2012 Favorite Albums: 40-31

Continuing my list of favorite albums of 2012, here are numbers 40-31:

40. Santigold - Master Of My Make-Believe

As the album title and striking cover photo demonstrate, however, Santigold is in complete control of her vision. Master Of My Make-Believe is a further honing of the sound from her debut. Still mixing everything from reggae, EDM, hip-hop, and alt-rock, Master Of My Make-Believe isn't an immediately gratifying album; there is nothing as bracing as "L.E.S. Artistes," "You'll Find A Way," or "Lights Out." In fact, it takes quite a few listens for the hooks to appear and grab you. But it is definitely worth the effort to get to know these amazing tracks.

39. Orbital - Wonky

I am always wary when bands/artists get back together after breaking up, especially when said reason for splitting was because the band felt uninspired. So the ultimate question becomes are you getting back together for financial reasons or because you truly have something relevant to say after so many years? Based on Wonky, I can definitively say it is for the latter reason. Once one of the major stars of UK techno, brothers Phil and Paul Hartnoll could seemingly do no wrong, until the disastrous one-two punch of The Altogether and The Blue Album finding Orbital in a massive creative rut. The band split thereafter, reforming in 2009 for a series of live dates, which apparently sparked their creative juices, culminating in their new album Wonky. To call this a return to form would do this album a disservice, because it doesn't sound like a band trying to re-create their old successes, but using that merely as a building block to explore other avenues while always focusing on the melodies, which is what made them such an important techno act from the beginning.

38. Sleigh Bells - Reign Of Terror

Thankfully, Reign of Terror is not a carbon copy of Treats. While there are still tracks that could have easily fit on their debut, the band is smart enough to explore other avenues on the album, like the final three tracks that focus more on texture and atmosphere than outright aggression. For that alone, this makes Reign of Terror an illuminating listen.

37. Kindness - World, You Need A Change Of Mind

Kindness, the solo project of UK/Berlin based auteur Adam Bainbridge, obviously has a penchant for 80s funk pop and slick R&B, tossing in equal amounts Prince and Janet Jackson along with other 80s pop acts that utilized R&B shadings, such as China Crisis, The Blue Nile, Scritti Politti, and even Bryan Ferry. Thankfully, Bainbridge merely uses these as a starting point for making his own unique, fascinating tracks.

36. John Talabot - fIN

Barcelona house producer John Talabot has stated in interviews that he doesn't understand how people call his debut album ƒIN "tropical" or "sunny," preferring to say his music is shadowy and obscured. I can actually see both sides of the coin. There is a definite undercurrent of Balearic sweep in these tracks, the synths and beats heading ever upward, seeking release. But there are a lot of dark textures lurking in the background as well, giving these house tracks some edge and bite. While this is technically a "house" record, nothing quite fits perfectly in that square. So many difference influences find their way into this tracks, that by album's end, you are left with a familiar, yet oddly uneasy feeling. Nods to Balearic pop, Boards of Canada style IDM, UK bass music, 80s synthpop, all weave and intertwine throughout ƒIN, never jarring and always in sync with the flow of the record. Vocals are sometimes overt, but mostly he employs a variety of samples that consist of either chanting, vowel sounds, burbling, or even a horror movie scream, utilizing them all as just another sonic element in the mix. ƒIN is a wonderful headphones album, where multiple listens are necessary to get the full effect. The most startling aspect to all this is how he keeps everything in control, the builds and releases never seem calculated or unearned, all feeling organic and in the right place.

35. Hot Chip - In Our Heads

I will be the first to admit that, up to now, I have not been the world's biggest fan of UK dance-pop act Hot Chip. This is primarily due in part to vocalist Alexis Taylor's voice which I find borders on annoying. While I much prefer the almost monotone, deep intonations of fellow vocalist Joe Goddard, Hot Chip tends to default to Taylor more often that not. When the music backing the vocals is great, I can usually overcome my aversion to Taylor's voice, however, most of Hot Chip's albums/singles haven't been intriguing enough to make me want to soldier through them. With the release of their fifth album In Our Heads, I was resigned to giving them one more shot at trying to win me over. First off, Taylor's voice, which I still think is one inch away from nails on a chalk board to me, is a lot more subtle this go around. Although there are a few moments when his affected falsetto dominates a track, for the most part, he reigns the proclivity in and sings in a deeper range, which brings out a more human, emotional element to the tracks. And adding to my enjoyment, the album is thick with amazing dance tracks and evocative ballads.

34. Chromatics - Kill For Love

Portland, Oregon's Chromatics, made up of singer Ruth Radelet, guitarist Adam Miller, drummer Nat Walker, and producer/multi-instrumentalist Johnny Jewel, occupy some netherworld between Italo-disco and M83's polished analog/shoegaze pop. Indeed, there are many correlations between Kill For Love and M83's opus Hurry Up, We're Dreaming; both are double albums, both utilize older, analog equipment, and both have an epic quality to them. The sound is slightly different, however, instead of reaching for the stadium-ready grandeur of M83, Chromatics are far more interested in a more delicate, personal quality. It's as if these songs are meant to be heard on lonely drives at night, or under the covers with a thick pair of headphones on. Another bizarre comparison I experienced while listening to Kill For Love is with This Mortal Coil's Filigree & Shadow, which seems similarly structured with key songs surrounded by odd/entrancing instrumentals, and a penchant for intriguing cover songs, and an overall goth-pop vibe.

33. DIIV - Oshin

From humble beginnings as a bedroom pop project from Beach Fossil guitarist Zachary Cole Smith, DIIV (originally named Dive but changed because of a Belgian band with the same name) has since expanded to a full fledged band with 3 additional members. While there is similarity in sound with his full-time band (as well as peers Real Estate and The Drums), the nostalgia tinged quasi-surf rock they proffer is skewed more towards dream pop, emphasizing influences from acts like The Smiths, The Railway Children, Innocence Mission, and The Ocean Blue. There is a shimmering, light-on-water quality to the record which comports with Smith's quote that all the band members have water signs. The quartet's debut album Oshin is not going to win any awards for originality or for diversity, however, it transcends this limitation by being 13 tracks of pristine, dark-edged guitar pop, each song merging into the next to create one suite of tracks that sticks in the mind for a long time after the final track has faded.

32. Lone - Galaxy Garden

UK producer Matt Cutler, operating under the Lone moniker, obviously adores his collection of late 80s early 90s rave records, especially the ones from 808 State, who brought a more ambient take to the pulsating rhythms and strobe-like synth stabs of club music. His last record Emerald Fantasy Tracks was a favorite of mine a couple of years ago, its neo-rave leanings tempered by a more current sounding icy texture, as if rave were hijacked by Boards of Canada. While I loved that record, it held to its one conceit fairly rigidly, without room for exploration or much diversity. With his latest record Galaxy Garden, he is still painting from the same box of rave colors, but is coloring outside the lines now, allowing tracks to breath more and go off on different tangents.

31. Menomena - Moms

That we even have a new Menomena album is a miracle in and of itself. During the recording sessions for their last album Mines, Danny Seim and Brent Knopf had just gone through divorces, and Justin Harris was immersed in therapy, but somehow they were able to put together their most concise and well, rather "pop" album. Of course, what came out on record did not show what was going on behind the scenes, with little to no communication going on between the band members. After the release and during the supporting tour, Knopf finally left the band, leaving Seim and Harris to continue on as a duo. The pair decided to come up with a thematic thrust for the new record that, while not a concept record per se, stems from each others relationships with their mothers; Seim's mother having died many years prior, and Harris essentially being raised by his mother alone. Moms is more about the results of their respective childhoods, and there are haunting passages of loneliness and searching despair, desperation and resentment, and overall melancholy. It is a difficult record to get through at times, but making up for the thematic bleakness is the music which is their most aggressive and harshest in ages, twisting, pushing, throttling, and strangling the songs forward, trying to make sense of how to get out of the dark hole that's been dug.