ALARM's 50 Favorite Songs of 2012

ALARM’s 50 (+5) Favorite Songs of 2012

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, we have our 50 (+5) favorite songs of last year — singles, B-sides, EP standouts, soundtrack cuts, and more.

Connectivity and the colossus: Swedish metal mavens Meshuggah on alternate musical pathways

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meshuggah_kolossMeshuggah: Koloss (Nuclear Blast, 3/27/12)

“Do Not Look Down”

Meshuggah_Do_Not_Look_Down

The average brain of an adult human has 100 to 500 trillion synapses. Each new electric impulse, each wrinkle that develops in our minds, leads to our understanding of the world around us. How this is done is still a mystery, and our experience of music is at the forefront of this complex puzzle. Somewhere between vibrations in the air hitting our eardrums and memory, we each confront and interpret the sounds of our surroundings and perceive the phenomenon of music — that which is made of rhythm, pitch, timbre, and dynamics.

ALARM's 50 Favorite Albums of 2012

ALARM’s 50 Favorite Albums of 2012

Another year, another torrential downpour of albums across our desks. As always, we encountered way too much amazing music, from Meshuggah to The Mars Volta, Converge, Killer Mike, P.O.S, and many more.

Jerseyband

Review: Jerseyband’s Forever Hammer EP

Jerseyband: Forever Hammer EPJerseyband: Forever Hammer EP (8/16/12)

“Not Hammer”

Jerseyband: “Not Hammer”

When we last heard from “lungcore” septet Jerseyband, the NYC ensemble had self-released Beast Wedding, a monster of mutated metal that conjoined Meshuggah-like “djent” with unwieldy horn-formed power chords. (Read more here.) Now the unheralded group is back to launch hammers into space with Forever Hammer, a four-track EP that reveals yet another side.

Jerseyband

Free MP3: “Lungcore” innovator Jerseyband mixes Meshuggah-like “djent” with jazz horns

Jerseyband: Forever Hammer EPJerseyband: Forever Hammer EP (8/16/12)

“Not Hammer”

Jerseyband: “Not Hammer”

Some brave souls have tried to mix metal and jazz, but you’ve never heard anything quite like “lungcore” septet Jerseyband: four horns, guitar, bass, drums, and all fury.

Though much of the band’s recent material has been more like math metal, constructed with a front-line of horns forming unwieldy power chords, “Not Hammer” is one of the skronkiest, jazziest tunes that the band has unleashed. Download it for free here in advance of the group’s Forever Hammer EP, which is out next week.