Continuing my midlife crisis...
I have a huge list of jams I jammed to this year. 2012 was a pretty solid year for music. I'm gonna be doing this pretty much the same way I did last year's music list. I don't do top tens or whatever, because I'm always afraid that I'll fail to mention something I found awesome, or there won't be enough room in a top ten for everything I did find awesome. Last year's post was big, this year's post is bigger. I'm also gonna list some remasters and anniversary releases. Hope you enjoy. :)
I have a huge list of jams I jammed to this year. 2012 was a pretty solid year for music. I'm gonna be doing this pretty much the same way I did last year's music list. I don't do top tens or whatever, because I'm always afraid that I'll fail to mention something I found awesome, or there won't be enough room in a top ten for everything I did find awesome. Last year's post was big, this year's post is bigger. I'm also gonna list some remasters and anniversary releases. Hope you enjoy. :)
In alphabetical order:
Links are in orange
Links are in orange
...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead
Lost Songs
Richter Scale Records/Superball
Richter Scale Records/Superball
Wow, these dudes were the first listed in last years post. And I'll repeat myself now; they just continue to pump out good music. Still a 4-piece. 8th studio album, and it jams just as much as their previous releases.
And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead- Catatonic
Archers of Loaf
Vee Vee (Remastered)
Merge Records
Archers of Loaf
Vee Vee (Remastered)
Merge Records
When this originally came out, a lot of fans weren't as hip on it as they were with Icky Mettle and Vs. The Greatest of All Time, myself included. Me and some friends saw them with Edsel about a year before and it was amazing. That was random. But yeah, this, as well as the records that followed, grew on me years later. Archers is just kind of awesome all around. Nice to hear some stuff remastered, by Bob Weston, at that! 29 tracks.
Archers of Loaf
All the Nations Airports (Remastered)
Merge Records
Merge Records
As with Vee Vee, this took some getting used to. It was the first Archers album distributed through a major label (Elektra), and was even more of a departure from what the band once was. Present time, I fucking love this album. 34 tracks.
Archers of Loaf
White Trash Heroes (Remastered)
Merge Records
White Trash Heroes was easily my least favorite back in the day, though, I always thought the album title was genius. A lot of electronic stuff was added, and at the time I just didn't get it. I honestly paid little attention to this album until many years later. But now, like All the Nations Airports, I really enjoy WTH. I wish it hadn't been their last. 23 tracks.
Baroness
Yellow & Green
Relapse Records
Way different, and I think it threw a lot of people off. I hope it gathers more love later on, because I think there's some damn good songwriting on this album. It's not as drastic as when Cave In released Jupiter, but it is a helluva lot lighter than previous Baroness. I don't care about change if I still think it jams, and in this case I do.
Baroness- Little Things
Basement
Colourmeinkindness
Run For Cover Records
Basement
Colourmeinkindness
Run For Cover Records
Fell in love with this shit. Reminds me of the 90s. Kinda got a Hum/Quicksand thing going on. There's kind of a Nada Surf vibe, too.
The Casket Lottery
Real Fear
No Sleep Records
Real Fear is the first Casket Lottery album since 2003's Possibilities and Maybes. After that long of a break, a change in sound is expected. It's nowhere near my favorite album of theirs, but truth be told, it quickly grew on me. I kinda miss the more raspy vocal style, but there's still some great musicianship on this album, and some damn good jams.
Classics of Love
Classics of Love
Asian Man Records
Jesse from Operation Ivy. If you miss Op Ivy, I suggest checking this shit out. It has a similar sound and energy to it. Very good, raw, and fast album.
Converge
All We Love We Leave Behind
Epitaph
My Favorite Converge album since Jane Doe. Shit, it may be my favorite Converge material fucking ever. This shit rips with a ferocity that makes my balls want to cower and hide inside my butthole.
Converge- Sadness Comes Home
Goddamn the riffery.
Cursive
I Am Gemini
Saddle Creek
Cursive- This House Alive
Deftones
Koi No Yokan
Reprise
Deftones- Entombed
Dinosaur Jr.
I Bet On Sky
Jagjaguwar Records
Empty Flowers
Six
Translation Loss Records
Goddamn the riffery.
Cursive
I Am Gemini
Saddle Creek
I was in a band in the late nineties called This Is Me Ignoring You, and we played our first show in Orlando with Cursive. They had their first full length out at the time, called Such Blinding Stars For Starving Eyes. That shit is excellent. Domestica is in my opinion one of the best indie albums ever fucking created. I miss that era of Cursive, but I still dig what they do now. I Am Gemini is pretty damn solid, especially for being a 7th studio album.
Deftones
Koi No Yokan
Reprise
I'm convinced that the Deftones are incapable of writing a bad album, fucking seriously. This is some of their best shit since White Pony. I am a fan of all Deftones, and if you liked Diamond Eyes, you'll probably like this one even more.
Deftones- Entombed
Dinosaur Jr.
I Bet On Sky
Jagjaguwar Records
I saw Dino Jr at Lollapalooza 93. I was sixteen and stoned out of my mind, and they were on stage surrounded by an uncountable amount of tube amps and plant life. It was one of the greatest fucking things I had seen at that point in time. J Mascis is a goddamn guitar genius. The indie rock equivalent to Yngwie Malmsteen or some shit. This album kills.
Empty Flowers
Six
Translation Loss Records
Two members of Cable? Well, fucking shit yeah, then! I loved Cable's early material, but even more so enjoyed them when they went all southern heavy stoner rocky, or whatever. There is a hint of that in here, but also with a pinch of Unwound. Recommended to fans of that.
Fight Amp
Birth Control
Red General Catalog
I caught on to this group some time last year about the same time I caught on to KEN Mode. Fucking super heavy, don't give a fuck, noisecore. Reminds me of Barkmarket but heavier.
forgetters
forgetters
Too Small To Fail
If you dig Jawbreaker, you'll probably dig this. Probably more than Jets to Brazil, which really wasn't too bad. This reminds me more of Jawbreaker, though. Blake is a fucking lyrical genius.
forgetters- Turn Away
Frank Turner
Last Minutes & Lost Evenings
Epitaph
Frank Turner- The Ballad of Me and My Friends
Further Seems Forever
Penny Black
Rise Records
Frank Turner
Last Minutes & Lost Evenings
Epitaph
Not a new album, but a bunch of songs handpicked by Turner himself for newer fans, which I think is a pretty damn cool idea. Some incredible jams on here. Frank is my absolute favorite songwriter right now. Dude's lyrics truly speak to me, as corny as that sounds.
Further Seems Forever
Penny Black
Rise Records
You can laugh if you want, but I will unashamedly admit that I think FSF's The Moon is Down is one of the best damn albums of all time. The two following albums without Carrabba, not so much, and I feel his Dashboard Confessional stuff spiraled downward with a fucking quickness. But I couldn't help be excited about his return to FSF. I gotta say, it's better than the two previous albums, but not on point with The Moon is Down. That being said, it's a pretty solid album, but I can't help but ask WHY when I hear Carrabba using autotune.
The Gaslight Anthem
Handwritten
Mercury
I listened to this album quite a bit earlier on in the year but had kinda forgotten about it. Tromeric has it listed in his Guts and Grog Best Albums of 2012 list, so thanks for the reminder, dude! This album kills.
The Gaslight Anthem- Handwritten
Gojira
L'Enfant Sauvage
Roadrunner
Gojira- Liquid Fire
High On Fire
De Vermis Mysteriis
Entertainment One Music
High on Fire- Serums of Liao
Hostage Calm
Please Remain Calm
Run For Cover
Hostage Calm- Woke Up Next to a Body
Hot Water Music
Exister
Rise Records
Hot Water Music- Drag My Body
CONTINUED...
Gojira
L'Enfant Sauvage
Roadrunner
I was in my buddy's car earlier this year and he was rockin' something brutally insane and technically amazing. I asked him who it was and he said "Gojira". I was like "Fucking amazing name!" About two weeks later, this son of a bitch came out. One of the more heavy albums I heard this year. Love it.
High On Fire
De Vermis Mysteriis
Entertainment One Music
I checked out High On Fire purely because Todd was wearing one of their shirts on an episode of Todd & the Book of Pure Evil. So glad I did. Fucking magnificent stoner metal. Had no idea Matt Pike from the almighty Sleep was the lead singer, guitarist. Awesome bonus.
Hostage Calm
Please Remain Calm
Run For Cover
I can't really explain the sound here. Kinda punky, indie rocky, technically written, with a hint of... Beach Boys!? That's what I'm fucking going with. Great album.
Hot Water Music
Exister
Rise Records
Hot Water Music's first full length studio album since 2004. I first heard these guys back in the mid to late nineties. I was in an instrumental band called Slip Then Stumble and we played with Hot Water and The Promise Ring in a small as fuck coffee shop called The Grind. I was more into TPR at the time. About when 2000 hit, I fell in fucking love with Hot Water. So, is this album good? It's fucking Hot Water Music. Enough said.
Hot Water Music- Drag My Body
CONTINUED...
