Friends of saki/CTD Best of 2012!

We asked some of our friends what they got into this year. Here are there lists, mostly unedited - some are Top 10's, some are in no particular order. Deal with it! And also, enjoy...

Jeroen at Bertus Distribution (Netherlands)


TOP 10 RECORDS OF 2012


1. Bob Dylan -Tempest

2. Justin Townes Earle - Nothing's gonna change...
3. Bhi Bhiman - Bhiman
4. Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball
5. Shins - Port of morrow
6. Smashing Pumpkins - Oceania
7. Neil Young - Psychedelic pill
8. First Aid Kit - Lions roar
9. Brad - United we stand
10. Conor Oberstand the Mystic Valley Band - One of my kind

TOP 5 CONCERTS OF 2012


1. Eddie Vedder Carre 25 en 26 juli

2. Pearl Jam Ziggodome 26 en 27 juni
3. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers HMH
4. Bruce Springsteen Pinkpop
5. Rammstein Ahoy Rotterdam

Scott "Sloppy White" Williams favorite things of 2012 (Poster Artist / Soul Summit DJ) 


1)November's Soul Summit with guests Menahan Street Band plus a surprise appearance by Charles Bradley

2) Designing the album art for JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound's "Want More"
3) Seeing said JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound artwork show up randomly on an episode of "New Girl". (Disclaimer: I do not watch "New Girl")
4) Delicious Design League - These guys print my posters. They rule!
5) Quakers "Quakers" LP (Stones Throw) - My favorite Hip Hop record this year brought to you by Portishead’s Geoff Barrow.
6) LCD Soundsystem "Shut Up and Play the Hits" Documentary
7) Watching Marc Maron do stand up live
8) Key and Peele
9) Watching Chicago's Nordic Thunder winning the 2012 World Air Guitar Championship.
10) checkyourbauballs.com - Essentially Truck Nutz for your Xmas tree.

Jason Shanley (Cinchel):


Neil Jendon - Corporate Laughter (C.I.P)

Damien Valles - Nonparallel (experimedia)
Ex Easter Island Head - Mallet Guitars II / Music For Moai Hava (lowpoint)
Hallock Hill - The Union | A Hem of Evening (MIE Music)
High Aura’d- Sanguine Futures (Bathetic Records)
Julia Holter - Ekstasis (RVNG Intl.)
Loscil - Sketches from New Brighton (Kranky)
Machinefabriek/Celer - Hei / Sou | Numa / Penarie | Maastunnel / Mt Mitake Marielle V Jakobsons - glass canyon (students of decay)
Nicholas Sczcpanik - We Make Life Sad (WéMè Records )
Parenthetical Girls - Privilege Pt 5 (Slender Means Society)
Rene Hell - In 1980 I Was A Blue Square (NNA Tapes)
Sylvian Chauveau & Stephan Mathieu - PALIMPSEST (Schwebung)
Yamantaka // Sonic Titan - yt//st ( Psychic Handshake / Paper Bag Records)
Zelienople - The World is a House on Fire (Type)
Metal Alvin - self titled ( BLWBCK (cassette) and Blond Records (digital/LP)
Woven Tide - From the Mouth of the Sun (experimedia)
GY!BE - Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! (constellation)
The Colossal Ithaca Trio - New Music from the Delta Quadrant (Hibernate Records)

BOX SET/REISSUES

Blur 21 box (Blur)
William Basinski - Disintegration Loops (Temporary Residence)

Rene from Clear Spot Distribution (Netherlands):


New:

1. ANENZEPHALIA – KALTWELT
2. GOAT – WORLD MUSIC
3. SWANS – THE SEER
4. CULT OF YOUTH – LOVE WILL PREVAIL
5. ESPLENDOR GEOMETRICO – DESARROLLOS GEOMETRICOS
6. DAHLIA’S TEAR – DREAMSPHERE
7. PRINCE FATTY – PRESENTS HOLLIE COOK IN DUB
8. TRIARII – EXILE
9. CUT HANDS – BLACK MAMBA
10. VASILISK – TRIBAL ZONE

Reissues:

1. DISCHARGE – HEAR NOTHING SEE NOTHING SAY NOTHING
2. VARIOUS – BED OF PAIN
3. ANTISECT – IN DARKNESS, THERE IS NO CHOICE
4. LE MYSTERE JAZZ DE TOMBOUCTOU – LE MYSTERE JAZZ DE TOMBOUCTOU
5. LE SUPER BITON NATIONAL DE SEGOU – LE SUPER BITON NATIONAL DE SEGOU
6. VARIOUS – WORLD OF ACID
7. GENOCIDE ORGAN - 虐殺機関
8. KORPSES KATATONIK – OEUVRES COMPLETES
9. DISCHARGE – WHY
10. ATRAX MORGUE – I VIZI MORBOSI DI UNA GIOVANE INFERMIERA

Eric Deines, DOC/JAG/SC and Ft. William Artist Management


1. Sun Araw, M. Geddes Gengras & The Congos - Icon Give Thank (RVNG Intl)

2. Chris Cohen - Overgrown Path (Captured Tracks)
3. Frank Ocean - Channel Orange (Def Jam)
4. Matthew E. White - Big Inner (Hometapes)
5. Angel Olsen - Half Way Home (Bathetic)
6. Mac DeMarco - 2 (Captured Tracks)
7. Shintaro Sakamoto - How To Live With A Phantom (Other Music)
8. Lower Dens - Nootropics (Domino)
9. Ty Segal & White Fence - Hair (Drag City)
10. Pure Bathing Culture - s/t ep (Father/Daughter)
11. Tame Impala - Lonerism (Modular)

Sam France and Jonathan Rado of Foxygen:


White Fence - Family Perfume Vol. I

White Fence - Family Perfume Vol. II
CRUMBS - Hallow Tongue
Ariel Pink - Mature Themes
Water Child - Holy Hive
Ty Segall & White Fence - Hair
Mcranberries - S/T
Damien Jurado - Maraqopa
Adrian Younge - Presents Venice Dawn
Ty Segall - Twins

Ryan Duggan (poster artist, Drug Factory Press)



Ty Segall & White Fence - Hair
Thee Oh Sees - Putrifiers II
METZ - S/T
Thin Lizzy - S/T reissue
Ty Segall Band - Slaughterhouse
Maps & Atlases - Beware and Be Grateful
Father John Misty - Fear Fun
La Sera - Sees The Light
JJ Doom - Key to the Kuffs
Death Grips - No Love Deep Web


Corby Harwell (Waterloo Records)

top 10
Polysick-Digital Native (Planet Mu)
Sharon Van Etten-Tramp (Jagjaguwar)
Pinback-Information Retrieved (Temporary Residence)
Jussi Lehtisalo - Interludes for Prepared Beast (Ektro/Full Contact)
Slussenanalys - Aquila Helvetos Asfaltos (Full Contact)
Circle - Serpent (Ektro)
Grumbling Fur - Furrier (Aurora Borealis)
Grumbling Fur - Alice (Latitudes)
Soundtrack/Korzynski-Possesion (Finders Keepers)
Soundtrack/D'aram-Fascination (Finders Keepers)

 fave reissues
All the John Carpenter soundtrack reissues on Death Waltz
Circle - Taantumus  (Ektro/Full Contact)
Circle-Zopalki  (Ektro/Full Contact)
Circle-Forest  (Ektro/Full Contact)

Mike Turner (Wuxtry Records, HHBTM)

in no particular order
Deerhoof - Breakup Song (Polyvinyl)
Micachu & the Shapes - Never (Rough Trade)
Laetitia Sadier - Silencio (Drag City)
Clinic - Free Reign (Domino)
The School - Reading Too Much Into Things Like Everything (Elefant)
Beak - >> (Invada)
Trailer Trash Tracys - Ester (Domino)
Broken Water - Tempest (Hardly Art)
Muuy Biien - This Is What the Mind Imagines (self-released)
Cat Power - Sun (Matador)

Melissa Geils (Laurie's Planet of Sound, BLVD Records)

Tamaryn - Tender New Signs (Mexican Summer)
Wild Nothing - Nocturne (Captured Tracks)
Slug Guts - Playin' In Time With the Deadbeat (Sacred Bones)
Frankie Rose - Interstellar (Slumberland)
Mind Spiders - Meltdown (Dirtnap)
Grass Widow - Internal Logic (HLR)
Swans - The Seer (Young God)
Airiel - Kid Games (Shelflife)
Diiv - Oshin (Captured Tracks)
Bootblacks- S/T (Eve of the Last Migration)

Neil Schield (Origami Vinyl)

1. Father John Misty "Fear Fun" (Sub Pop)
2. Cloud Nothings "Attack on Memory" (Carpark)
3. Allah-Las "Allah-Las" (Innovative Leisure)
4. Trust "TRST" (Arts & Crafts)
5. Sharon Van Etten "Tramp" (Jagjaguwar)
6. Soft Moon "Zeros" (Captured Tracks)
7. Ava Luna "Ice Level" (Infinite Best)
8. PEACE "The World Is Too Much With Us" (Suicide Squeeze)
9. Yeasayer "Fragrant World" (Secretly Canadian)
10. METZ "METZ" (Sub Pop)

Evan Woodward (Strictly Discs)

Julia Holter - Ekstasis - RVNG
Brenda Ray - Walatta - Em
Chromatics - Kill For Love - Italians Do It Better
Laurie Spiegel - The Expanding Universe - Unseen Worlds
Woo - Its Cosy Inside - Yoga
Meg Baird - Seasons On Earth - Drag City
Robert Hood - Motor: Nighttime World 3 - Music Man
Hype Williams - Ebony - Hyperdub
Melody's Echo Chamber - S/T - Fat Possum
Daughn Gibson - All Hell - White Denim
L.I.E.S. Presents American Noise - Long Island Electrical Systems
Lives of Angels - Elevator To Eden - Dark Entries
Juju and Jordash - Techno Primitivism - Dekmantel

Brad Schelden (Amoeba Music Hollywood)

Chromatics - Kill For Love (Italians Do It Better)
DIIV - Oshin (Captured Tracks)
Trust-Trst (Arts & Crafts)
Mount Eerie - Clear Moon (PW Elverum & Sun)
The Twilight Sad - No One Can Ever Know (Fat Cat)
Crystal Castles - III (Casablanca)
Light Asylum - Light Asylum (Mexican Summer)
Emeralds - Just To Feel Anything (Editions Mego)
Mac Demarco - 2 (Captured Tracks) 
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange (Def Jam)

Kurt Brennan (Sound Exchange, Houston)

ASH BORER - Cold Ages CD (Profound Lore)
BARDO POND - Yntra LP (Southern)
MARCIA BASSETT / SAMARA LUBELSKI - Sunday Night, Sunday Afternoon LP (KYE)
BITCHIN' BAJAS - Vibraquatic LP+DVD (Kallistel Editions)
CAPTAIN BEEFHEART - Bat Chain Puller CD (VAULTernative)
THE CARETAKER - Patience (After Sebald) CD (HAFTW)
GUNN-TRUSCINSKI DUO - Ocean Parkway LP (Three Lobed)
HEATHER LEIGH - Empire CD-R (Kendra Steiner Editions)
JANDEK - Indianapolis Saturday 2xCD (Corwood)
LEE RANALDO - Between The Time And Tides LP (Matador)
SPIDERWEBS - Brighton Beach LP (Wholly Other / Chiastic Society)
MARK STEWART - Experiments 12" (Future Noise)
MARK STEWART - Exorcism Of Envy 2xLP (Future Noise)
SUN ARAW - The Inner Treaty LP (Sun Ark)
PETE SWANSON - Pro Style 12" (Type)
ULVER - Childhood's End CD (K-Scope)
V.A. - Eight Trails, One Path LP (Three Lobed)

Dan Cote (Treehouse Records manager)

1Lambchop - Mr. M (Merge)
2. Dan Penn - The Fame Recordings (Ace)
3. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Psychedelic Pill (Reprise)
4. Calexico - Algiers (Anti)
5. Corin Tucker Band - Kill My Blues (Kill Rock Stars)
6. Lee Ranaldo - Between the Times and the Tides (Matador)
7. Cory Branan - Mutt (Bloodshot)
8. Six Organs of Admittance - Ascent (Drag City)
9. Beachwood Sparks - The Tarnished Gold (Sub Pop)
10. Forgetters - Forgetters (Too Small to Fail) 

Mark Trehus (Treehouse Records owner)


1)  Bob Dylan Tempest 2XLP (Columbia)

2)  Dan Penn The Fame Recordings CD (Ace)
3)  Tsege Mariam Gebru Spielt Eigene Komposition LP (MIssissippi/Change)
4)  Michael Hurley Back Home With Drifting Woods LP (Mississippi/Nero's Neptune)
5)  Patti Smith Banga 2XLP (Columbia)
6)  La Monte Young / Theatre Of Eternal Music Raag Bhairava (Excerpt) LP (bootleg)
7)  Grouper Sleep (fragment) 1-sided LP (Fillip Editions)
8)  Amanar Alghafiat LP (MIssissippi/Little Axe)
9)  Hasil Adkins Evening Shadow Road LP (Nero's Neptune)
10)  Neil Young & Crazy Horse Psychedelic Pill 3XLP (Reprise)


2012 was a great year for music, the best we've had in a long time. There was way too much for any one person to keep track of, but I did what I could! This list represents the best of the best as I see it. I think you'll find it comprehensive and enlightening. Note: As I said, there was a lot to get through, but if you've missed any one of these, you've missed something big!

Beef Monkey "Banana Lover" SisterGroper Records
Grmpy Dcks "Cvrd n Bttr" Snack City Records
Escape the Jaws Of "Hormones Made Him Bigger" Festerous Records
Sunbathers "Beach Penis (I Saw One)"  Fart-Dad Records
Char Dogggg "Chest Hair and Nicely Toned" Baloney/BLT Records
DJ Tim Allen "Tool Timing Rascal" Licensed Content Records
Crapsby, Snooze, and Trash "Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Dumb" 4 Men with Braids

Kriss Stress from Notes & Bolts label/podcast

Chicago is great and these releases aren't even a blip on the radar of all that's going on (though, certainly, they're blips in their own right!).

Disappears: Pre-Language (Kranky) - Last year's effort, "Guider", was a huge step up from the band's first proper release, "Lux". With its deeper caverns of space and echo on the a-side and a sprawling Neu!-esque jam on the b-side, it seemed like the group had reached their pinnacle early. Maybe they've realized that doing 15 minute long workouts like that would put them in a rut if they did it with each record, so in "Pre-Language", the group step back and re-focus their attention to writing spring tight 3 minute bursts that are sharp and compelling, despite the stripped down vocals and added variation.
Chandeliers: Founding Fathers (Captcha) - When we at Notes and Bolts, approached Chandeliers about putting out a 7", we did so because we had spent a good number of years being madly in love with their debut record, "The Thrush". This year's "Founding Fathers" makes that record, and even the pair of 12"s and splits they released after it, look low shelf in comparison. Like Prince traipsing through the Hacienda while James Murphy sighs in the background as he attempts to keep the fragments of Liquid Liquid under control, "Founding Fathers" is propulsive audio candy that holds layers beneath layers, which reveal themselves with each new listen.

Fake Limbs: Man Feelings (BLVD) - I hesitated on putting this one on the list just because I'm completely in love with the BLVD label and don't want to come across too much as a tail kissing choir boy, but with "Man Feelings", it's hard to resist. Jagged and noisy, but tightly wound, one can practically hear Stephen Sowley sweating through the speakers as his bandmates stand behind him, practically hugging their amplifiers to avoid assault.

Verma: EXU (Self Released) - These days, krautrock as a term, has been spread farther than even the longest Amon Duul track. Verma have been one of the few bands hanging their hats on that niche that I've cared anything about, but with the release of EXU, it seems that progression - an ultimately essential, if not altogether pesky affair - has begun to nip at their heels. Sparse soundscapes stretch across the grooves of the record making the listener pine for drops of water as they work their way through the desert that Verma have put to tape. The band haven't sacrificed the theatricality of their earlier efforts in the process of a slight mellowing; instead, they've hit upon a new toolbox of pulsations that have proven to be just as exciting as the driving numbers that have populated past releases.

BIGCOLOUR: Your Body Doesn't Like The Decisions Your Brain Makes, Pt. 2 (Teen River) - This cassette has put me near to the thresh hold of throwing up so many times now, that I've had to quarantine myself from it, often hiding the norelco case on high up book shelves and places where I can't reach it. Sugary sweet melodies that push into one another like rambunctious school children, loping bass lines that bounce about like lusty teenagers, and vocals fed through enough gritty filters to give you cold sweats when yr listening. I can't listen to it outside of the house, for fear that I might run into oncoming traffic and attempt to do backflips. It's probably good that Teen River sold out of these, and if they do a re-press, they should probably include a barf bag and some Tylenol.

Windbreaker/Gel Set Split (Seehrs) - This split is literally two sides of one coin. On the first side, we have Windbreaker, who push out fast paced synth melodies that shimmer as they shuffle, sounding like the lost score to a late 80's horror film that you never got the chance to see because it had more passion than budget and ended up being released by a C tier home video company, where it languished at the bottom of the shelf in the rental store and was never heard from again. On the second side, one woman synth powerhouse, Gel Set, crafts her usual brand of below zero synth pop that threatens to kill the speakers the music is pouring from with moisture before forming long and perilous icicles, suitable only for gouging out the eyes of those surrounding. 

Running: Asshole Savant (Captcha) - All it takes is 13 minutes, and Running are able to do more than most bands can when given that duration times ten. While the screeching feedback of their songs have given way to (barely) slower tempos in light of the screamer that was their first LP released way back when on Permanent Records; the three dudes comprising the bands seem just as hellbent on destruction as they ever were. Matthew Hoard doesn't scream as much these days, instead choosing to chant in a harsh tone that makes even Keith Morris look like a middle schooler in comparison. The flexi that comes with the record, containing the titular track, is a harsh slab of concrete noise, squall and disembodied yells. I pray to god that none of them see this blurb and correct me. One of the few bands that totally scares me.

Stacian: Songs For Cadets (Moniker) - Milwaukee based by way of Chicago, Stacian has been pretty busy these days. This year's full length, released by way of Moniker, is a tour de force of cold wave synthesizers, floating vocals and stretches of foreboding drum machines lurking within each passage. While the record does little in the way of catching its breath, it's impossible to ignore the sparseness in the spaces of each chorus, verse and bridge, even as the synthesizers pile atop one another like legos in an organized fashion. This is heady stuff that sounds like it could have existed just as comfortably in 1982 as it does in 2012. My only regret is that there will never be a bootleg VHS release floating around out there with some show featuring Stacian playing on the same bill as Section 25 and Crispy Ambulance. This is Factory music through and through.

Videotape: This Is Disconnect (Self Released) - There's nothing within the gears and working parts of this record that I don't like. At points, Videotape play rambunctious barn burners that sound like they could shake the rafters, while at others, they lay back and lay down the fuzziest of melodies. Shoegaze has been major currency over the last several years, and Videotape's brand of gazing should be at the top of the heap. Vocalist Sophie Leigh effects all of the elegance of MBV and The Cocteau Twins while donning a deeper octave at certain points when the jams behind her demand that she belt without abandon. That this record has not gotten more attention is slightly criminal.

Bitchin' Bajas: Vibraquatic (Kallistei Editions) - What I've always loved about Bitchin' Bajas has been their ability to take drones and make them genuinely interesting. I love a lot of the stuff in the field, but some of it can be a bit too academic to actually enjoy when going about daily activities. On "Vibraquatic", Bitchin' Bajas take long form drones and accentuate them with slithering melodies and sparse percussion, recalling the classic 70's output of Klaus Schulze and other kosmische pioneers from the same time period. At certain points, as the record builds, the tension in between the spaces of the notes grow ever more taut, threatening to burst forth. That, of course, hardly ever happens, and the Bajas contain their impulses and keep things reeled in, forming audio narratives that line their way along like the clinical schematics on a metropolitan map. 

Non-Chicago Favorites:

Ringo Deathstarr: Mauve
Ty Segall Band: Slaughterhouse
The Intelligence: Everybody's Got It Easy But Me
Black Moth Super Rainbow: Cobra Juicy
Estrogen Highs: Irrelevant Future
Lazy: Party City 7"
The N.E.C.: Last Point of Radiation
Liars: WIXIW
OFF!: Self Titled

Kevin Morosini - Olympic Records

Cloud Nothings- Attack on Memory (Carpark)
Broken Water- Tempest (Hardly Art)
Bob Mould- Silver Age (Merge)
Dinosaur Jr.- I Bet on Sky (Jagjaguwar)
Metz- S/T (Sub Pop)
The Men- Open Your Heat (Sacred Bones)
Nude Beach- S/T (Nude Beach Recordings 2012)
Animal Collective- Centipede HZ (Domino)
DIIV- Oshin (Captured Tracks)
Violins- True (Slumberland Recordings)
The Body & Braveyoung- Nothing Passes (At A Loss Recordings)
Forgetters- Forgetters (Too Small to Fail)
Dark Dark Dark- Who Needs Who (Supply & Demand)
Craig Finn- Clear Heart Full Eyes ( Vagrant)
The Mountain Goats- Transcendental Youth (Merge)
Wild Nothing- Nocturne (Captured Tracks)
The Young- Dub Egg (Matador)
Fiona Apple- The Idler Wheel... ( Clean Slate, Epic)
Godspeed You! Black Emperor- Allelujah! Don't Bend Ascend! (Constellation)
Family Stoned- Rituals / High Time Woman II (Perennial Records)

Reissues of 2012

Sugar- Copper Blue + Beaster +  File Under Easy Listening (Merge)
Archers of Loaf- White Trash Heroes + All the Nations Airports (Merge)
Jawbreaker- Bivouac + Chesterfield King (Blackball Records)
Sleep- Dopesmoker (Southern Lord)
Paul McCartney + Linda McCartney- Ram (Apple) 

Hans from Clear Spot Distribution

Top 10   2012

1 Forgas Phenomena Band   'Act V'
2 Storm Corrosion   'Storm corrosion 
3 Astra   'The black chord
4 Silhouette  ‘Across the rubicon'
5 Deeexpus  ‘King of number 33’
6 Burial  ‘Street halo/kindred’
7 Kaipa  ‘Vittjar’
8 Baby Woodrose  ‘Third eye surgery’
9 Beardfish  ‘Void’
10 Goblin Market  'Beneath Far Gondal's Foreign Sky


Chris Hefner (filmmaker, master of the singing saw)
Favorite Records of 2o12
Note:  All gestures of nepotism are never struck without absolute sincerity of purpose and the utmost adherence to stringent standards of quality.
1.     SWANS ~ The Seer
2.     LAND ~ The Night Within
3.     Tin Hat ~ The Rain is A Handsome Animal
4.     Daniel Knox ~ Black & Whites (Though not yet a recorded album, without a doubt one of the most important pieces of music composed in 2012 as far as I’m concerned, as well as proof positive that this list is arranged in no particular order)
5.     Zelienople ~ The World is A House on Fire
6.     Godspeed You! Black Emperor ~ Allelujah!  Don’t Bend!  Ascend!
7.     Orcas ~ Orcas
8.     OM ~ Advaitic Songs
9.     Earth ~ Angels of Darkness Demons of Light II
      10. Mucca Pazza ~ Safety Fifth
      11. Disappears - Pre Language
 Also thrilling, though not records, or technically not new, or even very old.
11. All Missisippi/Canary Records reissues (The "To What A Strange Place" series, Marika Papajika's "The Further The Flame, The More It Burns Me", etc)
12. Eraserhead ~ Soundtrack Re-Issue on Sacred Bones
13. Olivier Groulx & Scott Walker ~ Video for “Epizootics!”

Exciting things that I am confident in endorsing despite the fact that I have not been able to hear them yet & Lusted-after boxes.
1.       Scott Walker – Bish Bosch
2.       Kreng – Works for Abbatoir Ferme Box
3.       Re-Issue of William Basinski’s Disintigration Loops