It’s been a solid, if unspectacular start first half of the year, and before we get into what should be a special, special second half of 2012, I wanted to look back at some of the albums that have stood out from the rest. All of these are available to stream from Spotify, except the Evian Christ and Joey Bada$$ mixtapes, which are available to download for free. Just check the link. I had to kill comments after getting heavily trolled by Ukrainian SpamBots, but if you think there’s something on here that I missed, feel free to shoot me an email. Hope you’ve had a beautiful 2012 so far!
1. Chromatics
Kill For Love
Italians Do It Better
Hottest Jams: “Kill For Love” / “These Streets Will Never Look The Same”
“These Streets Will Never Look The Same”
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“Kill For Love”
2. Beach House
Bloom
Sub-Pop
When you hear the word “expectations,” it is usually in a negative context. Someone is either being crushed by the weight of them or grappling with the existence of unfair ones. But sometimes they can be exactly what an artist, an athlete, a person needs to reach the absolute peak of their potential. That was the reality for New Jersey dream-pop duo Beach House. Teen Dream, their triumphant third LP, was (rightly) praised to high heavens and was responsible for bringing the group’s loping, reverb-drenched sound to a vast new audience. Lucky for us, Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally reached deep and shattered the expectations, incredibly crafting an album even better and more complete than their breakthrough. Instead of trying to recapture past magic or shooting for a lofty new sound, the group just simply let their sound mature, and once I heard pre-release stunners “Myth” and “Lazuli,” it was clear Bloom was going to be special.
Hottest Jams: “Myth” / “Lazuli”
“Myth”
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“Lazuli”
3. Lemonade
Diver
(True Panther Sounds)
Definitley one of my most listened-to albums of the year, the Brooklyn trio’s Sophomore LP is absolutely bursting with infectious (yeah, I said it), bold, moody synth-pop jams. Diver is a wonderfully updated take on the urbane sound of the group’s heroes (Pet Shop Boys, New Order, Tears for Fears) without ever feeling like empty pastiche. This is dance music that lives as comfortably on the dancefloor as it does in your headphones, and it’s been living very, very comfortably in mine.
Hottest Jams: “Softkiss” / “Neptune”
“Softkiss”
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“Neptune” (Video NSFW)
4. Memoryhouse
The Slideshow Effect
Sub-Pop
Though the Canadian dream-pop duo’s debut full-length was released without much fanfare, it was easily the most anticipated album of the first half of my year. I fell hard for their subtly stunning, gorgeous debut EP, The Years, and lapped up all their subsequent singles, so I had high hopes for The Slideshow Effect. And I was not let down. The disc showed a surprising sonic versatility, as vocalist Denise Nouvion and Evan Abeele proved that they were no one-trick ponies. While they haven’t lost their ability to craft delicate, emotive sleepy-time jamz (see: “Punctum”), they showed that they aren’t limited to pillowtalk by turning up the vocals and injecting a few drum-driven mid-tempo numbers into the mix.
Hottest Jams: “Punctum” / “The Kids Were Wrong”
“Punctum”
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/38011624″ iframe=”true” /]
“The Kids Were Wrong”
5. The 2 Bears
Be Strong
DFA
World getting you down? I’ve got the prescription: the scintillating collaboration between Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard and London DJ Raf Rundell. Simply put, Be Strong is a 12-track celebration of dancing, disco, and, most of all, love. This is music to fall in love to or to play for somebody that you are already in love with. Irony permeates so many facets of pop culture, so it’s just so satisfying to hear a line like, “So let’s sing and dance and celebrate our love/Together everywhere, we fit snug like hand in glove” delivered with pure conviction and earnestness. Plus, it’s just really fucking fun to dance to. Joe Goddard knows he might come off like a giant fucking cheeseball, but he doesn’t care. And neither should you.
Hottest Jams: “Church” / “Work”
“Church”
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/32859859″ iframe=”true” /]
“Work”
6. Burial
Kindred
Hyperdub
While it’s not the full-length successor to Untrue that we’ve been dreaming about for the better part of five years, it’s three new Burial tracks, and when we’re talking Burial, sometimes you only need three. In the 30-odd minutes, the dub-step demigod explores a dizzying number of ideas, avenues, and movements and ties them up into three coherent, devastating compositions. Ever the master of mood and ambiance, Kindred is a reminder of the mercurial producer’s uncanny ability to tell engulfing, affecting stories about the city using just the muffled, wordless voices passing by.
Hottest Jams: “Kindred” / “Ashtray Warp” (That’s two of the three tracks, just listen to the whole thing.)
“Kindred”
