Articles : Lachlan Dale’s best albums of 2012
Where would we be without music critics – those titans of men blessed with higher sensitivity and superior powers of perception such that they are able to tap directly into the essence of art to uncover objective truth, while we, the plebs, are left to drown in paralyzing uncertainty. In this manner are they not like the stargazers, soothsayers and prophets of old?
These men are the pillars of modern culture; the bedrock upon which we – the musicians, the publishers, the fans, the consumers – can do little except gaze upon with a mix of awe and melting admiration.
The coming of the end of another year fills me with joy, for it marks the time for slow-moving hordes of pale-skinned music critics, dizzy on a high from their sense of self-importance, to publish their self-indulgent “best of” lists for the year.
Allow me to throw my hat into this tired ring.
The year in review
This year was good to me. I found much music to inspire me and compel me onward – locally, across Australia and internationally (I hope my work with Art As Catharsis shows as much).
There are few things sadder than a love that has hardened and stagnated, so I would like to sincerely thank these bands for preventing my downfall in that regard.
Note: I refuse to rank these albums on some kind of bizarre scale, so here are my favourites from 2012 in no particular order. Each link goes to my favourite track from the album.
Best non-Australian releases of 2012
- Fiona Apple – The Idler Wheel
- Om – Advaitic Songs (review)
- Eagle Twin – The Feather Tipped the Serpent’s Scale (review)
- Nate Hall – A Great River
- Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats – Blood Lust (review)
- Converge – All The Love We Left Behind
- Scott Kelly and the Road Home – The Forgiven Ghost In Me
- Gaza – No Absolutes in Human Suffering (review)
- Neurosis – Honor Found in Decay
- Grizzly Bear – Shields
Best Australian releases of 2012
- Drowning Horse – Self-titled (review)
- Anklepants – Social-Patching-And The Pixel Pageant Facéd Boy
- We Lost the Sea – The Quietest Place on Earth (review)
- IDYLLS – Farewell All Joy (review)
- In Trenches – Sol Obscura (review)
- Useless Children – Post Ending // Pre Completion (review)
- Dumbsaint – Something That You Feel Will Find It’s Own Form (review)
- NOÛS – Eobiont
- High Tension – Self-titled
- Nontinuum – The Stars You Gathered, The Stars I Destroyed
Bands to watch in 2013
- Hydromedusa
- Fat Guy Wears Mystic Wolf Shirt
- Killsong
- Funeral Moon
- Snakes Get Bad Press
- The Reverend Jesse Custer