Rolling "favorite music of 2012 so far" thread (albums and/or tracks edition)

just discovered

Usher, "Climax"

late to the party - but this is fucking awesome

Yeh, already feeling liked underrated this over at the jukebox.

oh man, seandalai, that tenniscoats album is incredible

i love how Saya's voice constantly shifts + flickers between like traditional vox affect and naturalistic body affect - like she'll be singing so sadly and then her voice will just break for a second, like it's too much of a strain to keep up the musical pretense and she has to respond with more authentic sentiment. gorgeous.

ALBUM
Tennis Bafra - Abulia Jubilee ← Sounds almost identical to Sonic Youth in ways that should be criminal, right down to the singer's Thurston Moore impression, but I'm loving it anyway.

Matthew Shipp Trio - Elastic Aspects

(Contemporary chamber jazz.)

(Because I get tired of long lists on threads of this sort that leave me with no idea--or a wrong idea--of what genres the artists in question record.)

Field Music - Plumb
35 minutes, 15 songs, a little bit of postpunk groove, a little bit of post-McCartney melody, a little bit of post-prog instrumentation, and a whole lot of really gorgeous songs and smart lyrics. My favourite record this year so far.

Zieti- Zemelawa(Grigri Discs)

(Ivory Coast/American afropop--Singer and singer/rhythm guitarist from the Ivory Coast lay down tracks and then an American guitarist, drummer and others add more on top---retro guitar and modern vocal melodies)

The Narrow Garden - Eyvind Kang
Voices From The Lake - s/t
Henge Beat - Total Control
Dreams Say, View, Create, Shadow Leads - Dustin Wong
Escort - s/t
Man With Potential - Pete Swanson
Break It Yourself - Andrew Bird
Glimmer - Jacaszek

I actually love that Zieti album! xp

a little bit of post-McCartney melody

I'm genuinely not trying to pick apart your description of Field Music, but could you explain what is meant by "post-" McCartney?

you know that kathleen edwards newie grows on you after a while
give it a few spins and you are in her moment
i likey

cosign. not as good as asking for flowers but solid work.

albums:

lapalux, when you're gone
heems, nehru jackets
shlohmo, vacation ep
shigeto, lineage
matthewdavid, jewelry ep
dva, pretty ugly
lamin fofana, dubious prety

tracks:

grimes, 'oblivion'
usher, 'climax'
kwes, 'bashful'

it took me like five minutes to work out that Asking for Flowers is the name of an album and not an action you were describing xp

do ppl actually like grimes or is it just the album de jour for those in the know? cause i listened to it and bo-oring.

Yeah, Grimes is definitely in my comfort zone, but what she does is done better by a lot of other people.

speaking on behalf of those in the know, we don't actually like grimes, we're just pretending. thank you for your question.

yeah I can't wait for everyone to stop talking about Grimes because its getting so frustrating pretending to like it when it plays

on the real i haven't gotten around to listening to the record much as a whole, but i've listened to Oblivion many, many times because it is an A+ pop song.

cosign that. I couldn't get into the album but "Oblivion" is very nice

do ppl actually like grimes or is it just the album de jour for those in the know?

I don't even understand what this means?

its his wording for that age old straw abt "no one really likes this, they just pretend to so they can seem hip"

Ah.

It's such an odd notion, really.

Oh please. Probably all taste is about pretending/signaling. It's only weird bc it suggests that there's any music that doesn't fit that criteria.

Probably all taste is about pretending/signaling.

Yes. But pretending/signaling is not something you do instead of enjoying. Enthusing about something just takes too much energy if you don't really feel it, even for those in the know.

I tend to think that a truly "pretend" response is more likely to be an expression of cautious approval or disapproval of something you haven't really listened to enough to have a fully fledged opinion on. That's when yr most vulnerable to the infection and spreading of social signals without any meaningful personal response.

Even, say, an example of Lex moving from ambivalence to outright dislike of Grimes - which I think even he would say is largely motivated by his irritation at her critical popularity vis a vis other acts he considers similar and more deserving - is a "genuine" response, in that I'm sure when he listens to her now he feels that irritation and dislike viscerally, the external social factors permeate the experience of the music until they cannot be disentangled.

For people on ILM at least, I assume there is so much music that they *do* enjoy listening to/thinking about that there's no reason to spend time on something just to keep up appearances.

I believe ilxors (like other human beings) front about what music they like all the time.

Maybe they do, I dunno. I can't see why they would though.

I don't assume most people front about what music they like.

uh...i might buy that people give records a shot because people are talking about them (and maybe more than a shot, maybe they really want or 'try' to like them), but saying you are into something that you don't like (or don't listen to) would just be so middle school.

who could be bothered, but then ilx

grimes does nothing for me but i guess i can see why others dig it, unlike everything else 4ad puts out of late

I work with someone who loves Grimes, or has convinced me that he does anyway.

So there you go!

I'd never heard of Grimes until this thread, but I just listened to it and I like it!

You lie!

i don't really feel like listening to a new usher song

/a little bit of post-McCartney melody/

I'm genuinely not trying to pick apart your description of Field Music, but could you explain what is meant by "post-" McCartney?

Facetious alliteration aside, I should probably have just said McCartney, or maybe post-Beatles, or post-66 McCartney.

_/a little bit of post-McCartney melody/

I'm genuinely not trying to pick apart your description of Field Music, but could you explain what is meant by "post-" McCartney?_

Facetious alliteration aside, I should probably have just said McCartney, or maybe post-Beatles, or post-66 McCartney.

Maybe I mean it's more like people who followed Macca. Like ELO perhaps. There's a whiff of prog in there, strings, pianos, but very poppy, a little British music hall.

Even, say, an example of Lex moving from ambivalence to outright dislike of Grimes - which I think even he would say is largely motivated by his irritation at her critical popularity vis a vis other acts he considers similar and more deserving - is a "genuine" response, in that I'm sure when he listens to her now he feels that irritation and dislike viscerally, the external social factors permeate the experience of the music until they cannot be disentangled.

TBH i thought this was kind of a lame move if not a depressingly predictable one

Maybe he just thinks she's crap ;)

I'm having a good year so far...

The 2 Bears - Be Strong
Andrew Bird - Break It Yourself
Beth Jeans Houghton & the Hooves of Destiny - Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose
Damien Jurado - Maraqopa
Dirty Three - Toward The Low Sun
Django Django - Django Django
Field Music - Plumb
Get The Blessing - OC DC
Grimes - Visions
Leonard Cohen - Old Ideas
The Lijadu Sisters - Afro-Beat Soul Sisters (re-issue comp)
Matt Elliott - The Broken Man
Neil Cowley Trio - The Face of Mount Molehill
Portico Quartet - Portico Quartet
Punch Brothers - Who's Feeling Young Now?
Ryan Teague - Field Drawings
Scuba - Personality
Spiro - Kaleidophonica
Tindersticks - The Something Rain
Todd Terje - It's The Arps
Ulrich Schnauss & Mark Peters – Underrated Silence
VDU - Past Future Sequence
V/A - Johnny D presents Disco Jamms (re-issue comp)

track:

ronika - automatic

Maybe I mean it's more like people who followed Macca. Like ELO perhaps. There's a whiff of prog in there, strings, pianos, but very poppy, a little British music hall.

Thanks for this! And I pretty much agree, I'd just never heard the "post-McCartney" term, so I didn't know if there was some other meaning or reference I was missing out on. I really think this new Field Music might just grow to be my favorite of theirs yet.

i don't really feel like listening to a new usher song

― billstevejim, Thursday, March 15, 2012 11:05 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

people feeling the need to say shit like this just because someone else on ilm said they like it is just bizarre to me

where is rtc w/ the dancehall/funky anonymous bangers? :(

Pinkunoizu - Free Time!

albums [quick and prolly incomplete]

Black Breath - Heavy Breathing
The Men - Open Your Heart
Lovelock - Burning Feeling
Windy & Carl - We Will Always Be
Eyvind Kang - Visible Breath

^ solid album

I still haven't gotten around to that but I loved his last album.

Been loving these tracks lately:

Chandeliers - Le Corsage (Feat Emma Yohanan)
Chrome Sparks - All There Is (Feat. Steffaloo)
Evan Voytas - Tomorrow Night We'll Go Anywhere
FLako - Mating Dance
Laetitia Sadier - Find Me The Pulse Of The Universe
Poliça - Wandering Star
Tame Impala - It Feels Like We Only Go Backwards
Mesita - XYXY

Sa Dingding's The Coming Ones is now available via Grooveshark:

http://grooveshark.com/#!/album/The+Coming+Ones/8064053

Listen to it!

also for me: ricardo donoso's excellent "assimilating the shadow" and voices from the lake s/t

I listened to the Chairlift twice through this evening. I've dipped in and out of it all year an enjoyed it on a track by track basis, but blimey if this isn't an outright fab collection of songs. Makes me think of how I'd have liked Eurhythmics to sound like or something.

the donoso is tite

When do we start this for 2k13?

There already is one.

Rolling Favorite Tracks + Albums 2013

Thanks!