almost done with 2012

"Best albums" and "ultra-vomit" lists haven't been written yet, but hopefully we can make this happen over the weekend and then finally close the doors on the 2012 wrapup. Also in "Hot Mix 2012" we forgot to include Liars' "Bratz" and Taylor Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble." But we forget stuff every year so only noticing 2 glaring omissions isn't that bad.

Hot Mix 2012 (The big list, now with bigger list)

Surely, this was the hottest Hot Mix that's ever been mixed. Also we're never doing this again. D:

212 Black Moth Super Rainbow “Windshield Smasher”
211 Big Boi featuring Little Dragon & Killer Mike “Thom Pettie”

210 Divorce “Horseheads”
209 Ca$h Out “Ca$hin’ Out”
208 Angel Haze “New York”
207 Death Grips “Hacker”
206 Slices “All My Life”
205 2 Chainz “I’m Different”
204 Daphni “Ahora”
203 Action Bronson featuring RiFF RaFF “Bird On A Wire”
202 And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead “Opera Obscura”
201 Big Sean “Guap”

200 Japandroids “Adrenaline Nightshift”
199 Silversun Pickups “Mean Spirits”
198 Slices “Hores Race”
197 Dinosaur Jr “See It On Your Side”
196 Georgia Anne Muldrow “Best Love”
195 Juicy J featuring 2 Chainz & Lil Wayne “Bandz A Make Her Dance”
194 Haim “Forever”
193 Ryan Power “Mondo Rush”
192 Broken Water “Orange Blossom Stains”
191 Cloud Nothings “No Future/No Past”

190 Scott Walker “Epizootics!”
189 Unknown Mortal Orchestra “Swim and Sleep”
188 Paws “Catherine 1956”
187 Frank Ocean “Crack Rock”
186 Grass Is Green “Nice Guy of the Year Award”
185 And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead “Awestruck”
184 Pujol “Endless Mike”
183 Oneohtrix Point Never “I Only Have Eyes For You”
182 Mac DeMarco “European Vegas”
181 Willie Evans Jr “Moon Foot”

180 Todd Terje “Swing Star”
179 Ringo Deathstarr “Drain”
178 Merchandise “Time”
177 Innergaze “Mutual Dreaming”
176 Guided By Voices “Worm w/ 7 Broken Hearts (Home-Fi version)”
175 Yuck “Chew”
174 Pile “Bump A Grape”
173 Joey Bada$$ featuring Nah Apex “Snakes”
172 Cloud Nothings “Stay Useless”
171 Mykki Blanco “Wavvy”

170 King Tuff “Baby Just Break”
169 El Ten Eleven “Transitions”
168 Tyga “Rack City”
167 Nicki Minaj “HOV Lane”
166 Lower Dens “Brains”
165 Kendrick Lamar “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe”
164 Broken Water “Drown”
163 Merchandise “In Nightmare Room”
162 Trash Talk featuring Tyler The Creator & Hodgy Beats “Blossom & Burn”
161 Todd Terje “Myggsommer”

160 Mac DeMarco “My Kind of Woman”
159 JEFF The Brotherhood “Sixpack”
158 Ed Schrader’s Music Beat “Gem Asylum”
157 Bat Cave “Wavelength”
156 Miguel “Arch & Point”
155 Meek Mill featuring Drake & Jeremih “Amen”
154 Two Inch Astronaut “What’s Next”
153 Bruno Mars “Locked Out Of Heaven”
152 Lil B “Breath Slow”
151 Daphni “Ye Ye”

150 Lil Wayne featuring Big Sean “My Homies Still”
149 Chris Weisman “Open Tuning”
148 Pile “The Browns”
147 Joey Bada$$ featuring CJ Fly “Hardknock”
146 Tame Impala “Mind Mischief”
145 Godspeed You Black Emperor “Mladic”
144 Future “Same Damn Time”
143 Guided By Voices “Chocolate Boy”
142 Toy “Colours Running Out”
141 BJ The Chicago Kid featuring Kendrick Lamar “His Pain”

140 Yuck “Cousin Corona”
139 Red Dwarf “White Wizard”
138 Mark Lanegan Band “The Gravedigger’s Song”
137 Two Inch Astronaut “Tree Ate My House”
136 Daphni “Yes I Know”
135 Sun Araw and M Geddes Gengras Meet The Congos “Sunshine”
134 Pile “Sun Poisoning”
133 Pinback “Drawstring”
132 Lil B “Flowers Rise”
131 Katy B featuring Jessie Ware “Aaliyah”

130 Tame Impala “Apocalypse Dreams”
129 Mac DeMarco “Freaking Out The Neighborhood”
128 Guided By Voices “Keep It In Motion”
127 King Tuff “Unusual World”
126 Joey Bada$$ featuring Chuck Strangers “FromdaTomb”
125 Carter Tutti Void “V1”
124 Ceremony “World Blue”
123 Cloud Nothings “No Sentiment”
122 FNU Ronnies “You Don’t Look So Good”
121 Pinback “Sherman”

120 Animal Collective “Applesauce”
119 Beak> “Yatton”
118 Lil B “Ima Eat Her Ass BASED FREESTYLE”
117 Drake featuring Lil Wayne “The Motto”
116 Neil Young & Crazy Horse "She's Always Dancing"
115 Goat “Goathead”
114 Tame Impala “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards”
113 The Darkness “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us”
112 Two Inch Astronaut “Power Baby”
111 Fat History Month “The Future”

110 Mac Demarco “Baby’s Wearing Blue Jeans”
109 Miguel “Don’t Look Back”
108 Nicki Minaj “I Endorse These Strippers”
107 Grass Is Green “Riff Sibling”
106 Beak> “Spinning Top”
105 Pile “The Jones”
104 Kitty Pryde “Accordion”
103 Guided By Voices “Hang Up And Try Again”
102 Fat History Month “Every Day Is Christmas”
101 Joey Bada$$ “Waves”

100 Young Jeezy featuring Jay-Z & Andre 3000 "I Do"
99 Black Pus "Neurotic Knife"
98 Silversun Pickups "Bloody Mary (Nerve Endings)"
97 Pinback "Denslow, You Idiot!"
96 Here We Go Magic "Make Up Your Mind"
95 Lil B "California Boy"
94 Pussy Riot "Putin Lights Up the Fires"
93 Guided By Voices "Roll of the Dice, Kick in the Head"
92 Grass Is Green "Dance Punk Revival School for Kids"
91 A Place To Bury Strangers "So Far Away"

90 Nicki Minaj "Starships"
89 Guided By Voices "Billy Wire"
88 The-Dream featuring Pusha T "Dope Chick"
87 California X "Sucker"
86 Frank Ocean "Pyramids"
85 Animal Collective "Moonjock"
84 King Tuff "Anthem"
83 Pools Are Nice "Brother (Song for Friends)"
82 YN Rich Kids "Hot Cheetos & Takis"
81 Two Inch Astronaut "Ain't I Look Pretty to You"

80 Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti "Baby"
79 Kanye West featuring Big Sean & Pusha T “Mercy”
78 Mykki Blanco “Mendocino, California”
77 FNU Ronnies “Cut to Ribbons”
76 Kendrick Lamar “Cartoon and Cereal”
75 Hospitality “Monkey”
74 Hooking Up “Bitter”
73 Fat History Month “There Goes The Sun”
72 Action Bronson & Party Supplies “9-24-11”
71 Broken Water “Underground”

70 Frank Ocean “Sweet Life”
69 Beak> “Liar”
68 Pile “Grunt Like a Pig”
67 Carly Rae Jepsen “This Kiss”
66 Joey Bada$$ featuring Capital Steez “Survival Tactics”
65 Mac Demarco “Dreaming”
64 Action Bronson & Party Supplies “Steve Wynn”
63 Kendrick Lamar “The Art of Peer Pressure”
62 Big Boi featuring Theophilus London “She Said OK”
61 Dinosaur Jr. “Rude”

60 Ryan Power “I Don’t Want to Die”
59 Odd Future “Oldie”
58 Jason Lytle “Your Final Setting Sun”
57 Carly Rae Jepsen “Call Me Maybe”
56 Bruno Mars “Treasure”
55 Tame Impala “Elephant”
54 Mr. Dream “Believing and Shitting”
53 Frank Ocean “Lost”
52 Pile “Prom Song”
51 Kendrick Lamar “Swimming Pools (Drank)”

50 Spree Wilson “Right One, Wrong Time”
49 R. Kelly “When A Man Lies”
48 Broken Water “Coming Down”
47 The Antlers “Zelda”
46 Mac Demarco “Robson Girl”
45 Beak> “Ladies Mile”
44 Dinosaur Jr “Recognition”
43 Miguel “Do You...”
42 Jai Paul “Jasmine (Demo)”
41 A$AP Rocky featuring 2 Chainz, Kendrick Lamar & Drake “Fuckin’ Problems”

40 Japandroids “The House That Heaven Built”
39 Todd Terje “Inspector Norse”
38 Red Dwarf “Magic Missile”
37 And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead “Bright Young Things”
36 King Tuff “Swamp of Love”
35 Tame Impala “Keep On Lying”
34 Kitty Pryde “Okay Cupid”
33 Batcave “Stereovision”
32 Miguel “Gravity”
31 Toro Y Moi “So Many Details”

30 KW Griff featuring Pork Chop “Bring In The Katz”
29 Mr. Dream “Fatherland”
28 Animal Collective “Today’s Supernatural”
27 Solange “Losing You”
26 Cloud Nothings “Fall In”
25 Josh Homme “Nobody To Love”
24 Nicki Minaj “Come On A Cone”
23 Grass Is Green “Somebody’s Something”
22 Big Freedia “Booty-Whop”
21 Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti “Mature Themes”

20 Frank Ocean featuring Earl Sweatshirt “Super Rich Kids”
19 Ringo Deathstarr “Slack”
18 Cloud Nothings “Cut You”
17 JEFF The Brotherhood “Dark Energy”
16 Nicki Minaj featuring 2 Chainz and God “Beez In The Trap”
15 Now, Now “Prehistoric”
14 Japandroids “Continuous Thunder”
13 Grass Is Green “Panera”
12 Beak> “The Gaol”
11 Miguel “Adorn”

10 Mystikal “Hit Me”
9 Sky Ferreira “Everything Is Embarrassing”
8 Frank Ocean “Bad Religion”
7 Taylor Swift “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”
6 Kendrick Lamar “Backseat Freestyle”
5 Beak> “Egg Dog”
4 Miguel “Use Me”
3 Nicki Minaj “Stupid Hoe”
2 Mac DeMarco “Ode To Viceroy”
1 Japandroids “The Nights Of Wine And Roses”

Hot Mix 2012: #10 to 1

After re-arranging the top 10 in 3,262 different ways, we've settled on this... We don't actually think these are the best songs of 2012. The top 5 are all definitely in the actual top 10, and 6-10 are all in the actual top 20, but the ordering is weird. It's approximate, and just felt correct, essentially the same reasoning for choosing Jay-Z & Kanye as #1 in 2011, Arcade Fire in 2010 and Animal Collective in 2009. It's becoming more difficult for some reason. (Our last definite untouchable no joke #1 was "Teen Creeps" from No Age in 2008.)

"Best albums" and "ultra-vomit" lists should be arriving soon... If you'd like us to quit the internet, please leave comments and say so.

IF YOU LOVE SPOTIFY, GIVE OUR MIX A LISTEN: Hot Mix 2012 on Spotify

| #100 - 91 | #90 - 81 | #80 - 71 | #70 - 61 | #60 - 51 |
| #50 - 41 | #40 - 31 | #30 - 21 | #20 - 11 | #10 - 1 |

10. Mystikal “Hit Me”
We were sitting there all bummed after hearing the new Big Boi album, when suddenly, all of the sudden, out of fucking nowhere, guess who decides to exhume himself from the grave carrying a huge MC Hammer sized stadium in his back pocket? (No dingbat, not PSY.) Even the white people say “Wow.” Strangely enough, the white women in this song have names like “Helen” and “Judy,” which are the types of racially-nonspecific names Richard Pryor or Eddie Murphy might have thrown into their “white people” impressions back in the day. In one especially poignant statement, Mystikal equates “diamonds” to “Madonna’s designer’s iguanas,” and “Rihanna’s vagina’s piranhas.” The bullseye doesn’t stand a chance. Mystikal’s not only fully exhilarated and psyched as fuck about making music again, but was also affected by the loss of his idols J.B. and Michael J, enough to put together a full band and record the best tribute for either singer since their passing. Somewhere, Mr. Dynamite and King of Pop are all like “fuck yes” and high-fiving.
| Youtube |

9. Sky Ferreira “Everything Is Embarrassing”
Spacious verses sound like a distant playful memory. But when the heavy synths all hit at once during the chorus, the weight matches that of darker times. “Putting the past behind us” is now more impossible than ever, as a result of the digital social network’s constant reminders. A simple matter of preference separates “Everything is Embarrassing” from its sister-song, Solange’s “Losing You,” both produced/written by the artist formerly known as Lightspeed Champion, now known as Dev Hynes. Neither song charted, but both derived from EP's, received heavy rotation on MTV-U and placed in the top 20 of Village Voice’s Pazz & Jop 2012. Kids are aware of these songs. Also, neither Sky Ferriera nor Solange seem to be filling a crucial void with their respective voices or presence. We don’t find either singer to be especially offensive or necessary as of Winter 2013. And as far as we can tell, these are both singers’ best songs. Out of the two, we prefer Sky Ferreira’s for its stronger vocal melody and for sounding more like a “soundtrack to our lives” type of jam. We’re guessing Solange’s song grabbed slightly more critical attention because her name has been around longer.
| Soundcloud |

8. Frank Ocean “Bad Religion”
This is not the kind of song we’d typically place in our top 10... It’s way too dramatic for our tastes. However, Frank’s missive from July of this year created some context that we were unable to overlook. We really like Frank Ocean. We think he’s incredibly badass. We like his singing and his pop-star presence (as a person) better than his album. It's been years since someone with his charisma has just arrived out of nowhere. Nothing would make us happier than this guy recording the next Innervisions or Songs In The Key of Life. So our viewpoint may be the result of some bias. On its own, the first 30 seconds of “Bad Religion” are shitty Bruno Mars bullshit... But within the context of the entire song and Channel Orange, it’s a delicately confessional moment of vulnerability. At the end of the orchestra chorus when he sings “love, love, love” over and over with a minor-third after the music’s already transitioned back to the major-third, it’s yet another fragile moment. Frank’s not ready to switch back. He’s stuck and fixated. “Don’t curse me.” “Boy, you need prayer.” Tension builds, but it never resolves or climaxes. There’s no Coldplay-explosion. Life doesn’t always lead in that direction. Fender Rhodes adds soulfulness to the last 45 seconds before it all disappears. It’s a pretty fucked up song. Worship, addiction, confusion... It’s the heart of the album. (“Thinking About You” was one of 2012’s definitive jams and deserves Top 10 as well, but its original demo version already appeared in Hot Mix 2011 (at a depressingly low #69) and we’re kinda against the idea of having songs appear two years in a row.)
| Youtube |

7. Taylor Swift “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”
Taylor Swift is bigger than any of her songs, for better or worse. The marketing team was able to set it up so that “which songs were written about who” became a priority topic that radio DJ’s are forced to discuss ad nauseum to help boost music sales. She is very big business. One section of “We Are Never” includes a sarcastically spoken lyric regarding “some indie record that’s much cooler than mine,” which likely refers to the lamestream definition of “indie-cool.” Was she all up in Mumford & Sons or Imagine Dragons or like Ed Sheeran? Or maybe Taylor Swift was actually dating someone from a “cool” rock band. As if TMZ is really gonna report “Tay Sway was spotted with Stephen Malkmus within viewing distance of Britt Daniels at the AMA’s last night. Here’s hoping Ash Bowie never EVER gets word of this news. Man, Bob Pollard’s gonna be PISSED.”
| Youtube |

6. Kendrick Lamar “Backseat Freestyle”
Following the standard format of a shitty drama film or an E! True Hollywood Story... Before everything comes crashing down, there must be a “top of the world” moment. If this were an actual movie, “Backseat Freestyle” might have been a flashback sequence with the words “Los Angeles, 1995” scrolled across the bottom of the screen, and then we see carefree 8-year-old Kendrick chillin’ in the backseat of whatever car he happens to be riding, with California sunshine pouring from everywhere (not unlike the opening scene of Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ or 8 Mile, two movies starring dudes whose careers also launched with assistance from Dr. Dre. Hmm.) OJ Simpson and Adina Howard are name-checked in order to establish 1995 as the timestamp moment. We misheard the intro lyric as “All my life I want money and parties,” which actually seems far more naïve and appropriate than wanting “money and power.” It’s the kind of jam for those kids who say amazing things like “when I’m president, everyone’s gonna eat free pizza everyday.” “Damn, I feel amazing.” It’s actually a sad song within the context of the album.
| Soundcloud |

5. Beak> “Egg Dog”
Floating underwater endlessly... Waiting for anything. Watching overheard and observing the surroundings. “Egg Dog” is probably every colossal squid’s favorite stoner jam. While the Tago Mago and Neu! comparisons are glaring, “Egg Dog” is probably the first Beak> jam to reveal hidden worship of Velvet Underground, David Bowie and Brian Eno in a lot of the same respects that Radiohead were influenced for Kid A. Also, watch out if you’re not ready for it, but “Egg Dog” is a serious-ass earworm. And strangely enough, it’s not so much the underwater vocals that will follow you around everywhere for months on end, but rather the creepy-as-fuck 50’s-horror-movie organ pattern. As for drums, the mic placement and tone define perfection, not to mention an incredibly restrained playing style. “Less is more” is the ultimate understatement. 10 out of 10. You cannot fuck with the drums on this album. (And possibly recorded so well that the LP was never mastered?? That’s how it sounds to us anyway.) As far as kraut goes, >> surpasses Cave’s Neverendless, Liars’ They Were Wrong So We Drowned, the latest from Moon Duo, and pretty much all the best krautrock since the mid-70’s. No joke.


4. Miguel “Use Me”
We feel like we’re copping-out labeling Miguel as someone who’s on the verge of filling a crucial void in pop music, but seriously, the world could use a new Prince. We think Miguel is the man for the job. While he’s far more grounded than Prince, Miguel is the only R&B singer we can recall from the past 10-15 years whose packed such density into a 40-minute album. Whether it’s our favorite of 2012 is yet to be determined, but we definitely love it more than the two most heralded LP’s of 2012, Channel Orange and good kid, m.A.A.d. city (partially because it’s 20-30 minutes shorter and doesn’t include any 9 or 13 minute epics). It’s one of those that reveal a new favorite song every few days, with “Use Me” as the jam we’ve been reviewing most often. Serious-ass compression and mastering are normally associated with Daft Punk or dubstep, but their usage here instead simulates a close, whispering aura. Chugging electric guitars recall Depeche Mode’s dark-as-fuck Violator LP, while Miguel’s “pride is waving a white flag,” allowing himself to be used - a receiving partner - without the confident arrogance typically associated with R&B (i.e. “you just lay that sweet ass down, daddy’s gon’ make ya feel real good, mmmhm, don’t you worry suga”). The powerful rush of a first encounter. Immersion. Eyes wide shut.
| Soundcloud |

3. Nicki Minaj “Stupid Hoe”
We were planning on quoting from an interview with that main dude from Dirty Projectors who we assumed stated something along the lines of “Stupid Hoe is the most important song of the past 10 years,” but after actually reading the quote this is not exactly what was said. ...That idea of the disco smile, where there's lots of high frequencies and then lots of low and not much muddy, shitty, rocky middle-- and then just making that into this digital cavern where it's just noises. I remember thinking, "Where can you go from ‘Milkshake'?" But then you listen to "Stupid Hoe" and you're like, "That's where you can go." Well in any case, Lil Kim done fucked up rull good. As far as diss tracks, this is the best one that’s happened since the death of Notorious B.I.G. and we state this with no exaggeration whatsoever. It’s yet another one of those multi-section jams that are like capnip for us. After getting bored of Gaga’s “Bad Romance” within a year of its release, “Stupid Hoe” became the most recent of these to resonated with us. An insanely coked-up and blistering cannon blast, the beat down of “Stupid Hoe” remains relentless. “Hey yo, Baby Bop, fuck you and your EP. Who’s gassin’ this hoe? BP? Hmm... Thinks. 1, 2, 3 do the Nicki Minaj blink.” The “u mad bro?” moment culminates in its final 25 seconds: “You’re a stupid hoe” purposely sung and screamed out of tune over and over. She doesn’t give a fuck if you’re a hater; she’s already won.
| Youtube |

2. Mac DeMarco “Ode To Viceroy”
In the fadeout, a pitch-shifted voice (presumably Mac DeMarco) says “There really is nothing quite like it,” followed by inhaling and coughing, which is as good as any description for what this song is really about. Smokin’ cigs can represent lots of things: A temporary refuge from stress, a satisfying moment of fulfillment, a simple object of consumption, an unhealthy addiction. Mac also sings “Don’t let me see you crying,” and “Don’t take me for a fool now,” leading us to believe the smokes may also equate to something or someone who feels like a part of us even though we recognize that they’re slowly killing us inside. Kurt Cobain, who famously chain-smoked throughout Nirvana Unplugged, borrowed a similar cliché for his song “Swap Meet” (“keeps his cigarettes close to his heart”). Quitting is essentially amputation. “Honey I’ll smoke you ‘til I’m dyin’.” Viceroy itself is a curious choice - an old-timey brand recognized more often by older folks, and their ads never stopped using 50’s-nostalgia. Smokers often like to stick to their brand for life. The word itself, “Viceroy,” sounds far more linguistically pleasing than “Parliament” or “Camel,” initially tricking unfamiliar people to believe he’s singing to a person rather than a product. Not just a bad habit, but one that's lasted for decades. Mac’s guitars and singing sounds pensive, contemplative, melancholy and dreamy, as if he recognizes the dangers but has no problem ignoring them. Also, we fucked up and forgot to include this in our “best videos of the year.”
| Soundcloud |

1. Japandroids “The Nights Of Wine And Roses”
So now there are two songs from the 2010’s that we desperately want Andrew WK to cover: “Friday” and “The Nights of Wine and Roses.” The lyrics in the chorus section of “The House that Heaven Built” are still great, but Japandroids didn’t receive enough credit for sustaining the celebration scream-along for an entire song. Let’s break-it-break-it down:
-“All lit up tonight.” “Lit up” could allude to fireworks or that Buckcherry song where he sings “I love that cocaine, I love that cocaine.”
-“Still drinkin. Don’t we have anything to live for?” So they’ve been drinking for a while, and unsure for a second, due to impaired judgement, if this is one of those cases where they should just put their head down on the bar and say “fuck it all to hell.”
-“Well of course we do, and it’s gonna come true, we’re drinking” That split-second when clarity ignites. The lyrics sheet suggest they’re actually singing “and until it comes true,” which makes more sense than what we thought it was. The future looks bright.
-“Still smokin.” And repeat everything else with “smokin” in place of “drinkin,” so that stoners can be included alongside the drunks.
-“We don’t cry for those nights to arrive, we yell like hell to the heavens.” Followed by the whoooa’s and whoa-oa-oa-oa-oa’s. We’ve noticed a growing trend in the past 2-3 years where “whoa’s” and “hey’s” and other filler nonsense words are currently more uninspired in radio-pop (Bruno Mars, Train, etc) than at any point since probably the 1950’s. However, the “whoa’s” in this song are completely necessary. This is the sound of hell yelling at the heavens, a salute to the nights that will change everything, whether they’re tomorrow or years from now.


| #100 - 91 | #90 - 81 | #80 - 71 | #70 - 61 | #60 - 51 |
| #50 - 41 | #40 - 31 | #30 - 21 | #20 - 11 | #10 - 1 |

Hot Mix 2012: #20 to 11

Almost done...

Hot Mix 2012 on Spotify

| #100 - 91 | #90 - 81 | #80 - 71 | #70 - 61 | #60 - 51 |
| #50 - 41 | #40 - 31 | #30 - 21 | #20 - 11 | #10 - 1 |

20. Frank Ocean featuring Earl Sweatshirt “Super Rich Kids”
Rich Kids don't give a fuck. Daddy buys them more xany for gnashin and more jaguars for joyrides. They don't know who their real friends are, and they don't care. Until one day they realize they want dat "real love." And suddenly their life doesn't seem all that super rich anymore. The piano chords emulate the second-hand on a giant grandfather clock while the rich kids fill their time with “white lies and white lines” and “bottles of wine they can’t pronounce.” And yet despite the incredibly slow BPM, "Super Rich Kids" is still somehow the most fun-sounding song on Channel Orange. Unlike Earl Sweatshirt, Frank Ocean never had an “immature” era prior to his initial 2011 breakthrough. An important part of Odd Future’s marketing seemed built around the excitement of youthfulness. Two years later, Frank and Earl’s levels of wisdom seem decently matched; they’re confused about the future and contemplative, desperate for answers but not receiving any.
| Youtube |

19. Ringo Deathstarr “Slack”
Does RDS build their own pedals? Some of the guitar tones on Mauve seem specific to this album, especially the crunch in the bass tones. We also couldn't help but notice how this aggressiveness came at a price, as we've been missing their spacey ballads, like the ones we loved so much from 2011's Colour Trip. Although this sudden brutality hasn’t removed their knack for strong vocal hooks, especially in “Slack” with “do you feel how I feel inside?” as the adolescent singalong. We normally associate “slack” with the ’93-era trifecta of “Creep,” “Loser” and “Undone - The Sweater Song,” but the "Slack" mentioned by RDS may suggest some double entendre. It's way too exciting to notice any application of true “slack” aesthetic. This frenzy also helped them earn a few weeks of shows with Smashing Pumpkins, meeting a whole new audience of young people for feeding their adrenaline injections. Team Ringo 4ever.
| Youtube |

18. Cloud Nothings “Cut You”
“Cut You” seems to have been unfortunately shadowed by Japandroids “The House that Heaven Built” as the most popular recent song to follow the lineage that peaked with Foo Fighters’ “Everlong” and albums from The Promise Ring and Jimmy Eat World. We’re happy as fuck that great songs like this could exist in 2012 without the presence of the dreaded emo-whine. Dylan Baldi's vocal delivery is exactly what the song needed to give it a modern context, ascending far above any recent singles from those who still can receive top-billing at Warped Tour or Bamboozle. Also keep in mind that “Cut You” is not as good of a one-song representation of Attack On Memory as “No Future No Past” or “Stay Useless” or “Wasted Days.” But from where we stand, it's the most crucial album track.
| Youtube |

17. JEFF The Brotherhood “Dark Energy”
Passing through Nashville two or three weeks ago for a house show, we noticed a difference in the air. It felt so germy and dirty. We got into a conversation with one of the bands who played that night (Nameless Cults) who informed us that JEFF were essentially the reason why the city’s DIY-scene currently exists, set in place over the past 10 years. More importantly, Nashville is also the city that spawned Gummo, a connection that has given JEFF’s music and the brothers themselves an unexpectedly deep contextual layer. Prior to January 2013, we were under the impression that JEFF the Brotherhood were simply humorless bastards, whereas now, we’ve grown to understand their environment. The murkiness in songs like “Dark Energy” makes more sense than ever. Forgive us for this explanation, but “sludge dildo up the ass” was written in our notes regarding the dissonance of the Sleep-influenced (stoner metal) guitar-riff. And while we’d love to ignore this dirty, sexual description, we’re having trouble thinking of a better one. Lyrically, the chorus may be alluding to a few different things: Swallowing a pill just before realizing you may not be able to handle the effects; Predicting that a devouring and debilitating type of depression may be in your near future; That guy from Gummo who says “Suicide’s the only way out.”
| Youtube |

16. Nicki Minaj featuring 2 Chainz and God “Beez In The Trap”
Yes, that’s correct, God Himself (uncredited at special request) supplies the finger-snaps on this song, recorded from the center of the Grand Canyon. He was only able to snap that one time, and then they just looped it, because you know, He’s God. He’s got a busy schedule. We’ve heard speculation on the meaning of the song’s title from several different sources:
- #1 “I be’s in the trap,” meaning she is physically in the trap, with the “trap” referring to the spot where crazy drug deals take place, often goin’ ham.
- #2 “I’m ‘bees in the trap’.” She is mentally going crazy inside of her own brain. Her head is her own trap, and her brain is buzzing like crazy bees. Possibly because she’s naturally just like that, or possibly she’s having a rough day, or possibly she’s playing a character who’s on coke. (We know she doesn’t use coke, so “playing a character” is the best we can do here.)
- #3 According to the website rap genius, “’Bees in the trap’ is also an old saying that means getting or to have everything (money or otherwise) and then some.”
- #4 All of the above.
| Youtube |

15. Now, Now “Prehistoric”
The best non-Japandroids rock ballad of 2012, "Prehistoric" includes all the same power jangle and spaciousness as a few debut singles we loved in the early 2000's: "Run" from Snow Patrol, and "Yellow" from Coldplay - great songs, but guilty pleasures nonetheless. "Prehistoric" sounds similarly influenced by The Bends, Jeff Buckley and The Verve, but with a bottom layer of synthesizers evoking moonlit scenarios and adolescent tension. It's not just simply nostalgic-sounding (literally pre-historic), but also very much digging at the present moment. They've strangely become an "Alternative Press" type of rock band, but we could see this easily crossing over for those who enjoy Top 40, underground pop and indie flavors.
| Youtube |

14. Japandroids “Continuous Thunder”
With apologies to Now, Now, we've made it to "2012's hugest rock ballad." Those fireworks sound like they’re isolated in the distance, similar to "Prehistoric" in summoning the celebration of life through nostalgia. We grew accustomed to the range of celebrations Japandroids presented throughout their 2008-2010 output, so we were surprised hearing the enormity of Celebration Rock. Japandroids may have outdone themselves in department of “grandiose,” leaving themselves with a few options:
- #1 They might continue along this path for LP3, undertaking more of the Springsteen/Arcadefire singed avenues that sparked from 2010’s “Younger Us.” This would not surprise anyone, since it earned them pretty high acclaim over the past year.
- Or #2 A return to the anthemic-punk-rock they only vaguely touched within “Young Hearts Spark Fire," “Heart Sweats” and “Art Czars.”
- Or even better, #3 a full exploration of the expansive and spacy drones from “I Quit Girls” and “Heavenward Grand Prix.” If the big huge finale of “Continuous Thunder” presents nothing else, it’s open-endedness.



13. Grass Is Green “Panera”
Over their three LP’s and various non-album tracks, Grass Is Green has only occasionally played with standard verse-chorus structure, with “Panera” now standing as the most impressive example. We hear its meticulous arrangement and songwriting as Ronson’s would-be hit single, easily as catchy as similarly abrasive jam-outs from At The Drive In or Jimmy Eat World while packing just as much pummel. But the performance itself is really what makes this one special. The highway-speed-chase blasts through multiple brick walls in the song’s second half, especially those 2 or 3 moments when rhythm section bros Mike and Jesse start banging the fuck out of their instruments over some delicately placed sustained guitar feedback and squeaky pitch-pedal screams. Oh yeah, also the Panera/Pantera jokes were old back in like 2004. Get with it.


12. Beak> “The Gaol”
Not sure what to make of this one... Imagining all the most claustrophobic and paranoid scenarios still don’t match up to the synthetic eeriness of “The Gaol” (also known as “The Gaul” for Spotify listeners). Creeping spirits manifesting to a new host? Dinosaur porno? Some sort of musical note is discovered that turns everything into Claymation? Tell ‘em Large Marge sent ya? Travelling through a black hole, witnessing a first-hand account of the fourth dimension? “The Gaol” is an otherworldly jam that sets the tone for everything else on Beak>’s second LP. We’re pumped as hell that music publications like SPIN have been praising it among this year’s most kickass.


11. Miguel “Adorn”
When Barry and Levon's reunion tour happens, "Adorn" is the only other jam that could possibly fit in their repertoire. It's kind of impossible to describe this song without the inevitable “Sexual Healing” comparison, but who can deny Miguel's palpable excitement for showing his lady friend what’s up? (Like, literally up.) 20 seconds in when he sings “Can’t wait to taste your skin,” he's not talking about Season 3 of Walking Dead. (See what we did there?) The original version of “Adorn” appeared in February 2012 on a 3-song mini-mixtape called Art Dealer Chic Vol. 1 clocking in at 2:18. The version that kicks off Kaleidoscope Dream adds an additional minute, including a hugely understated bridge section. Both versions sound equally complete. It didn’t need the additional minute, but the option is available for those unable to deny that extra layer of glaze. (We're so filthy today.) P.S. Nom’d for a “Record Of The Year” Grammy that it most definitely will not win, and just recently spent week 20 atop Billboard’s R&B chart.



Hot Mix 2012 on Spotify

| #100 - 91 | #90 - 81 | #80 - 71 | #70 - 61 | #60 - 51 |
| #50 - 41 | #40 - 31 | #30 - 21 | #20 - 11 | #10 - 1 |

Hot Mix 2012: #30 to 21

Fuck. Okay, we had to get in at least one more page before the end of Jan. We fucked up. The rest is all written but unposted. We are lazy fuckers. Let's make it happen.

Hot Mix 2012 on Spotify

| #100 - 91 | #90 - 81 | #80 - 71 | #70 - 61 | #60 - 51 |
| #50 - 41 | #40 - 31 | #30 - 21 | #20 - 11 | #10 - 1 |

30. KW Griff featuring Pork Chop “Bring In The Katz”
This guy REALLY wants to bring in the katz. We’re assuming the vocalist is Pork Chop, who sounds suspiciously similar to DJ Kool in “Let Me Clear My Throat” or Sagat in “Funk Dat.” The song begins with KW Griff’s new jack swing throwback beats, while Pork Chop assumes “they’re ready,” although after the katz are brought in, he retracts, saying it’s actually too much for them. Towards the middle, Pork Chop calls out those who “already know” what’s happening, including Miss Peaches and Kay Swift among many others. We have no idea who these people are, but apparently they know. But as listeners, do we know? By the time the song is over, we might know, but we also might not know. Perhaps one day, we will all know.
| Youtube |

29. Mr. Dream “Fatherland”
Everything we want to say about “Fatherland” has pretty much already been said in our “Believing and Shitting” entry, but we’ll try our best. The vocal delay, stabbing guitar tones and dissonance are set in place here just as effectively as on the EP’s 5 other outstanding tracks, although Fatherland’s eponymous screamer is its only moment that could have been on Faith No More’s Angel Dust. Its vocal performance similarly combines the best elements of both John Lydon and Mike Patton, two of rock’s most confrontational and artistically challenging lead singers who have actually scored MTV hits. (“Rise” and “Epic,” respectfully.) While we're unsure what the lyrics are about, we've somehow associated the term “fatherland” with its prominent usage on In Living Color’s “Lassie ‘90” sketch. Any actual political connotations shot over our heads.
| Soundcloud |

28. Animal Collective “Today’s Supernatural”
Centipede Hz is Animal Collective’s Back to the Future Part 2. The record presents an alternate version of what direction AC could’ve taken following 2005’s Feels and 2007’s Strawberry Jam. It still follows the “childhood memories drug flashback” theme that underlines their entire catalog, but takes it in a different direction than what evolved into 2009’s hugely acclaimed Merriweather Post Pavillion. MPP was hugely overrated, while Centipede is hugely underrated, splitting the difference of their relatively equal value. They’re both right around 8.7 out of 10. And we understand this to be a highly unpopular opinion, but if y’all don’t like it, y’all can bounce. Like seriously... We’re not sure how songs like "Today's Supernatural" or "Applesauce" are considered any worse than “Grass” or “Peacebone.” They're fucking awesome. GTFO with your bad attitudes.
| Soundcloud |

27. Solange “Losing You”
We tend to favor songs with handclaps, although the claps in “Losing You” strangely do not encourage clapping along. A sample of a “female shriek” also appears in every measure, similar to the one in Janet Jackson’s “Alright.” The success of Solange’s EP seem far more reliant on those same pop elements that assisted Janet’s late-80’s output, as opposed to traditional R&B. It seems wrong to label “Losing You” (or Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange for that matter) as part of the current “movement” of “hipster-friendly R&B” described by SPIN and Pitchfork and like 500 other online music publications. We’re also noticing that Solange’s words are not especially deep, and the compelling nature of “Losing You” has more to do with her presence and Dev Hynes’ production. We hear Twin Peaks in the ominous synth outro (a TV show which premiered during the same era as Rhythm Nation 1814). Chill vibes.
| Soundcloud |

26. Cloud Nothings “Fall In”
Remember in “Bart the Murderer” when Bart’s having a bad day and ends up stumbling down the stairs into Fat Tony’s “Legitimate Businessman’s Club?” The chorus of “Fall In” remind us of that cartoonish “stumbling” (the kind that doesn’t break anyone’s neck) with its strange beat placements and bizarre drum pattern. Even though it’s easy to place the beats during the verses and bridge, the “fall in, fall in” chorus still fucks with us every time. Dylan Baldi’s roughness and strain during the verses are present throughout the majority of Attack On Memory. But we hear its bridge section as the key to this song: “Nothing left for you to use” sung quietly and thus more affectingly than possibly any other section of the album, over four bars of sustained Cmaj7 chords. “Fall In” also never resolves to the dominant chord (if we’re hearing it correctly) suggesting a sense of frustration that accompanies the inability to accept lack of closure.
| Youtube |

25. Josh Homme “Nobody To Love”
New Justin Timb, new Destiny’s Child, new My Bloody Valentine, new Pixies... Well that’s all fine and good, but news like this means nothing without confirmation that the songs will be worth hearing. If it’s been 5 years or longer, how can we be assured anymore? Between ’97 and 2007, the 10 volumes of Desert Sessions helped in satisfying Queens junkies between their 2-year album gaps. And so far, Desert Sessions tracks have been reinterpreted on every Queens album. (Them Crooked Vultures left us unimpressed in 2009. We’ve been told they were far more interesting live than on CD.) However, in Fall of 2012 a song credited to solo-Homme called “Nobody To Love” crept its way onto a few Youtube accounts. Its only authorized appearance was in the closing credits of some Hollywood movie called End of Watch. It's not included on the soundtrack CD, nor for purchase on iTunes or any free downloads from music blogs. Mysterious! Just what exactly is going on here? Well, call us crazy, but we wouldn’t be surprised if this were an early version of a song that’s slated to appear on the new Queens album. And if this one song is any indication, we should be pumped as fuck. Josh’s vocals sound just as cool as they ever did. That guttural, grimy bass line, and the sick bridge section... We miss Queens’ sick bridge sections. Get excited.
| Youtube |

24. Nicki Minaj “Come On A Cone”
This is the one where Nicki Minaj sucks her own dick for three minutes, straight-up announcing mid-song “I’m not masturbatin’, but I’m feelin’ myself.” Yeah, no shit. Lame boasts need to be earned, but if anyone deserves them at the moment, Nicki is that chick. Over the past ten years, it wasn’t uncommon to hear of hiphop fans unable to respect the current state of the lamestream, recalling the days when workaholics like James Brown could be correctly regarded as “the hardest working man in show business.” But if there’s anything we’ve learned about weirdo starlets like Nicki Minaj and Lady Gaga, it’s that they’ve worked incredibly hard to achieve their status. So anyway... Forget everything we just said, because this song is so fucking bizarre that it literally could have been about any topic and still would’ve landed in our top 30. As if the sweetly sung “dick in your face, put my dick in your face, e-yea” on its own wasn’t enough. If Roman Reloaded had been trimmed of all the crap, reduced to its 10-12 best jams, we would be re-considering album of the year.
| Soundcloud |

23. Grass Is Green “Somebody’s Something”
Grass Is Green throws a curveball with a song that mentions throwing a baseball. Coincidence? Arguably the centerpiece of Ronson, the uncharacteristically spacious ballad “Somebody’s Something” may be one of those somber “key to the album” moments we’ve noticed on other third albums over the past decade. It’s never intentional, but The Strokes’ “Ask Me Anything” and No Age’s “Common Heat” are among our favorite examples. (“How Near How Far” from Trail of Dead’s third album is a more sonically apt musical comparison, and one of our favorite songs ever, but not quite as spacious or any more solemn than the rest of Source Tags and Codes.) The unexpected space hides its complexities, deceivingly presenting itself as less bizarre and more straightforward than the rest of Ronson. (After dozens of listens, we still haven’t figured out where the measures or time-signature would be placed.) This also may be the song where Alex Prieto’s engineering is at its most vulnerable, displaying a successful evasion of excessive digital gloss heard too often from rock albums in the 2010's, especially from those recently tagged as "90’s-revivalists" like Yuck, Metz and The Men. Ronson instead opts for an analog-sounding production value more congruent with Unwound, Drive Like Jehu or Polvo, made all the more surprising by its pairing with progressively modern songwriting.
| Soundcloud |

22. Big Freedia “Booty-Whop”
“BENDITOVERBENDITOVERBENDITOVER.” Nothing in this great big world seems to make Big Freedia happier than a club (or basement, or college dorm) full of party animals (usually chicks) bent over at the waste and waving their huge asses up in the air, with the option of cheek slaps, either from the bender or by a close friend or loved one. Azz everywhere. You know like when the skin jiggles and there’s a wave and it goes “blub blub blub.” That visual is emulated throughout “Booty-Whop.” The relentless excitement of this song turned out to be unexpectedly addictive. In one specific moment, Big Freedia sings “whoaaaa-oa” and then later in the song, the exact off-pitch “whoaaaa-oa” appears a second time, fun as fuck for singing along. In our humble opinions, this is the defining moment in Freedia’s huge catalog of bangers. P.S. HUGE GOOD NEWS: Big Freedia reality show coming soon. (The bad news: It's on Fuse.)
| Youtube |

21. Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti “Mature Themes”
Dan Fogelberg's bad acid trip. Attention to detail appears in elements like the Moog synths, and especially the subtly abrupt fadeout, fitting the song within 2:50 and securing rotation on bizarro AM stations circa 1976. The album lays out its paradoxes more plainly than on 2010’s Before Today. The title track of Mature Themes is sung with an especially silly rhythm, while the themes within his self-referential lyrics are notably less-than-silly. He refers to his age, 35, and his height, 5’4, so he's probably referring to himself. He says “I want it to be true,” but at this point, will Ariel Pink ever be able to display absolute sincerity? This justifies his revivalist nature, borrowing the sounds and spirit of earnest mid-70’s singer-songwriters to say the opposite of what everyone assumes he’s saying, flipping the irony backwards. A sort of reverse meta-irony is his only remaining option for speaking his mind, so that he can mask his honesty. He’s actually not kidding when he sings “I want it to be good” over and over again. “Good,” the most general positive adjective that exists. Not “great” or “amazing.” He knows he can’t provide such things right now. But he can at least strive for “good.”
| Youtube |

Hot Mix 2012 on Spotify

| #100 - 91 | #90 - 81 | #80 - 71 | #70 - 61 | #60 - 51 |
| #50 - 41 | #40 - 31 | #30 - 21 | #20 - 11 | #10 - 1 |

Hot Mix 2012: #40 to 31

We wish this was finished. The hell that OCD puts us through is so uncool. We just don't want to do this anymore. We want to play videogames. We want to watch SVU. We want to smoke pounds of weed and do nothing on a Sunday night. But we can't. Instead, we do Hot Mix 2012. Because we are slaves within our own bodies. No control whatsoever. Someone please help. This is torture. The writing in these blurbs isn't even good. It's downright embarrassing. God, make it stop. Please.

Hot Mix 2012 on Spotify

| #100 - 91 | #90 - 81 | #80 - 71 | #70 - 61 | #60 - 51 |
| #50 - 41 | #40 - 31 | #30 - 21 | #20 - 11 | #10 - 1 |

40. Japandroids “The House That Heaven Built”
“They’re old stuff is better” is a subjective statement typically associated with too-cool-for-school “hipster” types. However, our extreme devotion to Japandroids’ 2009 LP Post-Nothing and the three non-album singles that followed in 2010 were destined to lead us to slight disappointment. One of those three a-sides (“Younger Us”) appears on their 2012 LP Celebration Rock, and it’s still our favorite song on this album. We may be alone in assessing it as a slight drop in quality. Post-Nothing and those 3 singles were all recorded in 2008/2009, when Brian and David had no clue that their band might become their full-time job. The resulting effortlessness shone in moments such as the lazy sludge-jam “Crazy/Forever,” which repeats the same 2 lines of lyrics over and over for six minutes, and the urgent vocal delivery in “Sovereignty.” “It’s raining in Vancouver, and I don’t give a fuck, ‘cause I’m far from home tonight." Youth is effortless. Being in love is effortless. Being alive is effortless. Celebration Rock still exudes these same ideas, except their flow has been supplanted by earnest heavy-handedness. But despite our super-fan opinions, Japandroids may have cornered the market for the critical consensus of “rock single of the year” with “The House that Heaven Built,” a song that sounds way more like an emo-grunge version of The Arcade Fire than anything they’ve released so far. And besides, the album is still full of great songs, with “The House that Heaven Built” specifically containing probably the most quotably awesome chorus of the year. Expect its arrival in more than a few high school yearbooks come June 2013.


39. Todd Terje “Inspector Norse”
Post-high school teens who like Cut Copy and Robyn and 80’s dance shit are into this song (apparently) as we learned not long ago when some kids who fit this description kept us up very late listening to jams such as these. From the floor above, we could decipher that one teen wasn’t into "Inspector Norse" as much as the rest, and switched it to a different song, leading 3 or 4 kids to immediately shout things over the 2-second silence such as “awww” and “heyyy” and “what the fuuuuck,” bummed out that their jam had been vetoed. “Inspector Norse” isn't a radio hit per se, but at least certain pockets of youth culture are enjoying it. Like Caribou’s “Sun” from a couple years back, it reminds us of the type of jams that used to be on MTV’s Amp. We love the bridge section’s towering largeness compared to the playfulness of the returning theme-section that follows. The song continues for over 6 minutes, but could have been just as effective stretched-out for twice that length.
| Soundcloud |

38. Red Dwarf “Magic Missile”
The catchiness, the angular tension, the gratuitous profanity, and the scream-along choruses on Red Dwarf’s lone full length - a posthumous 22-song release titled Tell Your Parents You Want Ballz This Christmas - found its way under our skin during the Spring of 2012, unfortunately not long after witnessing one of their final few shows. It’s been years since we’ve discovered a band able to use sloppiness to such grand effect, while simultaneously jam-packing so many earworms into such an enormous sprawling collection. Despite the number of songs, nothing whatsoever about Red Dwarf suggests “trying too hard,” a huge component of what makes them so compelling. “Magic Missile” (the song we used to refer to as “that one with the cool harmonics”) turned out to be the earworm that got stuck most often. Ultimately, we ended up preferring the 2011 EP’s version because of the delivery of the word “fuck” during the breakdown section. Also, they’re yet another band (like those mentioned in our Hooking Up blurb) who got us psyched but then ultimately split before the year’s end. In this case however, an intense light at the end of the tunnel is shone by Butter The Children, a similarly aggressive, far dreamier and more pop-based quartet formed by two of Red Dwarf’s members over the past year. Signs are pointing towards their 2013 full-length as among our most anticipated releases.


37. And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead “Bright Young Things”
This is probably not the case, but have these guys been listening to Isn’t Anything? We hear the punch from some of those 80’s My Bloody Valentine tracks like “Feed Me With Your Kiss” or “Nothing Much To Lose” covered by Zen Arcade-era Husker Du. “Bright Young Things” and the majority of Lost Songs are probably their best shit since 2003’s “Crowning of a Heart” (and more in tune with the sound of that era than anything they’ve released since). It’s great to hear that they’ve been able to tap back into the artistic explosions heard on their first three albums. We know they have more new awesome songs like this waiting to be unleashed. Trail of Dead is back. Praise the lord.
| Youtube |

36. King Tuff “Swamp of Love”
Imagine Marc Bolan reincarnated, except entirely American, and without the devoted following of teenagers, and slightly more introverted. This is what a lot of King Tuff’s self-titled sounded like to us. Unsung highlight “Swamp of Love” executes some of the same relaxed perfectionism heard on The Slider - going as far as to include spot-on Flo & Eddie style backing vocals – and injecting a personalized center that’s entirely Kyle Thomas. T.Rex is one of those bands like Nirvana that hundreds-of-thousands have unsuccessfully attempted to emulate, unable to realize that guys like Bolan and Cobain were skilled experts at writing the types of songs that made it sound like anyone could do it. King Tuff is the first band since Burning Brides (whose last good release was about 10 years ago) to get our attention by actually matching the serious skills of one of his most obvious influences. “Swamp of Love” got our attention for being this album’s grandest statement, building and climaxing at all the perfect moments. Bolan would have approved.
| Soundcloud |

35. Tame Impala “Keep On Lying”
Sounds like someone tried to make a radio edit out of one of those psychedelic 60’s jams that took up an entire album side, like “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” or probably something by Vanilla Fudge, except the edits didn’t fall in the most expected radio-friendly places. It fades in only two minutes before the solo section (the part of the song everyone wants to hear anyway) and then fading out almost immediately after the singing section returns. The crucial vocal parts not only establish the catchy vocal melody, but also plainly establish the theme, stating the frustration and guilt that coincides with a relationship built around lies, destined to crumble. The psych-out section then slowly progresses under a bizarre dominant laugh-track. It’s not like when Janet Jackson giggles or the creepy belly-laughs on Dark Side of the Moon. As they appear between bits of whispered inaudible conversation, it becomes fittingly difficult to determine whether these laughs are genuine. A climax arrives around the 4-minute mark when a second unexpected guitar solo appears, suspiciously similar to the cathartic back-and-forth stabs heard from John Lennon’s solo in “Yer Blues.” All the while, the laughter and conversation persist, confusion and guilt continue building... It’s only a matter of time.
| Youtube |

34. Kitty Pryde “Okay Cupid”
Remove oneself from the idea that “Okay Cupid” is “rap” or “hiphop” but instead exists in and of itself. The sample sounds like one of the warped and possibly backwards-spun outro sections from Loveless, trippy as hell, and truly unique within this context. The non-dancey-sounding drums exist only to establish a sense of rhythm, which is then (seemingly) ignored by Kitty Pryde, who chooses a vocal-rhythm that might just barely line-up. Her style of “rapping” isn't really comparable to anyone else we've heard in the past. Her voice, dialect, delivery and the song’s subject matter work wonders to piss off purists unable to fathom the idea of the blogosphere’s brief infatuation with something that’s actually fresh and different. Yeah, she sounds like a privileged, suburban, millennial, materialistic valley chick. But we don't think it's really HER. We think she's playing a character (since in a different song called "Justin Bieber," she claims to be a 13-year-old, when in reality she's actually surpassed voting age). Her shockingly effective delivery arrives with an unexpected layer of depth thanks to her soft-spoken demeanor. Her immature, childish and carefree words are not in touch with the obnoxiousness that many female rappers tend to use as a crutch for attention, while the trippiness of her sample-choices suggest buried self-awareness. She may not yet know how smart she is. P.S. People got pissed about Kitty Pryde because cute chicks with freckles aren't supposed to get people's attention through music, or something. This took place for about two weeks in May of 2012. By September, she was pretty much forgotten. So no harm done. Her haters jumped the gun. Take a chill pill.


33. Batcave “Stereovision”
Another band we were lucky enough to catch only weeks before their last performance, Batcave’s sparse gothic-punk stood out for us the most after hearing the crunching dissonance in the opening chords of “Stereovision.” We’re not sure if their normal lineup included a dude who just stood there shaking things, but he was there for this show. Also they possibly pushed each other over at the end of the set. At any rate, we were bummed as hell to learn of their split not long afterwards. Up the upside, they stuck together long enough to grace us all with one of the year’s best releases.


32. Miguel “Gravity”
2012 kicked ass because it’s finally looking like some newer and far more talented singers are arriving who can finally push douchebags like Chris Brown out of the spotlight. We were also happy to notice an upsurge of non-album tracks filling up this year’s Hot Mix. We didn’t expect any of these to be from R&B geniuses, and yet here we are. Miguel kicked off the year with a series of 3 mini-mixtapes titled Art Dealer Chic, Volumes 1, 2 and 3. Volume 1 concluded with “Gravity,” one of his grooviest and grittiest sex-jams, and probably his most immediately enjoyable head-nodding intro section, as opposed the majority of the Kaleidoscope Dream LP’s grower-tracks that start to sound their best around the 15-20th listen. In this respect, “Gravity” was best left as a standalone jam, although it’s a shame that more people won’t get to hear it. (Edit: Turns out “Gravity” actually was included on the CD, but it was only available on a limited-edition version that you had to buy at Target or something. LAME.)


31. Toro Y Moi “So Many Details”
Did anything else from this album get released yet? Would it be out of line to label this as Toro Y Moi’s best song to date? It’s gotten us psyched as hell to hear the rest of his new stuff. “So Many Details” is probably the best single from the “chillwave” subgenre since Neon Indian’s last LP. We’re not even sure if anyone refers to this type of music as “chillwave” anymore, but from what we can recall, it started getting heavily recognized around the summer of 2009 as dudes and chicks who record by themselves exclusively using analog recording technology. Three years later, analog is probably more commonplace and less bizarre than it used to seem. If it exists as an option, why not use it? Why should it have to be condemned simply because of nostalgic fashion-dummies giving it a bad name? It still provides the same refreshing sense of warmth not heard within digital technology. And plus, it's hugely affordable. 6-packs of cassettes are still available at CVS for under $5. Analog also provides no risk of hard-drive failure. It’s a simpler medium that’s easier to salvage. “A look back on simpler times” is an unfortunate common underlining theme of hipster preference, but sometimes the canvas looks better within a different medium.
| Soundcloud |

| Continue to Page 3 |

Hot Mix 2012 on Spotify

| #100 - 91 | #90 - 81 | #80 - 71 | #70 - 61 | #60 - 51 |
| #50 - 41 | #40 - 31 | #30 - 21 | #20 - 11 | #10 - 1 |

Hot Mix 2012: #50 to 41

Hot Mix 2012 on Spotify

| #100 - 91 | #90 - 81 | #80 - 71 | #70 - 61 | #60 - 51 |
| #50 - 41 | #40 - 31 | #30 - 21 | #20 - 11 | #10 - 1 |

50. Spree Wilson “Right One, Wrong Time”
The summery hits of Ghost Town DJ’s, INOJ and KP & Envyi are among over most very favorite jams that have ever existed. Spree Wilson’s forthcoming Life in Technicolor EP is the only release we can recall within the past 10 years specifically citing these as an influence, and if “Right One, Wrong Time” is any indication, the others will be sounding authentic as fuck. The lyrics match this tone perfectly, and not by including kitchy 1997-centric phrases like “raise the roof” or “talk to the hand,” but rather by opting for a more heartfelt form of nostalgia, recalling moments when we simply weren’t prepared for a huge opportunity and recalling the past with bittersweet regret. If Amerie’s “Why R U?” from 2009 or Kanye’s Bieber/Wu-Tang mashup from 2010 have been any indication, songs like those on Life in Technicolor stand no chance whatsoever of charting, an unfortunate fate for one our favorite new dance artists of 2012. Perhaps the EP’s remaining 2 or 3 unleaked jams will yield irresistibly melodic catchiness. We can only hope.
| Soundcloud |

49. R. Kelly “When A Man Lies”
R. Kelly's been bad. He's not proud of it, and he's having some trouble training himself to break his bad habits. But at least he can try to warn others of falling into the trap. “I’m just tellin’ the truth.” The subject of “trust” and “Truth” is nothing new in the world of R&B, but no one’s lying to themselves by admitting how hard he kills the vocal performance here, on a deep album track of all places. (We're pretty sure this isn't a radio single.) Discovered in the lower portion of Charles Aaron’s “Top 40 Songs of 2012” for SPIN, "When a Man Lies" is a great example of the "classic" sounding R&B jams that somehow creep their way into our Hot Mix year after year, like last year's Jill Scott/Anthony Hamilton inclusion, or various tracks from Ne-Yo since 2007. Editorials from SPIN or Pitchfork labeling 2012 as a banner year for R&B aren’t far off the mark, although it’s not like this genre’s had nothing of merit from the past five years. Great songs like "When a Man Lies" aren't going anywhere.
| Soundcloud |

48. Broken Water “Coming Down”
If there's a song on Tempest that removes any doubt of Broken Water’s admiration of Sonic Youth, “Coming Down” is that jam. Previous recordings might not have made this as obvious, but this time around, vocals and guitar tones are distinctly influenced by Thurston Moore, although the theme and subject matter appear to be more direct and human than most of SY’s themes. The vocals are buried, although the lyric “fuckin’ up everything I touch” rises to the surface. Frustration builds throughout the song, which becomes more unbearable as the song progressives into one of the most effective usages of a stretched-out crescendo since Pulp’s “Common People.”
| Youtube |

47. The Antlers “Zelda”
Calm, alone, in a cage, on antibiotics. The gradual build of layers in “Zelda” seems very simple at first, but as the small floating dot ascends closer, it reveals itself to be a somewhat monsterous and freakishly gorgeous (or gorgeously freakish) wonder of complexities. We took a field trip last September to a church temple where The Antlers performed this song (and several others) which is probably the best possible type of venue for these guys. Huge dark rooms filled with bibles and Christian imagery - pretty much the perfect setting for these types of bands. We know a lot of fans hugely rep for Hospice, but the Undersea EP is their best shit so far, and good enough to get us VERY excited for what they might have in store for 2013.
| Youtube |

46. Mac Demarco “Robson Girl”
While the vague minimalist lyrics in “Robson Girl” suggest an intentionally cryptic message, its music seems far more direct. A screaming chaotic guitar solo lies in the center of this jam, but without the intense distortion that would be typical on a song from Nirvana or Spoon. It’s not so much a cathartic release, but instead it’s more of a “shaking my head” type of moment. A youtube comment describes “Robson” as a high-end shopping and entertainment district in Vancouver, although it seems like Mac Demarco’s subject is closer to the girl John Lennon sang about in “Girl” than the subject of “Uptown Girl” or “Gangnam Style.” Another possible key to opening this song appears during its fadeout when Demarco’s voice says “that’s a wrap” with a tone similar to Slaughterhouse Five's “so it goes.” We believe this was placed in the song purposely, not as an afterthought but rather to suggest the acceptance of “it’s over,” or “giving up,” or “nothing more can be done to remedy this situation.”
| Youtube |

45. Beak> “Ladies Mile”
In case you guys missed it, the Mars Rover just tweeted yesterday that “Ladies Mile” is one of his favorite songs to listen to while perusing, observing and reporting those mysterious foreign landscapes. Beak> heard of this news and just finished recording a 6-hour long remix to be played at the Rover on repeat for the next two years.


44. Dinosaur Jr “Recognition”
Most of what we could say about “Recognition” was already stated in our blurb for “Rude,” the other Lou Barlow song from I Bet On Sky. We’re about 99.8% positive that no one from Dinosaur Jr will ever read this, so it probably wouldn’t be so horrible to admit that two of our three favorite songs from this album were the Barlow tracks, with the third song being the jammy closing track “See It On Your Side.” Also in the department of “filler info” (info that mostly exists to fill up the blurb so that the picture to the right can fit un-awkwardly), we were informed that Mascis normally enjoys front-loading Dinosaur albums, placing his favorites on Side A, which we found interesting since two of our 3 favorite songs were tracks 9 and 10. Patchiness aside, they’re not only one of the best bands in the world right now, but also among the best EVER. Top 20, at least. And we’re psyched as hell that their reunion has lasted this long, hopefully continuing even further into the future.
| Youtube |

43. Miguel “Do You...”
Originally titled “Drugs,” a bummer “radio version” was recently altered to say “do you like love?” SO LAME. Once upon a time, Huey Lewis was allowed to sing “I Want A New Drug” on MTV and radio and have it convey the exact same message. Love is the drug. What’s so hard for people to understand? “Have you ever felt alone? Do you still believe in love?” Obviously this guy’s singing about smoking crack, popping pills and shooting smack. I mean obviously. Let’s censor the fuck out of probably the sweetest love song of 2012 because some dumb Christian-right douchebag might hear it and complain that his dumbass wife will get the wrong message. At least “Do you like hugs?” was left intact. (P.S. The lyric “Do you like hugs” rules so super hard.) Awesome video too. We’re psyched as hell that it’s actually getting airplay on VH1, although bummed it hasn't been charting as well as “Adorn.” Combining 80’s synth-guitar with Timbaland-style drumbeats. "I'm gonna do you like drugs tonight" conflicts with that line from Trainspotting where the chick claims her heroin is "better than any fucking cock in the world," so clearly Miguel has some serious magic action to attend. This shit is so perfect. We love Miguel.
| Soundcloud |

42. Jai Paul “Jasmine (Demo)”
Up until the blogs and publications reveal their year-end results, we really have no clue what songs are considered critics’ favorites. “Jasmine” is apparently this type of jam, which took us by surprise if only because this mysterious Jai Paul dude has a discography that currently contains only two songs released over the span of three years, although the murkiness and depth of this song yields more space and infectiousness than most bands are able to cram into a 40-minute full length. At first we heard “Jasmine” as an R&B version of Junior Boys with an “accidentally” catchy vocal melody submerged DEEP, with sick usage of handclaps as an added bonus. Around the 12th or 15th listen, we started hearing this as the hangover from a super-dark all-night coke session. Back in 2009, Cosmic Hearse posted the Wicked Witch album by labeling it as “pure uncut cocaine porno funk... sleazy compositions tweaked way past anything recognizable into a disjointed haze of freebase smoke...” We want “Jasmine” to be like this - an effortless accident - like Jai Paul woke up the next morning with no memory of recording any of this, even though in reality it was a meticulously crafted labor of love that probably took a few months to complete. And keep in mind this is merely the “demo” version. Has the definitive version been released yet?
| Soundcloud |

41. A$AP Rocky featuring 2 Chainz, Kendrick Lamar & Drake “Fuckin’ Problems”
Regarding what’s hot on the streets and what the world is feeling RIGHT FUCKING NOW, it would not at all be out of the question to label “Fuckin’ Problems” as the definitive rap jam of the moment, totally encapsulating everything that rules about modern hiphop as of January 2013 (a radio jam perfect for bouncing along during long car rides, a badass singalong chorus with the word “fuck” in it) while dishing a heaping dose of everything that completely sucks about modern hiphop (lame boasts, fake-authenticity, Drake). While it’s a slight bummer that 2 Chainz didn’t receive a verse, Kendrick’s slightly squeezed-in closing statement exudes head-nodding freshness. It’s not exactly on par with the last verse of “Mo Money Mo Problems,” but still coming closer than any other radio single of 2012.
| Soundcloud |

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Hot Mix 2012 on Spotify

| #100 - 91 | #90 - 81 | #80 - 71 | #70 - 61 | #60 - 51 |
| #50 - 41 | #40 - 31 | #30 - 21 | #20 - 11 | #10 - 1 |