The Fine Vinyl's Finest Of 2012

The last day of the year, so time for a round-up of 2012's best albums.

I think that 2012 has been a good year in music. Some really great albums were released this year. Both albums by bands that've been around for a while, and debut full lengths by new bands. So it wasn't too hard for me to come up with a shortlist for the 10 best albums of the year. Before i knew it, i had written down about 20 albums. Some of the albums on that list that didn't end up in my Top 10 are for example, in no particular order: The Laughing Stalk by Woven Hand, People Now People by Wooden Constructions, True by Violens, Spine Hits by Sleepy Sun, Oceania by Smashing Pumpkins and Worship by A Place To Bury Strangers. All very good albums that i still enjoy giving a spin on my record player.

But which 10 albums are my personal favourites of 2012? The Fine Vinyl's Finest of 2012, so to say? Here's the vinyl countdown:

10. PIPE DREAMS by WHIRR

09. GLITTER by DEAD MELLOTRON

08. OBSERVATOR by THE RAVEONETTES

07. MAUVE by RINGO DEATHSTARR

06. MELODY'S ECHO CHAMBER by MELODY'S ECHO CHAMBER

05. GHOSTORY by SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS

04. COEXIST by THE XX

03. TOY by TOY

02. LONERISM by TAME IMPALA

01. OSHIN by DIIV

It was a pretty hard choice what was going to be number 1 and 2 on my list, but i made up my mind: DIIV made the best album of the year. An album that i can hear over and over, without getting bored of it. On the other hand, that counts for all other albums in this Top 10. Like said, 2012 was a great year in music :)

Bossk - .1 & .2 [12", 2LP]

This release on Garden Of Exile is actually a reissue, in that it combines two EP's (.1 and .2) that had previously been released on CD only. I've seen BOSSK live once (supporting Textures) and was pretty impressed at the time, so that's why i decided to buy this album when it came out. It's pretty good stuff. While .1 is more strictly post-metal throughout, .2 has some sludge/stoner elements. Especially the song Define has some riffs that you don't hear very often from post-metal bands. The artwork for this "compilation" album was done by Seldon Hunt, as you already might have guessed if you're only somewhat familiar with his work. Amazing how he always manages to deliver such signature photographs. They pressed 600 copies of this album: 100 on yellow/black, 200 on yellow and 300 on black. As you can see i have a yellow edition.
I thought that Bossk had split up for good some years ago, but apparently they have reformed earlier this year and are recording and playing shows again. Good news of course!

Label: Garden Of Exile Records
Cat.nr.: GOE16
Year of release: 2008

SIDE A:
01. I

SIDE B:
01. II

SIDE C:
01. Define

SIDE D:
01. Truth

Toy - Toy [12", 2LP]

One of the best albums of 2012 to my opinion, this self-titled debut album by TOY. A really cool blend of psychedelic rock, krautrock and shoegaze. It comes pretty close to what The Horrors did with their second album Primary Colours, although i like this album better. Hopefully i'll get to see them live in 2013 - that's definitely high on my wishlist.


Label: Heavenly
Cat.nr.: HVNLP94
Year of release: 2012

SIDE A:
01. Colours Running Out
02. The Reasons Why
03. Dead & Gone

SIDE B:
01. Lose My Way
02. Drifting Deeper
03. Motoring

SIDE C:
01. Heart Skips A Beat
02. Strange
03. Make It Mine
04. Omni

SIDE D:
01. Walk Up To Me
02. Kopter

Tomahawk - Stone Letter [7"]

It has been a bit quiet around TOMAHAWK, the band that features Mike Patton (Faith No More, Fantômas, Mr. Bungle), John Stanier (Helmet, Battles), Duane Denison (Jesus Lizard) and Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle). Their last album was from 2007 so that's 5 years already. But here's a sign of life: for Black Friday 2012 they've released this one-sided 7" single of the song STONE LETTER, which will be featured on their upcoming album Oddfellows (scheduled for January 2013). Curious to hear that album, as this single is pretty darn good. Like said it's one-sided; the B-side is etched.

Label: Ipecac
Cat.nr.: IPC 141
Year of release: 2012

SIDE A:
01. Stone Letter

SIDE B:
etching

Toy - Lose My Way [7"]

LOSE MY WAY is a song taken from the awesome debut album by TOY, one of the best debut albums of 2012 as far as i'm concerned. The b-side was the actual reason for me to buy this 7" as it can't be found on the album. A nice krautrock-influenced tune and definitely worth the purchase. I hope we'll be hearing more from this band soon, now that they've released such a great album.


Label: Heavenly
Cat.nr.: HVN247
Year of release: 2012

SIDE A:
01. Lose My Way

SIDE B:
01. Bright Light Shimmering Sun

Chapterhouse - Whirlpool [12", LP]

WHIRLPOOL by CHAPTERHOUSE is an album that's relatively unknown, yet a true shoegaze classic. It's got the fantastic song Pearl on it (probably their biggest hit, with Rachel Goswell of Slowdive on backing vocals) plus some other great songs such as Autosleeper and Something More (both produced by Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins). There are more connections to Rachel Goswell in this band: guitar player Simon Rowe teamed up with her in Mojave 3, and Rachel's (now ex-) husband Christopher Andrews formed a duo called Cuba together with Chapterhouse drummer Ashley Bates.
I found this record for a good price at the recent record fair in Utrecht. Couldn't let it stand in the crate obviously!

Label: Dedicated
Cat.nr.: DEDLP 001
Year of release: 1991

SIDE A:
01. Breather
02. Pearl
03. Autosleeper
04. Treasure

SIDE B:
01. Falling Down
02. April
03. Guilt
04. If You Want Me
05. Something More

Boris - Attention Please [12", LP]

One of the best concerts i've seen this year was BORIS' performance at the State X New Forms Festival last weekend. They really blew me away. Pictures here.
This is quite a non-typical Boris album. ATTENTION PLEASE was released in 2011 simultaneously with the album Heavy Rocks, and whereas Heavy Rocks is pretty heavy indeed (like we're used from them), this album is electronic, danceable and very quiet at times. Also it's the first album on which guitar player Wata does all the vocals. Spoon is definitely my favourite track on this album, as it sounds like a cover a long lost My Bloody Valentine song. A nice poster, lyrics sheet and download card finish it off. Great stuff.

Label: Sargent House
Cat.nr.: SH-056
Year of release: 2011

SIDE A:
01. Attention Please
02. Hope
03. Party Boy
04. See You Next Week
05. Tokyo Wonder Land

SIDE B:
01. You
02. Aileron
03. Les Paul Custom '86
04. Spoon
05. Hand In Hand