Burn The Bowery 'Top 12 Albums of 2012' (#'s 1-5)

So without further ado here's #'s 1-5 of my 'Top Albums of 2012' list.

#5 FIELD REPORT (SELF TITLED)
favorite track: "Incommunicado" (listen)
other standouts: "Evergreen" "Fergus Falls" & "Chico the American"

#4 OF MONSTERS & MEN- MY HEAD IS AN ANIMAL
favorite track: "Six Weeks" (watch)
other standouts: "Mountain Sound" "Dirty Paws" & "Slow & Steady"

#3 JBM- STRAY ASHES
favorite track:"Only Now"(listen)
other standouts: "Thames" "Ferry" & "On Fire On a Tightrope"

#2 LORD HURON- LONESOME DREAMS
favorite track: "She Lit a Fire" (watch)
other standouts: "The Man Who Lives Forever" "Lonesome Dreams" & "Setting Sun"

#1 DAMIEN JURADO- MARAQOPA
favorite track: "Working Titles" (listen)
other standouts: "Life Away From the Garden" "Reel to Reel" & "Museum of Flight"

Burn The Bowery 'Top 12 Albums of 2012' (#'s 12-6)

Well better late than never I guess. Here's my long delayed top 12 albums of 2012 list.
Personally it's been a year of a lot of ups and downs, and major changes in my life, which culminated in December with a move from the NY/NJ area to Austin, Tx.
As always I just want to say a big thanks to all that stopped by, left a comment, re-blogged, or got in touch in some shape or form. Hope you all had a great year and that even bigger & better things are out there for everyone in 2013.


#12 ALABAMA SHAKES- BOYS & GIRLS
Favorite track: "I Found You" (listen)
other standouts: "Hold On" "I Ain't the Same" & "Heartbreaker"

#11 DAVID RAMIREZ- APOLOGIES
Favorite track: "Stick Around"(watch)
other standouts: "Chapter II" "Goodbye" & "Find the Light"

#10 COLD SPECKS- I PREDICT A GRACEFUL EXPLOSION
Favorite track: "Blank Maps" (listen)
other standouts: "Holland" "Winter Solstice" & "The Mark"

# 9 TENNIS- YOUNG & OLD
favorite track: "Origins" (watch)
other standouts: "Never to Part" "Traveling" & "Take Me to Heaven"

#8 EVENING HYMS- SPECTRAL DUSK
favorite track: "Asleep in the Pews" (listen)
other standouts: "Arrows" "Spirit in the Sky" & "Cabin in the Burn"

#7 ALT-J - AN AWESOME WAVE
favorite track: "Tessellate" (watch)
other standouts: "Breezeblocks" "Matilda" & "Something Good"

#6 THE WOODEN SKY- EVERY CHILD A DAUGHTER EVERY MOON A SUN
favorite track: "It Gets Old to Be Alone" (listen)
Other standouts: "Child of the Valley" "Bald Naked & Red" & "Malibu Rum"

....stay tuned for #'s 1-5 coming soon.

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Ryan Adams- "Shining Through the Dark" on Conan

I have to admit I've been down on Ryan Adams and the last few records he's put out. So much so that I apparently completely slept on his most recent release Ashes & Fire. Long story short, I went to see the new Judd Apatow movie, 'This Is 40' the other night and I found myself completely falling in love with Adams' music all over again thanks to their placement. The film & soundtrack feature two tracks from Adams, "Lucky Now" off of Ashes... which closes out the film, and "Shining Through the Dark" a reworked track that appeared before on a charity compilation. Catch him playing the latter track on a recent appearance on Conan O'Brien last week.

2012 Highlights: Miner "Hey Love"

Naming an actual 'song of the year' is always to daunting a task for me to tackle at years end. But if I had to say what was probably a safe bet for my most played song this year it would have to go to the California group, Miner and their incredibly infectious track, "Hey Love." This song just keeps building and building, until you think it's over, then it kicks into even another gear. You can't help but want to sing along, clap your hands, stomp your feet, or just plain download it. Look out for more of these guys in 2013.
Give it a spin below.


http://www.thisisminer.com

2012 Highlights: Jesse Woods- "Danger in the Dancehall"

Back in October I found out that I would be moving to Austin, Tx. and I started to do some research on local artists in the area. Luckily I happened to stumble upon songwriter Jesse Woods, who as the story goes was discovered out of his garage by a passing by member of Neon Indian. Woods is readying a brand new LP, Get Your Burdens Lifted, no release date as of yet, but you can check out the albums first single, "Danger in the Dancehall" which was one of my favorites this year.


https://www.facebook.com/JesseWoodsMusic
http://jessewoods.bandcamp.com/

Milo Greene- "1957"

Inevitably at the end of the year when perusing around all the best of lists I'll find a band that I kick myself for totally missing out on and wondering how I did so. This years version comes in the form of Los Angeles band, Milo Greene and their track, "1957" which was released this past Spring. This song has been fitting right into my wheelhouse, fantastic guy/girl harmonies, soaring folk-pop.
You can grab their self titled disc out now via Chop Shop.



http://www.milogreene.com/

2012 Highlights: Broken Twin- "Beaches"

Beautiful, fragile piano driven goodness out of Denmark. The duo's debut EP Hold Onto Nothing is out now via Broken Records.


https://www.facebook.com/brokentwin

Lord Huron- 'Lonesome Dreams'

Some of my all-time favorite albums over the years all seem to have a running theme to them, a cinematic quality,  a narrative, or a clear beginning a middle and an end. The debut LP, Lonesome Dreams from Lord Huron fits effortlessly in this category, and the amazing thing about it is that it is only their debut disc. The group are led by front man Ben Schneider who created this alternate universe where the songs & stories live. From the lyrics, to the press photo's & videos, Schneider has been meticulous in conveying an idea & sound that mesh together.
He said in an interview with the Boston Globe ... “I think the basis of it all is a folk and country core. That’s the stuff I grew up listening to, and it influenced me a lot,” ... “I approached them like they’re frontier songs telling these stories from the West,” he says. “That theme and aesthetic guided the record. I was really focused on storytelling, not just lyrically but also with the sonic choices. I tried to do stuff that was evocative of movie soundtracks and spaces and places. I was trying to create those environments and then tell a story with the lyrics.”
Give a listen to the lead track that sets the stage of this great Western, "Ends of the Earth Below."


http://www.lordhuron.com/