Top Albums of 2012

[Fredward]

For me, any album with the lyrics "Take that accidentally in the b******s for a start!" and "I severed my reeking gonads, fed them to your shrunken face" deserves a place in my top 10.

It's certainly more disturbing and extreme than any of the metal albums mentioned above.

One word to prove you wrong Rammstein.

I could give you a list of translated lyrics but may get banned... But just as a goodbye gift I will give one example. "Barbed wire in the urethra tract"

Well I was thinking more compositionally extreme than lyrically. Walker's tracks are completely dissonant and atonal, and lack any sort on formal structure at all, whereas Rammstein's stuff is mostly traditional pop song structures with a layer of heavy instrumentation applied on top. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Give Bish Bosch a listen, honestly Matt, you might like it (or it might be too extreme for you, not sure, my taste in music is so esoteric these days that I find it difficult to judge relative normalcy.)

In all honesty the album comes across to pretentious to my liking. I gave bits a listen. While I can see why people like you would enjoy it, judging by your taste of art as well.

I can appreciate it from an art point of view, not a musical one though.

Wouldn't call it extreme though, it's listen able. Just not very special, I tend to dismiss pretentious pieces like this however, so perhaps I'm not one to judge.

 

[Meat Pie]

The thing is, comparing Metal Albums and Bish Bosh isn't a fair comparison at all.

The way I've always seen it is there are two types of creativity. There's constructive creativity which takes an existing structure and works within that structure, using it's attributes and qualities to produce a piece of work. So most albums that are committed to a genre tend to be a product of constructive creativity, and that's not to in anyway denigrate the work at all. My number one album this year was also a constructive album, working within the genre of Hip Hop to carve it's own mark.

The other type of creativity is deconstructive (I guess you didn't see that coming ). This takes genres or ideas and pulls them apart into their core ingredients. If these remaining components still stand strong, there is room for the artist to play with the boundaries, mix ideas, find new aesthetics and produce something a lot less reliant on the initial structure. This is Bish Bosch.

I wouldn't call that pretentious, I would call it playful, and yes it is extreme. However I would like to stress that equally a piece created through constructive creativity can still be (and often is) extreme in terms of it's content and emotional impact, but crucially it is built on a sturdier, less risky foundation.

I hope that all made sense.

LiamC - More than anything, I just enjoy OFF!'s really compact but explosive energy which really brought their new album to life and kept me returning to it over the course of the year.

 

[Maya]

Fun- some nights
Ed Sheeran- plus
Little mix- wings
Taylor Swift- Red
Bruno mars- Unorthadox Jukebox
Emeli Sandè- Our version of events
Pink- the truth about love
Lana Del Rey- Born to die
Can't think of anymore

 

[LiamC]

LiamC - More than anything, I just enjoy OFF!'s really compact but explosive energy which really brought their new album to life and kept me returning to it over the course of the year.

A good summary there I don't think there's a track on there that makes me think half way through, "I bored of this now, gonna skip it."

They keep you on your toes listening to it, awesome album

 

[D4n]

Oui Oui Si Si Ja Ja Da Da - Madness

Madness - My Girl 2 (Taken from "Oui Oui Si Si Ja Ja Da Da")

 

[Fredward]

Re: Re: Top Albums of 2012

The thing is, comparing Metal Albums and Bish Bosh isn't a fair comparison at all.

I personally wasn't comparing it at all. All comparisons made have been from Sam or a reply to Sam.

I just don't like the album. I am not a fan of the art style. It may have required creativity, that doesn't mean I have to like it. I also dont find it extreme, Which is a subjective point of view. Neither do I listen to music for its extreme levels.


Sent from my phone using Tapatalk, please excuse any ridiculous mistakes!

 

[Bear]

I Bet On Sky by Dinosaur Jr. is absolutely awesome, I'd recommend that to everyone here.

 

[Tom]

I've ranked every album I bought last year, most liked first:

Rush - Clockwork Angels
Hugh Cornwell - Totem and Taboo
Muse - The 2nd Law
Led Zeppelin - Celebration Day
Paul van Dyk - Evolution
Keane - Strangeland
Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball
Beach Boys - That's Why God Made The Radio
The Stranglers - Giants
The Killers - Battle Born
Lana Del Ray - Born to Die
Pet Shop Boys -Elysium

 

[Ben]

Lana Del Rey - Ive loved this album this year, its barely been out of the CD player in the car, I remember originally not liking the singles but gave it a chance and I love her voice, its very soulful and old.

Also a very late contender:
No Doubt: Push and Shove - as a band Ive kind of grown up with them so to see them back and on a great form is amazing. Theyve managed to keep some of their old style while updating themselves to utilise Gwen Steffanis (hot) vocals even more. The back few tracks on the album are variations of earlier tracks and some of the acoustic versions are amazing - looking hot, easy and one more summer are spectacular songs. Shame that Settle Down one of the weakest songs on the album was used as a comeback.

Kylie: Abbey Road Studios
I love Kylie, and to celebrate her 25 year career she has revisited many old songs and re-done them in a mature, great variation with a full orchestra and its just stunning. Its funny that when you hear a potential throw away pop song slowed down, with more emphasis on the music and lyrics how impressive it can be.