Albums Of 2012

What was 2012? No, really, I'm asking you. Looking at the cover flow of my best of list shows a lot of quirky dark albums intermingled with a few of sullen brevity. Connections emotionally and lyrically were made while some of the top spots went to cold, mindless and often nonsensical ramblings, not to mention some lovely new artwork. Lots of newcomers to the list, nonetheless the high rankings, but also some favorite familiar faces that I'm relieved did not disappoint. Not by a long shot.

157) Japandroids - Celebration Rock
156) Baby Woodrose - Third Eye Surgery
155) Richard Lewis - {you are here}
154) Soko - I Thought I Was An Alien
153) Kiss The Anus Of A Black Cat - Weltuntergangsstimmung
152) Simian Ghost - Youth
151) Tigercats - Isle Of Dogs
150) Marthas &; Arthurs - The Hit World Of The Marthas & Arthurs
149) Yeti Lane - The Echo Show
148) Slam Dunk - s/t
147) Soul Junk - 1961
146) Neneh Cherry & The Thing - The Cherry Thing
145) The Invisible - Rispah
144) Orca Team - Restraint
143) Pepe Deluxé - Queen Of The Wave
142) The Asteroids Galaxy Tour - Out Of Frequency
141) Ondatrópica - s/t
140) Smashing Pumpkins - Oceania
139) Soap & Skin - Narrow
138) The Widest Smiling Faces - Me And My Ribcage
137) Electric Guest - Mondo
136) Jonathan Byerley - Catherine Market
135) Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Mature Themes
134) Emily Wells - Mama
133) The Bad Plus - Made Possible
132) Case Mayfield - 10
131) Jozef Van Wissem & Jim Jarmusch - Concerning The Entrance Into Eternity
130) Laura Gibson - La Grande
129) Chromatics - Kill For Love
128) TV Girl - The Wild, The Innocent, The TV Shuffle
127) Neal Morgan - In The Yard
126) Quakers - s/t
125) Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra - Reel To Reel
124) Ryan Power - I Don't Want To Die
123) Sarah Blasko - I Awake
122) The Amazing - Gentle Stream
121) Beat Connection - The Palace Garden
120) iamamiwhoami - Kin
119) Dan San - Domino
118) Teen Suicide - DC Snuff Film
117) Revolver - Let Go
116) Borko - Born To Be Free
115) Elfin Saddle - Devastates
114) Rufus Wainwright - Out Of The Game
113) Dog Is Dead - All Our Favourite Stories
112) I Was A Teenage Satan Worshipper - There
111) Jon & Roy - Let It Go
110) Simone White - Silver Silver
109) Keith Kenniff - Branches
108) Ice Choir - Afar
107) Allah-Las - s/t
106) Paul Banks - Banks
105) Hugh Coltman - Zero Killed
104) Hillström And Billy - All The Sprouts Bowed Their Heads
103) Deerhoof - Breakup Song
102) Moss - Ornaments
101) Electric Electric - Discipline
100) The Raveonettes - Observator
99) Backwords - By The Neck
98) Poor Moon - s/t
97) Wyld Wyzrdz - Acceptance
96) Escort - s/t
95) Jimmy Owens - The Monk Project
94) Grimes - Visions
93) TOPS - Tender Opposites
92) Anywhere - s/t
91) Vadoinmessico - Archaeology Of The Future
90) The Explorers Club - Grand Hotel
89) James Blackshaw - Love Is The Plan, The Plan Is Death
88) The XX - Coexist
87) White Birds - When Women Played Drums
86) Dark Dark Dark - Who Needs Who
85) Grand Duchy - Let The People Speak
84) Sinead O'Connor - How About I Be Me (And You Be You)?
83) Ryan Teague - Field Drawings
82) The Weird Weeds - s/t
81) Port St. Willow - Holiday
80) Twin Shadow - Confess
79) Family Band - Grace And Lies
78) Bad Weather California - Sunkissed
77) Pond - Beard, Wives, Denim
76) Astronomical - Little Women
75) Brns - Wounded
74) Georgia Anne Muldrow - Seeds
73) Trust - Trst
72) Matthew E. White - Big Inner
71) Doug Jerebine - Is Jesse Harper
70) Lars Danielsson - Libretto
69) Janice Graham Band - It's Not Me
68) La Sera - La Sera Sees The Light
67) Pandit - s/t
66) Exitmusic - Passage
65) Sigur Rós - Valtari
64) How To Dress Well - Total Loss
63) Estrogen Highs - Irrelevant Future
62) Bill Fay - Life Is People
61) Rover - s/t
60) Blonds - The Bad Ones
59) Lana Del Rey - Born To Die
58) Little Gang - Half Of Everything
57) John Cale - Shifty Adventures In Nookie Wood
56) Submotion Orchestra - Fragments
55) The Kabeedies - Soap
54) Halls - Ark
53) Zammuto - s/t
52) Dana Buoy - Summer Bodies
51) Trailer Trash Tracys - Ester
50) Peter Broderick - It Starts Hear / These Walls Of Mine
49) Black Moth Super Rainbow - Cobra Juicy
48) Anais Mitchell - Young Man In America
47) Beth Jeans Houghton & The Hooves Of Destiny - Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose
46) Asaf Avidan - Different Pulses
45) Godspeed You! Black Emperor - 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!'
44) Reptar - Body Faucet
43) Alt-J - Ab Awesome Wave
42) Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
41) Will Stratton - Post-Empire
40) Crocodiles - Endless Flowers
39) Jonathan Boulet - We Keep The Beat, Found The Sound, See The Need, Start The Heart
38) Why These Coyotes - Where We're
37) Lambchop - Mr. M
36) The Tallest Man On Earth - Theres No Leaving Now
35) Jens Lekman - I Know What Love Isn't
34) Jim Noir - Jimmy's Show
33) The Soft Pack - Strapped
32) Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel...
31) Wymond Miles - Earth Had Doors / Under The Pale Moon

30a) Friends - Manifest!

30b) Balthazar - Rats

29) Liesa Van Der Aa - Troops

28) Bonnie 'Prince' Billy & Trembling Bells - The Marble Downs

27) Cat Power - Sun

26) The Parlor - Our Day In The Sun

25) Chassol - X-Pianos

24) Grizzly Bear - Shields

23) Django Django - s/t

22) Michael Kiwanuka - Home Again

21) Bahamas - Barchords

20) Mystery Jets - Radlands

19) B. Fleischmann - I'm Not Ready For The Grave Yet

18) Love Connection - Euphoria

17) Poliça - Give You The Ghost

16) The Irrepressibles - Nude

15) Flights - Anywhere But Where I Am

14) David Byrne & St. Vincent - Love This Giant

13) Chairlift - Something

12) The Walkmen - Heaven

11) Mac Demarco - 2

10) Andrew Bird - Break It Yourself

9) Beach House - Bloom

8) The Fresh & Onlys - Long Slow Dance

7) BadBadNotGood - BBNG002

6) Here We Go Magic - A Different Ship

5) Bowerbirds - The Clearing

4) Sharon Van Etten - Tramp

3) Tame Impala - Lonerism

2) Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan

1) Lost In The Trees - A Church That Fits Our Needs

I could probably write annals about each and every one of these, but I won't, because the same way I don't care for reading music reviews, it should be heard, liked or disliked, and ultimately submitted or emitted from your personal library, be it a casual listener in commute to and fro, or an avid music freak who wakes up in the morning and can't wait to wrap their ears around the next collections of notes and noises. So here's to tomorrow's music...

Now go out and hear them. You have one year.

3 Seconds A Day, December 2012

I noticed that, for the first time, I shot a video (almost) everyday of month. Thought it may be fun to do the whole thing in snippets. Three seconds each. Ready...

Yeah, I said almost.

2012: Year In Review

2012. It will be known as the year we went trick-or-treating, ate a Thanksgiving meal and bought a Christmas tree all within the same month. Everyone thought the world was going to end, again. We took our voices to the polls (even Yuula) and joined a CSA that steered us in the direction of good health. We barely resisted. We saw two amazing concerts, Lost In The Trees at Le Poisson Rouge in NYC and Sigur Rós in Philadelphia. We enjoyed the company of some greatest friends from Sante Fe and oldest ones from Houston and Brooklyn. The Estler family took a group vacation to the mountains and sects of Krupps assembled at our house throughout the year, coming from the south and the midwest. Kevin and Mariah got engaged and Theresa and Bubba popped out baby Nolan. The Giants won the Super Bowl! The Mets were good and then ultimately sucked. Then Giants were good but then ultimately sucked. We hung out with the Trunks a lot. I think they're our friends now.


As for Yuula, the obvious developments, expanding her vocabulary, wardrobe and stuffed animal army was in play, as well as the advancement in her general understanding of human interactions. She's managed to string together words into what can loosely be defined as sentences, tho her mother and I are often the only ones who can interpret them to anything even closely resembling statements. Her personality has grown leaps and bounds, mostly in the weird directions. She finds some real joy in things like wildlife, ice cream and all things cute and pink that she can "aww" at. She has some quirks that we hope she keeps forever and some habits we hope she breaks soon. She's become quite independent, but still wants her cuddle-time. She's imaginative and self-sufficient, but enjoys playtime even more if you join in her games. The terrible twos are trying yes, but I wouldn't trade the good moments in between for anything. And the potty is still a barren wasteland that serves as a side table for her new Mickey couch. 


This year we managed to make it about 6 months eating dinner around the table, as a family. Then we saw our DVR piling up with shows and took our meals in front of the old boob tube, like good old Americans. This year's favorites are New Girl, Portlandia, and the Walking Dead, which Laura finally overcame her fear of fearful things to fall in love with. Maybe it was because I suffered thru her Dance Moms marathons, those women are their own little horror show. I managed to squeeze in Battlestar Galactica, in its entirety, sans Laura, since she don't do sci-fi. We watched very few movies, in their whole forms. I think one day this summer we had a triple feature and it took us until early this year to see one we've been waiting to see. Moonrise Kingdom was a spur of the moment gift from my parents, and other than that... I watched The Grey one night, by myself. That's kind of it.


I think our finest moments, as a trio, came while killing it in some garage sakes. But outside that, it was probably while we were out on the island of Assateague, merely because it was our first stab at the fabled family vacation. Yeah, Laura will tell you her back hurt from sleeping in a tent, and Yuula's body swelled up like a puffer fish from all the horsefly bites and I cursed a little bit too much at the bonfire, but we had fun. The wild horses, the boardwalk in Ocean City, the general and sincere wandering, and possibly the first time in a long time I've had a genuinely good time on the beach, our little early fall getaway was joyous and relaxing. And the first time you do anything, you're really just working the bugs out. So family vacation #1 down, it can only get better. This year, Russia! But Chicago, Nantucket and Lake Erie are also in the mix.   


In disappointments, I guess that would be our outdoor efforts. Not that we didn't get anything done, but more got things done and have not much to show for it, creating blank slates and all. We did a lot of removal of landscaping and not a lot of addition, and that which we did add, didn't amount to much. Our garden did not flourish, to our own faults, and a possibly over-ambitious to-do list was left mostly unchecked. Once again I couldn't even rake all the leaves before the snows fell. That's just shameful. We'll spend all winter gazing out the frosty windows and building up our spring urges. Let's hope for a full on bloom.

I guess 2013 can now begin.

Keep It Going Eleven More

I'm having a good year. I've already got more favorite albums in 2012 than there've been days. I finally pulled off that nasty hangnail on my big right toe last night. Little blood, no biggie. My football team is still in the playoffs (for now). Yuula still loves all her presents from Christmas and it's finally snowing here today. Laura's on her way home from work and we're having tater tot casserole for dinner, maybe in front of the TV while we catch up with the new shows we missed all week. Real Time is coming back on tonight and Bill's surprise guest is Herman Cain, oh how I've missed him. That should be entertaining, once I find it online somewhere, because I ain't paying for HBO. I'm not having that good a year. But I can keep this level of happiness up for the next 11 months, because after that... ka-Boom!

That's right, I'm sticking with the Apocalypse thing. It suits me. I don't believe it. I just think it's fun. All year folks. All year.

2012: Well... This Is It

People are really starting to take this whole end of the world thing seriously since it turned 2012. Facebook, news television, Laura. I blame the History Channel. It's all a little crazy if you ask me. Not that I don't believe it will happen, which I don't, but even if it does, so what. I welcome a little fire and brimstone or floods and falling skies, whatever version you like. Shake things up a bit. I'm apocalypse ready.

But for those of you who will spend the next 12 months hiding under your dining room table, see if this eases your mind any.




And if that doesn't work, this should.