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DIFFERENT KITCHEN’S FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2012

By Ian ⋅ January 1, 2013 ⋅ 6 comments

As I was saying on a recent post on The Kitchen Facebook page, I always have the same issue every year when it comes time to do these year-end wrap-up lists: what criteria should they be based on? Should I do them by ‘best’, my favorites or most ‘popular’ and how do you define best and most popular anyway?? Each approach can generate very different lists, at least based on my ‘eclectic’ tastes.

This year is especially tough though. Despite what some cynics might argue, it was a really good year for music from my point of view and I liked a lot of albums. There’s probably about three or four of them that could make a strong case for being my favorite of the year, but as for the rest? I liked them all pretty much equally but at different times, for listening under different circumstances to the point where the exercise of trying to rank them verged on becoming meaningless. What does it mean to be my eighth favorite album versus my thirteenth, or twenty-first and what criteria would I be using to make those distinctions that I could share with readers that would be of any value to them?

So in the end I decided that just listing these albums alphabetically was the best way to go. But for those of you who like the competitive aspects of list-making and the horse race and list-based nature of news that our 24/7 blog and social media-powered world has given us, let me say that my most-played albums over the course of 2012 were The Slakadeliqs‘ The Other Side of Tomorrow, Miguel‘s Kaleidoscope Dream, THEESatisfaction‘s awE naturalE and Saukrates‘ Season One. And if you still wanna get into a conversation about what the ‘best’ albums were, I’m gonna have to add Cold Specks‘ I Predict a Graceful Expulsion, Killer Mike‘s R.A.P. Music, METZ‘s self-titled banger and also the Kendrick Lamar good kid, m.A.A.d city and El-p Cancer 4 Cure albums, neither of which is even on my list, to the conversation as well. And when you consider all the non-commercial ‘street’ mixtapes and EPs, neither of which are categories that are super well-covered by my list, then yeah, there really was more good music than anyone could really reasonably expect to properly enjoy or get through over the course of last year.

Given all that though, hopefully, there’s some albums on my list that will still be new to you. Maybe you’d heard of some of these titles but hadn’t actually heard them. Or you saw them in these pages but dismissed them as just another post to fill up space and time and hopefully catch your attention (but didn’t really). Maybe now though you’ll decide to explore them based on The kitchen‘s year-end co-sign! After all, that’s kind of the point of these wrap-ups, no? See what you might have missed or compare what someone else liked and deemed ‘worthy’ (by whatever criteria) and see how it matches up with your own tastes, or not!

Just ‘cos we’re into a new year now is no excuse to jettison everything from the last one. If there’s one thing I’ve struggled with over the almost ten years I’ve done this site, it’s trying to not get caught up on the ‘Be first or post only new stuff’ treadwheel that seems to snare other bloggers and sites. We try to maintain a standard at The kitchen where, while we might not cover everything or be the first to cover something, you can be sure that the stuff we do cover is great or at least worth your attention on some level or another. Our goal is to try and continue to do that over the next year and, if we can get our sh-t together, also have some treats to celebrate our tenth year anniversary in the fall. You’ve been warned!

And now to the list…

2012 FAVORITE ALBUMS
The Alchemist, Oh No, Gangrene – Vodka & Ayahuasca
Azari & III – Azari & III
Cold Specks – I Predict a Graceful Expulsion
Curren$y – The Stoned Immaculate
DJ Premier & Bumpy Knuckles – KoleXXXion
Flying Lotus – Until The Quiet Comes
Game – Jesus Piece
Kanye West Presents – Good Music Cruel Summer
Hot Chip – In Our Heads
Jai Nitai Lotus – Something You Feel
R. Kelly – Write Me Back
Killer Mike – R.A.P. Music
KJ – Water
METZ – METZ
Miguel – Kaleidoscope Dream
Mint Condition – Music @ The Speed Of Life
Georgia Anne Muldrow – Seeds
Nneka – Soul Is Heavy
Frank Ocean – Channel Orange
Phenomenal Handclap Band – Form & Control
Planet Asia – Black Belt Theatre
Saukrates – Season One
The Slakadeliqs – The Other Side of Tomorrow
SonReal & Rich Kidd – The Closers
Tame Impala – Lonerism
THEESatisfaction – awE naturalE
Tyga – Careless World

Previously on The Kitchen:

– DIFFERENT KITCHEN’S FAVORITE SONGS OF 2012

– The Best Of The Kitchen 2011 – Albums

– Brendan Philip’s Top 10 Album Picks For 2011

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Brendan Philip’s Top 10 Album Picks For 2011

By brndn ⋅ January 8, 2012 ⋅ 472 comments

10. Blood Orange – Coastal Grooves

This is a self-produced album by the multi-talented/instrumentalist Dev Hynes (formerly of Test Icicles and Lightspeed Champion) with a seedy nostalgic, 80s downtown New York feel. A conceptual piece, that moves at a very slow and steady pace but is very atmospheric, if you give it a fair chance there is a lot to like about this. The bass is really the thing to watch out for on this album, it’s a really dark centerpiece that works so well.

*Notable Tracks: Sutphin Boulevard, Can We Go Inside Now.

9. Gil-Scott Heron/Jamie xx – We’re New Here

A remix project that doused a lot of light on Heron‘s rather bleak narratives; the original album, ‘I’m New Here’ was not something I actually got through. Although Jamie xx functions as the MPC wiz in British Goth R&B band, The xx, here he offers a freer expression and alternate reality to his intricate compositions and of course paired with the brilliance of Gil-Scott Heron, this certainly makes for a great listen on a bus ride or actually in the club, which I feel is an additional charm when you think about Heron.

*Notable Tracks: Ur Soul and Mine, I’ll Take Care of You.

8. The Weeknd – House of Balloons

The Weeknd – House Of Balloons by The_Weeknd

For sure this is a no-brainer for most people that this would appear on an end of year list. But to be honest I was beside myself on this one because I didn’t love everything that was featured here, but then my objective side came into play and I realized that sometimes we are very comfortable and when we’re introduced to new sounds with no reference or context it isn’t always easy to digest. With all that said, this is a very precise piece of work that ironically to mostly everyone outside of Toronto is shrouded in mystery. There are some great samples used from Beach House and Siouxsie and the Banshees and all around really engaging songs that make you feel like the best way to hear the music at a party is through the bathroom wall… where perhaps another party is happening. I don’t think I need to say much more than that because if you haven’t heard this you probably don’t have the Internet.

*Notable Tracks: What You Need, Party/After Party, Coming Down.

7. A$AP Rocky – LiveLoveA$AP

LiveLoveA$AP by A$AP ROCKY

I will openly admit that when I first heard this, I didn’t give it much of a chance but at the encouragement of a few friends I threw it on the iPod and walked with it. So I suppose it goes without saying that it really grew on me and indulged my raw-er sensibilities quite a bit. A$AP is the crew, Rocky is the star on this ‘mixtape’, but there are other members who shine here and I’m sure have their own projects ready for deployment with all the Houston swag that makes this project really deliver. A$AP as an emcee has a great flow and is concerned with what you would think a young dude would be concerned with.

*Notable Tracks: Peso, Trilla, Brand New Guys.

6. Van Hunt – What Were You Hoping For?

From its strange cover photo to its adventurous music, this is an evolution for an artist that it wouldn’t hurt if you got to know them. Having started as an R&B artist, not to mention having Randy Jackson as his manager (YEAH, THAT RANDY!) it is a wonder why a lot of people aren’t familiar with Van Hunt… their loss I suppose. If you listen to his work in succession, the material found on this album makes perfect sense, it takes the kind of maverick twists and turns found in Prince‘s career, that also means it is incomparable to anything I’ve heard. Sliding from punk to country to funk, to songs about ass and cross dressing, it may be safe to say there is something here for everyone… even if your indulgences aren’t as out there as Van Hunt expresses his.

*Notable Tracks: Watching You Go Crazy Is Driving Me Insane, Falls (Violet), Eyes Like Pearls.

Hit the jump for Brendan’s #5-1 picks….

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Brendan Philip’s Top 10 Singles of 2011

By brndn ⋅ January 8, 2012 ⋅ 29 comments

I will start this by saying that I really had no difficulty selecting the albums [post with my album list forthcoming] that I really enjoyed this year because there weren’t that many albums I was into. HOWEVER, there were far too many songs that I resonated with, but I got it down to ten choices. The thing about this list is I now I can’t really pit them against one another, but I will try. It may be best to look at the list’s order as a loose competition: they’re really all my favourites.

10. The Internet – She DGAF
The Internet – She Dgaf by Deutsch Schokolade

This duo is part of Odd Future, but fall more in the vein of Frank Ocean, for whatever that may be worth to you. This song and the album that it accompanies is a mostly spacey affair, this particular track having this samba (or is it bossa nova? :s) rhythm for the verses and a nice dirty double time kick drum for the chorus. If you’re curious as to what the DGAF stands for, its (She) Don’t Give A F***, the song being a narrative about this rad girl and the things she does that show she doesn’t give a f*** what you think.

9. Lianne La Havas – No Room For Doubt
Lianne La Havas – No Room For Doubt by PluggedIn

This is a spooky drum-less number by a young British girl featuring Willy Mason, who also co-wrote the song with her. It’s my favourite type of song, melancholy lullabies. She has a couple EPs out and is also on tour with the band Bon Iver. But check out the video for this one, it was shot really well and is just as creepy as the song.

8. Toro Y Moi – I Can Get Love
10 Toro Y Moi “I Can Get Love” by wearevanenewyork

There’s just some artists who have a great work ethic and in a short time Chaz Bundick, the man behind this project has put out two full lengths and has a few EPs and bootlegs floating around. This song comes from his most recent EP, Freaking Out. I can hardly describe the sound of this one; it’s driven by piano with a four on the floor stomp, crazy psychedelic vocals nuanced with light airy female vocals. It’s a fresh groove that even at its 5-min length deserves to be pulled up a few times.

7. J*DaVey – Queen of Wonderland
J DaVeY – Queen of Wonderland by freevisions

The hardest working independent genre-less group out for the past few years! This song is featured on their long awaited full-length album, New Designer Drug. This song is way genre-less, left coast weirdo s***. It’s composed of strange sounds through and through. Aside from the drums, I couldn’t even begin to describe what is happening in this song. Then we have Miss Jack Davey with her underplayed vocals that erupt into her actually summoning the spirit of the Queen of Wonderland. I have really never heard her sound this ferocious before but I really like the sound of this. Check it out.

6. Little Dragon – Ritual Union
Ritual Union by Little Dragon

With it’s minimalist song structure and the vocally well-endowed Yukimi Nagano this song makes me want to dance as much as I want to be still and engaged with the mysterious imagery that makes this song really potent. The brilliance of the lyrics, “Ritual union got me in trouble again”, I am sure we won’t all have the same response to what this may mean, but hearing it will surely draw some response out of you?

Hit the jump for Brendan’s #5-1 picks….

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