TOP ALBUMS OF 2012

I'll keep it short and sweet. Here are my favorite albums of 2012. 

Alt J, An Awesome Wave

Upon its UK release, the BBC called Alt J's debut album, An Awesome Wave "a stunning and encompassing affair of both innovative and electrifying musicianship and exemplary song
writing." The Guardian wrote that "the music is rich and quirky enough to match the imagistic literacy of the lyrics, from the majestic, cinematic sweep of 'Intro' onwards." For me, An Awesome Wave hit me like a tidal wave when I first heard it. It's an intelligent, innovative, frisky, and a wildly engrossing album.

Rufus Wainwright, Out Of The Game 

Donald Fagen, Sunken Condos

Muse, The 2nd Law

RPWL, Beyond Man and Time

 

                                       

Passion Pit, Gossamer

The Vaccines, Coming Of Age

Oddisee, People Hear What They See

Kat Edmonson, Way Down Low

Miike Snow, Happy To You

ON ROTATION

Glen Hansard, Rhythm and Repose
Rhythm and Repose is the solo album that I have wanted from Glen Hansard for years now. While I, along with millions of others, fell for the soft beauty of the Swell Season, Hansard's collaboration with Markéta Irglová, I always felt that it was a bit too soft for my taste. I always preferred the music of Hansard's other band, The Frames, where the band's music and Hansard's voice could go from soft and tender to a raw and explosive in the course of a single measure. With Rhythm and Repose, Hansard has taken the best of what he learned and did with The Swell Season and Frames. Here his songs resinate for both their beauty and the way that Hansard pours the full depths of what his voice can emotionally convey into them.  
                                                       Maybe Not Tonight  

Allo Darlin', Europe
If someone asked me what qualities I like in a contemporary female singer's voice, I would tell them to listen to artists like Brandi Carlile, Kat Edmonson, and Elizabeth Morris of Allo Darlin'. With her warm and tender voice and breezy and easy going nature, Morris charms and captivates from one song to the next. On Allo Darlin's sophomore album, Europe, Morris and the band delight with a collection of uplifting songs that shimmer like the sun reflecting off the water on a sunny summer day. I just love this London based band.
Some People Say  

ODDISEE, PEOPLE HEAR WHAT THEY SEE

I'll be honest, I have trouble keeping up with all of Oddisee's musical projects. But I eventually always get myself caught up and marvel at what he does. Born, Amir Mohamed el Khalifa, Oddisee is a producer, MC, and rapper who has been at the center of helping to create a strong and focused hip-hop community in and round Washington DC that is referred to as the DMV Movement. For all of his efforts, People Hear What They See is considered Oddisee's true debut album. I see it more as another step in the evolution of Oddisee as an artist. On People Hear What They See, Oddissee's beats, raps, and lyrics come together in a fine way to lift up and convey his thoughts, perspectives, and social mindedness. I hope that Oddisee finally gets the national
                                                        attention that he is due and deserves.
                                                        Let It Go [explicit]  

ON ROTATION

Liars, WIXIW
Otis Hart of NPR Music wrote that "WIXIW may just be the best Radiohead album since Kid A." I could not agree more. But Liars is not a Radiohead knock-off band. This trio has been producing some of the most creative, interesting, and experimental rock out there since their 2004 release They Were Wrong So We Drowned. For me WIXIW is by far their most successful album to date and brings a new level of sophistication and control to their creative process. 
No. 1 Against The Rush  

The Tallest Man On Earth, There's No Leaving Now

Kristian Matsson, who performs as The Tallest Man On Earth, is right up there with Josh Ritter as being one of the best singer-songwriter's of their generation. Since discovering Matsson in 2010, I have continue to be amazed by his output of near perfect songs and albums, one after another. There's No Leaving Now is yet another sublime collection of songs that only help reinforce Matsson's place as one of today's most special musical artists.
1904   

Melody Gardot, The Absence
I have been impatiently waiting for Gardot's follow album to My One And Only thrill, since 2009. Finally, Melody Gardot has returned with a wonderful collection of new songs. Over the past few years, Gardot spent time traveling the globe, experiencing and absorbing the music of the many stops she made along the way. On The Absence, Gardot strays into new musical territory as she draws inspiration from three of the countries she spent time in; Brazil, Morocco, and Portugal. These influences have helped Gardot produced some of the richest and most sophisticated songs that she has released to date. 
Lisboa  

An Awesome Wave

Normally on Mondays, I feature Scattered's album Picks Of The Week. This week, my picks will have to wait until Tuesday. Today, I am compelled to write about the debut album by the British band Alt-J, which is one of the best albums that I have heard so far this year. Released in the UK on May 28th, An Awsome Wave is set to be released in the US on September 18th. 

Upon its UK release, the BBC called the album "a stunning and encompassing affair of both innovative and electrifying musicianship and exemplary song writing." The Guardian wrote that "the music is rich and quirky enough to match the imagistic literacy of the lyrics, from the majestic, cinematic sweep of 'Intro' onwards." For me, An Awesome Wave in an intelligent, innovative, frisky, and wildly engrossing album that I have not been able to stop listening to since I first heard it. 

While An Awesome Wave will not be available in the states until September, the band is streaming it for a period of time on SoundCloud, which is also embedded below. Enjoy!

ON ROTATION

Silversun Pickups, Neck Of The Woods
I was fortunate enough to meet the Silversun Pickups a few years back when they played in Seattle at the Paramount. It was the first real concert that my two older kids had experienced and the band invited us backstage before the show. Beyond being great and talented musicians, they are genuinely nice and down to earth people and I will always be appreciative for them taking the time to meet with my kids. At the time they were touring in support of their album Swoon, which was a killer album. Last week the band released their forth album, Neck Of The Woods. While the band does not break any new real ground in terms of their musical style, it is another fine album and one that finds the band continuing to expand and develop its sound quite nicely.
                                                        Bloody Mary (Nerve Endings)  

Beach House, Bloom

The Baltimore due of Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand, better known as Beach House, have creating some of my favorite dream pop music since 2006. I was particularly enthusiastic about their 2010 album, Teen Dream. On their newly released, forth album, Bloom, the two extend their track record of producing outstanding music. Together, they are masters as at creating warm and lush songs that have great pop sensibility at their essence, but live in a dreamy state. This slows everything down and allows their songs to gently meander in time and space. With Bloom, they have achieved a new level of clarity with their vision of where their music lives. Songs are richer and perfectly textured with vocals that have a wonderful ethereal quality to them
                                                       which compliments the music beautifully. It all makes for an 
                                                       outstanding album.  
                                                       Myth   

Tindersticks, The Something Rain
Through twenty years and nine albums, Tindersticks has been creating music that is hard to pin down and not what I would call highly commercial. My kind of music. Their music has been called chamber pop by some, due to orchestral elements that the band often incorporates into their music. But that is really only part of the music's equation. Tindersticks' music is ambient, melancholy indi-rock that is soaked with emotional lyrics and heavy themes and is always interesting and always intriguing. On their latest release, The Something Rain, the band has created a dark, beautiful, and haunting album that really needs some quiet time to fully enjoy and absorb. When you do give it its due, you will be rewarded, having experienced
                                                       one of the more distinctive albums of the year. 
                                                       Medicine  

JACK WHITE, BLUNDERBUSS

What can be said about Jack White that has not already been written? There has always been so much to admire about White; his songwriting ability, his guitar playing, his music production, his showmanship. But what I have always most appreciated about him is the fact that he is a true student of music and its history. With this, when you hear him talk about music, you can sense the respectful that he has for all kinds of musical genres and periods. It helps elevate his approach to writing, creating, and producing music to a level that few other artists of his generation share. 

On his new release, Blunderbuss, White gives us a another great collection of songs and once again shows us why he is such a force to be reckoned with musically. Besides just being a collection of electrifying songs, White's approach to creating this album incorporates some very cool ideas and elements. Rather than me discuss them all, here is an interview that he did with All Songs Considered's Bob Boilen, explaining his approach to this album. Watching it is a must for any White fan.
                                                       Missing Pieces 

RUGUS WAINRIGHT, OUT OF THE GAME

Rufus Wainwright has been an artist that I have admired from afar for many year. I say afar, because while I have always appreciated him as an artist, I have not always cared for his art. That all changes for me with Out Of The Game, Wainwright's most straightforward effort to date. For almost two months now, I have been relishing every song on this album. Sounding like someone who's been spending time listening to classic mid-70's pop-rock albums by artists like Billy Joel, Wainwright has crafted a collection of timeless pop songs that are just so good. This is one of my favorite albums of the year so far.
Out Of The Game   

Michael Kiwanuka, Home Again

A few months ago, British soul singer Michael Kiwanuka's debut album, Home Again was released in the UK. The album's release had been highly anticipated, with Kiwanuka having won BBC's Sound of 2012 poll for best new artist. With critics and listeners hot for his album, it quickly jumped to #4 on the album charts. 

Fortunately for you, the album was finally released in the states last week. And as someone who has been listening to it for a few months now, let me just say that it is fantastic. 

I first heard the title track to the album back in January and I was immediately taken by the song. Kiwanuka, who has named Bill Withers, Otis Redding, Bob Dylan, and The Band amongst his influences, definitely has a retro soul sound. But he also has a keen sense of just how much to draw on these influences and how much to just be in the moment as a current songwriter. It makes Kiwanuka's songs and his new album feel current and timeless. 

Tell Me A Tale  

The son of Ugandan parents, Kiwanuka spent his early years in and around London absorbed in the music of bands such as Nirvana and Radiohead. When he was in his mid-teens, he stopped listening to guitar based bands when he heard Bob Dylan's Don't Think Twice, It's All Right. In an interview with the Liverpool Daily Post, Kiwanuka said that it was the first song that made him want to be a musician. "I might not sound like Dylan, but as soon as I heard that, I switched from electric to acoustic guitar, and really starred thinking about the structure of my songs." As he began writing his own songs, his concern was whether there was a place for the type of music that he wanted to write in today's music industry. 

In an interview with Sabatage Times, Kiwanuka explained, “I didn’t know if people would take me seriously....I like a lot of soul but I also put a lot of folk into what I do, and with modern music the way it is I used to think people would just expect me to be a modern R&B singer, because I just can’t do that.” But he went on to say, “When I started going back and listening to older music and discovering artists again, seeing that people like Al Green played guitar, Curtis Mayfield played guitar, it made me think, you know, this can be done. It really encouraged me to keep pursuing it.”

Kiwanuka's pursuit has lead him all the way to this debut release which was produced by Paul Butler of The Bees. Staying true to his singer-songwriting approach to music, his songs are built around Kiwanuka's guitar and lyrics. Given this, the opening song, Tell Me A Tale, is not necessarily the best indicator of what to expect with the rest of his album. But the song pays tribute to the music and artists that most influenced Kiwanuka and it sets the tone for Home Again nicely. What follows is a quieter, soulful album that beautifully blends the older musical style of artists such as Withers with his own. Having come back to Home Again many times over the past few months, I will say that continues to be one of my favorite releases of the year.  

Home Again

ON ROTATION

I wish I could say that there is a good reason why Scatteredbaw has been kind of lying dormant for the past month. But there really isn't any. We'll just call it spring fever and the need to be outside.....but with lots of great music! So here is some of that music that has kept me company.

THEESatisfaction, awE naturalE
Being from Seattle, I try to keep my finger on the pulse of local music. How I had missed the duo of Stasia Irons and Catherine Harris-White, better known as THEESatisfaction, for so long is beyond me. Having met at the University Of Washington, Irons and Harris-While have been writing, producing, and playing together for a number of years now. On their new release, awE naturalE, the hip-hop duo more than impress with their unique mash up of soul, funk, rap, and jazz. This album is very creative and satisfying as they continually shift and blend rhythms, sounds, and beats.
Queens  

Alabama Shakes, Boys & Girls

Alabama Shakes' Boys & Girls has been getting a lot of attention since its release, and rightfully so. Boys & Girls is a very strong debut album and one of best that I have heard so far this year. Behind the amazing, huge, and soulful voice of Brittany Howard, the Alabama Shakes whip up rich, soulful, and groovy southern rock, that is just so good. While their are aspects to the band's sound that seem so familiar, the band is stepping on fresh ground by adding a Motown twist to their southern sound. 
Hold On   

Electric Guest, Mondo
Any album with Danger Mouse attached to it can only be good. Don't ya think? I do. With Danger Mouse, aka Brian Burton producing, Electric Guest have released one of the cooler albums that I have heard this year. The band has a strong affinity for the many sides of R&B that have come and gone over the decades. With Mondo they pay a kind of tribute to its many sounds and styles from those of the Supremes in the'60's to Michael Jackson in the early '80's to today's more electronica infused sound. I guess you might call it contemporary reto. I just call it a smart and entertaining musical journey.
This Head I Hold  

De La Soul, Plug1 & Plug 2 Present...First Serve
When De La Soul's new album came up on my radar, I found myself reflecting fondly on their debut album, 3 Feet High And Rising. It was such a classic hip hop album, but 1989 was a long time ago. For better or worse Dave, Maseo, and Posdnous, have been having to try and live up to that album for decades now. Perhaps that is why De La Soul has not released an album for 8 years. Fortunately for us, Dave and Posdnous (not sure where Maseo went..he was not involved with this new project) are back with a wickedly entertaining album that they quietly released last month. Conceived as a movie not on screen, First Serve is a concept album that tells the fictional story of two childhood friends who dream of making it big as a hip hop duo. I loved the two characters and the storyline that Dave and Pos have created. They had me completely engaged from the opening credits to the ending credits. I just loved this album.
We Made It (explicit)