Catching Up with 2012

Throughout the year, I spend far too much time than is considered healthy following several music blogs and websites, and of course, they'd all churn out end of year lists for my reading pleasure.
I thought it was time to catch up with some of the more notable releases I'd forgotten about this year, while also checking out albums unknown to me that kept cropping up in the aforementioned lists. Naturally, I have yet to finish and am positive I never will, what with my ever-increasing "Listen Later" list.


THEESatisfaction's awE naturalE was one such 'best-of-2012' album, and when I listened to it I was delighted by it's channeling of Shabazz Palaces and Lauryn Hill into a jazz-hip-hop-RnB-electro hybrid, so much so that it proved to be a late entry into my own best of 2012 album list.

METZ' self-titled, capitalised debut album was as loud as people had made it out to be. I kept seeing the man behind Leeds' Brudenell Social Club rave about them on Twitter, and although I missed their apparently impressive performance there in the Autumn, they've been announced for January. Their album was a good listen, although I have yet to see if I will really return to listen to it. Still, I'd love to see them live.


Other highly-acclaimed albums came from Goat and Liars, with the albums World Music and WIXIW respectively. Goat's album was aptly named; I'd never heard of them but their interpretation of world music managed to span many cultures with psychedelic, droning riffs and somewhat exotic percussion. There was something truly adventurous about the album's fusions and it's definitely a highlight of the year. WIXIW was also impressive, it's spaced-out nature provoking and questioning the listener while initiating an uneasy feel throughout.



I was pleasantly surprised by some of the albums. Dean Blunt and Inga Copeland (the duo who also go by the moniker Hype Williams) especially impressed with the album Black is Beautiful. I can see myself going back to this many times in the future - as serious and polished as Portishead but with experimental, adventurous playfulness. Karriem Riggins' jazz-infused hip-hop beats album, Alone Together out on Stones Throw, excelled in all areas but always coming from a background of jazz, with enough variation and power to make me want to get up and rhyme to it; If only I knew what I could say, both to rap to it and to speak of it in a way that gives it justice. You like J. Dilla. You like Madlib. You might not know it yet, but you like Karriem Riggins.



Bobby Womack's The Bravest Man In The Universe is another one for essential listening. His warbling voice remains powerful yet with an edge of wisened tentativeness. The production is fantastic, with some truly enigmatic beats such as on the title track opener and on Stupid. The collaboration with Lana Del Rey (who's album I have yet to hear) is a high point on the already-great album and the song Love Is Gonna Lift You Up makes for an awesome single.


Meanwhile, Ruff Sqwad's White Label Classics turned out to be one of the most emphatic collections of beats I've ever heard, the grime collective putting out the music that made them into the legends they are once again. Praveen Sharma - one half of renowned bass duo Sepalcure - released 12 Lights, a more ambient, mood-driven album than his previous works; It proved to be a good venture, as I highly enjoyed the album, which surely demands to be heard soundtracking an adventure through a forest in a Zhang Yimou movie. In fact, with Praveen's solo ability as it is and the ridiculously good material that's come from Machinedrum this year, Sepalcure have to be considered a supergroup - no wonder their self-titled debut on Hotflush last year was so good.


Grizzly Bear's Shields lived up to the blogosphere hype, in fact I preferred it to their sophomore effort Veckatimest. I finally heard cloud rap duo Main Attrakionz's Bossalinis & Fooliyones, but it failed to impress me and I found it pretty forgettable. The same applies for Toy's self-titled album, which also seemed cheesy at times which is a shame. Goth-Trad's New Epoch's low frequency premise got off to a good start but it wore thin and loss pace at the half-way line, despite being enjoyable.


I took time to remind myself how good some albums I'd already heard were, such as Cooly G's Playin' Me and Chromatics' Kill for Love. Both albums manage to reach sleek and sexy in different ways while offering so much more, no matter if you're coming from a rock or a bass background. Sigha's straight-faced techno release Living With Ghosts is fantastic if you're into that Berlin techno sound, but it's the albums' ambient interludes that make it stand out as a full-length record.


After much anticipation, I was finally able to hear Big Boi's second solo album, Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors. It left me confused; I enjoyed it but not as much as I'd hoped, thus making me hope it'll grow on me. I want need to go back to it. On hearing of the death of Offshore, the producer behind one of my favourite all-time album's cover art (Black Sands - Bonobo), I listened to his album Bake Haus on Ninja Tune, which was an exceptional boundary-pushing electronic offering. Efterklang's Pyramida rose above my expectations while Miguel's Kaleidoscope Dream fell short of the mark.


Other things I've been listening to lately, year of release irrelevant, include Kramphaft's in-your-face bass hybrid Spit Thundert and Makin' Magic EPs, which both make for great dancefloor sets. The remixes for Shlohmo's Vacation (Remixes) EP make music as enchanting as Shlohmo's own material, not that that should surprise anyone with guests including Nicolas Jaar, Airhead and Teebs. Listening to Missy Elliot's Supa Dupa Fly LP made me reaffirm my intentions to pass my driving test and get a car and cruise to it. Might by some Rocawear jeans and Timberland boots while I'm at it.



I have also enjoyed HAIM's Forever EP and Don't Save Me single and even more so it's B-side Send Me Down - MTHRFNKR was right when it proclaimed the group to be an indie version of Destiny's Child, attitude taking the listener by the collar. Blawan's collaboration with The Analog Cops, the Cursory EP, revealed itself to be the perfect antidote for when I was feeling unfocused, distracted and short on concentration while RATKING's viscerally executed Wiki93 EP showcased much promise and potential stored in the young rap collective.

EDIT: I FORGOT TO MENTION HOW GREAT FORT ROMEAU'S ALBUM KINGDOMS IS... WELL, IT'S REALLY REALLY GREAT. OK BYE