I'm not writing new blurbs because I already wrote a bunch of blurbs for my Best Noise-Rock of 2012 list. Like blurbs? Read those.

I will say that 2012 has clearly been the year of the single-word album title. And that there is an embarrassing number of Wesleyan-affiliated artists on this list. And that I was wrong when I said that the Walkmen record sucks.

TOP TWENTY ALBUMS OF 2012

1. Port St. Willow — Holiday
I wrote about a Port St. Willow performance here , for Wesleying. The crowd sucked. This album is phenomenal, though.

2. Swans — The…

Etta James is terminally ill, Mark Prindle is retiring from record reviews, and Matt Likes Odd Future. Happy 2012.



50 Words for Kaputt: The Top Ten Albums of 2011



1. Destroyer — Kaputt

On Dan Bejar’s shimmering ninth album as Destroyer, the cryptic Canadian artist ditches the acoustic guitars, indulges an overwhelming fetish for the textures of ‘80s smooth jazz and soft rock, and dares you to like it. The kicker is that it’s so hard not to: these songs are fabulous—a near flawless batch of richly labored melodies and sly lyrical triumphs dipped in almost unbearably sultry pool of…

The Top Ten Albums of 2010

1. Joanna Newsom — Have One On Me

I’m still humbled by this fucking record. Gone—for good, I’ll assume—are the screeching vocalisms of Milk-Eyed Mender (Newsom’s voice, which changed permanently after developing vocal cord nodules in 2009, has grown wonderfully) and dense orchestral gymnastics of Ys. In their place: well, songs—two hours worth of the most earnest, personal songwriting of Newsom’s career, smartly split into three easily digestible, 40-minute discs, and running the gamut from sparse, harp-driven balladry (the haunting “Baby Birch” and “Jackrabbits”) to fiercely confident excursions into jazz- and piano-pop (“Easy,” “Good…

Why There Are Embryonic Eskimos: My Top Twelve Albums of 2009 or Twelve Albums More Interesting Than Veckatimest

1. Animal Collective — Merriweather Post Pavilion
So maybe MPP really *is* the album everyone says it is. Maybe it’s also much more—at once overwhelmingly dense and unapologetically poppy, like dance-pop psychedelia beamed straight down from Mars. Think of the wildly fruitful five-year journey since the landmark Sung Tongs. Now try to envision five more. I know, right?

2. Flaming Lips — Embryonic
Embryonic is a thinly veiled refutation of near everything that’s made this band a national treasure these past few…

According to me.

1. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes and Sun Giant EP: Sincere, expansive, rural. Worth the hype.

2. Destroyer – Trouble in Dreams: The yin to the New Pornographers' yang. The logical follow up to Destroyer's Rubies: another rich, breathtaking piece of work from Bejar. My review.

3. Deerhoof – Offend Maggie: For those who can't find a real true rock album from '08. As visceral as anything the 'hoof has done, even if not as spontaneous. Pound that shit, Greg. My review.

4. Girl Talk – Feed the Animals: Twenty+ years of pop. Compiled with love,…

Sat 16 Jun – Television, The Apples in Stereo, Dragons of Zynth

Show review: Concert Review: Dragons of Zynth, Apples in Stereo and Television in Central Park, 6/16/07

Posted by me: http://www.musicbyday.com/2007/06/concert-review-dragons-of-zynth-apples.html

"We only came for Dragons of Zynth."

Approximately one month ago, guitarist Richard Lloyd announced that he was leaving Television after thirty years of genius guitar interplay (which strangely only produced three studio albums). However, before he departed to pursue brighter pastures (ie: his solo career), Television announced one final show with Lloyd at Central Park's Summerstage. A free show! Weee!

Richard Lloyd sadly wasn't present at his…