1. Dwight Yoakam - 3 Pears
Yoakam is someone I like and respect a lot but don't really know too much of his stuff beyond that great first album, and this is just a serious testament to how good he can still be. Now that he probably pays his bills with movie roles and hasn't been on the radio in ages, it's fun to hear him just making great music in the style he always has just because he feels like it. I love that this guy can pull off a refrain like "If I had a big giraffe, he'd have to take a real long bath, and that's why waterfalls are really neat."

2. Dinosaur Jr. - I Bet On Sky
I've noticed over the years that reunited bands very rarely make it to a third new album after getting back together -- sometimes it's a one-off, sometimes that first one goes so well that they have enough momentum to quickly put out a follow-up, but almost never do they manage three records. So the existence of I Bet On Sky is rare enough, and an interesting testament to the fact that J, Lou and Murph have gotten along for longer now than they did in the '80s. But the really remarkable thing is how good these records are, and that on songs like the swinging, auxillary percussion-heavy "I Know It Oh So Well" they actually manage to expand the familiar Dinosaur template in ways that are small but instantly noticeable and strangely perfect.

3. Pink - The Truth About Love
I loved the shit out of Pink's last album Funhouse, to the point that I wasn't sure if she could top it for me but still wanted to see her try. At her best, Pink strikes such a great balance of obnoxiousness and big-hearted sincerity, and this kinda swings back and forth those extremes less gracefully, but it still works pretty well. There are some sketchy guests (the fun. guy is a fungus upon pop music right now) and the one Max Martin track is terrible and mixes Scarface quotes with a stupid British accent. But "Are We All We Are" is crazy, and "Beam Me Up" and "The Great Escape" are gorgeous, and girl is still kind of running circles around most of her contemporaries.

4. ZZ Top - La Futura
ZZ Top are another act I've always kind of admired from a distance, for their longevity, for great run of singles, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I could enjoy an album from them in 2012. My interest was piqued by the lead track that interpolates "25 Lighters," which is one of most badass and unexpected rap/rock crossovers in recent memory, but the whole thing just has a great sound and great vibe. The trio sounds their age but in that kind of loose relaxed way that works well with their music, and "Chartreuse" and "Consumption" are great songs too.

5. Gunplay - 601 & Snort
In one of those depressing turns of events that feel all too common in rap, by the time I get around to writing about my favorite Gunplay mixtape to date, he's in the news for robbing his own accountant and probably going to jail for life or long enough to ice his career. This tape is great, though -- it's rare that I ever prefer a freestyle/industry beat heavy mixtape to one with all original beats, but this is just more direct and engaging thatn Bogota Rich: The Sequel, perfect showcase for his voice and his way of putting words together.

6. Young Dro - Ralph Lauren Reefa
I was going to say that Gunplay's biggest problem was that he may plug along as a talented sidekick to a superstar for a few years, without ever getting his own momentum at the level he deserves like Young Dro, but obviously that's the least of his problems now. But Dro, man, Dro is still the shit and it's a shame that whatever juice Grand Hustle has left is being focused on B.o.B and Iggy Azalea.

7. Heart Of Hearts - My Society
Greg from Heart Of Hearts is a guy I've met a couple times at my friend Mat's studio, and is also in a really good band called Mr. Moccasin. I'd been hearing for a while about this album he'd been working on, he owns a lot of birds and I think a lot of it is inspired by that (one of his birds is on the album cover) and the whole thing has this kind of has this strange ambiance that I think evokes surrounding yourself with animals rather than people.

8. Firewater - International Orange!
Hearing these songs live didn't do as much for them as it did for Firewater's last album, The Golden Hour, but these guys are still in a pretty good mid-career groove right now, not as good as the early albums but a lot of fun. "The Monkey Song" is the clear favorite but some of the other songs are growing on me.

9. Matchbox Twenty - North
I've gradually fostered a fondness for these guys over the years for their later singles, and "She's So Mean" features so many odd, surprising production flourishes that I was just curious to see what the rest of the album was like. The rest isn't so lively except for "Put Your Hands Up," but as far as adult alternative goes they've grown into a pretty respectable, versatile band.

10. Ben Folds Five - The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind
If you would have told me in 1997 that someday I would enjoy a new Matchbox Twenty (or, as they were known in those days, Matchbox 20) album more than a new Ben Folds Five album, I would've foamed at the mouth, but there it is. It's fun to hear these guys play together again, since they had such a chemistry together and I was never really clear on why they ever stopped, but Folds hasn't been a reliable songwriter in a long, long time. "Draw A Crowd" and "Do It Anyway" are pretty good, though.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 18, 2012 at 11:19 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.