“Seriously? A music roundup in FEBRUARY?”
Hey, ya know, a big ass tree fell on our house during Super Bitch Sandy, so I’m a little behind with the posts. But you know the saying:
“Excuses are like assholes, but insurance companies are assholes.”
But look, I’m not bitter. No one was injured. The house is mostly fixed. It’s highly likely that some squirrels moved into our roof while it was smashed, providing them with probably the best winter they’ll ever have in their entire squirrel lives. I have to assume our roof is the squirrel equivalent of the Four Seasons. So you’re welcome, squirrels. Maybe take it down a notch with the scurrying at 3 AM.
And now, without further adieu, The Music That Made 2012 Just Barely Bearable:
Bonnie “Prince” Billy, “I See a Darkness”
Will Oldham is a guy who is probably responsible for a lot of carpal tunnel over at Pitchfork.com. I like this new version of his back catalog song–here it is in a weird video with lots of face warpy weirdness:
Frank Ocean, “There Will be Tears”
This is from his 2011 EP, “Nostalgia/Ultra”, so it technically shouldn’t be eligible, but I make the rules here. This song plus a few tracks from Channel Orange were pretty consistently pumped into my ear holes all year. Also, Frank Ocean is a brave young man who became something of a focal point for the national conversation around sexual orientation, so there’s that, too:
Lord Huron, “The Ghost on the Shore”
With somewhat disturbing regularity, bands emerge which were genetically engineered to take advantage of my abiding affection for mopey bedroom-rock sentimentality. Lord Huron is one of those bands:
Cody Chestnutt, “Chips Down (In No Landfill)”
“In a time of great cynicism, of natural, political and financial disaster, in a new gilded age of permanent war, near-universal desperation and brainless, irredeemable top 40 churned out by a morbidly ill music industry, this man deserves to be massively famous and successful.” –Lyrical, rollicking, destined-to-be-remembered-by-exactly-no-one Facebook post by Sean McEvoy about Cody Chestnutt
Father John Misty, “Only Son of the Ladies Man”
See: “Lord Huron”; “Staring Forlornly at Bedroom Ceiling”; “Heartbreak”; “Loss”; “Crushing Sadness”; “The Incomprehensible Void”. See also: “Special Purpose”:
Bruce Springsteen, “Death to My Hometown”
Bruce is 63. He’s a kazillionaire. Many reasonable people can’t stand him, think he’s all bombast and platitudes. He ain’t cool or punk rock or relevant. I don’t care a lick. First, I’m from The Great State of New Jersey, so we’re, like, brothers or whatever. Second, I saw him live for the first time this year. It was an ecstatic religious experience in the Holy Church of Rock ‘n Roll. Thirdmost, in a time when protest songs are desperately needed and nobody is writing protest songs, he made an album of unapologetic protest songs. THAT’S cool.
Icona Pop, “I Love It”
These two hipster ladies are comin’ straight outta Sweden. I will give you 50 American Dollars if they weren’t invited to New York Fashion Week this year. I like this song, it’s fun:
Alabama Shakes, “Hold On”
This song just plain old kicks ass, in my humble opinion.
The Shins, “Simple Song”
Okay so the video is some annoying ass Wes Anderson isht–the song is still a quality Shinsian Angst-o-rama:
Bad Religion, “True North”
Yup, this album by SoCal punk lifers Bad Religion totally came out this year, so it does not belong in this roundup–but I’m so G-Darn punk rock, I’m putting it in. Also, I’m going to see these guys at the Wellmont Theater on 3/23, and I expect to witness a mosh pit populated entirely by greybeard creative directors and paunchy Dads Who Blog. Ahem.
That’s what I’m workin’ with for best songs of 2012(ish) right now. It’s assured that I have left out some truly worthy contenders–perhaps you’ll be so kind as to include them in the comments!
McEvoy Creative Industries 
Thanks for this super late round-up. Better late to the party than not making it at all because you couldn’t find matching socks, my mother always said. In Hindi. Some English too. But mostly Hindi.
So, I agree with Shins and Alabama Shakes. Now I know they’ve gotten really big and perhaps too popular to be cool, but just a wee bit sad not to see any Mumford on this or the Lumineers.
Thanks for the round-up!
“Where Are You Now” from Babel almost made it–a mild case of Mumford Fatigue may have played a part in its exclusion…
As for The Lumineers, I have an incoherent and badly researched theory about the whole Hoedown Rock movement, which is a term I just now invented to describe the recent-ish emergence of a genre of folk rock that fries up a mess o’ whistlin’, hand clappin’ and rabble rousin’ chorus chants in a big ol’ fryin’ pan and serves it up h-o-t on a platter. Now, I have no issues with a hoedown whatsoever–all for ’em, always have been. But–and here comes the whackadoodle theory–I think there’s too much weird back-woodsy incestuous stuff going on in that little folked up corner of the music industry, because the DNA of this song:
…is messed all in with the DNA of this here song:
…and the dag nab DNA of both of ’em are all scrambled up in this robbin’ scalawag’s song:
So that genetic throughline is sort of why I didn’t include The Lumineers, I guess?? Buuuuuutt then again, I actually like all three of those songs, sort of rendering irrelevant my weirdo theory about the kissin’ cousinry of hoedown rock…so there goes yet another weirdo theory, I guess…