Marco's (late) Top Albums of 2012

2012 was a shit year in terms of music for me. I spent all year desperately searching for something worthy of my attention, but sadly, I ended up crying myself to sleep . I have had so many disappointments that not once did I have the impulse to quit listening to music altogether and start farming or something. Anyway, I’m not going to do a huge top like last year, but a brief list of a few albums that caught my attention. Bear in mind that I’m coming from a looooong fucking break and I’m a little rusty, so just make sure you won’t hit me in the face. I’m too pretty. 

El-P – Cancer 4 Cure

Obscure sci-fi trope references, sick beatz  and intricate, tong-twisting lyrics. Cancer 4 Cure delivers on all areas, both as a hip-hop album and as a mesmerizing  clusterfuck of geeky stuff.  You know that a successful hip-hop artist is a cool guy when he expresses his love for sci-fi, video games, cyberpunk and Philip K. Dick. When you can hear things like ‘’’dronez over Brooklyn, yo’’ with a sick futuristic beat on the background  you can’t help yourself but love this guy.  All in all, while being a hard album to digest, it’s both satisfying and rewarding once you get to understand all its ambiguities.

Graveyard -  Lights Out

Graveyard came this year with another delicious piece of oldschool rock’n’roll, but this time with a slight change. Growing old and bitter, these dudes decided it’s high time they expressed some negative feelings about the system.  I’ve always been especially attracted to bands that bash the system (in an intelligent way, of course) and Graveyard did exactly that. Touching subjects such as consumerism, the media and other evil brainwashing entities,  Lights Out is a good listen for anyone who enjoys the fine rhythms of the 70’s and vandalizing public institutions from time to time.

Ian Anderson – Thick As A Brick 2

Tzeeeac fans know that Marco loves his goddamn flute solos, and Ian Anderson does just that. He plays the SHIT out of that instrument. He plays it so well that you start a whole fucking flashmob made of barbaric metalheads to headbang until exhaustion. Oh, and he has a pretty nice voice too.

Death Grips – The Money Store

You know what happens when you combine the most disguisting and repulsive elements of the known Universe and put them on a beat? Death Grips happens. To say they’re aggressive would be inappropriate. You would need a team of highly trained sociologists and linguists to search or even invent an appropriate word to describe their music. The least I could say without repeating myself is this : never, ever play this LP at a nice family reunion. Not because of its inappropriate content or anything, but I can’t guarantee that your dad won’t turn into a murderous beast  a few seconds  after hearing the first track.

JJ DOOM – Key To The Kuffs

As you can see, I’ve been listening to a whole lot of hip-hop this year and boy was it worth it. Bad ass comic book nerd MF DOOM, known for his mysterious public persona and infamous concert antics where he would send somebody else to sing in his place from time to time, released an interesting project with Jneiro Jarel. Though I was a little reserved at first, my pessimism was fortunately crushed and replaced with the satisfaction of listening to a fine hip-hop album. It might sound familiar in places, but all in all, MF Doom has grown as a musician and it really shows on this album.

 

The Cribs – In The Belly of The Brazen Bull

  

There’s no better example of a late bloomer than The Cribs. With a weak to mediocre career start, these dudes did their thing and matured step by step, from album to album. Eventually, they released this gem and shit was fucked. What initially was an LP that I tried out of boredom turned out to be one of the best albums of the year.  OK, fuck it, who am I kidding, IT IS the best album of this year and I can’t wait to see what lies next for these guys.

So this is my (badly written) list of my favorite albums released in 2012. Though it was a weak year, it wouldn't be fair to say that I didn't stumble into a a few gems from time to time.  Anyway, from what I heard, 2013 is going to be a killer-fucking-year, with Arctic Monkeys, The Black Keys and Queens of the Stone Age with scheduled releases, so stay tuned for more Tzeeeac bashing and nitpicking.