Patatoa

originally published December 13, 2012

I'm not going to do a traditional honorable mentions, just missed the cut, list this year. I don't need to tell you the merits of the new Grizzly Bear or Jack White records; records that you are well aware of even if they are not included on my end of year list. This year, I wanted to reserve the honorable mentions for artists that you might not know about, artists that are new to the scene or just under loved. Artists that I want to keep an eye out for in the future and hope to see bigger things from in the future.

This album missed my list by inches. Exlovers is a British dream pop act that make frequent use of boy-girl harmonies and shoegaze aesthetics. They are far from the most unique and original sounding act around, but it is impossible to deny the music they make. Sweet, dreamy, catchy songs that are crisp and bouncy. If you don't nod you're head to the opener "Starlight, Starlight" you must not have a pulse. If you want to be the genius at your college radio station, drop any couple of these tracks in to your playlist.

This album too was set to make my list until it got bumped off just at the end (when I discovered it was released in 2011 and didn't know how to handle it.) Mirel Wagner focuses on bluesey folk music, when mixed with her reedy and smoky voice, combines for one of the most captivating listens I had all year. You will get lost in her voice and her storytelling.

The best release that didn't make my list. Had it been expanded, or had the duo of Hudson Mohawke and Lunice released an LP, TNGHT probably would have. Some of the crispest, most explosive beat music you will hear this year. I definitely look forward to their next release.

Here we go, I waited the last decade for a return to 90's style music. Wolf Alice definitely leans more towards the radio-friendly sound of the past, but I don't think a single 90's kid would shake off radio from their time. This london quartet makes easy, accessible pop music that offers some personality and introspection.

Former Pipette follows up her 2010 solo debut with this EP. Clean alt-pop that is a bit shinier that is sure to turn heads. Especially the track "Hanging Around" catchy, sweet, punchy and guitar driven, one of my favorite tracks of 2012.

Kaoru Ishibashi is no newcomer. He was the front man of the band Jupiter One as well as a part of Regina Spektor's backing band. But on 151a, Ishibashi takes full spotlight with an impressive album of psychedelic and experimental pop. At times I felt like I was listening to a more grounded take on Merriweather Post Pavillion. Ishibashi knows how to make a hook, build a song, and deliver some progression. There is a great mix of east and west, samples and live instrumentation, synths and strings. Grandiose and joyous.

Mac Demarco has this ere of being that random guy you know who one day reveals is ability to play the guitar at virtuosic levels. Which he follows with, "that's just something I've been kicking around." As if everyone can write a song around a lick like him. While this sounds very DIY, lo-fi it is not. The songs and his guitar tone are crystal clear, but Demarco's presence is so prodigiously lax that makes everything so approachable. He presents a set of blusey, dried out 70's radio sounding songs that is worth a listen. I hope he continues more in the direction he took on 2.

I'm not going to tell you that Kitty Pryde is the net big thing in hip-hop, or even that she's particularly enlightening listening. But at the same time, I can't help but be charmed by her admittedly amateur flow. Kitty Pryde is what every high school youtuber, blogger, live journal-er -- past or present, wants to be. Flashy, well produced beats (sometimes from actual professionals) with an "everyman" MC rapping competently. With her "hit" "Okay, Cupid" the song has this high school love note confessional brand of honesty that I think everyone can relate to.

Usually when I and music writers mention "atmosphere" in a record, we usually mean some white noise or musique concrete injected to the track. This is not the case with, I Thought I was an Alien, though it has some of the most enthralling atmosphere you can hear in 2012. 26 year old Stéphanie Sokolinski sings simple songs, with gut churning lyrics about heart ache. Every song sounds as if they were recorded at 2 am, with her parents asleep a room away, sung under hushed cover. I think we have all chronicled our adolescent turmoil in a fashion in scenes similar to those evoked by Soko.

The bastard son of Liam? Jake Bugg is one of those characters who I just can't quite make a judgment on? Is he legit, and will pick up the ball that Alex Turner (in The Last Shadow Puppets) left behind? Is he the Oasis to Mumford & Sons' Blur? (As hellish of a thought that may be.) I've made enough nods to that you can infer that is his sound is that of Oasis had they aped Bob Dylan instead. Of course, being ever "mad fer it," there is definitely part of me that responds to songs like "Lightning Bolt." While there is definitely merit to inclusive , fun music like this, with all the other rootsy-folk competition out there, I hope Jake Bugg offers more than that. (Seriously though, he is roughly as old as Definitely Maybe. The time frame matches…)

Foxygen is one of the acts I am most excited to hear from in 2013 and on. Maybe it is because the vocalist reminds me so much of Gregg Alexander, I don't know. Take the Kids Off Broadway is a decidedly deconstructionist take at glam rock. The hooks are infectious and the melodies are very inclusive, and the songs are very progressive rather than being cheesy arena anthems.