By Staff
Here are some of the Radio Free Silver Lake staff’s favorite albums and EP’s we’ve been listening to from the past year. Every December as we consider our lists we realize just how much music is out there and how many records we hadn’t heard in the past twelve months. In particular RFSL’s focus on live and local music means that there are many national releases that we don’t get a chance to spend as much time listening to as we’d like. Without attempting to be encyclopedic in any way, but from our point of view, here is the music we like and want to share with our readers from 2012.
Jed, Video Free Silver Lake
Favorite Albums of the Year (LA Albums)
Lavender Diamond - Incorruptible Heart
Races - Year of the Witch
bikos - Let Down Your Avant Garde
Favorite Albums of the Year (Non-LA albums):
Valdimar - Um Stund
Corin Tucker - Kill My Blues
Sharon Van Etten - Tramp
Tilbury - Exorcise
First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar
Brad Roberts, Senior Editor
I think it's only fair, when making a best-of-the-year list,
to admit outright that all I heard was just the tip of the musical iceberg of
the world's music. After spending a lifetime with them, I know my musical
tastes very well. I know what appeals to me and I know what doesn't, though I
try to keep an open mind and am amenable to broadening my horizons, I don't
want to waste time on what the music industry terms popular music.
Favorite Albums of the Year (LA Albums)
Earlimart came out with their first record in four years and System Preferences turned out to be an album filled with all the passion, beauty and lush melodies that keep them among my favorite bands. Aaron Espinoza's introspective lyrics and hushed, expressive voice is augmented by the steady vocal presence of Ariana Murray, who's contribution often reminds me of that perfect balance that Christine McVie used to bring to Fleetwood Mac. Contains three of my favorite songs of the year: "97 Heart Attack" "A Goodbye" and "Internet Summer".
2. Lord Huron - Lonesome Dreams
Swept up in a gorgeous blend of indie rock and tropical
beats, Lord Huron has released their first full-length, completely
fulfilling the promise of their two EP's a couple of years ago. Lonesome
Dreams displays such
confidence and brims with such joy, one can't resist it. Rob Schneider has a voice so appealing, wrapped up is the
fragrant orchestrations that you just want to sit back and let it wash over
you. Standout songs include the title tune, "I Will Be Back One Day"
and the lovely, tender "Lullaby".
3. Everest - Ownerless
This third album by Russell Pollard's band is their best yet, so far. Strong
songwriting in a number of styles keeps interest high as Pollard's voice
reaches new dimensions. Often at this stage a band begins to show signs of
fatigue, but the opposite appears to be the case with Everest. Their recent live performances only confirm that they're on a course
they can continue to build on. Favorite selections include the impassioned
"Into The Grey" and the classic rock sound of "Far Off,
Away".
4. Sea Wolf - Old World Romance
A wonderful addition to the Sea Wolf
canon, Old World Romance shows a new maturity for a band that already had impressive
songwriting credentials. Alex Church has crafted an album that ends with such a run of
top-notch songs from "Saint Catherine St." through
"Whirlpool" that I always want to start this record over as soon as
it finishes.
Holdovers
from our mid-year lists that deserve to be included are:
5. Torches
- Heads Full Of Rust
6. Auditorium
- Nights Worth Living
7. Silversun
Pickups - Neck of the Woods
Favorite Albums of the Year (Non-LA albums):
1. Divine Fits - A Thing
Called Divine Fits
Spewing magnicent bile, the album is a scream of frustration
and liberation from a failed relationship. The music is pushy and aggressive,
but also exciting and invigorating. The catharsis of coming to terms with all
that emotion drives this album and the results are the rockingest album of the
year. Divine Fits is Britt Daniel of the commercially successful band, Spoon
and Dan Boeckner of the indie/punk/art rock Wolf Parade venting a lot of pent up energy on this initial
release from this brand new band. Electrifying live! "My Love Is
Real", "Flaggin a Ride", "Would Not That Be Nice",
"The Salton Sea", "Like Ice Cream"...hell, all the songs
are good.
2. Pinback - Information Retrieved
They do it again. I tried to resist immediately deciding
this was my favorite Pinback album, and certainly it took a few weeks for the
music to take root in my subconscious. But once it did I realized that by going
back to the simplicity of Blue Screen Life or their first album and mixing it with the complex maturity of their
later albums they have achieved a certain perfection of their style. The songs
are rich and full, beautifully layered with "Glide" and
"Sherman" standouts. I can't say for certain whether Rob Crow and
Zach Smith have ever used strings before in their music, but the violins of
"True North" are so potent and fitting that it is my favorite song of
the year. It makes me feel that there is much, much more to come from these
guys.
3. Lost In The Trees - A Church That Fits Our Needs
Fueled by the personal tragedy of his mother's suicide, Ari Picker decided to put his sorrow and anguish into the
compositions that make up this album by Lost In the Trees. Framing her life, ambitions and disappointment in
songs about the constant struggle of an artist to be heard. Beautiful melodies
are drenched in lush orchestrations that can be achingly simple or gloriously
bombastic all led by the plaintive, emotive tenor of Mr. Picker, accompanied by
talented string section. Listen to "Golden Eyelids" and
"Gardens" to hear the range of this versatile band/chamber orchestra.
4. Horse Feathers - Cynic's New Year
Although similar to Lost in The Trees in their similarity to a medieval chamber ensemble,
Horse Feathers is closer to a real chamber group with less of the
sweeping movie soundtrack thrust of that former band. So delicate as to make
you lean forward in hushed silence as you listen to the finely crafted folk
songs that are carried aloft by the three string players in the band. Among the
multi-instrumentalists in the band, besides the guitar/banjo playing lead, Justin Ringle, one violin player doubles on mandolin while the
drummer sometimes leaves drums out altogether as he switches to keyboard. Songs
like "A Heart Arcane", "So Long", and "Bird On a
Leash" are so moving and poignant, they brought me to tears both times I
saw them in concert this year.
5. Menomena - Moms
Another album characterized by a biting cynicism (or
honesty, depending on your point of view) that erupted after the band went
through some rancorous break ups. After riding a wave of critical acclaim
following the release of Friend and Foe in 2007, there followed the disappointing Mines in 2010 and the band
re-structure. Mom’s mines that experience with revelatory, self-examination and
brutal honesty coming up with some top notch experimental rock. No genre can
contain Menomena for they set up one direction only to reverse it in
the next song. Gotta love a song like "Capsule" with it's lyric:
"Now I'm evolving from a child to an aging child, You're maturing from a
memory to a legacy" or "Tantalus" saying "I'd say hello if
I remembered how to find your headstone". Wit delivered with a knife.
AND:
6. The Shins - Port of Morrow
7. Grizzly Bear - Shields
8. Andrew Bird - Break It Yourself
Kathryn Pinto, Editor in Chief
Favorite Albums of the Year (LA Albums )
The World Record - Freeway Special (Squid vs. Whale)
Power pop with terrific songwriting. The album would be
worth it for “I Met the Girl (I’m Gonna Leave You For)” alone, but there are
easily another three songs (“Say Sayonara” “We’re #1”) on this double LP that
are equally worth the price of admission.
Deadly Syndrome – All in Time (self-released)
The Deadly Syndrome have always been a slow burn, and this
album is one that crept in slowly as “Whatever Comes Our Way” and one brilliant
song after another came up on shuffle, revealing its layered ethereal sound.
Rademacher - Baby Hawk (Part III of III) (self-released)
Plenty of records came out this year, but nothing unseated Babyhawk
(Part III of III), a March release, as the
album I most wanted to hear. “Minnesota” is a pretty great song about being on
tour and feeling unmoored. But my personal favorite of the record is “Who Knew
Love,” for both its unexpected optimism and a lyrical turn that makes a popcorn
ceiling transcendent.
Auditorium - Nights Worth Living (EP) (self-released)
The songwriting is great and the lyrics are so damn funny.
Everything about this band is a little off kilter and that’s what makes it work
so well. This guy can sing, he looks like he’s been to a gym more than once in
the last decade…it’s goofy, but executed with technical excellence on all
levels, and a whole lot of fun to sing along with.
Earlimart – System Preferences (The Ship)
It was exciting to see Earlimart come out with an album
after a hiatus that included recording and touring with Jason Lytle on Admiral
Radley. Equally refreshing, it is a sign of vitality in the eastside music
scene that this duo released an album of their own music with so many competing
projects on their plates, after being together as a band for this much time.
Lord Huron – Lonesome Dreams (I Am Sound)
This album was a late add because Lord Huron has plenty of
boosters, both in Los Angeles and outside the city, to sing their praises. When
I first saw them live more than a year ago they were jammy for my taste. But I
took a listen, and the album, which covers similar
territory as Local Natives, is really quite good.
* Mike Watt Flyer Award
The Henry Clay People – Twenty-Five For the Rest of
Our Lives
A successful Henry Clay People record makes you want to go
to their show; it functions more as a flyer than an end product, per se. Twenty-Five is a return to a stripped down guitar/drums/bass
lineup, that preserves the lean, direct sound of their live show. It’s also a
surprisingly good record, for both all-out rockers like the title track and “Every
Band We Ever Loved” as well as catchy hooky tracks like “Backseat of a Cab” and
“Anymore/ Any Less.”
Favorite Albums of the Year (Non-LA albums):
Japandroids – Celebration Rock
(Polyvinyl)
I played this album in the car on the way to my dad’s funeral.
It has a “get me out of here, out of myself” power, an adrenaline-fueled kiss
of spirit and an undercurrent of “Fuck. What happened to the time?”
Sharon Van Etten – Tramp (Jagjaguar)
Van Etten is soulful, with rough edges and depth and you get drawn
into the story lines and characters in her the songs. Compelling for both the
sonic texture and the songwriting.
Kendrick Lamar - good kid,
m.A.A.d city (Interscope)
A lot of recent hip hop releases are flow so smooth that
they slip through your fingers and never take hold, like those fondue fountains
that glisten because there’s as much oil as chocolate in the mix. Kendrick
Lamar’s record has texture and staccato, while sounding completely current.
It’s as if he alludes to Old School styles without throwing back to them or
getting too nostalgic or fetishizing.
Divine Fits – A Thing Called the Divine Fits (Merge)
Divine Fits didn’t break any new ground with this record,
but it’s the rocking’ rollicking good time that is everything rock ‘n roll is
supposed to be.
Favorite Songs of the Year:
“I
Met the Girl (I’m Gonna Leave You For)” The World Record - Freeway Special (Squid vs. Whale)
“Minnesota” Rademacher - Baby Hawk (Part III of III) (self-released)
“Backseat of a Cab” The Henry Clay People – Twenty-Five For the Rest of Our Lives (TBD)
“Karaoke Freight Train” Auditorium - Nights Worth Living (EP) (self-released)
“Younger Us” Japandroids – Celebration Rock (Polyvinyl)
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