Favorite Albums 2012

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This is a list of my favorite 25 albums of 2012. I also include of playlist with one song from each album.

I got busy this year entering grad school so my music exploration faltered a bit. Can't say that I expanded my boundaries tremendously, but I did manage to find some interesting records. Usually my favorite album is something that I don't like at first but then have a transition where everything clicks. And that's what I got with Spiritualized this year. I really took to this direct approach to spirituality. Its indie rock but its contemplative and emotionally ranging, done with subtlety. I can't get into a discussion of them all but I fell in love with each during some week/s of this year.

1. Spiritualized – Sweet Heart Sweet Light

2. The Act of Estimating as Worthless – Amongst These Splintered Minds//Leaden Thoughts Sing Softly

3. Angel Olsen – Half Way Home

4. Cloud Nothings – Attack on Memory

5. Father John Misty – Fear Fun

6. Perfume Genius – Put Your Back N to It

7. Kindness – World You Need a Change of Mind

8. Royal Headache – Royal Headache

9. Japandroids – Celebration Rock

10. Lace Curtains – The Garden of Joy and the Well of Loneliness

11. Small Professor – Gigantic, Vol. 1

12. Sleeping Bag – Women of Your Life

13. Pile – Dripping

14. Joey BADA$$ – 1999

15. Tigercats – Isle of Dogs

16. Total Victory – National Service

17. The Men – Open Your Heart

18. Bobby Womack – The Bravest Man in the Universe

19. BADBADNOTGOOD – BBNG2

20. Kendrick Lamar – good kid, m.A.A.d city

21. Recondite – On Acid

22. Sonnny & the Sunsets – Longtime Companion

23. Jessica Pratt – Jessica Pratt

24. Dustin Wong – Dreams Say, View, Create, Shadow Leads

25. Tame Impala – Lonerism

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1. Spiritualized - Freedom
2. The Act of Estimating as Worthless - My Left Thumb
3. Angel Olsen - Lonely Universe
4. Cloud Nothings - Stay Useless
5. Father John Misty - Writing a Novel
6. Perfume Genius - Take Me Home
7. Kindness - House
8. Royal Headache - Honey Joy
9. Japandroids - Adrenaline Nightshift
10. Lace Curtains - High Fantasy
11. Small Professor - Pear Razor
12. Sleeping Bag - In The Pocket
13. Pile - Prom Song
14. Joey Bada$$ - FromdaTomb$
15. Tigercats - Limehouse Nights
16. Total Victory - National Service
17. The Men - Open Your Heart
18. Bobby Womack - Please Forgive My Heart
19. BADBADNOTGOOD - UWM (Feat. Leland Whitty)
20. Kendrick Lamar - The Art of Peer Pressure
21. Recondite - Tie In
22. Sonny & the Sunsets - Children of the Beehive
23. Jessica Pratt - Hollywood
24. Dustin Wong - Tea Tree Leaves Retreat
25. Tame Impala - Nothing That Has Happened So Far Has Been Anything We Could Control

Country Bumpkin

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Tracklist:

1. Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee - Bring It on Home to Me
2. Denney and The Jets - Paranoid
3. Shovels & Rope/Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent - Boxcar
4. Palace Music - The Mountain Low
5. Fletcher C. Johnson - Just Your Kiss
6. Loudon Wainwright III - The Swimming Song
7. Silver Jews - Trains Across the Sea
8. King Tuff - Kind Of Guy
9. John Prine - Yes I Guess They Oughta Name a Drink After You
10. Neil Young - Barstool Blues
11. The Strange Boys - Then
12. Austin Leonard Jones - Appaloosa
13. Sonny & the Sunsets - Dried Blood
14. George Harrison - If Not For You
15. Black Lips - How Do You Tell A Child That Someone Has Died
16. Elvis Depressedly - Mickey's Dead
17. Deer Tick - Dead Flowers
18. Werewandas - Nytol
19. The Milk Carton Kids - New York
20. Bob Dylan - Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You

How Do I Know

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Life isn’t always a fun mixtape. This is a collection of tracks about those few events in life where before will never be quite the same as after. It’s a reflective mixtape about anticipation, opportunity, challenge, anxiety, ambiguity, and uncertainty. Because if we’re honest with ourselves and entertain alternatives, no life decision can be made without doubt.

Tracklist:

1. Yo La Tengo - Big Day Coming
2. Bill Callahan - Jim Cain
3. Tigercats - Kim & Thurston
4. Magnetic Fields - Torn Green Velvet Eyes
5. Here We Go Magic - How Do I Know
6. Brian Eno & John Cale - Spinning Away
7. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - People Ain't No Good
8. Low - Words
9. The Walkmen - Stranded
10. The Act of Estimating as Worthless - Coup D'etre Humain
11. Silver Jews - Random Rules
12. Palace Music - Work Hard/Play Hard
13. Neil Young - Lookin' For A Love
14. Blake Mills - Wintersong
15. Veronica Falls - Veronica Falls
16. The Men - Candy
17. Father John Misty - Fun Times in Babylon

Indietracks Compilation 2012

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50 songs for 1 GBP. Always a good mix.

Tracklist:

1. Standard Fare - 51107
2. Young Romance - Swollen Hearts, Bitten Tongues
3. The Hobbes Fanclub - Your Doubting Heart
4. Veronica Falls - Come On Over
5. Liechtenstein - Fast Forward
6. ballboy - The National Trust (Pumpkinfield Session)
7. Bart & Friends - There's No Place I'd Rather Be
8. The Birthday Kiss - Starting to Come Back to Life
9. Evans the Death - Telling Lies
10. Joanna Gruesome - Pantry Girl
11. September Girls - Hells Bells
12. Colour Me Wednesday - Holiday From Your Life
13. Allo Darlin' - City All to Himself
14. Go Sailor - Last Year
15. Stevie Jackson - Dead Man's Fall
16. Doggy - Quand Tu Dors
17. The Rosie Taylor Project - For Esmé
18. Electrophönvintage - Siq
19. The Monochrome Set - On My Balcony
20. Darren Hayman & The Long Parliament - Vinegar Tom
21. Echo Lake - Even the Blind
22. The Sunbathers - Round and Round
23. Orca Team - Resolutions
24. Golden Grrrls - Beaches
25. Tigercats - Limehouse Nights
26. T.O.Y.S - Fun Time for the Love Shy
27. Mikrofisch - Let's Kiss and Listen to Bis
28. White Town - Cut Out My Heart
29. Love Dance - Skisse #3
30. Gold-Bears - Something to Think About
31. Vacaciones - Ahora sí!
32. The School - Never Thought I'd See the Day
33. The ABC Club - Scattered Light
34. Language of Flowers - Where You Belong
35. Jasmine Minks - Poppy White
36. Sea Lions - I Never Stopped Missing That Girl
37. Werewandas - Nytol
38. Velodrome 2000 - Charity Shopping
39. Cosines - Winter A-Go-Go
40. Minibar - La Extrana Pareja
41. The June Brides - Just the Same
42. The Smittens - First Bus
43. The Just Joans - Nobody's Ever Called Me Baby
44. The 10p Mixes - My Monster
45. Markie Plays Girlpop! - Robot Man
46. Themakingof - Everything is Fine
47. Tender Trap - Love is Hard Enough
48. The Silver Factory - The World May Bring Us Down
49. This Many Boyfriends - How is This Even a Job?
50. Robberie - I Look Back on This City and Fall in Love with Her Again

The Intangible Newness of Doing the Same Old Thing

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A mixtape by rapper, Milo.

This is a playlist that should help people deal with reality. It seems like there is a really weird Digital Age trend of focusing on planet-transcendence and making life “magical” or whatever. That’s much older than the Digital Age but you get the point. All the Lady Gaga enthusiasts who are making appeals to who knows what, Kid Cudi’s insistence on being from the Moon, Wayne’s insistence on being from Mars, etc. This playlist focuses on the mundane, the ordinary, the normalcy of everyday life and trying to grapple with that in authentic ways. Ultimately realizing this life we have has enough to explore and keep us busy for much longer than Teen Moms 2 will be on TV.

No appeals to being from planets outside this giant blueberry, or having a million dollars to buy a laser beam equipped yacht or any of those hullabaloos; primarily because that cannot be honest. And you’re selling yourself short every time you subscribe to these stale notions of The Ideal. Hopefully this can spark some thought into more elaborate and unique daydreams. This is the playlist for the every-person, the idealistic pragmatist who recognizes the beauty in struggling with, what Reggie Watts calls, “binary existence.”

Tracklist:

1. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young- “Almost Cut My Hair”
2. Joni Mitchell- “California”
3. Solander- “Flight”
4. Open Mike Eagle- “Dishes”
5. Busdriver- “Mr. Mistake (Bested By The Whisper Chasm)”
6. Why?- “By Torpedo or Crohn’s”
7. Fleet Foxes- “Blue Spotted Tail”
8. Sage Francis- “Best of Times”
9. Yes- “Yesterday & Today”
10. Bobby McFerrin- “Drive”
11. Neil Young- “Pocahontas”
12. Serengeti- “The Whip”
13. The Roots- “Hall & Oates”
14. They Might Be Giants- “Dr. Worm”
15. Junip- “Sweet & Bitter”
16. Talking Heads- “This Must Be The Place (Naïve Melody)”

Open Mike Eagle: Rent Party Extension (2012)

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nice rap EP. if you only listen to one try Boss Fight

Everybody Taste: Why don't we take the day off?

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This guy, Matt Carr, has a nice blog called Everybody Taste. He also makes mixtapes like a professional of which this is one. If you like, check out his others via the link in the "mixtape pros" section.

Tracklist:

1. Tronics - Time Off
2. Blood Feathers - On A Holiday
3. Tanlines - All of Me
4. Harlem - Be Your Baby
5. Lower Dens - Blue & Silver
6. Terry Malts - Tumble Down
7. The Tough Shits - Heard She Kisses On The Mouth
8. Father John Misty - Nancy from Now On
9. The Babies - Here Comes Trouble
10. The Strange Boys - Doueh
11. Robyn Hitchcock - Television
12. Cass McCombs - Sacred Heart
13. So Many Wizards - Lose Your Mind
14. Creation - Try and Stop Me
15. The Velvet Underground - I Found A Reason (Demo Version)
16. Chromatics - Kill For Love
17. The Walkmen - Paper House
18. Michael Hurley - Be Kind To Me