10. Divine Fits - A Thing Called Divine Fits
The only supergroup to make my list (although a lot of the other groups were pretty super), Divine Fits is a collaboration of members from Spoon, Handsome Furs, Wolf Parade, and New Bomb Turks (not all of my picks are this hipster obscure, I promise). The album was recommended for me by Amazon when it came out in August, but I wasn't blown away by the lead single "My Love is Real." In November, Amazon decided that I really needed to hear this album, so they offered it to me for $3.99. Done and done. As a child of the 80's, I have a soft spot for the music from the decade. Divine Fits kind of sound like Duran Duran made love to the Cars and had a back-alley baby that fell out of its mother, hit the ground, and got a mouthful of gravel. If any of that sounds appetizing to you, check this one out.
9. Bruno Mars - Unorthodox Jukebox
Friends of my Facebook recently saw my post about hearing "Locked Out Of Heaven" and getting pumped for a Police song, but then hearing Bruno Mars sing and being pumped that it is a Bruno Mars song. To really appreciate Bruno Mars, you need to listen to his entire album(s) and not just the singles, although I won't apologize for liking them, too. The guy jumps from 60's R&B to 80's synth raggae rock to 90's singer/songwriter to 2000's pop and back again. I've listened to Unorthodox Jukebox about five times in the last two weeks and I'm not yet convinced that it is better than 2010's Doo-Wops and Hooligans, but it definitely branches out in more directions that I hope he keeps exploring. Also, if you want to get a good laugh whilst getting funky to some baby making music, listen to Gorilla (just not at work, please).
8. Imagine Dragons - Night Visions
I think my best man David probably first turned me on to Imagine Dragons. It is hard to have lived in 2012 without hear It's Time on the radio, on a TV show, in a movie, during a sports game or in a commercial. It was pretty much everywhere. The whole CD is heavily produced pop rock, but it is anthem-ish and there wasn't a time where it came on in the car that I didn't bob my head and pump my fist. The closest band I can compare them to is one of my all time favorites, The Killers. Also, The Killers had a pretty killer album out this year, too, that earns honorable mention.
7. Mumford and Sons - Babel
How do you follow up Sigh No More, a breakthrough album that really pushed folk rock back into the mainstream? According to Mumford and Sons, you do it by immediately releasing another great folk rock album that rocks just a little bit harder while your name is still fresh in everyone's mind. I can't really compare this to Sigh No More because I've listened to SNM at least 100 times, but upon repeat listens I've started to forget where SNM stopped and Babel starts. It passes the radio test because I always stop on "I Will Wait" when I'm spinning through the dial, so that's a plus. Last note: The Deluxe Edition is worth the couple of extra bucks for their cover of The Boxer featuring Paul Simon and Jerry Douglas.
6. (tie) The Avett Brothers - The Carpenter
Benjamin Gibbard - Former Lives
For me, a bad Avett Brothers album is better than most good ones from other bands out there. I listened to I and Love and You about five times more than any other complete record from any other band in the history of my life, so The Carpenter has a long way to go before I can recognize every chord change and internalize every lyric. With that said, it is still a solid offering from the band that made me really love music again a couple of years ago.
Ben Gibbard is probably best known at this point as the ex-husband of my future wife, Zooey Deschanel. To me, he's the frontman of my favorite BABNB (before Avett Brothers/Non-Beatles) band, Death Cab for Cutie. Former Lives is his first foray into the solo world, and I wasn't disappointed. The songs weren't as electronic or heavily produced as most Death Cab songs, but they still alternate between dreamy drippy, tap your foot folksy, and emo in the corner raw. Both Avett and BG are on constant play at work as my background work tunes.
5. Zac Brown Band - Uncaged
At first, I didn't particularly love Uncaged (seems to be a common theme). I downloaded it in July because I had listened the other ZBB CD's to death over the course of the year, so I figured I'd jump right in (no pun attended (Jump Right In is the lead track)). It seemed a little formulaic and followed the patterns of the previous albums with a mix of island country reggae, a couple of power ballads, and then some old fashioned fiddle frenzy. It wasn't until I actively listened to the song "Overnight" that I really started to appreciate this album. Folks, that song is straight up baby making music from a band with a fiddle. It is as R&B as a modern country band is going to come. I started mixing in the Uncaged songs with songs from the previous albums, and before long my car sing-a-longs couldn't distinguish one album from the next. The biggest reason they get bumped all the way up to five is because we had the pleasure of seeing them in concert back in November. I've been to my fair share of concerts before, but this one definitely cracked my top three (AC/DC and The Eagles, in case you were wondering). The show was so high energy, they only played the hits for the full two hours, the crowd never left its feet (except for during the obligatory 12 minute drum solo while the rest of the band grabs a breather), and they played Nirvana songs. They are on my short list of people I'd pay $60 to see multiple times.
4. Of Monsters and Men - My Head is an Animal
There is a new trend on pop radio for male/female call and response folk songs. By far the most popular of those songs in 2012 was "Little Talks" from the My Head is an Animal album by Of Monsters and Men. A product of Iceland (which, if I remember anything at all from my geography class, isn't all that icy (and Greenland isn't all that green)), Of Monsters and Men is a cool little mixed sex folk band who have this weird chameleon effect where they kind of sound like 15 different bands/singers (not the least of which are Edward Sharpe and the Zeroes and Ellie Goulding). Since I love all 15 of those bands, I was more than pleased with their debut offering.
There is a new trend on pop radio for male/female call and response folk songs. By far the most popular of those songs in 2012 was "Little Talks" from the My Head is an Animal album by Of Monsters and Men. A product of Iceland (which, if I remember anything at all from my geography class, isn't all that icy (and Greenland isn't all that green)), Of Monsters and Men is a cool little mixed sex folk band who have this weird chameleon effect where they kind of sound like 15 different bands/singers (not the least of which are Edward Sharpe and the Zeroes and Ellie Goulding). Since I love all 15 of those bands, I was more than pleased with their debut offering.
3. Alabama Shakes - Boys and Girls
Little girls should not be given princess outfits and idolize Kim Kardashian. They should be given dirty t-shirts, a guitar, and be forced to see how fucking cool Brittany Howard is. "Hold On" was Alabama Shakes big breakthrough single off of their debut album, Boys and Girls, and it has every reason to be. The song straight up rocks. Brittany's raspy voice somehow manages to be confident and desperate, sometimes at the same time. It, along with the garage band sounds of the rest of the band, make for BY FAR the funkiest and most soulful album of 2012 for me. I'm going to encourage you to just stop reading for a couple of minutes, YouTube yourself some Shakes, and then come back refreshed and energized for the top two.
A quick word on the top two. I originally wrote this post at the beginning of January and couldn't decide what my favorite album/group of 2012 was. I'm going to make my case for both below, but the two bands couldn't be more different. I love apples, and I love oranges. I love my mom, and I love my dad. I love Will Ferrell, and I love John C. Reilly. Sometimes you shouldn't be forced to decide what you love more. Here goes my case for my top two favorite albums and groups of 2012.
Little girls should not be given princess outfits and idolize Kim Kardashian. They should be given dirty t-shirts, a guitar, and be forced to see how fucking cool Brittany Howard is. "Hold On" was Alabama Shakes big breakthrough single off of their debut album, Boys and Girls, and it has every reason to be. The song straight up rocks. Brittany's raspy voice somehow manages to be confident and desperate, sometimes at the same time. It, along with the garage band sounds of the rest of the band, make for BY FAR the funkiest and most soulful album of 2012 for me. I'm going to encourage you to just stop reading for a couple of minutes, YouTube yourself some Shakes, and then come back refreshed and energized for the top two.
A quick word on the top two. I originally wrote this post at the beginning of January and couldn't decide what my favorite album/group of 2012 was. I'm going to make my case for both below, but the two bands couldn't be more different. I love apples, and I love oranges. I love my mom, and I love my dad. I love Will Ferrell, and I love John C. Reilly. Sometimes you shouldn't be forced to decide what you love more. Here goes my case for my top two favorite albums and groups of 2012.
1. Fun - Some Nights (and also 2009's Aim and Ignite)
I've always had a bit of a flare for the dramatic. I probably watched Wizard of Oz and Singing in the Rain 500 times apiece since I was a little kid. My favorite music classes when I was a kid were the annual screenings of Oliver! and Annie. I started a drama club at my school when I was in 7th grade. I starred in plays and musicals through high school. I started writing in high school and haven't stopped since. I almost went crazy after the very first Glee episode because it was just a teaser for a show that didn't start until September about kids theatrically singing Journey songs. I have "Suddenly Seymour" from Little Shop of Horrors on my sing-a-long mix. I own two Glee albums. I have seen Pitch Perfect two more times than any straight male probably should (the acceptable and encouraged amount is once because it is pretty funny). Needless to say, I loves me some good musical theater and storytelling.
Back in the fall of 2011, I started hearing this song on commercials that immediately had me humming along. It was poppy, but strong. By late November, the song was starting to pick up airtime on the radio. In December 2011, it was covered by Glee. Then the song blew the f up. That song, of course, was "We Are Young". I loved the song, but already by January I was afraid that it had been overplayed and I started getting bored with it. The single was available for download, but the only album available from fun. was 2009's Aim and Ignite. I decided that I had to check it out since Amazon was practically giving it away. What set fun. apart from most of the other bands on this list was that I felt like I was hearing this kind of music for the very first time and it immediately hooked me. I needed to listen to it again. And again. And again. Frontman Nate Ruess had a voice that I hadn't heard on pop radio before (or at least in a very long time). The songs were so showy, almost like Queen knocked up My Fair Lady. Nate would sing an angsty song about being in a lost generation where his voice was so angry and desperate. The next song would be a sweet and delicate sing-song tune that it sounds like he's singing to a baby trying to fall asleep. I felt like I was following a narrative from the first song to the last.
Two weeks and twenty listens later, Some Nights finally came out. I tore through it just like I had Aim and Ignite. Somehow this album was even bigger and more dramatic than the first one. These weren't songs, they were anthems for a generation of late 20, early 30's people who are trying so hard to make their mark in a world in which they were promised everything. I heard songs about losing love, depression, falling back in love, embracing our youth, despising our youth, looking for God to help, realizing you had to help yourself, and finding out that the path you thought was carved out for you might not be the best one to follow. Suddenly, "We Are Young" had context and it was like I was hearing it again for the first time. The fact that "Some Nights" was the second single off of Some Nights came as a little bit of a surprise because there are about five other deserving songs that need to get more radio air time. Mark my words, there are at least two more singles left on this record. Molly can attest, fun. was played in the bathroom or in the car pretty solid from February until June and anytime we took a trip over four hours after that. If someone wrote a musical play based on my life (and they should), they can take the Jersey Boys/Mama Mia/Rock of Ages/American Idiot rout and just use music that already exists. I'll save that person a ton of time trying to pick songs and encourage them to just go with all fun..
I should also mention that my fantastic wife-to-be surprised me with tickets to a fun. show in St. Paul a couple of weeks ago. The concert experience was as great as the album experience. It was at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium, so it was a more intimate and raw show than you'd get at Target Center or Xcel. They didn't have much for props and the lighting was touch and go, but the music was just as big as it was on the albums. Nate hit every single big note and repeatedly had me goosebumping. I didn't sit down once and sang at the top of my lungs to every song with the rest of my generation (and some 12-year olds whose parents clearly didn't research any of the rest of the tracks outside of what they heard on the radio). Amazing night. Amazing band. Amazing girl. Amazing memories.
I've always had a bit of a flare for the dramatic. I probably watched Wizard of Oz and Singing in the Rain 500 times apiece since I was a little kid. My favorite music classes when I was a kid were the annual screenings of Oliver! and Annie. I started a drama club at my school when I was in 7th grade. I starred in plays and musicals through high school. I started writing in high school and haven't stopped since. I almost went crazy after the very first Glee episode because it was just a teaser for a show that didn't start until September about kids theatrically singing Journey songs. I have "Suddenly Seymour" from Little Shop of Horrors on my sing-a-long mix. I own two Glee albums. I have seen Pitch Perfect two more times than any straight male probably should (the acceptable and encouraged amount is once because it is pretty funny). Needless to say, I loves me some good musical theater and storytelling.
Back in the fall of 2011, I started hearing this song on commercials that immediately had me humming along. It was poppy, but strong. By late November, the song was starting to pick up airtime on the radio. In December 2011, it was covered by Glee. Then the song blew the f up. That song, of course, was "We Are Young". I loved the song, but already by January I was afraid that it had been overplayed and I started getting bored with it. The single was available for download, but the only album available from fun. was 2009's Aim and Ignite. I decided that I had to check it out since Amazon was practically giving it away. What set fun. apart from most of the other bands on this list was that I felt like I was hearing this kind of music for the very first time and it immediately hooked me. I needed to listen to it again. And again. And again. Frontman Nate Ruess had a voice that I hadn't heard on pop radio before (or at least in a very long time). The songs were so showy, almost like Queen knocked up My Fair Lady. Nate would sing an angsty song about being in a lost generation where his voice was so angry and desperate. The next song would be a sweet and delicate sing-song tune that it sounds like he's singing to a baby trying to fall asleep. I felt like I was following a narrative from the first song to the last.
Two weeks and twenty listens later, Some Nights finally came out. I tore through it just like I had Aim and Ignite. Somehow this album was even bigger and more dramatic than the first one. These weren't songs, they were anthems for a generation of late 20, early 30's people who are trying so hard to make their mark in a world in which they were promised everything. I heard songs about losing love, depression, falling back in love, embracing our youth, despising our youth, looking for God to help, realizing you had to help yourself, and finding out that the path you thought was carved out for you might not be the best one to follow. Suddenly, "We Are Young" had context and it was like I was hearing it again for the first time. The fact that "Some Nights" was the second single off of Some Nights came as a little bit of a surprise because there are about five other deserving songs that need to get more radio air time. Mark my words, there are at least two more singles left on this record. Molly can attest, fun. was played in the bathroom or in the car pretty solid from February until June and anytime we took a trip over four hours after that. If someone wrote a musical play based on my life (and they should), they can take the Jersey Boys/Mama Mia/Rock of Ages/American Idiot rout and just use music that already exists. I'll save that person a ton of time trying to pick songs and encourage them to just go with all fun..
I should also mention that my fantastic wife-to-be surprised me with tickets to a fun. show in St. Paul a couple of weeks ago. The concert experience was as great as the album experience. It was at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium, so it was a more intimate and raw show than you'd get at Target Center or Xcel. They didn't have much for props and the lighting was touch and go, but the music was just as big as it was on the albums. Nate hit every single big note and repeatedly had me goosebumping. I didn't sit down once and sang at the top of my lungs to every song with the rest of my generation (and some 12-year olds whose parents clearly didn't research any of the rest of the tracks outside of what they heard on the radio). Amazing night. Amazing band. Amazing girl. Amazing memories.
1. The Lumineers - The Lumineers
I try not to jump too quickly into saying that a band is one of my all-time favorites after just one album. I've made that mistake before (I really thought The Tony Rich Project had legs), and I can't get hurt like that again. Still, I can trace my musical lineage pretty clearly. Let's take a quick look back at the music that shaped my musical tastes.
Boyz II Men - The II album was the first CD I ever bought. I grew up listening to AM radio with my dad because his cars generally didn't have FM, and I loved the doo-wop and R&B sounds from the 50's, 60's, and 70's, This was a continuation of that love.
Eagles - Hell Freezes Over - The second CD I ever purchased, it was also the first CD I played until it wouldn't play anymore. Considering both II and HFO came out in the 1994 and I was only 12, it was an interesting mix coming out of my bedroom. I loved the live guitars, the amazing harmonies, and the clever lyrics.
Because of space constraints on the Internet, let's pop off the rest of the chain: Boyz II Men begat The Eagles who begat Highway Men (all all the individual members) who begat Incubus who begat Coldplay (The Scientist is my all-time favorite song) who begat The Beatles who begat Damien Rice who begat Death Cab for Cutie who begat Fleet Foxes who begat Avett Brothers who begat fun. who begat The Lumineers. I've loved other music and other bands, but I obsessed with the above bands to a point where it might not have been healthy. There have been other songs that have consumed my life (Wake Up by Arcade Fire comes to mind as a song I listened to, on average, about five times a day for six months straight), but the above mentioned bands have created music that has defined and directed some of my major life events. I've broken up with girls because of a lyric in one of their songs. I've pulled through emotional crisis because of a chord in a guitar solo in one of their songs. I've celebrated life at the top of my lungs to their songs. If I'm sitting in a bar or restaurant and a song by one of these groups comes on, I immediately interrupt whatever is going on at the table and say, "Oh shit, it's a (insert band) song! This is my jam!"
I take that detour in an effort to explain my love of what The Lumineers were able to do on their freshman self-titled album. I first downloaded it about two weeks after it came out in April. I liked Ho Hey and Submarines, both of which were getting some major radio play in the Cities, so I thought I'd give it a shot. Unfortunately for me, I was pretty deeply involved in fun. fanaticism at that point so I neglected to give the non-hit tracks any real attention. I was having a night alone towards the end of May where I decided I'd just pour myself a glass of wine and sit out on my patio to do a little reading and listening. The sun was setting, the night was calm, and fun. didn't seem like the appropriate music for the time. I decided I'd finally give the entire Lumineers effort a chance. The CD starts off with the peppy and folksy "Flowers in Your Hair", which was the kind of song I was expecting from the two singles that had been released. I knew the band had a sense of humor because of "Submarines," and I found myself smiling, laughing, and tapping my foot to the upbeat "Classy Girls Don't Kiss in Bars Like This." The familiar "Submarines" was next, and then came my first flash of, "Holy crap, did I just hear what I thought I heard?!" The song "Dead Sea" is incredibly poetic and beautiful, and the melody is so damn catchy that as soon as it ended I was still singing it all of the way through the next track, "Ho Hey." That's when "Slow It Down" came on and pretty much took the breath out of my lungs. The song is slow and screechy, but an incredible ode to restlessness in your spirit and in your heart. I stopped the Kindle, went back to "Dead Sea", and listened to the three song progression one more time. I was hooked. The rest of the album features some great songs, but it could have just had those three songs and I probably would have rated it this high. Since then, I've been pushing The Lumineers on anyone who would listen, trying to explain the depth beyond the two singles. Much like I And Love And You by The Avett Brothers, this was life altering music that anyone who enjoys this genre needs to hear from start to finish. I hope in a couple of years that I don't regret including The Lumineers on my list of the most influential music (putting two bands in one year on the list is pretty unheard of since Boyz II Men and The Eagles established a the trend almost 20 years ago) and that they don't become like Mumford and Sons has become (great music, just not life shaking). For now, they are the only band I'm listening to, a position they've held for the better part of the last six months, including through the releases of some of the other albums on my top list of 2012.
Well, there it is! If you're looking for other great releases, check on Kina Grannis and Trampled by Turtles, both of which came dangerously close to making the list this year. I'm hoping 2013 has as many great offerings as 2012 (Jim James drops his solo album Feb. 5!), but if it doesn't, I've got an Amazon Cloud so full of great music to get me through until 2014.
Keep on rockin',
Jeff
I try not to jump too quickly into saying that a band is one of my all-time favorites after just one album. I've made that mistake before (I really thought The Tony Rich Project had legs), and I can't get hurt like that again. Still, I can trace my musical lineage pretty clearly. Let's take a quick look back at the music that shaped my musical tastes.
Boyz II Men - The II album was the first CD I ever bought. I grew up listening to AM radio with my dad because his cars generally didn't have FM, and I loved the doo-wop and R&B sounds from the 50's, 60's, and 70's, This was a continuation of that love.
Eagles - Hell Freezes Over - The second CD I ever purchased, it was also the first CD I played until it wouldn't play anymore. Considering both II and HFO came out in the 1994 and I was only 12, it was an interesting mix coming out of my bedroom. I loved the live guitars, the amazing harmonies, and the clever lyrics.
Because of space constraints on the Internet, let's pop off the rest of the chain: Boyz II Men begat The Eagles who begat Highway Men (all all the individual members) who begat Incubus who begat Coldplay (The Scientist is my all-time favorite song) who begat The Beatles who begat Damien Rice who begat Death Cab for Cutie who begat Fleet Foxes who begat Avett Brothers who begat fun. who begat The Lumineers. I've loved other music and other bands, but I obsessed with the above bands to a point where it might not have been healthy. There have been other songs that have consumed my life (Wake Up by Arcade Fire comes to mind as a song I listened to, on average, about five times a day for six months straight), but the above mentioned bands have created music that has defined and directed some of my major life events. I've broken up with girls because of a lyric in one of their songs. I've pulled through emotional crisis because of a chord in a guitar solo in one of their songs. I've celebrated life at the top of my lungs to their songs. If I'm sitting in a bar or restaurant and a song by one of these groups comes on, I immediately interrupt whatever is going on at the table and say, "Oh shit, it's a (insert band) song! This is my jam!"
I take that detour in an effort to explain my love of what The Lumineers were able to do on their freshman self-titled album. I first downloaded it about two weeks after it came out in April. I liked Ho Hey and Submarines, both of which were getting some major radio play in the Cities, so I thought I'd give it a shot. Unfortunately for me, I was pretty deeply involved in fun. fanaticism at that point so I neglected to give the non-hit tracks any real attention. I was having a night alone towards the end of May where I decided I'd just pour myself a glass of wine and sit out on my patio to do a little reading and listening. The sun was setting, the night was calm, and fun. didn't seem like the appropriate music for the time. I decided I'd finally give the entire Lumineers effort a chance. The CD starts off with the peppy and folksy "Flowers in Your Hair", which was the kind of song I was expecting from the two singles that had been released. I knew the band had a sense of humor because of "Submarines," and I found myself smiling, laughing, and tapping my foot to the upbeat "Classy Girls Don't Kiss in Bars Like This." The familiar "Submarines" was next, and then came my first flash of, "Holy crap, did I just hear what I thought I heard?!" The song "Dead Sea" is incredibly poetic and beautiful, and the melody is so damn catchy that as soon as it ended I was still singing it all of the way through the next track, "Ho Hey." That's when "Slow It Down" came on and pretty much took the breath out of my lungs. The song is slow and screechy, but an incredible ode to restlessness in your spirit and in your heart. I stopped the Kindle, went back to "Dead Sea", and listened to the three song progression one more time. I was hooked. The rest of the album features some great songs, but it could have just had those three songs and I probably would have rated it this high. Since then, I've been pushing The Lumineers on anyone who would listen, trying to explain the depth beyond the two singles. Much like I And Love And You by The Avett Brothers, this was life altering music that anyone who enjoys this genre needs to hear from start to finish. I hope in a couple of years that I don't regret including The Lumineers on my list of the most influential music (putting two bands in one year on the list is pretty unheard of since Boyz II Men and The Eagles established a the trend almost 20 years ago) and that they don't become like Mumford and Sons has become (great music, just not life shaking). For now, they are the only band I'm listening to, a position they've held for the better part of the last six months, including through the releases of some of the other albums on my top list of 2012.
Well, there it is! If you're looking for other great releases, check on Kina Grannis and Trampled by Turtles, both of which came dangerously close to making the list this year. I'm hoping 2013 has as many great offerings as 2012 (Jim James drops his solo album Feb. 5!), but if it doesn't, I've got an Amazon Cloud so full of great music to get me through until 2014.
Keep on rockin',
Jeff
No comments:
Post a Comment