hXd's Best of 2012 list

Welcome to my Best Of 2012 list! So yeah...I guess the world didn't end huh. Well that's a good thing, because now I can keep making year-end lists! This list is a little weak compared to last year's, only because this year was a bit hard on me with personal things and I didn't really get to spend as much time as I wanted reviewing albums. Regardless, there is some great stuff here, and let's get right to it:

Best Albums of 2012

[img width=250 height=250]http://www.musicfearsatan.com/DSK/lomaprieta_iv_%28small%29.jpg[/img]

Loma Prieta- I.V.

Absolute brutality. Absolute emotion. Loma Prieta does what they do best on their debut for Deathwish. I'm starting to think that Deathwish is a good luck charm for bands, because whoever they sign usually ends up putting out a phenomenal album. I think what really sells this album for me is the production. Loma's past recordings are on the cleaner side, and while that's good for picking up on the intricacies of the compositions, having a raw, unfiltered sound leaves more of an impact and forces you to really focus on what's going on. They play with this a bit on Trilogy 6 "Forgetting", when the song literally comes apart at the seams towards the end from all of the distortion being piled on top of distortion. The songs are really well paced too, with the explosive Fly By Night opening the album, and the somber, slower Diamond Tooth closing it, leaving a sense of finality and easing you out of the experience. Loma have crafted a classic hardcore album that genre fans are sure to be talking about well into next year.

Standout Tracks: Fly By Night, Trilogy 4 "Momentary", Trilogy 6 "Forgetting", Uniform, Apart From This Distant Shadow, There Is Nothing Left

[img width=500 height=500]http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8fa9y1KDo1rr4mp8o1_500.jpg[/img]

Now, Now- Threads

It's really saying something when three kids from Minnesota can create dreamy indie pop that rivals bands that have been in the game for much longer. Seriously, they're so good that they don't even need a bass player to round out their sound. Sure the songs are a little sappy and all deal with lost love and longing, but the compositions and harmonies are so good, you tend to overlook it. I went into this album not expecting anything and ended up coming out with a favorite of favorites for this year.

Standout Tracks: Prehistoric, Oh, Hi, Seperate Rooms, Colony

[img width=525 height=525]http://www.fredhystere.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Wild-Nothing-Nocturne.jpg[/img]

Wild Nothing- Nocturne

While Gemini was a fairly good album, Nocturne blows that one out of the water. Wild Nothing have really come into their own, armed with a sound that brings to mind Tango In The Night era Fleetwood Mac and In Ghost Colors era Cut Copy getting together for a jam session (yes, it's really as good as that sounds). This really comes through on the title track, a disco-tinged shoegaze masterpiece that I constantly have to repeat a few times before I can move on. They've hit their stride now, and hopefully this hot streak will continue on the next record.

Standout Tracks: Shadow, Midnight Song, Nocturne, Counting Days

[img width=500 height=500]http://c438342.r42.cf2.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Deftones-Koi-No-Yokan.jpg[/img]

Deftones- Koi No Yokan

They've done it again. Deftones have put out another classic record. While still not on the pedestal that White Pony sits on, this record has now taken second on my list of best Deftones albums. Everything you love about them is here, from the aggression of Around The Fur, to the atmosphere of White Pony, to the polish of Saturday Night Wrist and Diamond Eyes. This truly is an album for the fans. Chino is at the top of his game vocally and instrumentally. While I do miss Chi's distinct brand of bass, Sergio is an excellent fill-in. Stephen's guitar is at it's most brutal. Abe, as always, keeps everything tight on the skins and the complexity at the max. You can also note that Frank has a much greater presence on this record with keys and sampling, which I'm happy to see as I've always thought he was a criminally under-utilized member of the band. There are also a few curveballs in the form of tracks Entombed and album closer What Happened To You?, which would not sound out of place on a ††† (Crosses) record (Chino's current side project). For all of the great aggressive tracks on the record, these two are actually the standouts for me because of how ambitious and different they sound. It's great to see that these guys haven't lost steam after being a band for over 30 years, and I'm always anxious and excited for what they will do next.

Standout Tracks: Swerve City, Leathers, Poltergeist, Entombed, Tempest, What Happened To You?

[img width=220 height=220]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f1/The_Chariot_-_One_Wing.jpg/220px-The_Chariot_-_One_Wing.jpg[/img]

The Chariot- One Wing

The band dubbed this album as their "weird" album. If you ask me, they should be "weird" a lot more often. There's a refreshing diversity amongst the tracks on this one; the ragers ABSOLUTELY rage, the rockers have an undeniable rock swagger, and the unclassifiable ones have their own unique charm. All of that being said, everything comes together in it's own way in the end (the tracks even spell out the phrase "Forget Not Your First Love. Speak In Tongues And Cheek."). The absolute biggest surprise on here is Speak, a track that features only vocalist Josh Scogin screaming over a hauntingly beautiful piano composition. While the thought of those two ingredients working well together seems extremely far-fetched, it just...works. Goes to show you that being "weird" is not always a bad thing, huh?

Standout Tracks: Forget, Not, Speak, And

[img width=300 height=300]http://www.shopradiocast.com/product_images/s/255/gifts__34426_zoom.jpg[/img]

Gifts From Enola- A Healthy Fear

With a sound that brings to mind an amalgamation of the best that Deftones, post-metal (think in terms of Isis and/or Pelican) and prog-rock has to offer, Gifts From Enola come from seemingly out of nowhere and turn post-everything on it's head. It's fascinating to hear how much they cram into any one song and make it work so well. If any of the above bands/terms strike any chords with you, definitely keep these guys on your radar.

Standout Tracks: Long Weakend, The Benefits Of Failure, Steady Diet

[img width=576 height=576]http://www.thebaybridged.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Worker-Bee-EP-cover.jpeg[/img]

Worker Bee- Worker Bee

Worker Bee formed from the ashes of hardcore band Maida as an instrumental post-rock band, and issued a hell of a debut with Divorce Your Legs. Then they went silent for a while, and came back with a self-titled EP, ripe with country flavor and *gasp* vocals. Next came 2009's Tangler, which expanded on their somber country leanings, while injecting some light post-hardcore atmosphere. Now, after a two song single, Worker Bee are back with a second self titled EP. It's imperative that I mention their previous releases, and here's why- Worker Bee went on record a while back stating that they would most likely never make another album like Divorce Your Legs. The thing is, I hear A LOT of that record laced within these songs (don't get me wrong, I am a HUGE advocate of this). This EP feels like the culmination of everything that Worker Bee have done in their career so far, a 'best-of', if you will. From the electronics-tinged Friday The 13th, to the rock onslaught of EG Graveyard, to the alt-post-country lull of Maniac Party, everything that makes Worker Bee great is featured here.

Standout Tracks: Everything.

Honorable Mentions

Pelican- Ataraxia/Taraxis

Sigur Ros- Valtari

Beach House- Bloom

Beau Navire- Lumens

Caspian- Waking Season

Title Fight- Floral Green

Circa Survive- Violent Waves

Trenchfoot- Endless Disgust

Xerxes- Our Home Is A Deathbed

Best Tracks of 2012

Blackbird Blackbird- It's A War (Off Of Borocay Planet)

Writing 7 minute songs that can keep your attention for the duration is not an easy thing to do. Blackbird Blackbird have crafty, in my opinion, the catchiest 7 minute song of this year with It's A War. With bright interweaving vocal melodies, a great thumping rhythm section and a New Order meets (good) Minus The Bear approach, Blackbird Blackbird seem set to take over the indie scene.

Glass Cloud- She Is Well And Nothing Can Be Ill (Off Of The Royal Thousand)

Mixing the best aspects of Deftones, Thrice, Animals As Leaders and Circa Survive, Glass Cloud has incredible potential to become a force to be reckoned with. It doesn't hurt to have a guitar player from Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza (yes this is an actual band) creating complex verse licks and seat-shaking low end assault with an 8 string. Ever cohesive and ambitious, I can't wait to see what these guys will come up with next.

Austin Wintory- I Was Born For This (Off of Journey OST)

This album almost made my Best Of list, but then I realized that at good as the entire score is, this song is the culmination of everything that the album has to offer. It's all here- the main melody, the emotion, everything that Journey is all about is summed up in 4 1/2 minutes, and I mean nothing ill in that statement. This song has almost brought me to tears on occasion, not only because it's such a beautiful composition but also because of the ties I have to the game itself. Journey is an emotional ride and this song succeeds in capturing all of that emotion. Not many composers can claim such a feat.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor- We Drift Like Worried Fire (Off of 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!)

By and far the biggest surprise of the year, Godspeed was somehow able to sneak out their first album in over 10 years without the internet imploding in on itself. This 20 minute track is the absolute standout, with soaring melodies, tight rhythms, excellent transitions and an exceptional ability to tug at your heartstrings. But then again, that's what Godspeed has always been about. What's even more impressive is that after 10 years of not playing anything together, that they can come back and pick up right where they left off.

(Couldn't find a video for this track, sorry!)

The Casket Lottery- Blood On The Handle (Off of Real Fear)

I honestly thought Casket Lottery were a done deal. Then they sneak out Real Fear and a split EP with Touche Amore and I'm sitting here like WTF WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN. Unfortunately, I didn't get to spend a lot of time with Real Fear, but this track made tons of impact on first listen. It's a short listen (1:01), but the track is so impeccable that you'll want to play it over and over again. Chock full of that great 90's post-hardcore angularity, I can't wait to give this whole album a proper listen.

Biggest Disappointments of 2012

[img width=300 height=300]http://gluehc.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Ceremony_Zoo-300x300.jpg[/img]

Ceremony- Zoo

I would have liked this album a lot more if Ceremony's name wasn't on it. Maturing and expanding your sound is not a bad thing by any means, but this sounds like a completely different band. You could tell that their direction was changing when you stream Still Nothing Moves You and Rohnert Park back to back, but this transition from old school leaning hardcore to indie rock has left me scratching my head. Ironically, my favorite song is the closer Video, which is the most different sounding song on the whole record. I guess I'll have to find another band to get my angry hardcore punk fix from now.

[img width=300 height=305]http://www.offofficial.com/off/OFF!coversmall.jpg[/img]

OFF!- OFF!

I respect Keith Morris wholeheartedly. I also respect his bandmates in their other respective outfits. But when you put out a 16 song album in which every song follows the same tempo, chord progressions, song structure, and essentially sounds the same, I start to question how hard you actually worked on creating your album. Being that putting Keith Morris' work ethic into question is pure sacrilege, the fault has to land on the band. I don't get how most people praising OFF! label them as being intense hardcore punk, because I really don't get that feeling of intensity from them. I know these guys are capable of better. I really hope that for the sake of punk rock, they start to challenge themselves more on future outings.

[img width=319 height=319]http://cdn.pitchfork.com/albums/18509/homepage_large.6d25af7c.jpg[/img]

Bad Brains- Into The Future

I'm not quite sure what it is about this album that puts me off, but I just feel that this is not the best that these guys can do. Maybe HR just sounds a little too weird to me. The production also sounds off to me, definitely prefer the late MCA's production work on Build A Nation to this. While that album had a lot of depth and good solid bass, this album sounds a bit flat in comparison. Not a bad punk album by any means, but if you want to scope these guys out, definitely look to their older material first.

[img width=368 height=368]http://static.nme.com/images/gallery/Converge_All_We_Love_We_Leave_Behind600G031012.jpg[/img]

Converge- All We Love We Leave Behind

This was absolutely unexpected. I just couldn't get into this record. These guys usually blow me away with everything that they put out. Compared to some of their earlier albums (the almighty Jane Doe, You Fail Me, even No Heroes), this album just strikes me as...well...boring. Axe To Fall suffered from this as well. There are definitely some good ragers on this one, but the mediocre ones just simply outweigh them. I do appreciate the re-recordings of their recent EP tracks on the Deluxe Edition of the album (Runaway, On My Shield, No Light Escapes), as the vinyl quality recordings don't really do these songs justice. Oh well, hopefully you'll get 'em next time, guys.

[img width=220 height=220]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/00/MinusTheBearInfinityOverhead.jpg/220px-MinusTheBearInfinityOverhead.jpg[/img]

Minus The Bear- Infinity Overhead

Another year, another underwhelming Minus The Bear record. Granted, this album is NOWHERE near as bad as Omni was; there are even hints of the old, great MTB to be found (Diamond Lightning, Heaven Is A Ghost Town). I guess I could consider this album a step in the right direction, but these guys still have a lot of work to do to regain my attention.

[img width=300 height=300]http://deathwishinc.com/estore/graphics/00000001/narrows.painted.hi.jpg[/img]

Narrows- Painted

I don't know what it is with bands that feature members of Botch putting out shitty albums, but yeah. This album sucks a big fat one. Absolute Betrayer was the only interesting song on the whole thing, and that track in comparison to the stuff on their first album is weak. Maybe this is a sign that Botch and These Arms And Snakes need to get back together to save dissonant, forward-thinking hardcore.

[img width=319 height=319]http://cdn.pitchfork.com/albums/18451/homepage_large.6295a0b2.jpg[/img]

Crystal Castles- Crystal Castles III

Welp, Crystal Castles have officially jumped the shark. I knew it was only a matter of time before sticking to the same formula was not going to work for these guys, and that time has come. I mean literally, a lot of these songs sound extremely alike to EACH OTHER, not only to the songs in their back catalog. There's not even any of those crazy freak-out songs anymore, it all sounds like generic witch house, and I know they're capable of more than that. Remember that warning that I had mentioned in 2010 regarding Crystal Castles II? Yeah, now's the time to heed that warning, kids.

[img width=400 height=400]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mbwr6Dp94EY/UBduhLneWMI/AAAAAAAABTE/X4bR0da56Nk/s400/SFU069_400.jpg[/img]

Wolf Whistle- MA Glory

Short, violent hardcore outbursts are usually my cup of tea. MA Glory raises the topic of how short is TOO short, though. After hearing No God In Gardner, I had really high hopes for this record. Members of Have Heart making hardcore in the vein of The Chariot- what's not to love about that? The thing is, the songs are too short and most of them all blend together through the use of feedback and audio samples (which there is a blatant overuse of). A lot of that wasted space, in my opinion, could have been used to add more life to the songs. There are some moments of absolute genius on here, but they are so few and far between, not to mention short, that they get lost amongst the clutter. All in all, this makes me miss Have Heart. A lot. I want Wolf Whistle to try again, though- the great moments on here show that they do have tremendous potential.

[img width=400 height=300]http://www.vincentfuneralhome.com/include/storage/2939/DeathRecordStub/1389255/Vigil-Candle.jpg[/img]

Lots Of Great Musicians Died This Year

This was a sad year for music. We lost Whitney Houston, Etta James, Adam "MCA" Yauch (The Beastie Boys), Davy Jones (The Monkees), Donna Summer, Jenni Rivera, amongst many others. The great thing about music, is that even though these people may not be with us physically anymore, they will continue to live on through their music, which is a timeless medium. RIP to all of those in the music industry that we lost this year.

And that wraps up 2012! See you guys next year with hopefully a bigger list!