I made this list of records as an all-encompassing kind of thing -- a list across genres and styles that represented what most excited me in 2012. I thought I'd come on here and whittle it down to the most avant-garde choices, in keeping with the spirit of No Wrong Notes, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that even my pop choices have the whiff of avant-garde -- whether it's Jesca Hoop's loopy, Kate Bush-esque moments, or the electronics that jut into the folk of Hundred Waters. So here it is, then, just a list, an everything list of 2012. (Along with sample videos to whet your appetite, which I'll just post as links so as not to lengthen and clutter this entry more than necessary.)
Neneh Cherry & The Thing – The Cherry Thing. Not to get all cheesy or anything, but this pairing is like a dream come true for me: the powerful, sassy voice I knew as a teen listening to her pop solo records, teaming up with the loud rock n' roll free jazz of The Thing, a later-in-life love of mine...It's perfect in its seamless blending of the hook and skronk I crave, it sounds like it was always meant to be this way, and it's hands-down the best thing I heard all year. The separate album of remixes is also kind of awesome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jovsxh8FeYo
Matthew Dear – Beams. It's embarrassing how much I danced around my apartment to this record this year. I'm enjoying listening to the evolution in Dear's sound – from lighter poppy dance, to extremely dark, sleazy dance, and then to this year's mix of both those things plus some glam-rock influences as well. He delivers it with a slinky, confident swagger that I find irresistible.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7GB8IJs6ic
El-P – Cancer 4 Cure. Probably one of the most paranoid, anti-social albums I heard all year, where the “love song” has El-P accusing his suitor of being a spy. I still love his dense production, the harshness of his sound and delivery, and the way it all coalesces into something almost too intense across the span of a record.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZptOs8Gu9k
A Tribe Called Red – A Tribe Called Red. I'm so excited to see these local (Ottawa) guys blow up big all over the place. And they had the most exciting start to a record in 2012 – first that pow wow drum setting the tone, then the tap-tapping of the percussive electronic melody over top, and THEN the slam of the singers' chants and the low-end synth growl hitting at the same time...It's a calling card, all right, and it had me and a lot of people worldwide snapping our heads and ears to attention within the first 30 seconds, the dancing following only a few seconds behind.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8KFmArXzzU
Jesca Hoop – The House that Jack Built. This is actually a really uneven album, with songs jumping from style to style in a somewhat erratic way, and some songs sounding downright annoying to my ears. But I include it here because when Jesca hits it, she really knocks it out of the park with her slightly-strange pop songs. Like, why wasn't “Hospital” as popular as “Call Me Maybe” this summer?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqXSfHO-7f0
Dirty Projectors – Swing Lo Megellan. Perhaps this is the band embracing a bit more simplicity, a bit more pop, a bit less willful weirdness? I'm not sure. But I do think it's an awfully pretty album.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlvKLNghq6Y
Kevin Drumm – Relief. The album starts, and immediately you run to turn down your speakers because the sudden start of feedback and white noise is too harsh. And for an album called “Relief,” there really isn't any of that until the whole thing ends. But lose yourself in its flow – and there IS a flow, one that slowly reveals itself – and it becomes almost a thing of beauty.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmiAVdRTaQg
Hundred Waters – Hundred Waters. It starts with an old-sounding folk song called "Sonnet", but after that begins to weave in some woozy electronics and little flourishes. It's all so darn seamless though, that by the time the full-on electronic-pop song “Thistle” is halfway through, you've only just realized how much the sound has changed since the record started. It's a lovely listen from start to finish from a very assured band.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRDKLMw87Uk
Swans – The Seer. Michael Gira is always my go-to source for noisy, apocalyptic, near-industrial rock, and I certainly get my fill from The Seer, which is ridiculously long by today's standards (somewhere around 2 hours!) but somehow doesn't wear out its welcome. I'm exhausted by the time it's over, though. I like visiting Gira's world but I wouldn't want to live there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sdOvQjtUrg
Black to Comm – Earth. Ambient, dark, slow-moving music with some spooky-sounding vocals (in a crooning, out-of-place kind of way). I like the darkness of this but also how it moves across the five pieces to bring us someplace else by the end – perhaps a place of faint hope?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IM9mQxf_oxk
Cactus Truck – Brand New for China! This album, in its noisiness, makes me smile every time I put it on. And I like what this Dutch sax/drums/guitar trio has to say about itself, so I'll let them take it from here: “Cactus Truck creates startlingly intense music, not merely in terms of volume or velocity but through complete physical/psychological surrender. One can find hints of delta blues, early free jazz, Japanese noise, and no wave in the music.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfUjl6hGqnE
Dan Deacon – America. I find this hard to listen to from start to end, because it has only one level, and that level is WAY UP HERE. It's relentless and busy and chirpy but also never less than compelling and beautiful. Busy electronics and dense build-ups of percussive sound become a meditative kind of thing, after a while.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnXiXlF7olo
Special mention: Scott Walker – Bish Bosch. OK, so I've only listened to this twice, because a Scott Walker record is really not the kind of thing you just throw on to do the dishes to. And I can't say that I “like” this record in the same kind of way I like the 12 records above. He's really the only songwriter out there who genuinely terrifies me. I'm pretty sure he's a genius, but he could also be pulling our collective leg. Either way, this is uncompromising and difficult but completely compelling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ih7KzKLLWA