Dan Crafton’s Top 75 Albums of 2012:
2012 has been another great year with some incredibly
impressive records featuring a lot of my old favorites that have been continuing to make great works as
well as a steady streak of newer artists that impressed me. As always, I am continually glad to see my
favorite format has not yet disappeared and artists are still making album
sized statements. In the case of my
favorite album of this year, it is beyond refreshing to see any band,
especially one 30 years into their career come up with something as challenging
and absolutely rewarding as the two hour masterwork that Swans put out this year with the
absolute magnum opus “The Seer”.
Speaking of challenging works, the always-magnificent Scott Walker is
back with his first album in six years and it is yet another complete and total
winner albeit one that is probably not for the masses. However, for those with an open mind this
record is sure to be one of the most exciting listening experiences of recent
times. Psych rock was huge this year
with the great Tame Impala releasing one of the most entertaining records, as
well as garage rock powerhouse Ty Segall releasing THREE absolutely stunning
records in 2012. On the hip hop front we
have El-P making it on here twice, once with his great record Cancer4Cure and
the other as a producer on my favorite hip hop album of the year Killer Mike’s
unparalleled R.A.P. Music which has some of the most mind blowing moments of
any album put out this year. Also worth noting is Kendrick Lamar's excellent good kid m.A.A.d. city. Double
albums were abundant as well, not only on the aforementioned Swans record, but
also great albums by Chromatics, Baroness, and Neil Young & Crazy
Horse. All in all it is all about the
variety of great music that came out this year, everything from super heavy
(Converge/High on Fire) to the incredibly brave Frank Ocean who made one of the
most daring R&B albums of all time, to the TNGHT EP which just sounds like you are hearing the future of music in 5 short tracks. There are far too many to mention here, just have a look at my list to see what I've been digging for the past year as well as some other noteworthy albums I picked up that just missed the cut.
1. Swans - The Seer
2. Scott Walker - Bish Bosch
3. Animal Collective - Centipede Hz
4. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Mature Themes
5. Tame Impala - Lonerism
6. Ty Segall/White Fence - Hair, Ty Segall Band -
Slaughterhouse, Ty Segall - Twins
7. Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory
8. Daughn Gibson - All Hell
9. Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan
10. Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
11. Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music
12. Godspeed You! Black Emperor -Allelujah! Don't Bend!
Ascend!
13. TNGHT - TNGHT EP
14. Lotus Plaza - Spooky Action at a Distance
15. Chromatics - Kill For Love
16. Chairlift - Something
17. Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d. city
18. The Shins - Port of Morrow
19. Divine Fits - A Thing Called the Divine Fits
20. Baroness – Yellow and Green
21. Beach House – Bloom
22. Bob Mould - Silver Age
23. Three Oh Sees - Putrifiers II
24. Spiritualized - Sweet heart, Sweet light
25. Converge - All We Love We Leave Behind
26. Flying Lotus - Until the Quiet Comes
27. Grizzly Bear - Shields
28. Cat Power - Sun
29. Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel…
30. Bob Dylan - Tempest
31. Passion Pit - Gossamer
32. Crystal Castles - III
33. Hot Chip - In Our Heads
34. Patti Smith - Banga
35. Leonard Cohen - Old Ideas
36. Antlers - Undersea
37. Japandroids - Celebration Rock
38. Sigur Ros - Valtari
39. The Walkmen - Heaven
40. EL-P - Cancer4Cure/Aesop Rock - Skelethon
41. Death Grips - The Money Store
42. Lone - Galaxy Garden
43. Off! - Off!
44. Liars - WIXIW
45. Royal Headache - Royal Headache
46. The Flaming Lips - The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends
47. High on Fire - De Vermis Mysteriis
48. Lambchop - Mr. M
49. Perfume Genius - Put Your Back N 2 It
50. Grimes - Visions
51. Jack White - Blunderbuss
52. Twin Shadow - Confess
53. Scissor Sisters - Magic Hour
54. David Byrne & St Vincent - Love This Giant
55. The XX - Coexist
56. Brian Eno - Lux
57. Mac DeMarco -2
58. Magnetic Fields - Love at the Bottom of the Sea
59. Schoolboy Q - Habits & Contradictions
60. The Men - Open Your Heart
61. Lower Dens - Nootropics
62. Dum Dum Girls - End of Daze EP
63. DIIV - Oshin
64. Dinosaur Jr. - I
Bet On Sky
65. Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Americana,Psychedelic
Pill
66. Jessie Ware - Devotion
67. Mount Eerie - Ocean Roar, Clear Moon
68. Wild Nothing - Nocturne
69. GOOD MUSIC - Cruel Summer
70. How to Dress Well - Total Loss
71. Metz - Metz
72. Trash Talk - 119
73. Ab-Soul - Control System
74. Memory Tapes – Grace/Confusion
75. Action Bronson/Party Supplies - Blue Chips
Runners Up (in no order), these are additional albums I
picked up this year that I liked but just missed the cut.
Hundred Waters - Hundred Waters
Purity Ring - Shines
Fang Island - Major
John Talabot - fin
Air - Le Voyage Dans La Lane
Burial - Kindred
Frankie Rose - Intersteallar
Big Pink - Future This
Dr. Dog - Be the Void
Craig Finn - Clear Heart Full Eyes
Guided By Voices - Let's Go Eat the Factory, Class Clown
Spots a UFO, The Bears for Lunch
Julia Holter - Ekstasis
Odd Future - The OF Tape Vol. 2
Actress - R.I.P.
Santigold - Master of My Make Believe
Best Coast - The Only Place
The Gossip - A Joyful Noise
Laurel Halo - Quarantine
De La Soul's Plug 1 and Plug 2 - Present First Serve
Antony and the Johnsons - Cut the World
Andy Scott - Luxury Problems
Paul Banks - Banks
Bat For Lashes - The Hauntedman
The Hives - Lex Hives
Nas – Life is Good
