[Tokyo Jihad]

Like the movies, I don’t think anyone expects to be blown away by an album in January or February. When it happens though, it’s always exciting as a fan. Normally the early year is full of smaller, more personal, more resonant work and not a whole lot of bombast. That’s why Pepe Deluxe’s Queen of the Wave was such a surprise in January. Pepe Deluxe is a Finnish electronic band that previously focused more on hip-hop or break-br sounds, but this time with Queen of the Wave they crafted a true pop epic. They borrow liberally from the past to make a grandiose, symphonic, fun listen. Of Montreal’s Paralytic Stalks is another early year album that is extravagant that I have great fun listening to, though its subject matter is certainly heavy stuff. Paralytic Stalks probably has some of the juiciest hooks this year while still being very experimental. The album rather deftly transitions from its more traditional front half to the more abstract and sprawling back half, while being utterly engaging throughout. Another January album that sweeps me up, engrosses me is The Boats’ Ballads of the Research Department. The Boats are a neo-classical, ambient, duo from England (I believe.) They move further away from their electronic past, which is a move I vastly prefer. The sounds here are so warm and wrap around me, and they either fill my heart or cause it to ache. I know the genre sounds scary, but it’s also very accessible.


Probably the first really remarkable album to hit me this year was John Talabot’s Fin. If you like fun, danceable music, with some real teeth and weight, this is a must listen. Albums more like what I come to expect in the early year is an album like The Lion’s Roar by First Aid Kit. I’m not really sure what it is about Swedes and Americana, but it’s a combination that seems to work really well. The Soderberg sisters produce some really beautiful harmonies on this record and sweeping melodies. The title track has been a favorite of mine all year. In the same vain, La Grande by Laura Gibson is another indie-folk record to look into. Gibson’s voice is so sweetly applied to each song, and she covers many different corners of her genre, that you can’t help but fall in love. A surprising record came from New York act The Act of Estimating as Worthless in their debut Amongst these Splintered Minds/Leaden Thoughts Sing Softly. I had to make sure this wasn’t actually The Moldy Peaches because that is unquestionably who they sound like. Nevertheless, the songs speak above their obvious influences and the album became something that has definitely stuck with me unexpectedly.


Spring sets in pretty early where I live and it rolled I with The Men’s sophomore album Open Your Heart. I slept on their debut the year before and Open Your Heart has made me regret that. The Men try on almost every shoe in the Rock and Roll closet and make a fun record out of it with a devil may-care attitude. Screaming Females’ Uglyis narrower in scope but puts a premium on hooks and riffs. Some of the best traditional rock guitar work this year comes by way of front-woman Marissa Paternoster. To bring up hooks and guitar work, I would be remiss in not mentioning the flip-side of the same coin: Lotus Plaza’s Spooky Action at a Distance. Definitely smoother and more mellow than the previous, but at times also feels more epic. If you liked Deerhunter’s last record or last year’s Real Estate record (even if it lacked any “umph” whatsoever,) this is up your alley.


Spring saw two humongous records land onto the music scene: Beach House’s Bloom and Death Grips’ The Money Store. Beach House is the kind of band where if you’ve heard one of their records, you’ve kind of heard them all. But on the same page, how many times have you followed an artist and they put out a new album that you just wished was more like the last one? I think Beach House is a kind of experiment in that dream. Compared to 2010’s Teen Dream, Bloom is the less immediate record but is also the one that seems to bloom larger. (Get it?? With the shit??) With Beach House the operating sound is gentle. Death Grips, abrasion. Death Grips is an amalgamation of thirty years of sound. Hip-hop, hardcore, EDM and the result is pure excitement. Deplorable subject matter, but a thrilling listen that’s amazingly accessible. MC Ride has such a smooth flow and great character; you can’t but bop up and down.


Maybe the record I was most excited about, and lived up to my own hype is Beth Jeans Houghton and the Hooves of Destiny’s debut, Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose. Beth Jeans expands that pop sound with baroque influences and fully realizes each song, balances emotion and catchiness. Why more pop records aren’t as realized as this, I don’t know, but I’m very appreciative when there is one. Sweet Heart, Sweet Light is another grandiose pop-rock record. To me Spiritualized sounds like Oasis with indie-cred. I don’t quite get why one is critically favored over the other, but I can’t say no to that sound. One that was a bit of a grower on me was the Chromatics Kill For Love. The Chromatics take a slow-jam approach to the Beach House sound. Not gentle though, brooding and moody. A great record to chill out to. Pg.Lost’s Key is another record that, like Kill for Love, I can just put on and can’t help but play through every time.


Summer so far has seen many of the 90’s acts I love re-emerge with new albums. Guided by Voices really hit their stride with their second 2012 release Class Clown Spots a UFO; Garbage and Smashing Pumpkins new albums also worth checking out if you have fond memories of them. But from this glut, the album that towers over the others is without a doubt Fiona Apple’s The Idler Wheel… Fiona Apple’s record is just so raw and immediate, I get sucked in and it feels like I’m there in her living room as she performs these songs off the cuff. Another 90’s throwback: Wonky by Orbital. I’m certainly not one for Electronic Dance music, but Wonky wins me over big time – as does Twin Shadow’s Confess. My body just resists that obvious 80’s sound, but ultimately succumbs to the songs. If EDM is music that’s not traditionally my style, then industrial music would be out-and-out alien. Yet Transverse, the live collaboration released under Carter Tutti Void is breath taking. Its heavy, but not overwhelming, and just approachable enough to draw my ears.


Not 90’s, but Phil Elverum returns to his Mount Eerie project with Clear Moon. Phil Elverum is a guy like Beach House, like Spiritualized, you kind of know what you are going to get. You’re going to get mainly acoustic songs about life and about nature. You’re going to get that “Phil Elverum sound” but that’s not to say you’re always going to love it. Clear Moon though is an album that when I return to it, just gets comfier and comfier to put on. David Longstreth of the Dirty Projectors, I thought I had pegged as well, and then came Swing Lo Magellan. I thought that for sure, after Bitte Orca’s acclaim, the Dirty Projectors were going to swing back away from tradition. But with Magellan they push further into more accessible songs. The lavishness is still there, but more controlled and focused. This time around The Projectors push out some of the sweetest, most inclusive, songs they’ve ever made. I love it.


Two summer debuts to get excited about: Dope Body’s Natural History and the much hyped Channel Orange by Frank Ocean. Dope Body is a Baltimore rock act that defies any label other than “pre-cambrian.” They have a dinosaur-stomp quality to their songs that add up to a fun, kick-ass record. The most recent release of this post is Frank Ocean’s. Being part of the Odd Future troupe, I can’t say I had high hopes for this thing as Odd Future consistently fails to meet the expectations they set. Not the case with Channel Orange though, it remains remarkable throughout it’s nearly hour duration. Everything about the record, the production, his voice, the songs are, in a word: smooth.


That’s twenty-five picks from 2012 so far, and I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface. And that’s only my picks of what I’ve heard. So much to get to, and so much yet to hear.


Where to start? Pepe Deluxe: “Go Supersonic”, Of Montreal: “We Will Commit Wolf Murder”, The Boats “The Ballad of Indecision”, John Talabot: “Last Land”, First Aid Kit: “The Lion’s Roar”, Laura Gibson: “The Fire”, The Act of Estimating as Worthless: “Massive Windows”, The Men: “Open Your Heart”, Screaming Females: “It All Means Nothing”, Lotus Plaza: “Stranger”, Beach House: “On the Sea”, Death Grips: “I’ve Seen Footage”, Beth Jeans Houghton and the Hooves of Destiny: “Atlas”, Spiritualized: “So Long you Pretty Thing”, The Chromatics: “Kill for Love”, Pg.Lost: “I am a Destroyer”, Guided by Voices: “Starfire”, Fiona Apple: “Regret”, Orbital: “Beezledub”, Twin Shadow: “Golden Light”, Carter Tutti Void: “V2”, Mount Eerie: “Through the Trees pt. 2”, Dirty Projectors: “Swing Lo Magellan”, Dope Body: “Weird Mirror”, Frank Ocean: “Pyramids”.