Reaper's Favorite Albums of 2012 (full list posted!)
 

As always, this is a list of my personal favorite albums of the year. It's not meant to be an objective "best-of" list, because while I listen to hundreds of new albums each year I still fall far short of listening to enough to feel comfortable making an objective claim. My usual genre tendencies towards metal and hip-hop are as present as ever. Hopefully you'll find some albums you will come to dig through this list.

I'll be posting it out over the next day or so. I'm doing 30 albums this year.

30.) Miguel - Kaleidoscope Dream
29.) Kamelot - Silverthorn
28.) Monolithe - III
27.) Arjen Anthony Lucassen - Lost in the New Real
26.) Tame Impala - Lonerism
25.) Heems - Nehru Jackets
24.) Panopticon - Kentucky
23.) Anathema - Weather Systems
22.) Brother Ali - Mourning in America, Dreaming in Color
21.) Dan Deacon - America
20.) Sigh - In Somnophobia
19.) El-P - Cancer 4 Cure
18.) Devin Townsend Project - Epicloud
17.) Ondatropica - Ondatropica
16.) Death Grips - No Love Deep Web
15.) First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar
14.) Pharaoh - Bury the Light
13.) Krallice - Years Past Matter
12.) Enslaved - RIITIIR
11.) Godspeed You! Black Emperor - 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!
10.) P.O.S. - We Don't Even Live Here
9.) Royal Thunder - CVI
8.) Lazerbeak - Lava Bangers
7.) Swans - The Seer
6.) Mgla - With Hearts Towards None
5.) Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do
4.) Alcest - Les Voyages De L'Âme
3.) Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music
2.) Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d. city
1.) Death Grips - The Money Store

30. Miguel – Kaleidoscope Dream

In a year where Frank Ocean’s album is topping many year-end lists, it was Miguel’s R&B album that I returned to the most. Miguel’s album is not nearly as personal as Ocean’s, and it’s more fun as a result. This is a sleek album, futuristic but only by a few years. It’s far sexier than the rest of 2012’s R&B. And Miguel can flat-out sing. Lead single “Adorn” is full of, as the kids say, eargasms.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8dM5QYdTo08" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

29. Kamelot – Silverthorn

I thought I was done with Kamelot. I’d always loved their mid-paced, symphonic power metal because of their vocalist, Roy Kahn. He’ll always been one of my favorite singers ever. But he left the band a couple of years ago, after Kamelot put out a very lackluster album. I don’t even know why I gave this new album a listen. But I’m glad I did. The songwriting has an urgency that the band has been lacking for 5 years, and new vocalist Tommy Karevik fits into the band seamlessly. No, he’s not Roy Kahn. But he’s damn good in his own right. The single, Sacrimony, is basically a quintessential Kamelot track. Ignore (or delight in) the cheesy lyrics – this song’s chorus is the worst-written thing I’ve heard all year; its utterly meaningless – and get caught up in the melodies. Eh, this is the sort of thing I have a soft spot for.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/LvWT-7l6vJU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

28. Monolithe – III

Monolithe are a French doom metal band whose previous two albums, I and II, were a lot like this new one: a single, 50+-minute song. How does a doom band, especially one with a fondness for slooooooooow funeral doom, maintain a single song for nearly an hour? It’s hard, but Monolithe has found the answer: you have to somehow feel like a jam band. There are these organic, almost spontaneous shifts in the song and when one happens it feels like a spark of inspiration. The band rides those moments like a jazz improvisation before returning to the refrain. It’s a remarkably easy listen for an hour-long song. Nothing feels forced or strained. It doesn’t reach the highs of longlonglong songs from bands like Persefone, but for doom fans this is an hour well-spent, and well worth returning to. YouTube doesn’t have this song/album up for listen, so the best I can do is link you to an album preview. :(

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VX-otglU5Ko" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

27. Arjen Anthony Lucassen – Lost in the New Real

Arjen Lucassen is the mastermind behind tons of prog-rock projects that I love: Star One, Ambeon, Guilt Machine, Stream of Passion, and most importantly, Ayreon. He has an incredible range of aptitude across musical genres, and this solo effort (his first since 1994) puts that aptitude to the test. It’s a double album, in which the first disc tells the story of a Rip Van Winkle-like man from the 21st century revived in the future, and his process in therapy to come to terms with his new reality. The 2nd album is all cover songs. What I have linked is one of my favorite tracks of the year – Arjen’s cover of Led Zepplin’s “Battle of Evermore.” In it, he uses some “When the Levee Breaks” style drums and some haunting female vocals and dulcimer playing from an unknown Dutch musician (Arjen has always been so good at finding obscure musicians and using them to extraordinary ends). Mostly this album is a diverse couple of hours of songwriting that I find comfortably familiar. It’s a decent holdover until the next Ayreon album.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/T4bNKOxRzQw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

26. Tame Impala – Lonerism

Imagine if Kula Shaker or a similar psychedelic rock band learned the lessons of modern electronic pop bands like Animal Collective or Beach House. That’s pretty much what Australia’s Tame Impala is. It’s the Beatles most experimental phase meets oldold Pink Floyd meets Pitchfork-era buzzbands. Those comparisons to The Beatles are both obvious and welcome; the songs here are breezy and accessible despite their lavish electronic complexity. These soundscapes are begging to be sampled by other projects too. This is just a really nice sunny day album; a light but always interesting touch.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/q_pBeJI1pjI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

25. Heems – Nehru Jackets

Das Racist broke up. I’m sad. But if Heems is going to continue to put out solo work like this then I’ll get over it. This album is exactly what you’d think a Heems solo album would be like: you are never sure when Heems is making fun of hip-hop or embracing it. These tracks frequently act as deconstructions of every convention in hip-hop. Other times they come real, presenting depictions of Indian-American life that I haven’t found in any other music. This album is as much Mike Finito’s as it is Heems’. Finito, who is one of the standout producers of 2012, did all of the beats here, and his glitchy, jarring drums and electronic samples mixed with syrupy pop vocal samples is a very appropriate match for Heems, especially when Finito decides to find inspiration in music from India. This isn’t the most accessible record, and intentionally so. But I returned to it time and time again this year for laughs and for its unique sonic stance.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Gzjk03dVw_I" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

24. Panopticon – Kentucky

Most black metal fans are familiar with the Pacific Northwest scene and how it evokes the natural surroundings and way of life there. Bands like Wolves in the Throne Room or Agalloch really try to capture the essence of Cascadia in their music. Panopticon, the project of Kentucky’s Austin Lunn, wants to do the same thing with the South. This is hands down the most unique black metal album I heard all year. The concept of the album is to express the conflicted nature of the citizens of Kentucky to coal mining. It’s a struggle of economics and environmentalism. And this is certainly a black metal album. But what other black metal albums use sour-sounding pan flutes and shredding banjos? The way that Panopticon uses Bluegrass on this album is almost startling in how refreshing it is. I do think that the band can in the future work to more seamlessly blend the bluegrass influence into each aspect of their songs, but the tracks on this album get away with a bit of separation because of how delightful and unexpected the whole thing is. This feels like it’s coming from its own place in the black metal universe, as opposed to ripping off the Seattle and Portland bands. The South already redefined what American metal can be last decade, with the Savannah sludge sounds of Mastodon, Baroness, etc. Perhaps Panopticon is the band to bring a truly American sensibility to extreme metal subgenres that have had a hard time divorcing themselves from Scandinavia.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/nAUtCa13V38" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

YESSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!

23. Anathema – Weather Systems

Anathema’s late-career turn from a drone/doom type band to an atmospheric rock band has been pretty fascinating. Mostly because it seems their primary aesthetic these days seems to be happiness. This album, Weather Systems, is drenched in luscious, happy arrangements. It’s an emotional ringer – lots of love, loss, and contemplation of those terms – but ultimately it tries to sound as joyous as possible. The joy and beauty of being alive. Make no mistake: this is one of the most emotionally uplifting albums of 2012. It’s so emotional that it can border on too much, on being overdone. But there’s a time and a place for deep, cathartic music like this. Weather Systems sounds like you’re being hugged by an angel.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/JrgrEkhudfo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

22. Brother Ali – Mourning in America, Dreaming in Color

It’s been an intense few years for Brother Ali since his last album in 2009. In fact, the track “Stop the Presses,” (which should open the album but doesn’t) details all of these things: the death of Eyedea, his musical break-up with producer Ant (of Atmosphere), his new, strong commitment to his Muslim faith. Those things combine to produce a radically different type of Brother Ali album. Those Ant beats that Ali rode tight like skin in the past are gone. Instead, this album is entirely produced by Jake One. Jake One’s beats here have a slightly more commercial snap to them, but they’re amongst his most cynical offerings too. These darker, slyer beats bring Ali to some complex crossroads. He’s typically on this album either angry over the state of America, or struggling to be a family man, or trying to calm down that anger through his spiritual teachings. It’s absolutely a portrait of an important American artist at a time of great change in their life. And while I don’t think this Jake One sound works as well for Ali as Ant’s beats did, this album still bumps and still teaches you how to be a better citizen. It will probably be the most enigmatic album of Ali’s career when it’s all finished.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dKHsGh-y8d8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

21. Dan Deacon – America

If you’ve ever thought to yourself, “I wonder what a Tom Petty album would sound like if Tom Petty were a contemporary of Animal Collective?”, well, think that to yourself no longer. You’ve found it! Dan Deacon, using songs that are in turn noisy, glitchy, tribal, marching, building, slick, and chaotic, tries to say something about this nation of natural beauty. The album is mostly instrumental, so the conceptual ties are mostly ambiguous. But there’s something about the instrumentation that seems classic, in a strange way. It’s the way these songs are tight – under 5 minutes, for the most part. It’s the way that they sound distantly like the tracking music for a nature documentary…that someone is watching in the apartment above you as you are listening to a post-rock album while trying to connect to the internet via a dialup modem. This album is a quick listen, fast-paced as an album even though every song feels like it has ample time to breathe and naturally find itself. This is pretty invigorating stuff.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/SSdagiCNpvQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

20. Sigh – In Somnophobia

Sigh, those crazy bastards from Japan, are one of my favorite bands. They always, always, bring some fresh, inventive musical concept to their albums. This new one explores dreams, which is not an uncommon theme in their music, but it does so though the lens of circus music. Seriously. This album sounds like circus music meets Camel’s “Lady Fantasy” – which means I love it intensely. This is the best Diablo Swing Orchestra album ever, and I mean that only positively. Sigh takes on dark ambient and drone a bit during the albums middle section, and that falls flat for me. But the album’s bright, insane, jaunty beginning and ending sections are strong enough to land this album in my top 20 favorites for the year. I am genetically disposed to liking prog bands that marry ambition with killer guitar solos. This album’s best moments do exactly that.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PJMNyFYuNFA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/hALBogb8D20" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I always look forward to this thread. While I can't get into metal at all, and many of your favorites are metal, I do like many of your rap favorites. I hadn't heard of Doomtree or Brother Ali, among others, before your thread a couple years ago, and now I really like them a lot.

Good Kid mAAd City better be in the top 10... http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/...ingFingers.gif:)

Really excited about the Panopticon album after that description.

19. El-P – Cancer 4 Cure

This is Brooklyn-based producer/rapper El-P’s first solo album since 2007, and it comes on the heels of some especially strong years for him. Last year he produced some bangers for New York acts Das Racist and Mr. Mother****in eXquire, and dropped one of THE best rap verses of 2011 on eXquire’s “The Last Huzzah.” This year he produced Killer Mike’s superbsupersuperb album R.A.P. Music, and managed to find time to drop Cancer 4 Cure – a deafening, Def Jux, sonic beatdown of a rap album. This shit puts preassure on you. I feel like I’m being squashed by these echo chambers of drums and steel pillars of heavy synths. This shit comes hard. The first half of the album is especially strong. “Oh Hail No” sounds like a Bond villain, menacing yet supercool. “Drones over Bklyn” is paranoid and powerful. “The Full reerun” is El-P at his best as a producer and a rapper: it’s incredibly groovy, achieving almost a soul music horns-and-drums groove by basically just using distorted bass and various laser sounds.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/OZptOs8Gu9k" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/W2ed5osQYvU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

18. Devin Townsend Project – Epicloud

Devin Townsend’s new album was his attempt at making a Def Leppard-style poppy hard rock album. This album is going for poppy hooks and feel-good moments, and it isn’t unlike the previously mentioned Weather Systems by Anathema in its ability to make me really happy. Epicloud is glossy in all of the right ways. The ethereal vocals of Anneke van Giersbergen, one of my favorite singers in the world, is featured on many of the albums track’s. But there’s still plenty of Devin’s thick riffs to ground this thing in hard rock territory. “Grace” is the total package of light, catchy moments in the midst of a hard skeleton, “Kingdom” is a beefed-up cover of an old Devin Townsend song, and the tracks “Hold On” and “Save Our Now” (a reimagining of a Pendulum song) have beautiful crescendos that make me smile like a giant idiot child man. Devin has been resisting an album like this for a long time, by which I mean an album that isn’t sonically unified. There’s industrial tracks here, there’s metal tracks here, there’s tracks that are purely ambient. But it all sounds like Devin Townsend, and this sounds like a perfect lesson for him to learn.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/C_XHSdayJ-E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/StSalE00cAA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

17. Ondatropica – Ondatropica

Ondatropica is something of a Cumbia supergroup. Do you know Cumbia? It’s the national musical genre of Colombia, sort of related to salsa. This project consists of over 40 musicians, mostly from Colombia, but also featuring some transplants, all coming together to re-interpret what Cumbia means in the 21st century. There’s tons of traditional instruments, there’s tons of players playing instruments they aren’t familiar with, there’s 80-year-old dudes rapping, there’s bagpipes playing Caribbean music, there’s a cover of Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man.” It’s nearly insane! And yet this project somehow sounds timeless. This, folks, is musical history. This is the past and future of latin music. It’s pan-national in all of the best ways. I defy you not to put this record on while cooking or cleaning or something and not come out of the ordeal smiling. This is infectious stuff.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/p6fpnkInEDc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7pH85RmWwOo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

16. Death Grips – No Love Deep Web

You probably know the story behind this, Death Grips’ 2nd album of 2012. They were the most abrasive, unapproachable band signed to a major label. After releasing The Money Store through Epic earlier in the year, they cancelled their tour to work on this album. Epic didn’t want to release it in 2012. So what did Death Grips do? They leaked the album themselves, for free. They actively fought to get dropped from their major label, a label they were extremely luck to get signed with in the first place given that their complex electronic vaguely hip-hop noisy brand of sonic assault is not at all radio material. No Love Deep Web is not as tight or catchy as The Money Store, but it’s also far darker than 2011’s ExMilitary. This album is dripping with pure menace. MC Ride raps so ferociously on opening track “Come Up and Get Me” that he loses his voice but still keeps going. “Artificial Death in the West” slows things down, sounding like a walk through the Vegas strip on codeine. The paranoia and disappointment in this album is palpable. My favorite track is “No Love,” which sounds like you are alone and defenseless and a pack of deranged people are stalking you down to torture and kill you. That’s the kind of intense reaction I had to that track, and it’s these kinds of unique emotional reactions that Death Grips does so, so well.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qe6hHnHUQVk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/zD-RD3E0Pbo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I think you'll be happy with its placement on my list.

15. First Aid Kit – The Lion’s Roar

I’m a sucker for: a.) harmonized female vocals, and b.) pagan shit. These two Swedish sisters give me all of that that I could ever want. This album is a collection of tight, folk-country tunes. Some of them, like the title track sound more like European folk. Some, like the transcendent “Emmylou” take their cues from old American country. Others still mix the two: “Wolf” is a pagan chant cum Native American song, and “Blue” is the happiest, jauntiest song to ever feature the line “now you’re just a shell of your former you” as its chorus. The primary draw above anything else is the voices of these two singers. They can seriously belt these songs out. The last track, “King of the World,” featuring Colin Oberst, annoys the shit out of me. But all the other songs are top-notch. This is going to remain a frequent listen well into next year.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gekHV9DIjHc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PC57z-oDPLs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

14. Pharoah – Bury the Light

This album is pretty much American power metal at its best. It takes its song structure from Iron Maiden and its hard edge from bands like Jag Panzer or old Queensryche (I mean “hard edge” relatively, of course). Bury the Light will have you in equal measure headbanging and marveling at vocalist Tim Aymar’s deep vibrato. The guitar licks and harmonized parts are pretty unique in the genre. You might not notice if you don’t listen to a ton of power metal, but this album feels refreshing amidst all the stagnant, repetitive albums that the genre has seen in recent years. This is the most straight-up metal album I have on this list. If you are like me than you love harmonized guitar and badass riffs. This album brings you those things. Constantly. It’s a constant stream of melody and rifbundle of stickse from which to lap. Godamn, this album rules.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/upsCD0c8CBY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-ilvX0zrBgw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

All of those albums are trash, sorry but you don't know what real good rap is. You're stuck on some indie bullshit and it's wack.

13. Krallice – Years Past Matter

This album is like an even better version of the previously mentioned III by Monolithe. This album is broken up into six tracks, but it plays like one contiguous album. It’s frantic and unrelenting in all of the ways that the Monolithe album is slow and droning. This is hyperspeed, spacy black metal. Krallice’s album from last year was a bit of Agalloch worship that I felt didn’t measure up to the parent influence. Years Past Matter, however, is completely Krallice’s own thing. This whole album has a drive to it that needs to be experienced. It’s exhilarating in all of the ways that a great action movie can be. We’re talking a Michael Bay-like pace of sonic action (without the shitty characters and writing). This is the heaviest, most intense listening experience I had all year. Sure, there were albums that were heavier. But the songcraft here takes the heaviness from gimmick to legitimate emotional experience. I would do shameful things to be able to hear this whole album performed live. I've linked to the full album.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HU9GAxrQHmg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

What's real good rap?

Smoke DZA, Curren$y, Pusha T, Vado,

12. Enslaved – RIITIIR

This is Enslaved’s 12th studio album since 1994, and like all Enslaved LPs it sounds nothing like the other Enslaved LPs. I’ve been calling Enslaved “the Pink Floyd of Black Metal” for years now; this band is simply unafraid to take whatever risks they think up. They’re constantly seeking to redefine the limits of black metal. This album sees the band focus on polyrhythm being played against a backdrop reminiscent of Yes’ best material. 70’s prog with modern American metal sensibilities, basically. But wait, there’s a new wrinkle. Enslaved’s keyboardist is providing clean vocals! And he’s really good at them! These clear, high, super-melodic clean vocals take Enslaved into new melodic territory. They could use this as an excuse to make the most accessible record of their career, but instead Enslaved just uses this as an excuse to make the song structures more dense, ever shifting. Because they know the melodies will ground the listener even as they can’t keep up with the rhythm section. “Roots of the Mountain” is straight-up beautiful (even when it tries to pummel you), and “Thoughts Like Hammers” shows American metal bands how to do repetitive groove riffs correctly without sacrificing edge or melody. Enslaved albums are always eye-opening, this being no exception.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dQz0_m16SaU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7DULdEgVgY8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I love Pusha T as much as the next guy, but he didn't come out with anything in 2012. Vado didn't drop anything this year either (though I had to double-check that). I respect Curren$y, but his albums tend to have too much filler in my opinion to land amongst my very favorite albums of a year. I dug Smoke DZA's album with that Harry Fraud production all over it, but it didn't crack my top 30.

11. Godspeed You! Black Emperor – ‘Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!

This band needs no introduction; they’re titans of post-rock. This new album then is a titanic occasion, but not in the disaster sense. There are two 20-minute long songs here (basically entirely written in 2002 and shelved when the band was on hiatus), and they are superb. Moving in all of the best ways that a Godspeed song can be. Truly epic builds into gigantic, explosive, emotional climaxes. Connecting these two tracks are a couple of noise/drone songs that provide texture and breathing room between the two big buildups. This album was written post-9/11, and you can sort of tell in the slight Arab-influence of “Mladic.” Unfortunately for us (but fortunately for the band) the palpable tension and unease over world politics that oozes out of these songs is just as relevant in 2012 as it was a whole decade earlier when the album was mostly written. I don’t need to say anything more here. It’s a new Godspeed album.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RXdF9uhVrI0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/wP6-wlhviKw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Any chance that the new albums from Katatonia, BTBAM, and The Contortionist are all in your top ten?

I really love one of those bands.

LOL that guy calls your list wack then says Vado is good

With rap these days, it's more about mixtapes then albums. Pretty sure he dropped one and Vado did too. My bad, I respect indie, it's just an acquired taste and has to grow on me. I find that Curren$y's stoned immaculate had a lot of filter however he dropped Cigarette Boats which was a classic. Curren$y has stepped it up since Fraud started producing for him just like DZA. I Highly Recommend you listen to Smoke DZA - K.O.N.Y - came out like a month or 2 ago, a lot of nice production on there from Ski Beatz, 183rd and Harry, dunno if you heard it, been out for a month or 2 now...what was you're thoughts on the new Kendrick and the new Game, Jesus Piece?

You seriously don't think Vado is good?

Not really and i'm part of the Dipset cult.

Considering your love for Opeth (with Heritage being an exception), I'm going to wager that Katatonia will be making the appearance. With that said, however, have you heard the latest work from The Contortionist? Intrinsic is heavily influenced by cynic/other progressive metal artists and offers a major contrast from TC's previous offerings. It's definitely worthy of a listen, as it may be the album of the year for me thus far. (Though I'd still hold your opinion in high regard if the work was not to your liking.)

You haven't taken in Slime Flu ?
Who you thinks the best in the Dipset cult?

Slime Flu was ok. I think Cam'ron is by the best in Dipset.

take in Smoke DZA - K.O.N.Y

He already said Kendrick's album is ranked high on his list. I'm guessing it may be his album of the year.

First Aid Kit is the only band I've heard on your list. Actually, I think they are the only band I've even HEARD OF on your list. I'm lame.

Really? El-P is out repping Brooklyn his whole career and you don't know the man?

Well, that's what I'm here for I suppose.

10. P.O.S. – We Don’t Even Live Here

Lyrically, this is an album about little revolutions. The idea is that if you can’t abide living in a ****ed-up America, that you make scheme and plot and make your own rules. Make your own place to live. Kick down doors, reject notions of private property, lie. It’s a surprisingly upbeat album, given its fairly revolutionary politics. P.O.S.’ stellar solo albums have typically been full of punk rock drums and raw production. On this, his 4th album, things change a bit. There’s more of an electronic, European influence. It feels like a natural extension in some ways from 2011’s Doomtree crew album, No Kings. “**** Your Stuff,” the lead single, is as commercial a track as P.O.S. is likely to ever produce (so of course it’s very lyrically subversive). Stef raps his ass off on fast-paced songs like “Weird Friends” or “All of It” or “Bumper.” The track “How We Land” is my favorite; a beautiful number about overmedication, featuring guest vocals (and a guest rap verse!) from Justin Vernon of Bon Iver fame. Yes, Bon Iver rap exists. There aren’t a lot of highlights on this album, honestly. Stef’s last album, Never Better, was full of great song after great song. We Don’t Even Live Here is a more cohesive ALBUM, however. It’s an engaging album-length listen. It’s catchy, energetic, and doesn’t get old.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4eBRKh1qbDc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PGVaC9Ts30g" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0FY6VcJR2PE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

9. Royal Thunder – CVI

Hard rock album of the year, right here. Hell, it’s the Southern Rock album of the year, too (apologies to Lee Bains III & the Glory Fires, who are awesome but whose album missed mu top 30 because of production). Royal Thunder is a Sabbath-inspired rock quartet from Georgia and they are goddamned heavy. They’re fronted by Mini Parsons (she also plays bass), whose mid-range voice works so beautifully with the sludgy guitar riffs. She’s like a banshee drunk off of bourbon. These songs are timeless in a way; these vocal lines and riffs would play just as well in the ‘70s as they do today. You could call them revivalist, but I just call them good. The soaring vocals, the bar-smell atmosphere. The first half of this album is seriously as good as anything released in 2012. Anything. The back half falls off a bit for various reasons – redundancy, lack of catchiness, etc. – but that first half got wore the hell out on my iTunes. They can do short and sweet (“Whispering World,” “No Good”), or they can masterfully use atmosphere and repetition to craft a killer 10 minute long song (“Shake and Shift”). Opening track “Parsonz Curse” is a top 3 song of 2012 for me. The slow build, the driving vocals, the beautiful crescendo of syrup-thick guitars and layered chorus vocals; this song is so ****ing good. This is a band to watch out for in the future, for sure.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PK8v8QwEE8w" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ouYyHQdHArk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/F2zLGuOQlIo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

8. Lazerbeak – Lava Bangers

It feels weird to me putting this album this high. It’s just a beat tape, after all. But it’s a Lazerbeak beat tape, which helps explain its placement. Lazerbeak is one of Doomtree’s two main producers, and he’s absolutely a top 5 producer in all of hip-hop. Dude makes ****ing killer beats. Lava Bangers is an album of short instrumental sequences that Lazerbeak made, with no one rapping over them. I don’t know a lot about the various genres of electronic music. All I know is that I listened to this CD more than any other album this year. This is a list of favorites, right? I'd say this album is a heavy favorite. Each of these tracks are ****ing awesome, but the real magic lies in the sequencing. From the start of the album to the finish, this is phenomenally, perfectly sequenced. This feels like a true album. Some of the song combos are especially transcendent; the track “Smash Hit” leading into “LRL” is a top 5 musical moment of the year for me. Go drive around to this. Go exercise to this. Do anything in your life ever to this album, because it’s ****ing great.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/F0ZM7QieYmI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vWB-V5SCOD0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/auoMVDFxCNA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

7. Swans – The Seer

This album strikes me as the future of music. Hyperbole? Sure. But this album feels groundbreaking to me in so many ways. Were this a best-of list it’d be much closer to 1 than 7. But this is a favorites list, and I can only listen to this album about once a month. Because it’s an incredibly draining emotional experience. Swans take post-rock, dip it into a bucket of Americana, and then ring the thing out like a towel. Words fail me when trying to describe the album. Just listen to the two long songs I’ve linked to. Be prepared for anything and everything. Be prepared to be amazed, to be in a state of thrall.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-P7fBUDkb90" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tyX7vc0k5_k" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/D0EgxB323J4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

6. Mgla – With Hearts Towards None

I’ve spent this whole list praising black metal albums that take the genre to new, exciting, experimental places. So it’s pretty funny that my favorite black metal album of 2012 takes the genre to exactly zero new places. This album does nothing new. What it does is classic black metal, done exquisitely well. I know that lots of you reading this don’t like black metal. Maybe you haven’t had the right introduction. So here’s my challenge: listen to the first two minutes of the track “With Hearts Towards None III.” That’s it. Keep an open mind through the cool riffs and harsh vocals of the first minute and 40 seconds. Then experience the riff change at 1:50 into the song. If you aren’t motivated by that piece of music, if you don’t feel like you can take on the entire world by yourself, then you will never understand black metal. The simple melodies on this album, being able to hear the attack of the guitar pick on the strings, the simple blastbeats…everything on this album lacks frills but is so, so effective anyway. I mowed lawns to this album. I copyedited to this album. I took gentle walks by the Black Warrior River to this album. Everything I did while listening to this album sort of reaffirmed my own humanity, my own will to live a good life. It’s weird, but that’s what black metal at its best does – through the most extreme, brutal sounds comes something like a life-affirming experience.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/QcqC4jtrR9Y" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/A0E5TGWAw30" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/TbSpg0q1q_Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Agree with your take on the Swans album. I appreciate the album, but it's not something I find myself looking forward to unless I'm in the right mood.

5. Fiona Apple – The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do

Fiona Apple is back with a damn dynamo of an album. Musically, this is almost entirely piano and occasional percussion. It’s a very stripped-down album, putting the focus on Fiona’s voice. It’s fierce on this album. So is the piano playing; sometimes you can easily picture Fiona slamming down on the keys with all of her force. It’s hard to write about this album, actually. It’s hard to convey why these simple songs with simple arrangements are good enough to be my fifth favorite album of the year. It has to do with the fresh, loopy vocal lines, the physicality of the piano playing. And it has to do with the production, and the little flourishes it takes when it needs to break away from the minimalism. Take the standout track “Werewolf” for instance. It’s about the speaker realizing that her relationship went sour because she brought out the worst in her partner. On the 3rd verse you hear the sounds of playing (screaming?) children in the background. It takes the song to a whole new level of creepiness and makes the damaging nature of that poisoned relationship all the more palpable. The track “Hot Knife” keeps layering on different vocal lines, some contrasting, some harmonized, played simultaneously, training your ears all the way, so that by the end of the song you’re keeping track of like eight different vocal lines all saying separate sentences (or at least saying them at different rhythms). These are just great songs, period.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Fby632bPn0E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/S5hO8UF9FJ4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/bIlLq4BqGdg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

4. Alcest – Les Voyages De L'Âme

The French one-man black metal/post-rock/shoegaze project Alcest is something that’s featured highly on my lists before. Alcest’s last album was 10th on my 2010 list. Their latest finds itself in my top 5 because it has embraced a weird thing for an ostensibly black metal band to embrace: happiness. This is album of soaring heights and prettyprettypretty moments. It sounds triumphant. Melodic and uplifting and full of major scales and droning, repetitive chords that build to soaring crescendos. This description sounds similar to what I’ve said about other albums this year, namely Anathema’s Weather Systems. Alcest achieves its tremendous pretty happy states more naturally in my opinion. It’s about craft and it’s about restraint. This is an album of quiet victories. Songs like “Là Où Naissent Les Couleurs Nouvelles” are what my mind sounds like after getting a publication from a journal I really dig, or eating a perfectly composed bite of food, or getting a kiss under the moonlight from the woman I love. This isn’t a perfect album; it’s the most metal portions of this album that feel the most out of place, actually. But is 9/10 for me, and would have topped my 2011 list had it been eligible. I love this album, and I hope that you do too.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xCwGMLncumM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ksRBfsz53Eg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/AgYkrDQYeZg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

3. Killer Mike – R.A.P. Music

Holy shit is this a rap album. Killer Mike has always been a top-notch MC, but his production has been too inconsistent in my opinion throughout the course of his career. Mike lucked out and found El-P to produce this whole album. The result is the biggest collection of rap bangers this year. This album is an incendiary mix of smart-as-hell lyrics, passionate delivery, and beats that will tear your system up. While El-P went crazy on his solo album this year, the beats he crafted for Killer Mike are more restrained, more in line with a Southern rap sensibility. They’re still progressive as hell for the hip-hop scene, but they are bass-forward and free of clutter. They knock, man. Blast this in your car and you’ll feel like the baddest dude on the block. I can’t say enough good things about this album. “Big Beast” is a tour de force. “Reagan” is the best political song of the year. “Willie Burke Sherwood” and the title track show that El-P can create some deeply emotional beats, and that Killer Mike is up to the task as an MC to make sure listeners feel those emotions. Top to bottom this is a future classic rap album. A classic. It’d be the best pure hip-hop album of the year, too, if not for one young MC whose eager to change the game…

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Z8-RmM5py1c" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6lIqNjC1RKU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rtFDsYwARIE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

God I LOVE Fiona's new album. Glad to see her get some love from ya, Reaper.

Oh, wait, yeah. I'm not super familiar with his work, but yeah, I'm aware of El-P. Must have glossed over him.

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

This album. What can I say about it that hasn't already been said by every music critic? Coming into this album I was more of a fan of Kendrick Lamar’s potential than I was his output. His 2011 album, Section.80, was only 40th on my list last year; I loved about half of the album, but the other half bored me. Kendrick was finding himself, and he’d prove only a year later, with this album, that he’s ready to take over the genre. This is a (mostly) nonfiction concept album: the narrative running throughout the album concerns Kendrick as a high school sophomore. He acts a fool with some friends who aren't good for him (in his crime-torn neighborhood in Compton), gets high for the first time (on a blunt laced with coke), gets jumped by some dudes as he was trying to hook up with this girl, gets his friends, goes back for revenge, ends up losing a good friend in a firefight, and ultimately rejects the gangbanger lifestyle. I mean, that’s it in a nutshell. There’s more. The weird thing is that this is Kendrick’s major label debut…but as his national introduction he chooses to present who he used to be instead of who he is. As a narrative and concept it works though. All of the beats are slick and carefully chosen. Kendrick pulls off some next-level flows on this album pretty effortlessly. These song structures are incredibly ambitious for hip-hop. This album is nearly flawless, actually. I don’t really love the track “Real,” which is the narrative moment of change (and as a result should be amazing, but the hook falls really, really flat for me). But aside from that everything is superb. “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe” absolutely knocks. “Backseat Freestyle” is an intentionally ignorant track from the perspective fo a drunk and high 16 year old, and features some dialed-in, most-going-hard-verse-of-the-year style flow. The tracks “Good Kid” and “m.A.A.d. city” combine to show off a dazzling array of versatile rapping. The last track, “Compton,” features Dr. Dre (rapping to some verses that Kendrick pretty obviously wrote) and it feels like a super-triumphant passing of the torch thanks to a stellar Just Blaze beat that incorporates some Roger Troutman-style vocoder. It holds up after dozens of listens, and you find new wrinkles to be impressed with each time you go through it. Most years, an album like this would be an easy number one. It’s a must-own.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BBnDYdWlF0k" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ulJeF56Le5Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/10yrPDf92hY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

1. Death Grips – The Money Store

No album in 2012 impressed me more, or struck me as more forward-thinking, than Death Grips major label debut (and probable finale), The Money Store. Through aggressive rapping, super-tight drumming, and a dizzying array of samples taken mostly from YouTube videos, Death Grips has turned in an album that is simultaneously abrasive and catchy. Believe me, for as much as this album tries to put people off with its extreme sounds, it’s also one of THE catchiest albums of the year. Every track on this album makes me pump my fist and nod my head. Every track is this blend of searing complexity with hooks that never let your mind go. When L.A. Reid, music industry titan, signed Death Grips to Epic, he did so because – this is a true story – he thought Death Grips hit people in an emotional register that only Whitney Houston had hit people before. The comment seems absurd on its face, especially coming off of Death Grips’ 2011 album, ExMilitary which was cold and distant and aggressive. But I see what he means now. No other album makes me feel as good about, shit, about the state of music, of art itself, than this album. I don’t even think much when I listen to this album; I just feel good. I could spend some time dissecting the lyrics on this album, or I could spend time telling you what the samples sound like (the choppy vocal sample on “System Blower” for example is just audio of Serena Williams serving a tennis ball). But it’d be better if you just trusted me and listened to this album in full. This album is remarkably ahead of its time; musicians are going to scramble to in the next few years to catch up to it. This is basically a 10/10 album and, dare I say it, should go down as one of the greatest albums of the 21st century. I can’t say enough hyperbolic things about The Money Store. It’s the best album since 2010’s combo of Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Agalloch’s Marrow of the Spirit. No album since has demonstrated such utter mastery of its forms and such aptitude to take their genres to new, un-thought-of heights. Get this album immediately, and let it soak in. Spend some time with it. Hopefully you find it as rewarding as I do. I want everyone to love an album, any album, as much as I love The Money Store.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HIrKSqb4H4A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/W43aQxzjyeM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/WpxZdL2hQVc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dCgxi-h1PoI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/sticXkHxZC4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PeFmaHHneGo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/74NA48f66kk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

is it bad that the only names i recognize in this thread are Killer Mike, Fiona Apple, and Camron?

Nope.

Not at all. Perhaps, like me, your tastes are drawn in a different direction. Though, I like these threads because it affords me the opportunity to expand my tastes.

I'm looking forward to diving into some of these artists.

I listened to Intrinsic earlier in the year, but rarely found myself wanting to return to it. It sort of ended up in the same position for me as Ne Obliviscaris' Portal of I in that they are albums that, on paper, I should be totally into. But something didn't connect fully for me, and the album never got past "appreciation" and into "love."

Also, I liked the new Katatonia OK but was more disappointed in it than anything. High expectations, I guess.

http://gifsoup.com/webroot/animatedgifs/120654_o.gif


And until this thread, I never listened to Killer Mike except for his OutKast stuff. I'm about to start listening to some of his songs now.

His 2011 album, Pl3dge, is pretty damn solid. He's got some awesome songs further back in his catalog too.

So...uh...did y'all listen to music this year?

Not nearly enough. I could maybe do a top 10. No way I heard 30 albums this year, though.

This is a damn good list, I'm definitely going to have to check out the names I don't recognize. You made the right choice with The Money Store, it head and shoulders above the rest of the albums for me.

Thanks, man. It's hard for me to put into words how much The Money Store affects me. I had the best times this year riding my bike around town at night, especially on the walking trail right next to this big river in town, and listening to that album. It's weird: its a dark, twisted, and savage album in so many ways, but it makes me feel so good.

Some albums I really liked this year that didn't make it onto your list:

Father John Misty: Fear Fun
Grimes: Visions
GOAT: World Music
Twin Shadow: Confess
Frankie Rose: Interstellar
Spiritualized: Sweet Heart, Sweet Light
Andrew Bird: Break It Yourself/Hands of Glory
Diiv: Oshin
Ab Soul: Control System
Frank Ocean: Channel Orange
The Weeknd

I can respect those opinions, Anathema has always been in that "Portal of I" position for me. In regards to Katatonia, I felt like their effort did not exactly advance them from their sounds in TGCD and NITND, but I still enjoyed it nonetheless.

As always, fantastic list, Reaper. Loved the inclusions of Alcest, Panopticon, Devin Townsend, Seers and Enslaved. I also made a note to check out Kamelot and Mgla's new releases.

3.) Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music
2.) Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d. city
1.) Death Grips - The Money Store


yay, i feel cool...lmao

killer mike was the discovery for me this year...a friend just turned me on to lamar a couple weeks ago


death grips are just another category....i found about them in last year's thread and haven't stopped listening since, they are the most 'of their age' of anything i know...the music seems perfect for this weird almost post-capitalist era but simultaneously from the future..they also feel necessary, much like public enemy did

and i have no clue how to explain them to people...it clicks for you or you hate it

Goddamn this Kendrick Lamar album is good. I can't remember the last time I dug a hip-hop album this much, this fast.

That's a great description of them. I feel the same way.

This!

Yes basically all hip hop but my tastes in hip hop seem to be much different than most on the board.

Lay it on us, man. Recommend some albums.

I'd only heard of Fiona Apple. I think I'm going to listen to her Idler album today.

I'm surprised Frank Ocean didn't make the Reaper list, considering how many accolades it's received. You have some 'splaining to do Reaper! What's your verdict?

Also, did you hear the new Dylan album, Tempest?

Death Grips: I'm going to just have to say that I do not "get it". Updated: *YET*

Stay Tuned.

I think the Frank Ocean album is mostly boring. Most of the songs are disjointed to me. I like a few of the tracks, especially "Pyramids," but on the whole I think its musically undercooked. Plus, I don't think he's a very good singer. When he sings in a low register it sounds awesome. His falsetto is maximum-effort and strained, like a Byron Leftwich pass.

It's pretty compelling on a narrative level, and people lovelovelove his bisexuality coming-out story, and part of the album's reputation is based on that (in my opinion).

Mostly, I think that white people just like substandard R&B.

p.s. I did listen to Tempest, of course. It didn't grow on my as much as I wanted it to.

I disagree on Ocean's singing, but I agree on the rest, more or less, especially the coming-out story being a huge catapult for his popularity this year.

I still say his performance of "Bad Religion" on Jimmy Kimmel was absolutely amazing, and I was a little cynical about the coming out story as possibly just being a publicity stunt.

I found the Weeknd before I found Frank Ocean, and I think that sort of made Frank Ocean less interesting/fresh to me (much like you and The Dream, possibly).

I like The Weeknd a lot more than I like Frank Ocean.

I'm not seeing Call Me Maybe on here. List fail.