tylerb.'s Year End Thoughts 2012

DCILYmusic: tylerb.'s Year End Thoughts 2012.

by tylerb.

This was one of the first years of my life where music took a back seat to more important matters happening around me. To say that I felt completely lost this year would be an understatement, and normally I turn to music to help me out in these types of situations. But this is one of the first years that I can remember in a long time where nothing really fit my mood (until the very end of the year), and I couldn't really remember if the album actually came out in 2011 or 2012. It wasn't until after I started listing out the albums I listened to here and there that I realized just how much stuff came out. I'm terrible with ranking things, so I'm just going to try and group them into some random categories.

Here goes:

1. The year of the old reliables: 

The Walkmen - Heaven

Pinback - Information Retrieved

Grizzly Bear - Shields

Dinosaur Jr. - I Bet On Sky

At this point in the above mentioned's careers you can pretty much predict that you're going to get a mostly consistent and solid album from front to back. These are albums you can throw on when you're having trouble figuring out what you're in the mood to listen to. That might not seem like the best compliment in the world, but whatever. Even though they've only put out two albums to date, I'd also like to lump The XX's "Coexist" into that mix too. If they continue down this similar path, then I'd be cool with that.

2. Albums I didn't pay as much attention to as I initially thought I would:
Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory

Japandroids - Celebration Rock

Lotus Plaza - Spooky Action at a Distance
Wild Nothing - Nocturne

Twin Shadow - Confess

These are all albums that started out in heavy rotation but then for whatever reason went by the wayside. However whenever a song from any of them come on my iPod's shuffle I thoroughly enjoy it and tell myself, "I really should go back and revisit this album." 

3a. The albums that I played the most: 

The Men - Open Your Heart

Divine Fits - A Thing Called Divine Fits
Chromatics - Kill For Love
The Evens - The Odds

The Weeknd - Trilogy

Crystal Castles - III

Schoolboy Q - Habits & Contradictions

Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d city

3b. EP's I played the most:
Burial - Kindred

Solange - True

Empty Flowers - Six

This year my car's CD player decided that it would eject CDs whenever it damn well pleased, so sometimes I had to make a conscious choice of what I wanted to get stuck in there. The above albums and EPs were ones that I would actively choose to get stuck in there so I'm guessing those are the ones that could be classified as my "favorites" this year. With all that said, I'd like to give a huge shout out to the band Mineral. They aren't around anymore (though who knows, reunions are the new what next and I'm sure they've discussed it), but their two CDs The Power of Failing and EndSerenading were two CD's that got me through the absolute hardest thing I've ever had to experience on this Earth.

Here's to hoping 2013 has a much better outlook!

Everyone have a safe and happy holiday.