Author: David James Young

10. Micachu and the Shapes – Never

As Marc Pell, Mica Levi and Raisa Khan mash into their instruments, build up terrifyingly noisy soundscapes and throw jarring and discordant sounds into the middle of a progression or arrangement just for the hell of it, you can really go either one of two ways. The first, naturally, is flee the scene in terror and fear for your hearing and well-being. Many have taken this path with the band, and in a way that’s perfectly understandable. For anyone with the capacity to stick around for awhile, however, Never brought a set of ambitious and imaginative tunes directly to the forefront. Three years after their debut, they still create a divisive and wholly creative path in their music – perhaps unlike any other contemporary act. Plug in, unwind and just leave the rest to them.

THREE TOP TRACKS: OK, Easy, Holiday.

LISTEN:

9. The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten

Within months of one another in 2012 came Wrecking Ball and Handwritten, the new albums from Bruce Springsteen and The Gaslight Anthem, respectively. Upon reflection, we can officially count 2012 as the year that the apprentice overtook the master. As has been well-documented, without the Boss there is no Gaslight – and yet, for all of Wrecking Ball‘s enjoyable moments, it simply couldn’t hold a candle to what he had influenced and inspired over the years. Handwritten is the most assured, authentic and powerful TGS record to date; a mix of cautionary small-town tales and regret-tinged nostalgia. Rich in character development as much as it is incomprehensibly catchy choruses, this is the kind of album that won’t let you leave until you note every single track as an essential listen. The quest for the great American rock album is as arduous and oft-attempted as the great American novel. With Handwritten, The Gaslight Anthem have come closer than anyone else in at least the past five years.

THREE TOP TRACKS: National Anthem, Here Comes My Man, Handwritten.

WATCH:

8. fun. – Some Nights

For all the crazy, rapidly-changing times of the 21^st century, it’s remarkable what things stay exactly the same. In 2006, Nate Ruess was one of the smartest and most talented men working in pop music. In 2012, that very sentiment rings as true as ever. Of course, the circumstances have changed: Ruess’ previous outfit, the Arizona-based duo The Format were making underrated pop music for a relatively small audience. These days, he’s in the Big Apple, fronting a band called fun. and performing to more people in one week than The Format probably ever performed to on an entire tour. What’s stuck, however, is Ruess’ endearing melodies, his tugged-heartstring lyricism and his Wilson-brother-sized harmones and arrangement ideas. Choir here! Autotune solo here! Where are the horns? More guitars! For all the acts that cracked mainstream attention in 2012, Some Nights put the most soul into it. The new pop demographic has arrived.

THREE TOP TRACKS: Why Am I the One, Some Nights, It Gets Better.

LISTEN:

7. Kate Miller-Heidke – Nightflight

Everything that Kate Miller-Heidke has done – from humble, quiet beginnings with “Space They Cannot Touch” up to 2011’s baritone alt-pop project Fatty Gets a Stylist – has lead up to this very moment in her musical career. Nightflight would be a hell of an accomplishment on anyone’s behalf; but it feels all the more gratifying from a woman that has proven time and time again that she is bigger and infinitely better than any opera-trained vocal stunts and the damning “quirky” tag that’s stuck with her since the break-out hit in “Words.” The album is a mature, layered and deep record, a mixed bag that ensures that its larger pop moments have just as much impact as the stripped-back tear-jerkers. Everything here feels momentous, vital and emotionally invested. It’s a complete package, resulting in an LP that critics probably never saw coming and long-time fans always knew she had in her.

THREE TOP TRACKS: The Devil Wears a Suit, Ride This Feeling, I’ll Change Your Mind.

WATCH:

6. Cloud Nothings – Attack on Memory

What a difference a year makes. In January 2011, Cloud Nothings released a hazy, summer-ready indie/pop record – harmless enough, but hardly something with a firm identity stamp or worth extensive listens. Around 12 months later, Attack on Memory came charging out of the gates, tearing through speakers and cementing itself as one of the year’s essential indie rock records less than a month into the fucking thing. How the hell did we get to this point? There are two people to point in the direction of in this case. The first, of course, is frontman Dylan Baldi – tearing through a vocal range that his prior discography would have you believe didn’t even exist, his furious delivery elevated these songs into an entirely new stratosphere. The second is producer Steve Albini – mixing the thrashing, punchy style of his production work on In Utero with the churning post-everything sounds of his own Shellac, his approach made the record as raw and oozing with angst as any classic he’s put his name to. Through every screamed refrain, slamming drum break and piercing guitar noise, Attack on Memory kept the entire year turned up to eleven.

THREE TOP TRACKS: Wasted Days, Stay Useless, No Future/No Past.

LISTEN:

5. The Chariot – One Wing

It begins with distorted screaming going head-to-head with a churning, downtuned guitar. Some thirty-odd minutes later, it ends with a wall of feedback and a speech from Charlie Chaplin. In the in-between, The Chariot deliver their most ambitious, belligerent and, ultimately, finest LP to date. One Wing refuses to let the loss of long-time bassist Jon Kindler reduce the band to a three-legged dog: instead, the band move into territory both traditionally chaotic (“Not,” “in”) and surprisingly left-of-centre (see the spaghetti western progression of “First” or the shaken piano balladry of highlight “Speak”). They show a hunger for creativity, longing beyond the binary-code riffs that have sunken their contemporaries. With it, they’ve created one of the most rewarding albums of 2012. A new chapter begins.

THREE TOP TRACKS: Speak, First, in.

LISTEN:

4. Tame Impala – Lonerism

A lot has been made of the wonderful cover art for Lonerism – a photograph of Paris’ Jardin du Luxembourg from the perspective of outside the gates. What may be more telling, however, is the back cover. As you peruse the tracklist, you may notice Kevin Parker laying down in the middle of a bedroom that’s packed within a square inch of its life with equipment, wires and instruments. This, in essence, was how Lonerism was created, with Kevin Parker building up each track on his own from scratch. The end result is far from a mere bedroom project, however – the album’s expansive array of sounds surpasses that of 2010’s “de-butt” effort (hi, Jess Maubuoy!) InnerSpeaker within the first few tracks. This LP may even be the first instance of the Tame Impala project sounding like its own band, rather than just a sturdy tribute to the acid-washed prog-rock of yore. When Parker asks near the end of “Apocalypse Dreams” a trilogy of questions – “Am I getting closer?/Will I ever get there?/Does it even matter?” – we can now safely answer him: Yes, yes and yes.

THREE TOP TRACKS: Apocalypse Dreams, Elephant, Mind Mischief.

LISTEN:

3. Lincoln le Fevre – Resonation

Lincoln le Fevre has a story to tell. A couple, in fact. Really good ones. You could well just sit him down and have a yarn over a beverage of choice, but you might get even more out of him by simply listening to Resonation. A masterclass in modern Australian storytelling – possibly the best example since Gareth Liddiard’s Strange Tourist LP – Lincoln takes his listeners into the suburbs and through the country towns, peering into bedrooms and yards along the way. It’s strikingly intimate and raw, yet possess a universal quality in its themes. We’ve all been inspired by muso mates (“Get Drunk, See Bands”), wondered about the larger-than-life characters down at the pub (“Hope and Crown”) and even bitched about our hometown to anyone who would listen (“Dilettantes,” “The Mainland”). It’s in the way that LLF takes this subject manner and spins it in such a wholly personal and remarkably creative way that makes Resonation so utterly fascinating. Pull up a stool and shoot the shit with your new mate Lincoln.

THREE TOP TRACKS: Driftwood, The Boatshed, Get Drunk, See Bands.

2. Kendrick Lamar – good kid, m.A.A.d city

You already know the story. You’ve seen the endless tweets and updates fly your way about dominoes, [person] having a “dreaaaammmmmmmm,” calling people a “bish,” screaming “BEEEYOOOOCH” and posting every other rhyming couplet from the album’s many highlight tracks. good kid, m.A.A.d city essentially dominated 2012 – an impressive feat, given that it was only around for just over two months of it. High-concept and big-talking, the album boasted an A-team of collaborators and producers, from Dr. Dre to Just Blaze – on its own, enough to have hip-hop heads salivating. What kept good kid within the confines of the collective conscience, however, was a matter of both quality and quantity.

Yes, at nearly seventy minutes in length, this was a big record to take in. The greatest thing about good kid, however, was just how much more lay within it. It’s in the little things – the way Kendrick’s verse is shockingly cut short in “Sing About Me,” the interludes that detail the cast of characters further, the way Hit Boy sets the chaotic mood off just right in “Backseat Freestyle.” Every year sees a hip-hop star rise – and, yet, the way we’re talking about good kid already makes it feel like we’re discussing something bigger than a passing fad. It might not be very long before we’re speaking of this record as a hip-hop classic. As they say: Watch the throne.

THREE TOP TRACKS: Backseat Freestyle, Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst, Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe.

LISTEN:

1. Fiona Apple – The Idler Wheel is Wiser Than the Screw,
and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do

Barack Obama had his first successful term in office. We had not one, not two, but four “generations” of iPads released. A global financial crisis came and went. We lost R.E.M., Oasis, the Violent Femmes, Supergrass, The White Stripes and a-ha (fucking a-ha!). We got back – even if for a time – Crowded House, Van Halen, Rage Against the Machine, Blur, Pavement, The Police and the Vengaboys (the fucking Vengaboys!). That’s barely scratching the surface of what has changed in the seven years between Fiona Apple’s last studio album – the bitter, seasick and typically-troubled affair that was Extraordinary Machine – and last June’s new LP, the title of which is second only to the record-breaking When the Pawn… in terms of length. Not that our dear Fiona has been simply twiddling her thumbs in the interim – much like Extraordinary, the release of The Idler Wheel was dogged by delays, secret recording sessions and various shrouds of mystery.

Still, that’s what made it all the more exciting when it finally reached the ears of those that had been patiently waiting all this time – not to mention those going on their maiden voyage with Apple, having heard so much already. Even with a few of her usual vocal tics present, as well as her trusty grand piano dishing out jazzy misery like it was 1996 all over again, The Idler Wheel sounded nothing like her three LPs prior – neither as a combined unit or as separate entities. Rather, it was an insular and close-cut affair, essentially a series of trade-offs between Apple and producer/percussionist/multi-instrumentalist Charley “Seedy” Drayton. The minimalist arrangements cause one to listen closer to the proceedings, as if leaning in to be told a secret. Oh, and how many secrets Fiona had been keeping from us all these years.

The album unshackled a multitude of fears, insecurities and interpersonal breakdowns. Many have sung about exes – few, however, will go to the extent of naming a track after them (“Jonathan”) and explicitly singing simple yet devastating phrases like “I don’t want to talk about anything” or “I like watching you live” – the latter delivered with the kind of poisoned bitterness that can only come with the most splintered of separations. Many have sung about describing their inner workings – few, however, will go to the extent of not only openly singing a lyric like “Every single night’s a fight with my brain,” but turning it into an extended-syllable refrain.

That’s perhaps the most striking thing about The Idler Wheel – how willing Fiona is to place her fragile being out on these limbs and ledges. Her world is crumbling as the piano descends to its bottom end, clinking percussion hovers above and the cacophony builds – and there she is, in the very centre of it all, wryly smiling at you from a distance.

The idler wheel is wiser. It makes for instant classics, too.

THREE TOP TRACKS: Anything We Want, Jonathan, Hot Knife.

WATCH:

50 – 41 | 40 – 31 | 30 – 21 | 20 – 11

20. Taylor Swift – Red

If the U2-esque rock of “State of Grace” or the schizophrenic electro-bounce of “I Knew You Were Trouble” weren’t enough indication, we’re not in Kansas anymore: At 22, Taylor Swift is out of Rapunzel’s tower and into an inner-city apartment. She still falls deep in love, but she’s significantly smarter about it than before – and, for once, she’s sick of playing the victim. The “indie record” that Tay’s jilted lover clings to in “We Are Never Ever…” may indeed be “cooler” than hers, but if Red proves anything, in no way does that make it better.

THREE TOP TRACKS: We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, State of Grace, The Last Time.

WATCH:

19. Death Grips – The Money Store

No-one did terrifying quite like Death Grips in 2012. Across two LPs, they brought their knife-edge headrush down upon an unsuspecting public, delivering violent and decidedly ugly rave-minded tunes that took in so much that they were essentially unclassifiable. While No Love Deep Web brought all the dick-slinging attention, it was their effort from the first half of the year that stood as the greater of the two. A dizzying, aggressive opus from the dark alleyways of hip-hop, ferocious MC Ride spat venom, vile and vitriol across clattering beats and quivering, quaking synth buzz. Not for the faint-hearted.

THREE TOP TRACKS: Hacker, I’ve Seen Footage, The Fever (Aye Aye).

WATCH:

18. Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra – Theatre is Evil

Over an hour’s worth of material made it to Amanda Palmer’s first studio album in four years – but, before you start groaning, here’s the kicker: Not only is an overwhelming majority of the album salvageable, much of it also ranks among the best songs that Palmer has ever put her name to. Whether it’s the reckless abandon of “Do It with a Rockstar,” the playful dark-pop of “Melody Dean” or the anguished balladry of “The Bed Song,” Palmer provided fans old and new with a varied, masterful record. None do it quite like her.

THREE TOP TRACKS: Want It Back, Do It with a Rockstar, The Bed Song.

LISTEN:

17. The Smith Street Band – Sunshine and Technology

Within the first thirty seconds of the album’s title track, Wil Wagner has pulled the rabbit out of the hat, torn away the Wizard of Oz’s curtain and pegged a rock through the stained-glass window of his local church. Sunshine and Techology is a record of raw-nerve honesty, heart-on-sleeve sincerity and songs that are as stirring as they are provocative. It’s hard to decide on which is more exciting: The fact that the Smithies hold the future of Australian rock in their hands; or the fact that, for all of Sunshine‘s excellence, the best is still to come.

THREE TOP TRACKS: Young Drunks, Sunshine and Technology, I Want Friends.

LISTEN: 

16. Silversun Pickups – Neck of the Woods

Things take a turn for the grandiose on SSPU’s third studio album – not one track falls below the four-minutes-forty mark, leaving plenty of room for songs to bubble, boil, detour, crash and rebuild. In that regard, it’s safe to say that Woods is the most sonically adventurous record the band have done thus far: the drums pulse, roll and click accordingly with the churning bass, keyboard buzz and Brian Aubert’s heavens-high vocal range. Meticulously crafted and sharply, inventively delivered, there’s a lot to take in with Neck of the Woods. Still, it means there’s even more to get out of it.

THREE TOP TRACKS: The Pit, Skin Graph, Busy Bees.

LISTEN:

15. Something for Kate – Leave Your Soul to Science

As each year without a new Something for Kate album passed, fears for the worst began to set in. Oh, but with what grandeur they were swept aside: Not only did SfK return to formation, they put out their best record in over a decade. Leave Your Soul to Science traversed prior achievements with the band’s cohesive dynamics and brainy songwriting; adapting and shifting into new ideas, contexts and ambitious sounds. At once warmly intimate and confessional as well as outward and expansive, few bands in 2012 provided as interesting and enlightening a listening experience as these returning giants. Wonderful.

THREE TOP TRACKS: Eureka, Survival Expert, Miracle Cure.

WATCH:

14. Jonathan Boulet – We Keep the Beat, Found the Sound,
See the Need, Start the Heart

If you want to spot the difference between Jonathan Boulet’s 2009 debut and its lavishly-titled follow-up, look at the promo pictures. 2009 was a ruffle-haired, clean-cut kid, chilling by the pool in plaid. Now, the smile has been wiped clean, a beard has grown down to his chest and the motherfucker is dressed for business. Throwing everything and anything at the album, from pan-pipes to monk chants, this reckless pop abandon liked its drums with miltary precision and tribal rhythms; as well as its vocals doubled, tripled and even octupled. A wild adventure in sound, from one of the smartest young men doing it.

THREE TOP TRACKS: Keep Away You Feral Son of a Bitch, Trounce, FM AM CB TV.

LISTEN:

13. Bob Dylan – Tempest

Dylan cared little for his naysayers early on in his career, parodying them on 1962’s “Talkin’ New York” and mocking them amidst folk furor and cries of “Judas” in his electric period. So what, then, would make you think he cares now? Yes, his voice is shot to absolute shit – since when was that his selling point, anyway? If anything, the barely-there blues muttering and guttural rumble of his vocals makes Tempest even better – a sinister stroll through hard times, rewritten history and men of the worst sort. Every modern Dylan album is an event, but Tempest may be his best in decades.

THREE TOP TRACKS: Pay in Blood, Duquesne Whistle, Narrow Way.

WATCH:

12. Jamie Hay – King of the Sun

Across several bands and as many releases, Jamie Hay has positioned himself as a figurehead of workman-like melodic punk-flavoured rock, replete with open-book honesty and an omnipresent vulnerability. Listening to this solo effort – with a few friends roped in for good measure – strips back Hay’s normally-amplified songwriting efforts to reveal the sum of its parts. The lyrics, in particular, resonate deeply; their detail and their conviction hitting severely close to home. It’s a record that makes you feel just a little closer to the man behind the music once it’s all done and dusted. Is “national treasure” too strong a term?

THREE TOP TRACKS: Rabbit On, Old Photograph, Hand in the Quicksand.

LISTEN:

11. Vanguard Party – Forever Jung

Blessed are the geeks, for they – alongside the cheesemakers – shall inherit the earth. The proof is in this decidedly delectable pudding from a sadly-dormant project that was essentially the vehicle for frontman Jared Chappell’s unquenchable thirst for all things sardonic and smart-arsed. Whether they’re tearing apart your “2 deep 4 u” Tumblr nemesis or toying with girlfriends – both kidnapped and imagined – VP bring substantial pop/rock chops along with their Jonathan Coulton-meets-John Linnell lyricism and imagery. It’s not all fun and games – but most of it is, and that’s what makes Forever Jung such a fucking ripper.

THREE TOP TRACKS: (I’m In A) Shitty Band, Think for Yourself, Imaginary Girlfriend.

LISTEN:

 30 – 21 || 10 -1

||

30. OFF! – OFF!

Every listener is different before OFF!’s debut self-titled effort starts up. By the end of its seventeen-minute run-time, however, all listeners are exactly the same – fucking on the floor, breaking shit and stomping holes in the floor. OFF! has classic punk rock literally bred into it – vocalist Keith Morris has been fuelling angst since before you were born, from Black Flag to Circle Jerks and beyond. Here, he’s maintaining the rage with an all-star cast, barely pausing for breath as he takes down any and all challengers. It’s pretty simple, really: Don’t fuck with OFF!

THREE TOP TRACKS: King Kong Brigade, Wrong, Cracked.

WATCH:

29. The Presets – Pacifica

It seems like only yesterday that The Presets – unwillingly and unwittingly – became the biggest thing in the country on the back of their platinum-seller Apocalypso. Perhaps it doesn’t feel like all that long ago thanks to Pacifica, which brings you right back into the duo’s odyssey of thunderous synths, bomastic beats and the kind of choruses that smack you around the head a few times before slipping inside your conscience. Featuring their biggest pop tracks as well as their most dank and dirty material to date, Pacifica expanded in all directions and struck gold across the board. Overlooked and under-appreciated.

THREE TOP TRACKS: A.O., It’s Cool, Push.

LISTEN:

28. Hira Hira – Now Here Nowhere

There has never been a better time than right now to be a fan of Sydney collective Hira Hira. The sneering, jagged post-punk that litters their debut full-length has never sounded this forceful, visceral and… well, frankly, fucking excellent. Although bits and pieces are nicked everywhere from surf rock to Neil Young, Now Here Nowhere presents listeners with a sound that unmistakably belongs to them. If Royal Headache were the “sound of the underground,” so to speak, as far as Sydney was concerned in 2011; then it’s safe to say that the 2012 title belonged to this band and this record.

THREE TOP TRACKS: Nowhere, Bugs, Dead Land.

LISTEN:

27. Passenger – All the Little Lights

The way it reads almost lends itself to fairytale more than reality: A visit to Australia leads to some busking, some busking leads to some gigs, some gigs lead to some tours, some tours lead to an all-star collaborative album, which eventually makes Passenger – aka Mike Rosenberg – the little ex-pat folkie that could. Here, he leads us down the roads less travelled as he spins stories and weaves characters – both first and third-person – between gorgeous acoustic picking, creaking double bass and fluttering brushstrokes. Excuse the horrific pun, but Passenger has undoubtedly arrived at his destination.

THREE TOP TRACKS: The Wrong Direction, Holes, Things That Stop You Dreaming.

WATCH:

26. Paul Kelly – Spring and Fall

For fans, a new Paul Kelly record feels like coming home – and, with a five-year interval, this homecoming couldn’t have come sooner enough. Shedding the biblical imagery of predecessor Stolen Apples, Kelly – along with nephew Dan and producer/collaborator J. Walker – instead picks apart a relationship that begins with all the joy of a major chord, yet falters substantially along the way. It’s no spoiler to let you know that it won’t survive the album’s running length. Besides, it’s the journey we’re taken on with Spring and Fall that makes it such a joy to listen to.

THREE TOP TRACKS: Gonna Be Good, New Found Year, None of Your Business Now.

WATCH:

25. Alabama Shakes – Boys and Girls

A drum shuffle, a guitar twang and an androgynous blues howl admitting that they “didn’t think [they’d] make it to 22 years old.” For many, this is where the love affair with Alabama Shakes began – and let’s keep in mind this is within the first minute of their stellar debut album. Rolling through tight grooves, fiery licks and some serious vocal chops from 2012’s first lady of rock, Brittany Howard, Boys & Girls, had heads turning across the globe; not to mention festival tents packed on the off-chance of hearing these sumbitches live. Turn it loose and shake it like a Polaroid picture.

THREE TOP TRACKS: Hang Loose, You Ain’t Alone, Hold On.

LISTEN:

24. The xx – Coexist

Given all of the attention that production man Jamie XX has received in the past few years, 2009’s xx could well have been the last we heard from Britain’s great white electronica hope. Thankfully, however, Jamie came back on board for the make-or-break sophomore LP – somehow he must have know that they still had stories left untold. Submerged in ambience and lingering on heartbreak, Coexist runs through deeper bloodlines and emotional centres. Its morose overtones means that there is no “Islands”-esque moment of pop clarity, but this does not serve as a deterrent. Rather, it makes Coexist feel whole.

THREE TOP TRACKS: Fiction, Reunion, Angels.

WATCH:

23. Justin Bieber – Believe

Remember the Justin Bieber hate page you joined back in 2009? “Puberty is going to hit Justin Bieber like a truck”? That one? Well, get your cutlery ready and prepare to eat your damn words. At eighteen years of age, the Biebs has evolved into an untouchable pop phenomenon – and, remarkably, his audience has grown up with him. The club bangers and rnb jams are crystallised perfection, while even the ballads and Hallmark-card rap verses have grown less grating. Deny Believe its credit all you want, but it won’t be long before you’re the last one against the wall.

THREE TOP TRACKS: Beauty and a Beat, Right Here, As Long As You Love Me.

WATCH:

22. David Byrne and St. Vincent – Love This Giant

Between them, they’ve made enough indie anthems to fill an entire night’s playlist, from “Life During Wartime” to last year’s “Cruel” (read: Cruuu-uuuuu-uuuueelllll). So, what happens when a Talking Head melds minds with the guitar-wielding femme-fatale? In a word: Horns. Shitloads of horns. On probably the funkiest record Byrne has put his name to in years, he battles pretentious parties and the rapidly-devolving human species with Annie Clark cooing, shredding and occasionally screeching alongside him. A suitably and delightfully odd affair from what can only be described as 2012’s most successful experiment.

THREE TOP TRACKS: Weekend in the Dust, Who, Dinner for Two.

LISTEN:

21. Best Coast – The Only Place

The Only Place is not a carbon copy of the duo’s 2010 debut; nor is it an open love letter to the state of California as the title track may have you thinking. Rather, Place sees frontwoman Bethany Cosetino rummaging through bad relationships, poor health, gossiping frenemies and crippling homesickness. It’s done with impeccable production and Bobb Bruno’s sun-kissed lead guitar, adding a greater texture to what was previously a fairly straightforward sound palette. If your twenties suck, have sucked for a period or did suck, then perhaps you’ll find some respite in The Only Place.
THREE TOP TRACKS: Why I Cry, How They Want Me to Be, The Only Place

LISTEN:

40 – 31 || 20 – 11