the albums that annoyed us:


Expectations Nowhere Near Met:


TV on the Radio, Nine Types of Light


More like nine types of suck, am I right? Nah, it wasn't that bad, but after their 2008 effort, Dear Science, Mitchfork had the highest expectations for the follow-up. Each album following their debut had been a step above the previous, with the best tracks increasingly overshadowing the art-rock filler found elsewhere. Not so here; no standouts to be found.

Radiohead, The King of Limbs


Radiohead have earned their untouchable status thanks to amazing album after amazing album, but we at Mitchfork can't give them a free pass for this one. The advance word was that Thom and the boys were tired of traditional "albums," and that distaste shows here. It felt like a throwaway, more sound scape than coherent work. Diehards still defended it, but this could have been the album of the year and it wasn't even close.


M83, Hurry Up, We're Dreaming.


Saturdays = Youth was our favorite M83 album yet, so when a double album was announced we already had it penciled in as an album of the year contender. Then came the advance single "Midnight City," which was easily the best track on the album and one of the best songs of 2011. It all went downhill after that. Critics loved this album, Mitchfork's friends loved it, but Mitchfork didn't love it. It was listenable, with a few good tracks, but overall it was forgettable. Anthony Gonzalez's previous work had a rich depth to it, but this felt thin and overblown. Sound vague? Well, we know what we like, and this wasn't it.



Top Albums of 2011:

To be honest, we had a real rough time figuring out exactly how to order these 10 albums. There were only two that stood out as "complete," meaning they didn't have patches of songs that didn't do much for us. Also, these were the two albums we were able to listen to consistently in their entirety (not just a couple great songs) and not grow tired of. They're also very different albums, which just shows to you we appreciate the whole spectrum (of a sub-genre of music called indie rock, whatever the hell that is).

We're not going to say much about each album, because we have very busy lives and we've said enough already, so without further ado here are seven good LPs, one GREAT EP and two very good albums that crossed our radar in 2011:



The Antlers, Burst Apart
Top Track: "Corsicana"



Took some getting used to, but we ended up really liking the new direction they took. Still sporting haunting vocals and atmosphere, but the tunes had a more varied sound to them.


Generationals, Actor-Caster
Top Track: "Please Be It"


Bouncy summertime tunes done right. We've been hearing these guys in commercials and couldn't be happier. Auction off your sonic sunshine to the highest bidder and sell some VWs!


Lykke Li, Wounded Rhymes
Top Track: "I Follow Rivers"


When we brought our car to the mechanic, this album was in our CD player. When he was done fixing it, he asked us what we were listening to. We said Lykke Li and he looked confused, shrugged and said "sounds like some creepy little girl." That may be, but that little lady can craft some catchy tunes.


Pete And The Pirates, One Thousand Pictures
Top Track: "Motorbike"


These Brits get NO love, and we can't understand why. There are some seriously tight tunes on this and their debut album that pack a punch while still having pop appeal. Well, if no one else will give them their due, then we'll be really over the top. Pete And The Pirates, with your help, can SAVE ROCK MUSIC.


Phantogram, Nightlife
Top Track: "16 Years"


Just a killer EP that's following up an already impressive debut last year. Think Stars if Stars weren't sappy pussies (no offense to Torquil and the crew) and could lay down some beats.


Cut Copy, Zonoscope
Top Track: "Blink And You'll Miss A Revolution"


These guys solved the post-punk/synth pop equation in 2008's In Ghost Colours, and here they expand their palate a bit to include some world beats. Overall it fell short of expectations, but was still dynamic enough to merit inclusion. We appreciate ambition at Mitchfork (we're full of it, with 95% currently unrealized), and this had it in spades.


The Drums, Portamento
Top Track: "Book of Revelations"


This one had us from the very start, and when it let us go four tracks later to stumble starry-eyed through a mediocre back 2/3rds we couldn't hold any grudges. These guys, while inconsistent, clearly comprehend what it takes to make a great pop song, which is more than we can say for most of the other fuzzed-out beach comber bands out there.


Washed Out, Within and Without
Top Track: "You and I"


"You and I" might be our favorite song of the year, but beyond that you'll still find enough chillwave (perfect name for a genre by the way) bliss to keep you coming back for more. There's a natural progression from Life of Leisure, their debut, to this album, and that progression hints at greater things yet to come.


and now...

Best Album of 2011 (It's a tie!)

Bon Iver, Bon Iver
Top Track: "Perth"
Mitchfork has a ladyfriend who we'll call KK. KK loves being cozy; it's her raison d'etre. We would describe For Emma, Forever Ago as a cozy album. It made you want to find the Wisconsin cabin where it was recorded, settle down in front of the fire and have some cocoa.

The self-titled follow-up had big shoes to fill, but the hardest thing to recreate from the debut would be its atmosphere. There was a melancholy yearning contained in Justin Vernon's voice, but also in the songs themselves. They oozed it.

Suffice to say, mission accomplished. Without sounding at all like a retread, Bon Iver manages to spirit us away away yet again to a world we never want to leave. Say what you will about the lyrics, but there's a richness to these songs that is compelling in a very distinctive way. Bon Iver's first two albums go a long way to creating a signature sound, and that's a rare thing in today's music world. There are only a few true auteurs out there, and Ke$ha needs some company.


Neon Indian, Era Extrana
Top Track: "Polish Girl"


Huge surprise here. Huge. Neon Indian's debut firmly fell in the chillwave camp for better and for worse. The tunes were laid back and hearkened back to 80's synth nostalgia, but they also felt underdeveloped and largely forgettable. However, like Washed Out, the follow-up was bigger and bolder, showcasing the full talents of one Alan Palomo.

Tracks like "Halogen [I Could Be a Shadow]" and "Fallout" strain at the seams, brimming with wide-eyed wonder that feels both familiar and fresh. The easiest comparison we could come up with was Saturdays=Youth, the M83 album we mentioned earlier as setting the bar too high for Hurry Up, We're Dreaming. We'll see where they go from here, but we'll have our eyes on them. Maybe we'll even have them around for one of our fireside chats. Well, once we settle the lawsuit with Malkmus.


Ok, that's it. Happy New Year from Mitchfork!