Best Albums of 2012

In my increasingly ignorant assessment of the music scene in general, 2012 was pretty weak.  No new artist discoveries to speak of.  Below are some of my favorites throughout the year.  (I'm beginning to feel like a grumpy old man.  Maybe the reason people get grumpy in their old age is because they become less skilled at keeping up with the times and therefore miss out on a lot of the good stuff that is out there.)

1. Wixiw - Liars (Rating: 8.8)
By this point Liars have put out an undeniably good catalogue of albums.  They sound great whether they're doing spacey, experimental stuff, or poppier, more accessible stuff.  This album belongs in the latter category for the most part.  'His and Mine Sensations' is my favorite from this record.

2. Valtari - Sigur Ros (Rating: 6.9)
I didn't get into this album right from the start and I thought I would with time, and that has turned out to be only partially true.  I think I might really fall in love with it if I listened to it on a trip that involved waking up before dawn and wearing my galoshes out in the wet grass and walking up to the edge of a cliff as the fog begins to recede.  But I haven't had that kind of trip so I can't say for certain.  Instead, I find that the songs are generally enjoyable and pleasant, but they don't have as much character as songs from their earlier albums.

3. Tempest - Bob Dylan (Rating: 5.5)
The opening track, 'Duquesne Whistle' had me hooked from the first time I heard it.  It carries the listener away to olden times industrial America in a nice way.  The rest of the album has a few good songs here and there but it generally doesn't live up to the opening track.




4. & 5.  Americana - Neil Young (Rating: 5.0); Psychedelic Pill - Neil Young (Rating: 4.0)
Having recently listened to the Neil Young autobiography, 'Waging Heavy Peace' I was in a good place to be once again immersed in the genius of Neil Young, and thought I would have a greater appreciation for his music now that I had a better sense of his process, and where he was coming from--all the experiences he had had and was recently going through that inspired his music writing.  Sadly for me, Americana was only fun, not enduring, and Psychedelic Pill was maybe a little too half-baked for me.  The latter was I think meant to be a project wherein Neil Young would remount "the horse" (Crazy Horse, his band) and go for a ride and just see where it would take him and what energy would be found there.  To me, and probably to most listeners, it wasn't very cosmic.  But it may have been for Neil Young--I hope it was, anyways.  Anyways, the autobiography was great.  Keep on Rockin', Neil.