Reaper's Favorite Albums of 2012

[Reaper16]

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

[-King-]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

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.

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.

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by -King-

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.

[Reaper16]

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

[Red Brooklyn]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

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.

[Sannyasi]

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.

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by Sannyasi

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.

[NewChief]

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

[Chiefspants]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

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.

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.

[the Talking Can]

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

[Pablo]

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

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by the Talking Can

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

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

[Pushead2]

Originally Posted by NewChief

Twin Shadow: Confess

This!

[Bo's Pelini]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

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

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

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by Bo's Pelini

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.

[La literatura]

Originally Posted by nstygma

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

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?