Top40: The Best of 2012

20. Cat Power - Sun
Sun is the 2012 studio album from Cat Power. Six years after her last album of original material, Chan Marshall has moved on from her collaborative forays into Memphis soul and Delta blues. She wrote, played, recorded and produced the entirety of Sun by herself, a statement of complete control that is echoed in the songs' themes. The narrative arc of the record is deeply American in its spaciousness and optimism, but the music itself is defiantly modern and global.
SUN is a surprising album. It's not surprisingly good - most of Cat Power's past releases have been solid and noteworthy, so there's no reason to suspect that this particular album would be bad. This album defies expectations from so many fronts: tone, sound, subject matter, and style. If you've come in expecting a Cat Power record, you'll be surprised.
The album's first three tracks are among some of the best Cat Power have recorded: "Cherokee" makes no attempt to hide the songwriter's change of direction. Marked with loops and repetition, Marshall's vocals sound especially organic compared to her electronic backdrop. The second track, the selftitled "Sun", is a more aggressive song that finds Cat Power venturing towards dance territory (never thought I would write that sentence). With a distorted guitar providing a dark, brooding chord shift, the song finds an incredible groove that had me reaching for the "repeat" button. The lead single "Ruin", despite its subject matter, is propulsive and even bouncy at times. The song has a melody that stays with the listener long after the playing time is over.
Lyrically, SUN finds Cat Power battling personal demons: "3,6,9" centers around the refrain "3, 6, 9, you drink wine - monkey on your back, you feel just fine." But it also finds the singer/songwriter inspired with some more life-affirming and inspirational moments: "Nothing but Time" convinces listeners that they too can be "superheros" and to keep their heads up through the rough bits. "Human Being" muses on the individuality and interconnectedness of the human condition. "Ruin" and "Peace and Love" look at corruption and devastation on a more global scale.
The penultimate track "Nothing But Time" is appropriately named, running at just shy of 11 minutes. The track features Iggy Pop providing back-up vocals, an artist who has also seen his share of ups and downs. Unfortunately, his presence feels post-hoc, and often, the song would have benefited from his absence. The last track, and apparently Chan Marshall's favorite, is "Peace and Love," another aggressive track that feels like a culmination of everything on SUN; it's rough, littered with electronics and guitar, and angry with the world (particularly the government). Some of the more rap-inspired (regarding her delivery) come across as a bit awkward, but it's an effective way to close the album.

19. Swans - The Seer
The Seer took 30 years to make. It s the culmination of every previous Swans album as well as any other music I ve ever made, been involved in, or imagined. But it s unfinished, like the songs themselves. It s one frame in a reel. The frames blur, blend and will eventually fade.
The songs began on an acoustic guitar, then were fleshed out with (invaluable) help from my friends, then were further tortured and seduced in rehearsals, live, and in the studio, and now they await further cannibalism and force-feeding as we prepare to perform some of them live, at which point they ll mutate further, endlessly, or perhaps be discarded for a while.
Despite what you might have heard or presumed, my quest is to spread light and joy through the world. My friends in Swans are all stellar men. Without them I m a kitten, an infant. Our goal is the same: ecstasy!

18. Avett Brothers - The Carpenter
2012 album from the critically acclaimed North Carolina Folk-Pop-Rock band. Produced by Rick Rubin and recorded in North Carolina and Malibu, the record follows the group's 2009 breakthrough release and celebrated major label debut, I And Love And You. That album reached #16 on the Billboard Top 200 and received rave notices from press. Blending Bluegrass, Folk and Punk with a Rock 'n' RoII attitude, the quintet, led by brothers Seth and Scott Avett, continues to pen poignant and powerful songs on this new release. The Carpenter includes several of the group's signature harmony-driven acoustic ballads, but the brothers also get boisterous on tunes.
The Avett Brothers albums in my mind since Mignonette have been epic. This is epic. This is Avett. This is, however, quite different and more akin to I and Love and You.
While there are numerous ballads on this album, you do get some more classic-ish Avett uptempo songs that, for better or worse, you will wake up singing. If its any song on the album, I bet you $1 it will be the Live and Die. In fact the simple melody, and banjo play will have you singing along EVEN WHEN YOU DONT KNOW THE WORDS. Its like magic. Pretty Girl in Michigan is different, almost some type of throwback doo-wopish type song that I'm struggling to pin, but its catchy. Geraldine and I Never Knew You also more upbeat.
If you liked I and Love and You, you are going to like this. Its somewhat like someone took your oldest most comfortable jeans and took a few minutes updating them with a bedazzler. You can still feel Avett, and the color is the same but its just a little different, with a little different sparkle.
Definitely worth a shot!

17. Azealia Banks - 1991
Azealia Banks is like Nicki Minaj meets Santigold. Her style encompasses fierce rapping, clever wordplay, and creative rhythms. The production and craft recall Santigold, while the lyrical content, delivery, and attitude recall Minaj.
Banks is one of the most hyped (maybe most hyped) new artists of 2012. And the hype came from just a few songs posted on YouTube. But it's easy to see why. She is a skilled, versatile rapper whose music sounds original.
"1991" is an EP that builds on what we've seen from Banks on YouTube and gives a preview of what we'll see on her first studio album.
On "1991", we see Banks combining her fierce rapping with a retro-house music beat. "212" has house influence that is more current sounding. "212" best displays Azealia's versatile delivery and ability to shocking yet clever wordplay.
Anybody from hip-hop to indie to electronic music fans should check out Azealia Banks' music.
Looking forward to hearing her upcoming mixtape and first studio album.

16. Dave Matthews Band - Away From the World
Dave Matthews Band recorded Away From The World with Steve Lillywhite, who produced its first three studio records Under The Table And Dreaming, Crash and Before These Crowded Streets.
Dave Matthews Band comprising Carter Beauford (drums), Stefan Lessard (bass), Dave Matthews (vocals, guitar) and Boyd Tinsley (violin) has sold a collective 37 million CDs and DVDs combined. Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 in 2009, making Dave Matthews Band one of only two groups in chart history to have five consecutive studio albums enter atop the chart. The band was the biggest ticket seller worldwide of the past decade and has sold over 17 million tickets since its inception.
Away From The World, as a whole, is a great piece of work from DMB. There isn't a song on here I don't like or that I skip. When I listen to it, I'm not going in to pick out my favorite song, I usually start at the beginning and jam from Broken Things to Drunken Soldier. I've listened to this album over and over again since I got it yesterday - at home, in the car - no matter where I am it always makes me smile. I just couldn't be more thrilled with Away From The World. Tim's guitar is a great addition to this, Boyd is more present and it's nice to hear so much from him, Jeff and Rashawn's horn line adds some great grooves and some sick jams, Dave's voice is great and Stefan and Carter grooving along. This album is very reflective and retrospective. A kind of look back, but also leaving thoughts and wisdom of what Dave's learned and what he wants to impart to others. It's hopeful, it's uplifting, and it's beautiful work. AFTW is everything I had hoped it would be and I couldn't be more satisfied.
On the vinyl edition - if you're a vinyl collector, it's definitely worth picking up. It says it's "Limited Edition", though I'm sure they mass produced quite a lot of them. The clear vinyl is really cool, it's neat to see lots of companies getting into limited color releases, and this is no exception. The sound quality is excellent, the vinyl sound quality is very clear, but warm with very little fuzz.

15. Chromatics - Kill For Love
Post Punk Italo House is a term i've heard banded about by critics in reference to Chromatics on more than one occasion and i'm unusally happy to go along with the cogniscenti this time round, as i think it's a rather apt descripter. Arpeggiated synths, clean/brittle guitars, tonnes of reverb and the delightful vocals of Ruth Radelet are all blended together for 90 minutes on their fourth album Kill For Love. This is all nice and well i here you say, "but does it sound good?" my answer would be find a stream and give it a listen, but to give you my humble opinion "yes it certainly does".
With such a colossal playing time you might assume that the record might succumb to the perils of being overly ambitious or aimlessly sporadic, however it's actually incredibly consistent alternating between glacial soundscapes and dazzlingly impressive yet sublimely restrained pop songs. I had thought about mentioning individual tracks but there's just too many to sithe through on Kill for Love for it not to feel arbitrary, i will confirm that the cover of Neil Young's "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)" is a brilliantly understated rendition though (not unlike Saint Ettienne's now classic cover of Youngs "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" ).
Essential for any late night reflection period. it's fuzzy and at times meandering...like the recollection of a dream. Visualize rain on a window, and mix in a subtle but pulsating dance beat. Lyrics tend to be cryptic which allow the listener to wallow in their own interpretations...many highlights are to be found but my pick for killer track would be the heartbreaking, yet pulse pounding...these streets will never look the same. And kudos for the entire record being so listenable and consistent, front to back!

14. Donald Fagen - Sunken Condos
Donald Fagen's fourth solo album for Warner Reprise, Sunken Condos, will be released on October 16. His first three solo albums, The Nightfly, Kamakiriad and Morph the Cat comprised the project known as "The Nightfly Trilogy." Sunken Condos begins a chapter in the creative evolution of this innovative artist, whose career is still going strong after forty years.
The nine tracks on Sunken Condos were co-produced by Michael Leonhart and Donald. All but one track, an Ashkenazi recasting of Isaac Hayes' "Out of the Ghetto," are Fagen originals. Some familiar names from the Steely Dan family of players are on hand (Jon Herington, the Steely Dan horns, Freddie Washington) plus some new faces. The word is that, from now on, everything Donald does has got to be funky.
Like fine wine, it gets better with each listen. And like most of Fagen's material, it's very complex with lots of musical intricacies. Sunken Condos is a mixture of jazz, blues, rock, and 70's funk - and Fagen has never been in better form.
It surpasses Steely Dan's Grammy Award winning Two Against Nature. And as good as Walter Becker is at contributing to Steely Dan, Fagen proves he is and always has been Steely Dan's driving force.
THIS IS GRAMMY AWARD MATERIAL!!

13. Alabama Shakes - Boys & Girls
The story of the Alabama Shakes begins in a high school psychology class in Athens, Alabama. Brittany Howard, who had started playing guitar a few years earlier, approached Zac Cockrell and asked if he wanted to try making music together. "I just knew that he played bass and that he wore shirts with cool bands on them that nobody had heard of," says Howard.
This album is so good, the best $5 I have spent in years. This album sounds like Otis Redding and Janice Joplin had a daughter backed up by Duane Allman. Brittany Howard's vocals are flat out amazing - thank god she didn't end up singing American Idol generica, I am sure there are producers who would have loved to snap her up and steer her that way.
Please listen to this album, buy it, tell your friends - that's the only way to keep this kind of music going. The album's first track, "Hold On" is, in my humble opinion, the only track with a radio-friendly hook, so I don't expect any other tracks will get much air-time, but here's hoping.

12. Bonnie Raitt - Slipstream
With the release of her nineteenth album, Slipstream, Bonnie Raitt is starting anew. The album marks her return to studio recording after seven years; it's coming out as the launch of her own label, Redwing Records; and it delivers some of the most surprising and rewarding music of her remarkable career, thanks in part to some experimental sessions with celebrated producer Joe Henry.
Bonnie and Henry recorded ten songs in his home studio with an excellent group of acoustic musicians: guitarist Greg Leisz and pianist Patrick Warren are joined by the rhythm section of bassist David Piltch and Jay Bellrose, the drummer who played the skins on Gregg Allman's "Low Country Blues". Four of the songs made the cut on "Slipstream"- Bob Dylan's "Standing In the Doorway" and "Million Miles" are standouts, while Loudon Wainwright III's "You Can't Fail Me Know" and Henry's "God Only Knows" are ballads that will stay in your head long after your first listen.
Some have commented that the Henry produced songs are the superior ones on "Slipstream", but I respectfully disagree. This album is unique because while two producers contribute, the results are equally successful. Bonnie plans on releasing the remaining Henry produced songs from this session at a later date; hopefully she will add some self-produced tracks to that release as well. This is one case where two good cooks have created a great sonic stew.

11. Dr. John - Locked Down
New Orleans legend Dr. John's Nonesuch debut, produced by Black Keys guitarist and uber-fan Dan Auerbach, distills half a century of this Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee's picaresque musical history, melding his shamanistic stage persona with the authority of a consummate studio musician, the cosmic conjurer with the street-savvy poet. The ten new songs on Locked Down, written by Dr. John with Auerbach and a handpicked crew of backing musicians, combine incantatory chants ("Ellegua") and often politically charged raps ("Revolution") with candid and soulful reflections ("My Children, My Angels"), swaggering R&B ("Big Shot"), and a healthy dose of hypnotic, simmering funk ("The King Of Izness"). As with much of what this multiple Grammy-award winning singer and composer has recorded over the last five decades, the Big Easy is the musical and spiritual jumping-off point, but these new tracks incorporate a world's worth of influences, from gospel and blues to psychedelic rock and Afro-beat.
Auerbach had reached out to the iconic pianist, composer and singer better known to friends and fans as Mac Rebennack in 2010, offering to produce "the best record you've made in a long time." After performing with Rebennack at the 2011 Bonnaroo Music Festival, Auerbach made good on that promise. The instrumental tracks for Locked Down were recorded at Auerbach's new Easy Eye Sound in Nashville and took shape during nine days of intense free-form sessions with the band Auerbach had originally assembled for Bonnaroo. Rebennack later returned on his own, with pages of lyrics, poems and ideas, to complete these songs. As Auerbach recounts, "Watching him come up with parts was just so awesome. Mac is fearless, Like that Farfisa solo on "Revolution" - that's a first-take solo. He just goes for it, man. And he killed it." Though Rebennack is sought after by countless jazz, R&B and rock artists for his piano playing, Auerbach kept him away from the instrument while encouraging him to experiment with other keyboards. "I wanted to keep him a bit more edgy. I didn't want him to be outright retro in any way. And keeping him off the piano sort of helped. A lot of the music I played for Mac, when I went and visited him before the sessions, really perked up his ears - the really oddball stuff like the Ethiopian funk where the keyboardist is playing a Farfisa, those kind of good weird keyboard sounds."
With Auerbach's help, Rebennack recently featured on HBO's Treme, playing himself is poised to reclaim his position as master of the melting-pot Louisianan music style he pioneered in the late sixties under the guise of Dr. John, the Night Tripper. Funky, mysterious, downright mystical albums like Gris Gris and Babylon deeply influenced such artists as Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones, who invited Rebennack to play on their infamous Exile On Main Street sessions, and this work has, arguably, altered the course of rock and roll. Auerbach's mission was "to bring back an awareness of him. I don't think he gets enough of the credit he deserves. After meeting him and talking to him and seeing the kind of stuff he was into, I knew that was still there, that person, that fire. He really was spiritual and cosmic but very much into conspiracy theory, politics. He had all the right things in his mind and I just knew I could get him to speak that language again."

The best of the best for 2012:
40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11 | 10-1