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So, here we are. Your patience is rewarding you (I hope). These are my 10 favorite songs from a strong, strong musical year. Obviously, your own list will likely have strong variances from mine. I'll have the typical, questionable omissions (double that for the albums list to follow this month). And there are some songs I've probably just not heard yet. As much as I want to, I haven't been able to hear everything, so if you see one of your favorites missing from this list...sorry!
Nothing else to say, except talk about the songs themselves. On we go.
10. Beach House - Myth
Everyone has their own list of priorities when it comes to musical enjoyment. Some things just have to be present for a song to be likable, and those things will change from person to person (yes, even if you're a professional music critic). Personally, when it comes to dreampop, a song isn't fully realized if it doesn't "take flight" at some point. What I mean by that: there has to be a point where the song can make you feel like you're up in some sort of cloud created by the music. I know, that's an impossible description, but maybe you have your own way of phrasing it. For me, that point comes in the middle of "Myth," one of the powerful singles off of "Bloom," and carries on through the end. The jet thruster into the clouds carries you high enough that there's no need for a parachute coming down on the other side; you're just floating out in space by that point.9. Hospitality - All Day Today
This song can mean different things, depending on your mood. If you're a little down, it's a break-up song, one about someone fresh from a split who sees their former lover in their mind's eye and the world around them, but doesn't really seem all that troubled by it. Or, you could see this as a song about infatuation, of a blossoming crush that's framed in lively music. I tend to lean toward the latter, but if the glove fits, etc., etc. Either way, this is a happy-sounding closer to a surprisingly solid debut. It's one of Brian Betancourt's many moments to shine on the album; his bass-playing is excellent and powers the song right from the get-go.8. Chairlift - Met Before
"Have we met before / Amongst the buzzing of billions?" A song about deja vu that never feels familiar or tired, Chairlift's "Met Before" barely ever stops for breath. Caroline Polachek's vocals - which run the gamut of emotions on this album - are more full of character and passion here than on any other track. She's at once sultry, curious and excited, the latter two being feelings you'd probably have, too, when bumping into someone who intrigues you. I mean, I would.7. Dirty Projectors - Gun Has No Trigger
It took me far too long to realize just how stripped-down this song is. It had been in my library for months, played time upon time, and somewhere around the 40th play or so, I realized it was vocals, drum and bass. That's it. What threw me was how fully Longstreth and Co. fill the void with their voices, punctuated by the song's "chorus,"where a progressively anguished Longstreth wails over harmonies that build to a firework. And this happens three times, each seemingly more powerful than the last. It's a contradiction in itself: a song whose whole somehow manages to far exceed the sum of its parts.6. Grizzly Bear - Speak In Rounds
One of my fondest musical memories comes from the Grizzly Bear show at Radio City Music Hall this summer. I was buried in the very last row of the ground floor, three stones' throws from the stage. In front of me, as this song began to play to open the set, some women began to sway in anticipation of dancing to the song's slightly-danceable chorus. And they danced when it came, but were unsure of what to do when it slowed back down to verse speed. You could see it in the way they moved. It's funny, because if you put me in that position, the transitioning from slow to fast to slow and back again would be so inelegant, you wouldn't even bother to throw a tomato at the stage. But their ability to somehow transition from part to part in their movements somehow seems, to me, a representation of the song at large. It's constructed from parts far from ordinary (it's another chance for Chris Bear to shine at the drums), but moves from verse to chorus to eventual concluding explosion with a fluidity that doesn't seem like it should be possible.5. Shearwater - Immaculate
I often say how, if we do come back in some other life, I want to come back with Jonathan Meiburg's voice. I said that after I listened to 2008's "Rook," my first exposure to the band. On it, Meiburg was a crooner, his voice a warm coo that could energize and be lifted to incredible heights when the need arose. But never did I really expect it to fit in the confines of a "rock" song. Sure, "Century Eyes" came close to that on "Rook," but I'd never heard the band do a song quite like "Immaculate" before, and I think that's what makes it stand out. A driving bass sets the mood immediately, drums obediently oblige, and Meiburg chimes in with this constant edge in his voice that seems wholly distant from what I'd come to recognize as Shearwater-ish. I wish they'd do it more.4. Jessie Ware - Wildest Moments
Little can explain why this woman hasn't exploded into an international sensation. She has every atom of the talent that Adele has, the clean look of a star and the charisma and humor to be personally likable (just look at her Twitter avatar to get an idea). Blending soul with hints of R&B, Ware is instantly recognizable as a great talent (my Rookie of the Year for 2012, if there were such a thing), and "Wildest Moments" is her most powerful-yet-accessible song. Trying to describe it after a talk-up like that would be laying it on too thick (as if I already haven't), so I'll just suggest you click the link and indulge.
3. Beach House - On the Sea
Back in the summer, this was my favorite song of the year-to-date. Then, I wrote: "Sure, life is about the journey, enjoying the ride and referencing decades-old car commercials in music blog posts (maybe not the last part), but sometimes, it's nice to see the finish line. With this song, at least the journey is still fun, and the hope is that it always will be." I feel like that rings truer than any updating I could do.
2. Purity Ring - Fineshrine
1. Japandroids - Fire's Highway
The best song in the year 2012 is everything music should make you feel, but so rarely does. Often, songs meant to capture the carefree, live-life-to-its-fullest belief come off as campy or sappy or meant for teeny-boppers. Japandroids blow that mold to smithereens with a rock anthem that at once inspires, invigorates and encourages, a rampaging decree that fun is not dead, we're still making the good old days and life is awesome. The song is put forth with such conviction that you don't really have a choice to believe what Brian King and David Prowse believe. And the story they tell is done exclusively through guitar, a drum kit and rah-rah lyrics with a choral yell that leaves nothing wanting ("One night to have and to hold / To let rip but never let go"). It's an astounding rock song, one that stands atop a very tall musical mountain in 2012. That's no small accomplishment, and certainly one worth celebrating.
