That's My Dad.

Top 30 Films of 2012 - 

1. Django Unchained
2. Holy Motors
3. Chronicle
4. Looper
5. Amour
6. Beasts of the Southern Wild
7. Moonrise Kingdom
8. Zero Dark Thirty
9. Silver Linings Playbook
10. Indie Game: The Movie
11. The Cabin in the Woods
12. The Intouchables
13. Seven Psychopaths
14. Argo
15. Cosmopolis 
16. Les Miserables
17. The Raid: Redemption
18. Killing Them Softly
19. End of Watch
20. Flight
21. Lincoln
22. Ruby Sparks
23. Detachment
24. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
25. Skyfall
26. The Master
27. Haywire
28. 21 Jump Street
29. The Dark Knight Rises
30. The Comedy

Bernie - 

Often lopsided in its story-telling abilities, “Bernie” finds itself molding new cliches in edgy genres like dark comedies, with well-to-do performances and stretched out moral polarizations; leaving much left to be desired and bringing unconventional dark media a step closer to something more tiresome. (6/10)

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Chronicle - 

You can throw “Blair Witch Project” and “Cloverfield” aside, we have a new victor. Outstandingly refined and impeccably original, “Chronicle” beats the face in of “found-footage” and “high school” genre cliches, creating something masterfully intelligent, devilishly intense and nail-bitingly gripping. Blending genres in storytelling recipes never conceivable, concocting philosophical dynamics in the oddest of places and offering up some A-grade performances, particularly from lead actor Dane DeHaan, I’d be damned if another film this year can trump this. I’m calling it: Chronicle is the best one of the year. (10/10)

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Savages - 

Brutishly sensationalist and tremendously boring, acclaimed director Oliver Stone twists an already poor premise in an already banal genre into something massively tasteless and blasphemous. (2/10) 

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Zammuto - Zammuto

Former member Nick Zammuto of acclaimed experimental duo The Books returns with his self-titled solo project and new LP: Zammuto. While The Books called it quits at the top of their game (breaking up in 2010, with their last release “The Way Out”), there was a lack of closure in where their final creative destinations were. Well, Zammuto is here to clear up any loose creative ends. Through each of his tracks, Nick concocts an idea sonically, throws in a house of mirrors, and when it finds its way out, smashes it with a sledgehammer (like Gallagher). It’s an explosive musical style, but not of Flaming Lips proportions; think of a more technically defined Anamanaguchi or Animal Collective. With rapping computer voices, absurdly edited jazz and electronic samples galore and the coolest usage of auto-tune I’ve ever heard, it would be a challenge to deny Zammuto’s enthralling qualities. Through all of its skippy, skittery, zany, bouncy, smart and unadulterated fun, “Zammuto” is the most enriching experience the world of experimental rock has this year; heck, I haven’t this much fun since Battles’ “Gloss Drop”. (10/10)

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Prometheus - 

Even playing the part as a dignified prequel to one of sci-fi’s beloved series, “Alien”, “Prometheus” majorly suffers from letting design and aesthetic support the story, a profusely boring one at that, while letting all of director Ridley Scott’s ideas run amok throughout. Aside from an existentially-based sub-plot line featuring a curious performance by Michael Fassbender, form or consistency comes sparse on this alleged “epic”. With a high-brow ego breathing on thin wisps of mystique and incongruous low-brow thrills arbitrarily smacking you in the face, “Prometheus” certainly fills in the void of the underwhelming summer blockbuster along with dragging down the series with a lack of substance. (6/10)

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Sun Kil Moon - Among the Leaves

Those familiar with best kept secret singer/songwriter project Sun Kil Moon know that subtlety is not a game they play. In the past ten years over four albums, relentless emotion and heart-shattering poetry take precedent on their music, never leaving a moment to breathe with the project’s tremendous emotional impact. Therefore, its massively disappointing to hear SKM avert from these aspects that made their appeal and style so unforgettable. Unlike the project’s appreciated discography, their latest album, “Among the Leaves”, deals with new territory at an odd time in the band’s timeline: coming-of-age. While change comes advised to creative folk artists, disaster almost always strikes when artists aim to create material over undeveloped territory. Throughout the entire set of seventeen painfully forgettable tracks, “Among the Leaves” is a sullen bummer: like a dreadfully blotchy diary no one wants to decipher. (6/10) 

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Dr. John - Locked Down

In this day, being a revival artist in the arena is menacingly challenging when old time veterans like Dr. John are still here ready to kick your ass. At age 71, New Orleans native Malcolm John Rebennack, Jr. (a.k.a. Dr. John) returns with his latest LP, “Locked Down”: a world-weary, indignant and dark album colored in with kick-ass funk, blues and R&B textures.

It always seems like influential artists of the past own an exclusive rite of way to critical acclaim. It’s a staple of music criticism, but also a factor that gets scrutinized by youngsters. While a marginal slice of young listeners pay homage to classic musicians, it’s understandable, to a degree, why they wouldn’t be interested in listening to Willie Nelson’s new album or the 900th Bob Dylan Greatest Hits reissue. In perspective, this notion makes “Locked Down” even sweeter; despite decades of reputation, this thing makes no sacrifices and rocks hard. Dr. John understands the dynamic of his seniority, making adjustments to better suit his age without sacrificing quality. The doctor does this with help of Black Keys frontman and guitarist Dan Auerbach, who makes this album a gem with stellar production efforts sprinkled with some guitar and back-up vocal work.

From the killer brass jams on “Revolution” to the gritty and aged blues theme song “Big Shot”, “Locked Down” is a consistent album loaded with engrossing lyricism slathered with classic New Orleans styled blues-gone-funk grooves served with a modern punch to knock you out, whether you care for past generations of music or not. (9/10)

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Lower Dens - Nootropics

You don’t have to wait for the groove to settle in, Lower Dens will bring it to you on their triumphant and equally dreamy indie art-rock sophomore LP, “Lower Dens”: one of the most brooding and explorative albums of this year; well worth inviting into your abode to get to know better. (8/10)

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Beach House - Bloom

If the world of independent music were a diner in the ’50s, Beach House would be it’s own ice cream flavor; orange creme, to be exact. Since their adored 2009 LP “Teen Dream” dazzled listeners, both easy-going and nit-picky, this dream pop duo has undoubtedly taken city and seashore dwellers by storm. Already known their profoundly lush sonic textures and eloquent technical abilities, it comes to no surprise that Beach House didn’t want to change a thing on their latest album: “Bloom”. In fact, Beach House revisits the gorgeous sonic sculpture created on “Teen Dream” and chisels out an extra layer of detail, texture and effect. This remodeling ends up making “Bloom” their most thematic album to date, constructed with punctual compositions and a set of flourishing lyrics to match. These details, while bound with comprehensive traits, are intensely subtle, challenging and hard to wrap your head around, especially to those unfamiliar with Beach House’s sound. Unlike the instant click you’d feel on “Teen Dream”, there is a serious trade-off of patience involved with “Bloom”. From the nautical-sounding opener “Myth” with its glistening guitar tones to the equally heartwarming/breaking “Wild” composed of nostalgic teenage memories, “Bloom” proves to be the most rewarding listening experience of 2012. (8/10)

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Spiritualized - Sweet Heart Sweet Light

With its razor sharp level of emotional control and silky smooth sonic production, Spiritualized’s 7th LP “Sweet Heart Sweet Light” succeeds not only in creating a set of brilliant, catchy tunes, but also as one of the most determined, developed pieces of audio art seen in quite some time. There was no moment of revelation. Nor was there a taint of favoritism. It was a clear cut critical evaluation: “Sweet Heart Sweet Light” is the best indie rock release of 2012. (10/10)

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Best Coast - The Only Place

If you aren’t listening to Best Coast on a California beach or at a weed-ridden summer music festival, you’re doing it wrong. And their much-awaited second LP, “The Only Place”, is a serious testimony to that theory.

Lead singer/guitarist Bethany Cosentino has grown to be a cult figure in the contemporary indie rock scene for her warm, enchanting sun-dried tunes on the group’s debut LP, “Crazy for You”. With her overly simple yet gratifying lyricism, Cosentino ended up capitalizing on a specific demographic within the indie crowd of similar emotional proportions, becoming something of a small-time goddess for distraught post-modern youngsters. The real catch, however, was if Cosentino’s lyrics were taken out and placed in a less interesting surrounding, it would match the lyrical quality of ‘Top 40’ pop fodder.

It seems that Best Coast doesn’t have much to progress or evolve from considering their music succeeds exclusively their ability to emulate a certain place and feeling, as an organic product of their own environment. But the golden thread to their music comes from sheer artistic and human honesty, which is the only thing “The Only Place” has going for itself. It’s clear that Costantino has cleaned up her act: she’s off the couch, she doesn’t seem to be constantly smoking pot and her romantic affairs aren’t constituted by desperation and sweet-heartedness. Hence, her sound has changed accordingly. Gone is the lo-fi surf rock warmth and eagerness, instead “The Only Place” is like the sonic equivalent of a gross overcast over a formerly gorgeous beach. Best Coast’s change of direction managed to kill both of their best birds with the one proverbial stone: their lyricism and it’s musical context.

“The Only Place” won’t particularly offend or reveal any hidden layers, despite any number of listens. It’s a pretty superficial record. And even if Best Coast’s fan base will slightly disperse from this creative transition, they can’t be criticized for striving to make mature music. It was fundamentally inescapable for Best Coast to do an album like this right because it’s a new feeling for both artist and listener. So whether you’ll root for Consentino to start smoking again or to polish her sound up in her new, seasoned adulthood, at least we’ll still have those younger, brighter days.

This album was my senile grandmother. (5/10)

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Battles - Dross Glop

Read My Full Review on ‘Listen Before You Buy’

Along comes the remix baby brother: “Dross Glop”, a compilation album based off math rock maestros Battles’ acclaimed 2011 album “Gloss Drop”. “Dross Glop” has been meticulously growing a certain level of hype with a series of 12’’ vinyls coming out this year and a killer line-up of technically superior producers behind it all. We’re talking Shabazz Palaces, Hudson Mohawke, The Field, Gang Gang Dance; everyone and their mother is on this compilation, given you’re in the scene to appreciate artists mainly for their technical ability. […]

(7/10)

The Cabin in the Woods -

Smart and horror aren’t particularly best friends. As a matter of fact, they seldom meet and when they do, the topic of discussion becomes psychological horror; gore or sheer thrills are never front row. Then there’s “The Cabin in the Woods,” cult figure Joss Whedon’s latest masterpiece. Since the new millennia, conceptual stories in film and video games have tackled on a literal “out-of-the-box” procedure style. The digital age has a new verve which excites this generation’s sharp-minded youngsters: “What’s it like on the other side of this fiction?” Think to franchises like Portal, Assassin’s Creed or Scream, entertainment has started to take a life of it’s own without breaking the fourth wall entirely; the term “meta” comes to mind. Without giving anything away, “The Cabin in the Woods” is the pièce de résistance of this cultivating sub-genre; equals parts of post-modern hilarity, awe-inspiring creativity and lush quantities of gore. It’s hard to dance around the fact that after breaking so many rules of cinema, it’s impossible to not be impressed with “The Cabin in the Woods”; not to mention, an ending that’ll be cited for years to come. (9/10)

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Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance 

I tried so hard to review this seriously. At one point, I was literally crying, begging for time to do me a solid and make this end quicker. I was induced with an unforgiving migraine and overwhelming frustration before the thirty minute mark, but I never leave anything unfinished. It was baffling, having to experience “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance”: in my now worn-out opinion, the most detestable piece of visual vomit, wanna-be B-movie ever put to production. It wasn’t the heinous and schizophrenic cinematography/visual effects of this film that would make any Bollywood or Spanish soap opera camera-man look like Terrence Malick. It wasn’t the unreasonable amounts of villainy that would make a snuff film feel like leisure watching. And it certainly wasn’t the physically tormenting dialogue and script structure that makes gouging out our eyes and crushing them on the pavement with your car seem like total paradise. It was the notion that somehow a team of human beings came together to make something so arbitrary and revolting, yet, have the audacity to call this a “movie”. There is something disgusting about that thought: “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance” was not a film, it will never deserve that title. (0/10)

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