Last month ALARM presented its 50 favorite albums of 2012, an eclectic, rock-heavy selection of discs that were in steady rotation in our downtown-Chicago premises. Now, to give some love to tunes that were left out but that hold major water on their own, we have our 50 (+5) favorite songs of last year — singles, B-sides, EP standouts, soundtrack cuts, and more.
(Text by the ALARM crew. Presented in chronological order.)
Transform an experimental jazz band into a prog-fusion powerhouse and then an industrial-metal monster and you end up with Norway’s Shining. Exhibit A: a live rendition of “Exit Sun,” a growling, riff-driven tour through its sonically diverse and complex oeuvre.
Grimy guitar grooves create a Clash-esque retro jam on “19 in ’71,” a standout cut from former punk guitarist Allyson Baker’s debut as Dirty Ghosts. And this is retro done right, with modern influences preventing a rehashed homage. One of the most overlooked albums of last year.
Busdriver: “Kiss Me Back to Life”
Almost forgoing hip hop for dance-floor hooks, “Kiss Me Back to Life” is a piece of neon-bright pop with onomatopoeic croons backed by producer Loden’s huge beats. For some trippy accompaniment, check Busdriver’s equally neon, glow-in-the-dark video.
Napalm Death: “The Wolf I Feed”
With themes of exploitation of power, propaganda, and religious dogma, “The Wolf I Feed” delivers raspy screams, guttural growls, and Fear Factory-style vocals, mixed together for a blast of grindcore glory. Get on it or get out of the way.
The Magnetic Fields: “I’d Go Anywhere with Hugh”
Taking the twee potential of the song title and cranking it to 11, “I’d Go Anywhere With Hugh” is a blast of sunshine and ’60s-infused pop hiding a surprisingly complicated love story in its two minutes. Try not to smile too hard, and make sure to come up for air after The Magnetic Fields’ deep-sea journey.
Powered by driving percussion, and with a killer mix of riffs and elongated vocals from guitarist Buzz Osborne and bassist Jared Warren, “The War on Wisdom” is melodic sludge rock at its finest. During a year that saw three more Melvins releases, this tune takes the cake.
Sigh: “The Transfiguration Fear Lucid Nightmares”
In Somniphobia is a demented, theatrical journey through prog metal from Japan’s Sigh, and this track best encapsulates the fusion: galloping, operatic, spacey, and full of riffs, with a raging rock solo and some sax squawking. Just don’t go too deep down the rabbit hole.
Morbid Angel / Laibach: “I’m Morbid (We Are Laibach Remix)”
From a double-disc remix release of Morbid Angel’s Illud Divinum Insanus, this Laibach cut opens with a baroque, synthesized rendition of the intro melody of “I’m Morbid,” before unleashing a droning cacophony in place of the original’s mid-paced rhythmic stomp. Beautiful, heavy, scary, and weird.
On an album that deftly combines mathematical rhythms with groove and feel, “Do Not Look Down” is one of the best, creating makeshift polyrhythms out of the interplay between guitar and drums. A hot-blooded rock solo plus an octave-shifting effects pedal push it to rare territory.
The Mars Volta: “The Malkin Jewel”
Wild bits of ukelele break up the prog-slash-“future punk” of “The Malkin Jewel,” and Omar Rodriguez Lopez’s guitars duel beautifully with the soaring vocals of Cedric Bixler Zavala. Herein lies a snapshot of the gloriously diverse Mars Volta.
Backed by marching-band-style brass and snare sections (as well as plenty of bass), the Quakers hip-hop collective (built by producers Geoff Barrow of Portishead, Stuart Matthews, and Ashley Anderson) calls on Guilty Simpson and MED to deliver blistering verses of braggadocio over a Radiohead melody.
Serengeti: “Don’t Blame Steve”
Indie-rap all-star Serengeti returns with alter-ego Kenny Dennis, a mustachioed Chicago-bred super-fan, to take the heat off 2003 Cubs scapegoat Steve Bartman. Along the way, Dennis drops an assortment of Chicago has-beens — giving Andre “The Hawk” Dawson the only exemption for the Cubs’ inept history.
A killer jam of an instrumental opener, “Epic” isn’t the most representative of the experimental pop on Both Lights. But a killer jam is a killer jam, and this one features Marnie Stern-esque guitar swirls, layers of banjo, and a helluva sonorous piano/horn groove (imagine the theme to The People’s Court on acid).
On “Get Got,” MC Ride trades in his signature shout-raps for malfunctioning-machine-like delivery layered over spasming synths, making it quite apparent that this is not your average hip-hop production. The lyrics don’t provide any “normalcy” either.
Father John Misty: “Hollywood Forever Cemetary Sings”
Josh Tillman’s transformation to Father John Misty takes a folk-rock trip through sex, death, and burying the things you don’t want found. In other words, life — but with an unstable, grave-robbing-accomplice girlfriend. Watch the story unfold on video too.
An “of the street,” heavy banger of a track, “Big Beast” is hardcore rap the way it should be, with the artistic production of El-P backing up the whole thing. Roll down the windows and blast Killer Mike’s ode to rolling in Atlanta with Bun B, TI, and Trouble.
A fiery track addressing the former president’s “War on Drugs” and the way it has continued into the modern era, “Reagan” is an angry and big-picture political tirade against endemic racism and the powers that be. Watch the — ahem — killer video in red, white, and blue on black.
With one of the year’s best samples over a massive, fuzzy bass line, El-P and his brand of science-fiction futurism are front and center on “The Full Retard,” and it’s boom-bap at its finest. Special shout-out and “pump this shit” sample in tribute to Camu Tao (RIP).
Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra: “Saturn Hoola Hoop”
In the words of Daniel Glatzel, the leader of this 20-piece Berlin-based ensemble, BUM BUM is “explosive, absurd, and symmetrical.” “Saturn Hoola Hoop” is a neck-bending opening track that transitions soft strings into a heavily symphonic chopped-and-screwed breakbeat. Brass, reed, and string instruments pop in and around an off-kilter kick-and-snare rhythm.
Simple, classic, monstrous rock ’n’ roll with some serious Joan Jett flavor. One of the best tracks on The Hives’ return to form after a five-year layoff.
On the newest mixtape from B. Dolan, the Strange Famous MC teams with label boss Sage Francis as the Epic Beard Men, schooling haters in the classroom and blowing off steam from literal and figurative dummies. Catch the bat-smashing action here.
The Chicago 30-piece Mucca Pazza is an ensemble of fun-loving band geeks that includes guitarists, trombonists, sax players, percussionists, and — let’s not forget — cheerleaders. “Boss Taurus” is a quirky, funky tune that gives equal billing to each section, minus the cheers.
With her return in 2012, singer-songwriter (and former nanny for Tom Waits) Jesca Hoop used raw talent and musical vision to back up her hype. “Born To,” the album’s lead single, is a poppy, twangy tune that, naturally, highlights Hoop’s exceptional voice.
Old Man Gloom: “The Forking Path”
Old Man Gloom’s NO wasn’t just our favorite reunion album of 2012; it was a gut-busting riff assault from members of Isis, Converge, Cave In, and Zozobra. With harmonized leads bleeding through the sludge-metal mix, “The Forking Path” isn’t entirely despairing. When it devolves into industrial hell, with a slithering guitar effect, the hardcore heavyweights show the thought and range that make their albums epic.
Aesop Rock: “Zero Dark Thirty”
Aesop Rock is known for his motley blend of allusions, metaphors, and symbols, and “Zero Dark Thirty” is chock full of them. It’s rap on hard mode, and this cut is no exception. And in contrast to the knife-wielding kung-fu action of “ZZZ Top,” the time-lapsed video for “Zero Dark Thirty” is subdued and arty.
A personal album with overt references to his split with Kelis, Life is Good was a return to form for Nasir Jones. “The Don” was just one of its seemingly endless singles that got us moving, albeit with yet another sample about getting down in New York City. Sometimes, though, you just want to watch someone rap in a ring of fire and roll in a Rolls Royce.
On the Family Band’s sophomore album, the husband-and-wife duo expands its folksy roots to take a number of tunes in dark, smokey, atmospheric directions. “Night Song” is a perfect introduction, both hypnotic and mysterious, kept moving by ghostly vocals, a looped guitar, and a steady pulse.
On Om’s second album with Grails drummer Emil Amos — now also joined by Lichens founder Robert A.A. Lowe — beautiful string passages weave in and out of the band’s drone-doom music, teaming up with sitar, tabla, and a dose of guest vocals to build magnificent songs. “Gethsemane” is the perfect starting point.
The sophomore full-length from Fang Island was an even more melodic take on the band’s infectious riffs and three-part harmonies. But it opened with a wonderful anomaly, “Kindergarten,” which employs a staggered piano loop over swelling guitars and nostalgic lyrics.
Led by guitarist Alessandro Stefana, Guano Padano steeps in the traditions of Italian-western cinema while applying surf rock and 1950s and ’60s rock ’n’ roll to the music of America’s south and southwest. The spy-thriller sounds of “Prairie Fire” make masterful use of Ipecac label head Mike Patton, whose Mondo Cane project of old-school Italian pop tunes has included Stefana.
In advance of the rock-based return of The Casket Lottery, singer-songwriter Nathan Ellis offered a three-track EP with his first true solo material. “Balance Beam,” like the other tracks, showed Ellis’s softer side, pairing acoustic melodies with glistening harmonies and a dynamic range. And with a tom-heavy crescendo, it gets pretty loud for a soft song.
“Lungcore” septet Jerseyband is one of the best-kept secrets in heavy music, offering djent-style metal with a four-horn front-line. Its Forever Hammer EP has more de-facto math-metal riffs, circling and looping in complex sequences, but it’s more overt in jazz influences, with a bit of skronk on its bookend tracks.
Six Organs of Admittance: “Waswasa”
An undulating, tripped-out space opera, Ascent is the latest from guitarist Ben Chasny’s psych-folk project Six Organs of Admittance — here joined for an electric, full-band lineup by his Comets on Fire bandmates. “Waswasa” opens the album with a raw energy that quickly redirects to sway — from swagger into roaring, abstract planes of amped-up guitar on “Close to the Sky.”
Hailing from New Zealand, Beastwars is a four-piece stoner/sludge-metal outfit that specializes in down-tuned guitars, deep grooves, and gruff wailing. “Damn the Sky” is an epic opener — part Unsane, part old-school Soundgarden, and part High on Fire. It’s a fist-pumping, head-banging good time.
Marco Benevento: “Limbs of a Pine”
The opening two tracks of jam/jazz keyboardist Marco Benevento’s latest record may come as a surprise to those expecting the purely instrumental, piano-driven arrangements that have populated his previous releases. Bubbling synths and danceable rhythms underpin the repeated refrains of Rubblebucket vocalist Kalmia Traver on “Limbs of a Pine,” while an undulating bass line and harpsichord back the singer on lead single “This is How it Goes.”
Combining Led Zeppelin-ish acoustic rock with psych-pop and pounding, distinctive beats, Solos is a new project from Hella guitarist and cofounder Spencer Seim and avant-folk artist / temporary Hella singer Aaron Ross. “Carpe Diem” is a great dichotomy — with Seim’s jack-rabbit kick beats and guitar hammer-ons and Ross’s outstretched vocals.
Going on four years without a proper album, Arizona-based Calexico returned in 2012 with swarms of strings, horns, shakers, and brush-stroked drumbeats that set the scene of desert-dry, Southwestern lamentations. The band achieves that and more on “Splitter” with a descending melody that’s simple but beautiful.
After proclaiming “you’re out of your fucking mind” when his band suggested naming a song “Witchtripper,” Down/Pantera front-man Phil Anselmo finally relented — gracing this metal jam with gruff, wicked howls and the titular refrain. We can’t wait to hear what’s on the band’s next three EPs.
As the opener on Menomena’s Moms — possibly the best pop album of 2012 — “Plumage” is a stark announcement of a resurgent duo. Down a key component when multi-instrumentalist/co-singer Brent Knopf left the quirky former trio, Menomena has come out no worse for the wear — and, in fact, has delivered some of its finest material ever.
Siblings Natalie and Elliot Bergman (the latter of Nomo) are the duo behind Wild Belle, whose sultry, funky dub pop picked up buzz after the band’s stint at last year’s SXSW. As its first single, “Keep You” is a stark arrival, a blend of reggae grooves, funky horns, shuffling beats, and Natalie’s intoxicating vocals.
Three years after Grizzly Bear became a mainstay of artsy indie rock with its breakthrough effort, Veckatimest, the Brooklyn outfit concocted another beautiful and haunting album. Opener “Sleeping Ute” is a mini-masterpiece unto itself, showcasing the album’s range and multitude of forms as bubbling synth arpeggios and acoustic finger-picking accent a powerful pop structure.
An extravagant track best exemplifying Muse’s bombast, London Olympics theme “Survival” plays to its operatic strengths (with a hearty dose of riff rock) like Queen. You’ve never heard the Olympics rock this hard, with deeply distorted down-slides trading with up-scaling piano, speed picking, wild drum fills, and backing choirs.
Between the Buried and Me: “Astral Body”
Drawing from prog forefathers such as Mahavishnu Orchestra as well as cinematic and chamber sounds, The Parallax II: Future Sequence picks up from last year’s The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues EP and expands its experimentation. On “Astral Body,” a harpsichord dances note for note with a slithering guitar lead before a glockenspiel-guided outro. Between the Buried and Me has never been better.
Converge: “Sadness Comes Home”
Though All We Love We Leave Behind is every bit the frenetic, neck-snapping metalcore monster that two decades of precedent could have promised, Converge is at its best when pairing that speed and aggression with dirge riffs and half-time breakdowns. “Sadness Comes Home” delivers in spades.
After an auspicious start as a finger-tapping virtuoso and a transformation to singer-songwriter, guitarist Kaki King returns to her instrumental roots with Glow, her first vocal-free LP since 2004. From the sonorous, swirling strings and ukulele timbres of opener “Great Round Burn” to the Eastern tinge of “Bowen Island,” the album is full of pleasant surprises.
On Mumps, Etc., Why? keeps rewriting its own hip-hop history, transforming yet again with an expanse of orchestrated accents and the addition of Josiah Wolf’s wife, Liz Wolf. With harmonized humming, minimalist piano, harp plucking, and a gurgling bass line, the wide variety of “Jonathan’s Hope” makes for truly compelling listening.
Dethklok, the animated death-metal brainchild of Brendon Small’s Metalocalypse, turns ridiculous subject matter into shred-tacular mayhem, joining the rhythmic riffage of Gothenburg melodic death metal with wailing power-metal leads and the occasional backing keyboard. Accordingly, we present “I Ejaculate Fire.” ’Nough said.
Doomtree / Rhymesayers standout P.O.S made his long-awaited rap return last year with We Don’t Even Live Here, a self-proclaimed “anarchist dance party.” With a guest turn from Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, “How We Land” shifts away from the political, expounding on love, distance, and pharmaceutical dependencies.
On this split LP with Finnish psych experimentalists Pharaoh Overlord, genre-splicing instrumental outfit Grails offers a masterful command of melody. Each song is like a miniature psychedelic Western score, offering smoke and twang with harmonized swells and acoustic timbres. Take a trip with “Chariots.”
Lulu Gainsbourg & Scarlett Johansson: “Bonnie and Clyde”
Alternately sung in French and English by Lulu Gainsbourg and Scarlett Johansson, this dreamy ballad originally performed by Lulu’s famous father (Serge Gainsbourg) and Brigitte Bardot is beautiful and evocative; you can feel the road dust kicked up by the escaping bandits.
How to Destroy Angels: “Ice Age”
With plunking strings backed by a ringing that fades into waves of digital noise, “Ice Age” is an ode to endings. Beautifully sung by vocalist Mariqueen Maandig for her and Trent Reznor’s How to Destroy Angels, it’s a minimalist affair that still sounds big in all the right ways.
With his extra-talented Skyrider Band on hiatus, Sole’s first official solo album since 2005 is a new high point both lyrically and musically, with arpeggiated synth melodies and bounding bass lines from the likes of Busdriver, Alias, Factor, Open Mike Eagle, and others. “Ruthless” is the album’s short, punk-spirited closer, a damning of America’s militaristic and economic encroachments in two minutes.
The Odds is the first release in six years from The Evens, the tag-team duo of Ian MacKaye (Fugazi) and domestic partner Amy Farina. The duo’s pop-in-punk-clothes songs again lean on its vocal interplay and on MacKaye’s baritone-guitar strum, best exemplified on “King of Kings.”
We may have no more eagerly anticipated album for 2013 than Oddfellows, the first full-length in nearly six years from the mighty Tomahawk super-group. The “Stone Letter” single is a hell of a teaser; Mike Patton’s eclectic, fiery vocals have added distant pop crooning over Duane Denison’s buzz-saw riffs, John Stanier’s huge beats, and new addition Trevor Dunn’s driving bass lines.
Rick Ross: “100 Black Coffins”
Quentin Tarantino’s soundtrack for Django Unchained is another collection of classics, pulling from Italian Westerns past, but it’s also his first to feature brand-new music. Rick Ross’s “100 Black Coffins,” with its own epic Western vibe, is the soundtrack’s bad-ass rap single, declaring that the protagonist needs “a hundred black coffins for a hundred bad men.”