JUST WHAT WE NEEDED, ANOTHER BEST OF 2012 LIST: THE MUSIC (PRE-SHOW AWARDS)

It’s a tradition here at Team Frog International to post our favorite record albums of 2012. That’ll happen tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I thought I’d post some miscellaneous awards that are basically an excuse to mention other albums I got this year.

It builds up suspense, you see. Because I know this is the list you’ve been waiting for all year.

THE 21^ST BEST ALBUM OF 2012

Leonard Cohen
Old Ideas (Sony) It seems that old age was a common theme for a bunch of releases this year, and Cohen is more qualified than anyone to ruminate on it (he’s the oldest music artist of my entire 2012 roster). Cohen is a master lyricist, but musically has gotten quieter to the point where I have to be in the right mood to listen to him. This is a very good album, but not one I spent a lot of time listening to.

THE THIRD BEST ALBUM ABOUT GETTING OLD

Loudon Wainwright III
Older Than My Old Man Now (2nd Story Sound Records) As the title suggests, Wainwright wrote this song cycle upon realizing he’s now older than his father was when he died. As usual, his emotional honesty is hard to take, even though he does balance it out with his humorous songs. (BTW, the second-best album about getting old is right above this entry. The first-best will be posted tomorrow.)

BEST ALBUM I DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO CLASSIFY

Joey Ramone
… Ya Know? (BMG) It’s hard to believe it’s been over ten years since Joey Ramone died, and even harder to believe that he left enough material around to put together another solo album. Indeed, what he left was mostly incomplete demos that were tied up in legal red tape for years before Joey’s brother Mickey Leigh was able to get the rights to transform the demos into full-fledged songs. The result sounds impressive, with help from Ed Stasium and a cornucopia of guest stars like Joan Jett, Steven Van Zandt, Jean Beauvoir, Richie Stotts, Bun E Carlos, Handsome Dick Manitoba, and Lenny Kaye, to name a few. Still, it’s hard not to wonder what the songs would sound like if Joey was still alive.

BEST DRESSED BAND OF 2012

It’s got to be The Hives.

 

Sadly, their new album Lex Hives didn’t really make it for me. There’s some good songs on it, but not really any great ones.

BEST FILM SOUNDTRACK

Nick Cave and Warren Ellis
Lawless OST (Sony Classics) Technically it’s the only film soundtrack I bought this year, but you could say it’s the only one I thought was worth buying. I’m a Cave fan, of course, but the real attraction is Cave and Ellis putting together a band called The Bootleggers and getting guest vocalists like Emmylou Harris, Ralph Stanley and Mark Lanegan to do hillbilly-style covers of the likes of Link Wray, John Lee Hooker, Velvet Underground and Captain Beefheart. And thanks to Cave/Ellis, it avoids being an O Brother Where Art Thou? pastiche.

BEST COMPILATION

Various Artists
Red Hot Asian Rockabilly Vol 1 (Love Da) As the title suggests, this is a local comp of modern rockabilly bands from across Asia, including Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Hong Kong. Musically, they’re not doing anything a thousand rockabilly bands around the world aren’t already doing (apart from language differences and outrageous pompadour height), but as a snapshot of regional rockabilly acts, it’s a fascinating and worthy collection.

BEST COVER ART

 

Because it’s good to see Raymond Pettibon on album covers again.

Honorable mention goes to Words And Music by Saint Etienne, which features a map made up of various song titles.

 

THE ALBUM I WISH I COULD GET A REFUND FOR

Sharon Van Etten
Shelter (Jagjaguwar) This is the one album that seemed to make everyone’s Best of 2012 list that I just couldn’t get into. I bought it on the strength of a track on a sampler (after hearing music critics rave about how good it was and how underrated Van Etten is), but for the most part it bored me. Sorry.

Up next: The Top 20!

And the winner is,

This is dF

dEFROG ON 45 #47: NEW YORK, LONDON, PARIS MUNICH

I said there would be one-hit wonders in this series. 

I also suggested that Nick Gilder was the poster boy for one-hit wonders in his time frame.

But if yr looking for the archetype of one-hit wonders, it would arguably be M.

Yes, I had this too.

And listening to it now, I think it’s stood the test of time reasonably well, compared to a lot of other 80s one-hit wonders.

Talk about,

This is dF

YR RECORD COLLECTION SUCKS

Everyone’s a critic.



[Via Boogie Children]

Hang the DJ,

This is dF