Listening Habits 11-12.12

Crystal Castles’ unholy mix of punk nihilism, digital noise and dance floor-annihilating beats brings the Toronto duo to the top of our current favorite albums list (and the number 10 of our 2012 Top 30). Their third album continues their journey into the heart of darkness, purging all the ugliness that lurks in there with fire-spitting electropunk. Crystal Castles are fighting darkness with darkness and the ongoing battle creates violent, yet wonderful music.

"Lost Songs", the eighth album by Austin’s …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, is not going to bring you any peace of mind either. The Texan noise-rockers lyrical inspiration comes from war, tyranny and apathy and the end result is a seismic punk rock explosion that equals that of "Source Tags And Codes", their 2002 masterwork. Richter scale madness, indeed!

But if you’re looking for the true soundtrack of the apocalypse, then look no further than "The Seer", Swan’s twelfth studio album. The two-hour drone-rock monolith is one of the most demanding records I’ve come across in recent years, a punishing but rewarding sonic journey that’s certainly worth undertaking. "The Seer", as Michael Gira has stated, is the culmination of every previous album he has ever made in the last 30 years, so a working knowledge of the Swans / Gira discography will certainly help you prepare for it. Personally, I am currently revisiting Swans mid-'80s period with the compilation "Cop/Young God/Greed/Holy Money" - wonderfully brutal stuff!

For your slightly less complicated indie-rock enjoyment, I would highly recommend Guided By Voices’ "The Bears For Lunch" and The Babies’ "Our House On The Hill".

The third GBV album of 2012 (and 19th overall) is the best release of the band's current run with its classic mid-'90s line up and one of the last minute additions to our year-end Top 20. It’s safe to say, had they decided to release just one album last year with the best bits from each of their three full-lengths, that record could easily have been in the run for our Album of the Year. "The Bears For Lunch" is the closest they have come so far to recreating their '90s magic and that's no small thing. Maybe this was just their way of warming up for even greater things to come in 2013?

The Babies, the band formed by Vivian Girls guitarist Cassie Ramone and Woods’ bassist Kevin Morby, have come a long way since their self-titled 2011 debut. Their sophomore full-length is a record jam-packed with memorable garage rock gems that bring some much-needed musical sunshine in the heart of the cold winter. At least as good as anything they've given us so far with their other, more high-profile bands.

Here's the list of our favorite albums and tracks of the last couple of months:

Top 15 Albums

1.   (III) - CRYSTAL CASTLES
2.   Lost Songs - ...AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD
3.   The Bears For Lunch - GUIDED BY VOICES
4.   The Seer - SWANS
5.   Our House On The Hill - THE BABIES
6.   Swing Lo Magellan - DIRTY PROJECTORS
7.   The Haunted Man - BAT FOR LASHES
8.   good kid, m.A.A.d city - KENDRICK LAMAR
9.   Toy - TOY
10. Oshin - DIIV
11. Strapped - THE SOFT PACK
12. Zeros - THE SOFT MOON
13. Researching The Blues - REDD KROSS
14. Melody's Echo Chamber - MELODY'S ECHO CHAMBER
15. Rough Trade Shops Counter Culture 12 - VARIOUS ARTISTS

Top 20 Tracks

1.   Fall Back - FACTORY FLOOR
2.   Avatar - SWANS
3.   Catatonic - ...AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD
4.   Doused - DIIV
5.   Moonlight Mile - THE BABIES
6.   She Lives in an Airport - GUIDED BY VOICES
7.   Let It Bleed - GOAT
8.   Plague - CRYSTAL CASTLES
9.   Backseat Freestyle - KENDRICK LAMAR
10. All Your Gold - BAT FOR LASHES
11. Kopter - TOY
12. Flying to Berlin - SAVAGES
13. Spitfire - PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING
14. About To Die - DIRTY PROJECTORS
15. Ballad Of The Golden Hour - WIDOWSPEAK
16. Tallboy - THE SOFT PACK
17. Stay Away From Downtown - REDD KROSS
18. Suburban Home - FIDLAR
19. Machines - THE SOFT MOON
20. Endless Shore - MELODY'S ECHO CHAMBER

Factory Floor - Fall Back

(mp3s via stereogum and kexp)

2012 Review: Top 60 Albums of the Year (1 to 30)

Happy New Year to everyone! And what better way to start off 2013 than with the presentation of our 30 favorite albums of the year that was.

All the albums that occupy the first five positions of our list equally deserve the honor of being crowned "Album of the Year". In the end, we decided to make 2012 the year of the Cat and give our Number One to "Sun" (Matador), Cat Power’s ninth studio album, which quickly became my personal favorite of her outstanding discography (along with 2003’s "You are free"). Chan Marshal took the risk of trying a new, electronic-based sound for her first album of original material in six years and the end-result is truly refreshing. Despite the various personal troubles that she went through in that time, "Sun" turned out to be her most optimistic sounding record to date, showing us a more mature Chan, ready to deal with the problems of this ruin we’re all living on and to give out some good advice in her most soothing voice.

A good year for a record company is of course defined by its financial results. I have no idea how 4AD is doing in that department, but artistically the historic label has had an outstanding 2012, reflected by the fact that three of its releases are in our Top 5, between the second and fourth place:

"Visions" by Grimes earned much deserved high praise all around and ended up at the top of many year-end lists, while fellow Canadians Purity Ring have also done well with their debut album "Shrines" (our Debut of the Year). If you are looking for a fresh sound that defines 2012, I think the majestic synthpop hybrids concocted by both Grimes and Purity Ring have the answer. The sound of Mark Lanegan and his band, on the other hand, comes from the glorious past of guitar music. It is definitely not new but only a fool would take its classic quality for granted. Best guitar rock record of the year featuring perhaps the greatest singer of the last 25 years in superb form!

As for our fifth "Album of the Year", "Bloom" (Bella Union / Sub Pop) is the record that proves that Beach House are on their way to becoming one of the most important bands of this decade. The continuous evolution of the duo’s sound has driven them to new heights on their fourth and best album so far, a magnificent work that shows it is not impossible to improve on the perfection of "Teen Dream".

Here is the top half of Cool Music Central’s Top 60 Albums of 2012 (for the second half, click here):

Top 30 Albums of 2012

1.   Sun - CAT POWER

2012 was the Year of the Cat: Our Album and Single of the Year belong to Chan Marshal!

2.   Visions - GRIMES

"Grimes' vision for a perfect electropop future takes shape and form in the glorious 13 tracks of Visions" (complete post here)

3.   Shrines - PURITY RING

"Shrines is one of the albums defining the electronic sound of 2012" (more here)

4.   Blues funeral - MARK LANEGAN BAND

"All the different musical elements from Lanegan's many collaborations are weaved together in Blues Funeral, making it one of the most diverse sounding records of his career" (more here)

5.   Bloom - BEACH HOUSE

"A majestic record that may prove to be the duo's finest hour" (more here)

6.   Attack on memory - CLOUD NOTHINGS

"The intense, hard-hitting sound of Attack On Memory is inspired by groups like Wipers or Husker Du and this young band’s true achievement here is that they are able to follow in the footsteps of such legends without missing a beat" (more here)

7.   Silver age - BOB MOULD

"Bob Mould’s Silver Age is a return to the sound of his Sugar years, a record that proves he can still produce the same fire and fury that inspired the early '90s alternative rock explosion" (more here)

8.   Blunderbuss - JACK WHITE

Jack White offers a record that musically may be a little more laid back than his previous work but is no less striking, exhibiting once again his admirable skill of making music firmly rooted in rock tradition that sounds fresh and forward-thinking.

9.   Kill for love - CHROMATICS

The sleeper hit of the year - a cinematic synth pop epic that gets better and better every time you decide to immerse yourself in its  lush sounds.

10. (III) - CRYSTAL CASTLES

Their journey to the heart of darkness continues (more about (III) in our next "Listening Habits" post, coming soon).

11. Give you the ghost - POLIÇA
12. Cancer 4 cure - EL-P
13. WIXIW - LIARS
14. Celebration rock - JAPANDROIDS
15. I bet on sky - DINOSAUR JR.
16. Lost songs - ...AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD
17. Metz - METZ
18. 2:54 - 2:54
19. A thing called Divine Fits - DIVINE FITS
20. The bears for lunch - GUIDED BY VOICES
21. The seer - SWANS
22. Worship - A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS
23. Reign of terror - SLEIGH BELLS
24. Lonerism - TAME IMPALA
25. Our house on the hill - THE BABIES
26. Twins - TY SEGALL
27. Open your heart - THE MEN
28. Meat and bone - THE JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION
29. Mature themes - ARIEL PINK'S HAUNTED GRAFFITI
30. Swing lo Magellan - DIRTY PROJECTORS

For our Top 50 Singles of 2012 click here.

Highlights from our Top 20 Albums of the Year:

Listening Habits 09-10.12

As we’re coming closer to the end of 2012 and the beginning of the annual internet listmania, let’s take a closer look at our favorite albums and tracks of this autumn:

Cat Power’s return to action with "Sun", her first album of original material in six years, turns out to be a runaway success here at Cool Music Central. Both of the album’s singles, "Ruin" and "Cherokee", have been in heavy rotation for the last few months and now the album itself tops our autumn Top 15 list. Arguably this type of success will not solve any of Chan Marshal’s recent troubles, but we do feel she has done an exceptional job with this record and we’d like to send her our best wishes for a speedy recovery. "Peace and Love" to you, too, Chan!

Meanwhile, the '90s comeback is at full swing right now, with several of the era’s indie rock protagonists offering excellent new albums that can stand their own against their ace back catalog. Bob Mould’s "Silver Age" is a return to the sound of his Sugar years, a record that proves he can still produce the same fire and fury that inspired the early '90s alternative rock explosion.

With the release of "I Bet On Sky", Dinosaur Jr.’s third post-reunion album, the original line up of the band now has as many albums as it did in its '80s heyday. Although it’s rather impossible to reproduce the excitement of a record like "Bug", there’s no denying that the new material has the strength to inspire the same awe and keep the band at the top of today’s noisemaking elite, without any help from their past glories.

Other notable returns of our '90s indie rock heroes include the reunited Jon Spencer Blues Explosion with the hard-hitting "Meat and Bone" and Corin Tucker with her ace, blues-killing, second solo work "Kill My Blues". Spoon’s Britt Daniel and Wolf Parade - Handsome Furs vocalist - guitarist Dan Boeckner have joined powers as Divine Fits and have produced a thing of divine noise-pop beauty, "A Thing Called Divine Fits". Ariel Pink has gone hi-fi for "Mature Themes", a record whose psychedelic experimentation pays off handsomely, a statement that is also true for Tame Impala’s "Lonerism". Wild Nothing offer the purest of pop delights with "Nocturne", while Canadian newcomers METZ are here to kick ass and take names with their vicious noise bomb of a debut album. Killer staff, indeed!

Top 15 Albums

1.   Sun - CAT POWER
2.   Silver Age - BOB MOULD
3.   I Bet On Sky - DINOSAUR JR.
4.   A Thing Called Divine Fits - DIVINE FITS
5.   Metz - METZ
6.   Mature Themes - ARIEL PINK'S HAUNTED GRAFFITI
7.   Lonerism - TAME IMPALA
8.   Nocturne - WILD NOTHING
9.   Kill My Blues - CORIN TUCKER BAND
10. Meat And Bone - THE JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION
11. Twins - TY SEGALL
12. Circles - MOON DUO
13. Endless Flowers - CROCODILES
14. Centipede Hz - ANIMAL COLLECTIVE
15. Four - BLOC PARTY

Top 20 Tracks

1.   Wet Blanket - METZ (mp3 via sub pop)
2.   My Love Is Real - DIVINE FITS
3.   Peace And Love - CAT POWER
4.   Elephant - TAME IMPALA
5.   Don’t Pretend You Didn’t Know - DINOSAUR JR.
6.   You’re The Doctor - TY SEGALL
7.   Only In My Dreams - ARIEL PINK'S HAUNTED GRAFFITI
8.   Paradise - WILD NOTHING (mp3 via rolling stone)
9.   Neskowin - CORIN TUCKER BAND
10. I Got Nothing - DUM DUM GIRLS
11. Star Machine - BOB MOULD
12. Black Mold - THE JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION
13. Sleepwalker - MOON DUO
14. Endless Flowers - CROCODILES (mp3 via spinner)
15. New Town Burnout - ANIMAL COLLECTIVE
16. Octopus - BLOC PARTY
17. Secret Days - SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS (mp3 via stereogum)
18. Fireflies - STILL CORNERS (mp3 via pitchfork)
19. Wrath Of God - CRYSTAL CASTLES (mp3 via stereogum)
20. Underground - THE DARK RAGS

Wild Nothing - Paradise, starring Michelle Williams!

Listening Habits 07-08.12

On the first rainy day of autumn we’re looking back on the second half of the summer and choosing our favorite albums and tracks:

As we’ve said before, Purity Ring have made the Album of the Summer for us. The young Montreal duo, consisting of Megan James on vocals and Corin Roddick on instruments, succeeds in crafting a rich electronic tapestry on debut album "Shrines", masterfully combining the best elements from the last three decades of electronic music. Tampered hip hop and R&B beats provide the idiosyncratic rhythms that propel the ethereal synth-pop melodies, while Megan’s dreamy vocals become the most important instrument at the heart of Purity Ring’s luscious sound. "Shrines" is one of the albums that are defining the electronic sound of 2012 and given that "Visions" by label-mate Grimes was equally important in that respect, I imagine that they must be feeling pretty proud at 4AD right now.

Further evidence that currently the guitar sound has taken a back seat and electronic music is doing all the innovation driving is provided by "WIXIW", Liars’ sixth album. The former post-punkers and noise-makers, in another twist of their adventurous career path, have ditched the guitars and with the help of Mute label boss and synth-music pioneer Daniel Miller have crafted their most electronic record to date. Liars’ instruments of choice may have changed here, but the end result is as exciting as ever and no less unpredictable, ranging from the fine synthpop of first single "No.1 Against the Rush" to the aggressive dance punk of new single "Brats".

For those of us who are still in need of a regular guitar-noise fix, thankfully there were the summer new releases by Japandroids and A Place To Bury Strangers to keep our spirits high, with a little help from the new tunes by Dinosaur Jr. (their new album "I Bet On Sky" is expected soon) and Chelsea Light Moving, Thurston Moore’s new band, whose "Burroughs" sounds like a long lost Sonic Youth b-side.

Top 12 Albums

1.   Shrines - PURITY RING
2.   WIXIW - LIARS
3.   Celebration Rock - JAPANDROIDS
4.   Worship - A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS
5.   Synthetica - METRIC
6.   The Money Store - DEATH GRIPS
7.   R.A.P. Music - KILLER MIKE
8.   Confess - TWIN SHADOW
9.   Tuscon - GIANT GIANT SAND
10. Heaven - THE WALKMEN
11. With Siinai: Heartbreaking Bravery - MOONFACE
12. In The Belly Of The Brazen Bull - THE CRIBS

Top 20 Tracks

1.   Watch The Corners - DINOSAUR JR.
2.   Cherokee - CAT POWER
3.   Belispeak - PURITY RING
4.   Synthetica - METRIC
5.   Heaven - THE WALKMEN
6.   The House That Heaven Built - JAPANDROIDS
7.   Burroughs - CHELSEA LIGHT MOVING
8.   Alone - A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS
9.   Plague - CRYSTAL CASTLES
10. Brats - LIARS
11. I’ve Seen Footage - DEATH GRIPS (interactive video link)
12. Big Beast - KILLER MIKE
13. Five Seconds - TWIN SHADOW
14. The Base - PAUL BANKS
15. Lord Knows - DUM DUM GIRLS
16. I'm Not The Phoenix Yet - MOONFACE
17. Die Life - THE SOFT MOON
18. Glitters Like Gold - THE CRIBS
19. Undiscovered Country - GIANT GIANT SAND
20. OK - MICACHU AND THE SHAPES

Watch The Corners - DINOSAUR JR.

(mp3s via stereogum, kexp & sub pop)

The Best of 2012 so far

It's that time of the year again: the temperature's rising to dangerous levels (at least here, at Europe's Dirty South) and just before we take a brief summer break during which we'll fly over to Lisbon, Portugal for the Optimus Alive festival (check out the line up here and expect a full report next weekend), we have for you today our traditional mid-year report with our favorite albums and singles of the year so far. For even more recommendations, you can check out here the lists we post every two months in our Listening Habits series.

Keep in mind that the order in which we present these albums and singles is not random at all, but for these lists we prefer to avoid using numbers as the ranking is particularly fluid at this point in time, with new entries changing things around all the time (hello A Place To Bury Strangers and Metric). It's safe to say though that "Visions" by Grimes and "Bloom" by Beach House are clearly leading the album pack at this time and Cloud Nothings along with Mark Lanegan Band are following close behind. Cat Power's brand new song "Ruin" is our current obsession which brings it straight at the top of the singles' pile with a bullet, although there are several other equally worthy entries as you can see below:

Top 30 Albums (January - June 2012)

• Visions - GRIMES
• Bloom - BEACH HOUSE
• Attack On Memory - CLOUD NOTHINGS
• Blues Funeral - MARK LANEGAN BAND
• Blunderbuss - JACK WHITE
• Cancer 4 Cure - EL-P
• Worship - A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS
• 2:54 - 2:54
• Kill For Love - CHROMATICS
• Reign Of Terror - SLEIGH BELLS
• Give You The Ghost - POLIÇA
• Synthetica - METRIC
• Django Django - DJANGO DJANGO
• Ekstasis - JULIA HOLTER
• Between The Times And The Tides - LEE RANALDO
• Sweet Heart, Sweet Light - SPIRITUALIZED
• Open Your Heart - THE MEN
• Tramp - SHARON VAN ETTEN
• Europe - ALLO DARLIN'
• Ghostory - SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS
• Manifest! - FRIENDS
• The Only Place - BEST COAST
• Nootropics - LOWER DENS
• Animal Joy - SHEARWATER
• Interstellar - FRANKIE ROSE
• The Horror - POP. 1280
• Let's Go Eat The Factory - GUIDED BY VOICES
• With Siinai: Heartbreaking Bravery - MOONFACE
• Port Of Morrow - THE SHINS
• Master Of My Make - Believe - SANTIGOLD

Top 30 Singles (January - June 2012)

• Ruin - CAT POWER
• Genesis - GRIMES
• Fineshrine - PURITY RING
• The Gravedigger’s Song - MARK LANEGAN BAND
• Love Interruption - JACK WHITE
• Lazuli - BEACH HOUSE
• Know Me - FRANKIE ROSE
• Creeping - 2:54
• The Only Place - BEST COAST
• Youth Without Youth - METRIC
• Stay Useless - CLOUD NOTHINGS
• My Heart Beats - VERONICA FALLS
• Capricornia - ALLO DARLIN'
• Lay Your Cards Out - POLIÇA
• Brains - LOWER DENS
• Off The Wall - LEE RANALDO
• The Night - SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS
• Mind Control - FRIENDS
• Default - DJANGO DJANGO
• R U Mine? - ARCTIC MONKEYS
• Chocolate Boy - GUIDED BY VOICES
• You Are The One - A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS
• The House That Heaven Built - JAPANDROIDS
• Krokodil - ST. VINCENT
• Leonard - SHARON VAN ETTEN
• Little Girl - SPIRITUALIZED
• The Rifle's Spiral - THE SHINS
• The Full Retard - EL-P
• Disparate Youth - SANTIGOLD
• I Want You - PRINZHORN DANCE SCHOOL

Grimes - Nightmusic ft. Majical Cloudz 

Beach House - Lazuli

Listening Habits 05-06.12

Half-time for 2012 and just before we make up our mind and add our two cents on the trending subject of the best albums and singles of the year so far, here are the lists with our favorites for May and June 2012:

 

No surprises at the top of our albums list as the top two positions are taken up by perhaps the two most anticipated rock releases of the first half of the year that both manage to live up to the high expectations.

Beach House have admirably taken up the challenge of following up "Teen Dream", one of 2010's highlights, by delivering the glowing "Bloom", a majestic record that may prove to be the duo's finest hour yet.

Jack White finally made the decision to go solo with "Blunderbuss" (perhaps as a way of getting closure from The White Stripes?) and offers a record that musically may be a little more laid back than his previous work but is no less striking, exhibiting once again his admirable skill of making music firmly rooted in rock tradition that sounds fresh and forward-thinking.

El-P once again delivers the goods with "Cancer 4 Cure", one of hip hop's best releases of the year, while Londoners 2:54, one of the names in our shortlist of 2012's most promising new acts, make their spectacular debut with their self-titled album (Friends from the same shortlist also made it in the Top 10 although their "Manifest!" does not offer another track as catchy as "I'm his Girl", one of last year's best singles). The Top 5 is completed with "Kill For Love", Chromatics' cinematic synth pop epic, while we also highly recommend Poliça's debut "Give You The Ghost", a record that masterfully combines R'n'B, dub, electronica and indie rock.

Top 20 Albums

1.   Bloom - BEACH HOUSE
2.   Blunderbuss - JACK WHITE
3.   Cancer 4 Cure - EL-P
4.   2:54 - 2:54
5.   Kill For Love - CHROMATICS
6.   Give You The Ghost - POLIÇA
7.   Between The Times And The Tides - LEE RANALDO
8.   Sweet Heart, Sweet Light - SPIRITUALIZED
9.   Europe - ALLO DARLIN'
10. Manifest! - FRIENDS
11. The Only Place - BEST COAST
12. Nootropics - LOWER DENS
13. Interstellar - FRANKIE ROSE
14. Sees the Light - LA SERA
15. Master Of My Make - Believe - SANTIGOLD
16. Quarantine - LAUREL HALO
17. The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends - THE FLAMING LIPS
18. EP's 1988 - 1991 - MY BLOODY VALENTINE
19. Tally Ho! Flying Nun's Greatest Bits - VARIOUS ARTISTS
20. Experimental Imagination - LAw

Top 20 Tracks

1.   Ruin - CAT POWER
2.   Fineshrine - PURITY RING
3.   Creeping - 2:54
4.   Wild - BEACH HOUSE
5.   Love Interruption - JACK WHITE
6.   Drones Over Bklyn - EL-P
7.   Night Swim - FRANKIE ROSE
8.   Youth Without Youth - METRIC
9.   Mind Control - FRIENDS
10. The Only Place - BEST COAST
11. Capricornia - ALLO DARLIN'
12. I Am What I Am - SPIRITUALIZED
13. Angles - LEE RANALDO
14.  Into The Black - CHROMATICS
15. I See My Mother - POLIÇA
16. Disparate Youth - SANTIGOLD
17. Drive On - LA SERA
18. Groundhog Day - CORIN TUCKER BAND
19. Candy - LOWER DENS
20. Class Clown Spots a UFO - GUIDED BY VOICES

Cat Power, sitting pretty at the top of our Top 20 Tracks list with comeback single "Ruin"

(mp3s via Stereogum and Consequence Of Sound) 

Listening Habits 03-04.12

Our favorite spring albums express a confusing mix of contrasting, extreme emotions, from ecstasy to horror, but the one sitting at the top of our list states a clear, bright vision about the present and future of pop music.

"Visions", Grimes’ debut album for 4AD and third overall, bristles with inspirational melodies and playful beats. Claire Boucher, the Montreal-based musician and producer behind the name Grimes (see also here), has the admirable ability to take in all sorts of disparate influences, from Cocteau Twins to Aphex Twin, and use them as ingredients for her unique, inventive dance-pop hybrid. Her ethereal falsetto soars over a troubled ocean of electronic pulses, digital beats and harmonies that come together to create a euphoric, transcendent sound. Grimes’ vision for a perfect electropop future takes shape and form in the glorious 13 tracks of "Visions", an early candidate for "Album of the Year".

Other notable releases that kept our hi-fi busy in the last couple of months included the self-titled psychedelic electro-pop debut of Edinburgh art school graduates Django Django, the ecstatic bedroom pop of  L.A.-based experimental composer Julia Holter whose magnificent "Ekstasis" sounds like a Greek tragedy scored by Laurie Anderson, and the brutal sounds of two of Sacred Bones Records finest signings, our recent visitors The Men and horror-mongers Pop. 1280. The Men exercise greater control over their adventurous noise creations in "Open Your Heart", while also trying their hand successfully at more traditional rock songwriting, while Pop. 1280 go the way of The Birthday Party in a mission to create pure, post-punk sonic terror - a mission that we can declare accomplished.

Top 12 Albums

1.   Visions - GRIMES
2.   Django Django - DJANGO DJANGO
3.   Ekstasis - JULIA HOLTER
4.   Open Your Heart - THE MEN
5.   The Horror - POP. 1280
6.   Ghostory - SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS
7.   Port Of Morrow - THE SHINS
8.   Animal Joy - SHEARWATER
9.   Clay Class - PRINZHORN DANCE SCHOOL
10. In Time To Voices - BLOOD RED SHOES
11. Last Words: The Final Recordings - SCREAMING TREES
12. Some Easy Magic - FUNGI GIRLS

Top 20 Tracks

1.   Oblivion - GRIMES
2.   Lazuli - BEACH HOUSE
3.   In The Same Room - JULIA HOLTER
4.   White Wind - SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS
5.   Default - DJANGO DJANGO
6.   The Full Retard - EL-P
7.   V∆! (Nightmare Fortress Remix) - BRUXA
8.   You Are The One - A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS
9.   Open Your Heart - THE MEN
10. Burn The Worm - POP. 1280
11. R U Mine? - ARCTIC MONKEYS
12. No Way Down - THE SHINS
13. Forever And A Day - GIANT GIANT SAND
14. Breaking The Yearlings - SHEARWATER
15. Brains - LOWER DENS
16. Jack the Ripper - JAPANDROIDS
17. Lost Boys - DEATH GRIPS
18. Sing Orderly - PRINZHORN DANCE SCHOOL
19. Cold - BLOOD RED SHOES
20. Doldrums - FUNGI GIRLS

Grimes - Oblivion

And here's one in tribute to the late, great Adam Yauch, The Beastie Boys' MCA:

Beastie Boys - Looking Down The Barrel Of A Gun

(mp3s via stereogum, magnet magazine, kexp blog and hozac)

 

Listening Habits 01-02.12

For the first installment of Listening Habits for 2012 we have compiled two neat Top 20 lists with our favorite albums and tracks for the first couple of months of the year as well as a few selections from 2011 that took us a while to get into. Let’s take a closer look at some of the highlights of our Top 20 Albums list:

The two most impressive albums we’ve listened to lately come from a decorated veteran of the grunge years and a fresh-faced, new band that clearly wishes for the return of the late ’80s - early ’90s glorious indie rock sound.

Back in those days, Mark Lanegan was the distinctive voice of Screaming Trees, one of the great bands of the American underground rock scene that had been around making awesome records long before anyone thought of using the term "grunge" to describe rock music. On the other hand, Dylan Baldi, the driving force behind Cloud Nothings, was not even born yet. Fast-forward to 2012, and these two characters are responsible for two of the best rock records around at the moment.

Dylan Baldi first caught our attention (check out here our Listening Habits from December 2010) with the track "Hey Cool Kid", one of the recordings he made alone on his home computer using the name Cloud Nothings. The self-titled low-fi debut LP that came at the start of last year was promising enough but far from impressive. But what a change a year can bring! For the writing and recording of "Attack On Memory" Baldi got the help of the members of his touring band, making Cloud Nothings a group in the true sense of the word. The heavier and more aggressive new tracks were recorded by the great Steve Albini, who certainly knows how to bring out the best in a band without much interference. The intense, hard-hitting sound of "Attack On Memory" is inspired by groups like Wipers or Husker Du and this young band’s true achievement here is that they are able to follow in the footsteps of such legends without missing a beat, producing a record that feels vital for the future of guitar music.

Mark Lanegan has been very busy in the seven years since his last solo record, collaborating with diverse artists like Greg Dulli, Isobel Campbell or Soulsavers. All the different musical elements from those collaborations are weaved together in "Blues Funeral", his seventh solo work, making it one of the most diverse sounding records of his career. Intense guitar rock, blues ballads, electronic influenced jams, all come together under the supervision of Alain Johannes who has done a great job as a producer here, creating the perfect accompaniment for one of the greatest voices in rock music today. A superb work from Mark Lanegan and his Band that we’re looking forward to enjoying live in less than a month’s time.

Another notable release of the January - February period was "Reign Of Terror", Sleigh Bells’ sophomore work, a record supposedly more pop influenced due to Alexis Krauss’ more active involvement in the songwriting process. Despite this fact, I thought this record is less immediate than "Treats", their debut album which didn’t take too long to sink under my skin. However the exquisite guitar noise and cheerleader chants are still ubiquitous and a few spins later "Reign Of Terror" proves to be just as addictive. It remains to be seen if this addictiveness will be as long lasting this time as it was the first time around.

Top 20 Albums

1.   Attack On Memory - CLOUD NOTHINGS
2.   Blues Funeral - MARK LANEGAN BAND
3.   Reign Of Terror - SLEIGH BELLS
4.   Tramp - SHARON VAN ETTEN
5.   Let's Go Eat The Factory - GUIDED BY VOICES
6.   Future This - THE BIG PINK
7.   Something - CHAIRLIFT
8.   Onwards To The Wall EP - A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS
9.   With Love from the Men’s Room EP - 50 FOOT WAVE
10. Rough Trade Shops Electronic 11 - VARIOUS ARTISTS
11. Rough Trade Shops Counter Culture 11 - VARIOUS ARTISTS
12. Parallax - ATLAS SOUND
13. The English Riviera - METRONOMY
14. Feel It Break - AUSTRA
15. Dedication - ZOMBY
16. Exmilitary - DEATH GRIPS
17. Arabia Mountain - BLACK LIPS
18. Hysterical - CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH
19. Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will - MOGWAI
20. Gravity The Seducer - LADYTRON

Top 20 Tracks

1.   The Gravedigger’s Song - MARK LANEGAN BAND
2.   Serpents - SHARON VAN ETTEN
3.   Chocolate Boy - GUIDED BY VOICES
4.   Wasted Days - CLOUD NOTHINGS
5.   Comeback Kid - SLEIGH BELLS
6.   Genesis - GRIMES
7.   Know Me - FRANKIE ROSE
8.   Off The Wall - LEE RANALDO
9.   Lafaye - SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS
10. Jump Music - THE BIG PINK
11. Amanaemonesia - CHAIRLIFT
12. Betty Wang - HOSPITALITY
13. Teary Eyes And Bloody Lips - MOONFACE
14. Mona Lisa - ATLAS SOUND
15. Everything Goes My Way - METRONOMY
16. Beat and the Pulse - AUSTRA
17. Natalia’s Song - ZOMBY
18. San Pedro - MOGWAI
19. Shallow - BEACH FOSSILS
20. Nowhere - WILD NOTHING

Mark Lanegan Band - The Gravedigger’s Song

(mp3s via Stereogum, Fader)