That's My Dad.

Top 50 Songs of 2012: #13, Joey Bada$$ - Survival Tactics (feat. Capital Steez)

I’m in Marty McFly mode, so tell em’ that the future’s back.

I guess old-school never really left the streets of Brooklyn and 17-year-old Joey Bada$$ is living proof. Making a prominent splash on the underground east coast rap scene this year, Bada$$’s mix-tape “1999” featured double digit servings of impressive tracks loaded with “golden age” influenced hip-hop and dynamic personality. The track of interest is “Survival Tactics”: a stand-out moment built on violent beats, ear-hook flows and detailed socially-conscious verses. Aspiring kids have something to sweat about with this, Joey’s set the new bar for hip-hop and it’s not coming down anytime soon. 

Top 50 Songs of 2012: #20, Young Magic - Sparkly

Take my name plate, it screams for you. 

The first time I listened to “Sparkly”, I felt like I just discovered my best friend was a belly dancer. I can hear my heart thumping as I hear dozens of dancers with bangles on their ankles crash against each other as they pound the floor. Soaring vocal samples and hypnotic lyrics, it’s like a blanket of sound wrapping around you to bring a faded coziness. Brooklyn’s Young Magic bring along a bundle of fresh sonic textures to often conventional psychedelic and electronic music, but there’s a slick payoff to be found here. An element of familiarity dipped in exotic marvel: your best friend, a belly dancer. 

(Source: Spotify)

Top 50 Songs of 2012: #45, Sharon Van Etten - All I Can

We all make mistakes.

While I was reviewing Brooklyn singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten early this year, I had one of those terrifying nights where I felt like death was imminent, I’ve made so many mistakes in my life that I could never repent for and that my existence was ultimately meaningless. As a reflex, I ordered a pizza and some chicken parm from a local Italian restaurant around 1 am. Driving out to get my food, I heard this track and every quality of Van Etten hit me like a pile of bricks. I pulled over and wept. Whenever you get the chance, give this record a listen. I mean it in the best way possible when I say that I hope something like that happens to you too. It’s a beautiful catharsis. 

(Source: Spotify)

Grizzly Bear - Shields

If there were a book of commonplace indie-rock phrases, “Any Grizzly Bear album is a good Grizzly Bear album” would probably take precedent. The highly talented and visionary Brooklyn quartet make a new mark with their 4th album, “Shields”: the band’s most emotionally absolute and detailed release to date. From the dreamy and thematic lead single “Sleeping Ute”, the heart-wrenching “A Simple Answer” or the complex “Half Gate”, we find Grizzly Bear not repeating past successes like the chilling psychedelic “Yellow House” or the infectiously catchy chamber pop “Vecktimest”, instead rushing past those to make an unadulterated masterpiece record detailing the intricacies of human relations. Certainly, the slow-burner album of the year. (8/10)

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Nas - Illmatic

Show us your pain and everything else will fall into place.

While it certainly shames me to admit that I’m listening to Nas for the first time now in my life, it being as old as I am, “Illmatic” undoubtedly stands up strong as one of the most innovative, defining records of all time for its unbeatable authenticity, progressive existentialist concern and gutsy focus of substance-over-style and less-is-more artistic virtues. (9/10) 

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Father John Misty - Fear Fun

If one could envision what a successful Fleet Foxes side project would sound like, they’d have Father John Misty’s (J. Tillman) “Fear Fun” pinned down. Fortunately, the Fleet Foxes drummer offers something sweeter, more epigrammatic than anticipated. With lyrics that’ll pierce through your heart and unshakably linger in your thoughts, songs about existential sadnesses and dreamy musings of love, “Fear Fun” is an irresistibly candid, under-stated and quaint folk rock LP worth keeping you company through quiet mornings and lonely nights. (8/10)

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Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

“Clap Your Hands Say Yeah” is one of those rare multi-dimensional sonic gems that speaks deeply of ’00s underground music culture while standing the test of time as of the greatest indie rock releases of all time; worth shelving next Interpol, Arcade Fire, Neutral Milk Hotel and Modest Mouse. (9/10)

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Here We Go Magic - A Different Ship

While Here We Go Magic’s “A Different Ship” works as a polished piece of quasi-ambient rock with the help of Radiohead’s producer Nigel Godrich, this band’s 3rd LP suffers from being “middle of the road”; not pulling any punches, offering any audibly interesting content and lacking in solidified ideas making “A Different Ship” all too easy to forget. (7/10)

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Santigold - Master of My Make-Believe

Four years ago, Santi White, better known as Santigold, set the bar for pop music for the music industry, especially herself.

Her debut record, “Santogold”, featured not just several of its year’s greatest tracks (“L.E.S. Artistes”, “Shove It”) but shed light on the line between mainstream and indie pop. White fit both molds, using creative freedom associated with indie music and the resources of a mainstream release. Looking back, “Santogold” still holds a place in my heart for making some of the most irresistible pop tunes without having to get weird (i.e. M.I.A., Lady Gaga).

Despite previous efforts, there wasn’t specifically any tension for her latest album: “Master of My Make-Believe”. As far as anybody was concerned, listeners were well aware of her creative standards. Looking her track record, there couldn’t possibly be anything wrong with any of White’s future work. Yet, “Master of My Make-Believe” succumbs to the worst complaint pop music could get: it’s boring.

Astonishingly so, “Master of My Make-Believe” barely rises to the occasion of its agenda and, frankly, lacks any sincere artistic efforts. It’s not that this LP has anything sour or tracks that stick out like sore thumbs, “Master of My Make-Believe” barely throws any hooks or punches that calling it a ‘snore-fest’ wouldn’t be entirely inaccurate. Four years ago, Santigold would walk in your door and kick-start the party into one of the best nights of your summer. Here in 2012 and Santi’s in the corner of the party with a red cup at hand, not particularly interested in socializing.

I can’t even get excited for the lead tracks: “Go!” and “Disparate Youth”. Despite their positive reception, all I’m left doing for three to four minutes is looking for something to impress me with. The weight of this album gets worse as songs begin clumping together; nothing prominent grabbing my attention or inspiring repeated listens. I wouldn’t be as indifferent or saddened had “Master of My Make-Believe” came from a newcomer artist, but this was freaking Santigold. All we’ve received is a lousy excuse of the same ingredients in “Santogold”, minus any trace of inventiveness. Here is an album destined to be bullied into the dusty corners of record stores and ignored during its week of shelf-time at Best Buy.

This album was not my dad. (3/10)

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A$AP Rocky - LiveLoveA$AP

Stellar production value and beats from an all star team of producers isn’t enough to compensate on newcomer underground rapper A$AP Rocky’s mixtape: “LiveLoveA$AP,” a hit-or-miss pop/rap mix for stoners. (6/10)

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Frankie Rose - Interstellar

When digging into an album like Frankie Rose’s “Interstellar,” an experimental synth-pop LP doused with endless reverb, one can’t help but get lost. Much like last year’s M83’s “Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming,” exploring the layers of sonic elements is almost like finding an exit in a dark forest made of clouds. It’s an exhaustive and self-aware challenge but makes you think, maybe it’s not really the point to analyze or directly interpret. Interstellar is more of a journey, like playing a video game with no set goal (i.e. The Sims) or riding ‘It’s A Small World’ in Disneyland. These are concepts that can certainly prove frustrating and incredibly pointless, but for those who wouldn’t mind artful leisure every now and then: Interstellar makes for an interesting listen. (7/10)

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Young Magic - Melt

You remember that moment. The headphones are in, expectations are unknown. Then it begins. It’s the instance you meet your new favorite band. A single moment in time that deserves to be romanticized. Sonic gems can invoke some of the most satisfying sensations.

There’s something about Young Magic: a dreamy experimental electronic gone heavily psychedelic group from Brooklyn. Think if a hipper, more tropical Animal Collective, Yeasayer and a more straight-forward Flying Lotus joined forces. Their debut release, Melt, serves as a quality entrée to what Young Magic’s audio vision sounds like: a smart, boogie-worthy cultural chill-wave party where you’re always the guest of honor.

Young Magic’s Melt is one of those albums in the endless score of experimental music that deserves to be mused over. It has the potential to be your new best friend, if you’re all about that psychedelic lifestyle, and quite possibly, your new favorite band.

This album was my dad. (8/10)

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