Tag Archives: Porcelain Raft

Best Albums of 2012

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fun.

I agonize over this list every year, for 100% personal reasons. I feel like I have failed as a human if I miss anything hot that happened musically in a year. Because I live in the city that never sleeps, when I like a record, I can typically see the artist play it live soon after it comes out. Here’s the year in review.

Top 10

Some Nights, fun.

fun., Some Nights

channel Orange

Frank Ocean, channel ORANGE

Wrecking Ball

Bruce Springsteen, Wrecking Ball

Strange Weekend

Porcelain Raft, Strange Weekend

Bloom

Beach House, Bloom

Swing Lo Magellan

Dirty Projectors, Swing Lo Magellan

Tramp

Sharon Van Etten, Tramp

Beams

Matthew Dear, Beams

Escort

Escort, Escort

Fear Fun

Father John Misty, Fear Fun

Special Award: The Weeknd, Trilogy
Technically, this encompasses 3 records that dropped last year. Chris had a visceral reaction of disgust when I even hinted at throwing this at #1

Also Really Good

The Walkmen, Heaven
Craig Finn, Clear Heart Full Eyes
Strand of Oaks, Dark Shores
Purity Ring, Shrines
Lord Huron, Lonesome Dreams

Notable

Japandroids, Celebration Rock
Beak>, >>
Django Django, Django Django
Cat Power, Sun
Daughn Gibson, All Hell
White Rabbits, Milk Famous
Silversun Pickups, Neck of the Woods
Kendrick Lamar, good kid, m.A.A.d city

Best Albums of (75% of) 2012 (So Far)

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Updated version of: http://scotty-t.com/2012/06/22/best-albums-of-2012-so-far/

Top 10

fun., Some Nights
Porcelain Raft, Strange Weekend
Dirty Projectors, Swing Lo Magellan
Beach House, Bloom
Metric, Synthetica
The Walkmen, Heaven
Bruce Springsteen, Wrecking Ball
Matthew Dear, Beams
Sharon Van Etten, Tramp
Father John Misty, Fear Fun
Escort, Escort

The Rest (Bottom 10)

Grizzly Bear, Shields
Strand of Oaks, Dark Shores
Metric, Synthetica
Daughn Gibson, All Hell
White Rabbits, Milk Famous
Silversun Pickups, Neck of the Woods
of Montreal, Paralytic Stalks
Japandroids, Celebration Rock
Craig Finn, Clear Heart Full Eyes
Heartless Bastards, Arrow
Bear in Heaven, I Love You, It’s Cool
Escort, Escort
Sharon Van Etten, Tramp
Beach House, Bloom

Best Albums of 2012 (So Far)

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The Best


fun., Some Nights

Unequivocally, my favorite album this year so far. I have listened to it more times than I can count, and I still get goosebumps like it’s Justin Bieber and I’m a 13 year old girl from the Houston suburbs.

If they hadn’t made Aim and Ignite, I think they would be viewed as some mechanized pop creation, but it’s clear Nate Ruess is just a total badass.


Porcelain Raft, Strange Weekend

Completely out of nowhere, this record kicked my ass. The “strange weekend” in question is supposedly the one in which the hurricane was supposed to hit NYC in August of 2011, but obviously didn’t. That weekend was my birthday weekend, and I spent Friday night in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. So did Mauro Remiddi – he had recently moved from Rome via a brief stint in London. COINICIDENCE?


Metric, Synthetica

I was actually getting tired of Metric. I saw them at Terminal 5 in 2009 and 2010 and they played the exact same show – which was awesome, but kinda lame of them. Yeah, we get it, Fantasies was an awesome record.

This new record rules. I am excited to see them perform full blast live. Which is great – because I took a leap of faith buying tix to their show at Radio City Music Hall in September (4 months ahead of time, for $150 – but screw you, I got FRONT ROW).


The Walkmen, Heaven

I used to *dislike* The Walkmen, and then they released Lisbon a few years ago, which if you haven’t heard, is INSANELY good. They opened up for Grizzly Bear at the Beach at Governor’s Island, and I basically ignored them, because I am an idiot.

I went to their headlining show at Terminal 5 and was blown away. I can already hear how awesome these tunes are gonna be live – Remember Remmmmmmmemmber!


Bruce Springsteen, Wrecking Ball

I would never have given this album a chance if I hadn’t seen Bruce and the E Street Band absolutely destroy the Meadowlands a few months ago. Chris and I saw Bruce at Giants Stadium (the old one) before they tore it down and rebuilt the new one.

At that show (the one where he played 100% of Darkness on the Edge of Town), before the band came out, Bruce came out and played a new song by himself: “Wrecking Ball.” The whole album is good. Granted, it may take seeing him live to respect what an absolute musical giant he is, but I have listened to this record basically once a day for 3 months.

The Rest

Escort, Escort
Daughn Gibson, All Hell
White Rabbits, Milk Famous
Silversun Pickups, Neck of the Woods
Sharon Van Etten, Tramp
Beach House, Bloom
of Montreal, Paralytic Stalks
Japandroids, Celebration Rock
Heartless Bastards, Arrow
Bear in Heaven, I Love You, It’s Cool

Listen To This: “Strange Weekend” – Porcelain Raft

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2012 got off to a slow start for me as far as new music goes. By this time last year, I was already knee deep in the Akron / Family record, the new PJ Harvey, and had re-fallen in love with the last 2 Andrew Bird records. This year started off slow. Heartless Bastards released a great record, Sharon Van Etten released her first great record, but nothing was blowing my mind. I can safely say Strange Weekend is already one of the best records of 2012.

I first heard “Picture” by Porcelain Raft in this eMusic ad:

You should immediately notice how awesome the tune is. The rest of the album is equally as cool – from the eMusic review:

With their underwater acoustics, synths sparkling in oceans of reverb, and Remiddi’s high, ethereal chirp, these lovingly constructed, basement-recorded jams float by in a gorgeous haze – like a brilliant dream you barely remember, a soft drug trip you didn’t realize you were having. But for all its spacey minimalist texture, this isn’t remotely close to chillwave: There’s too much concrete pain and sweat in Remiddi’s voice, too much clarity in the arrangements, which (even at their most ambient) put melody over mosaics.

Mauro Remiddi (from Rome, Italy) went solo at 40 and made what has to be the best music of his career as Porcelain Raft.