James Vest writesCHIRP Radio Best of 2012 (James Vest)

Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its members’ top albums of 2012. Our next list is from vounteer James Vest.

It's been a helleva year, but in the eleventh hour, I finally got to pick my Best of 2012 list. Miss all you CHIRPers, San Francisco is a strange place to be for the holidays.

1. Tame Impala - Lonerism (Modular)
   BUY: Reckless / Permanent / Insound / iTunes / eMusic
   If 2010‘s “Innerspeaker” was Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker standing on the shoulders of giants, then Lonerism reveals Parker as a giant him himself, standing on shores of psychedelic heaven. A headphone album that moves briskly through it’s tracks, shedding influences and soaring majestically from start to finish, this album made every other album released this year sound completely immaterial. Island Song: “Endors Toi”
2. Michael Kiwanuka - Home Again (Interscope)
   BUY: Reckless / Permanent / Insound / iTunes / eMusic
   In an age where everyone sounds like a tribute band, a 24 year-old Anglo-Ugandan with the voice of Bill Withers, playing sophisticated soulful jazz and folk is a long, cool drink of The Real Thing. This amazing debut album from a man who’s talent may propel him to become an Amy-Winehouse-sized sensation. Island Song: “Tell Me A Tale”
3. Thee Oh Sees - Putrifiers II (In the Red)
   BUY: Reckless / Permanent / Insound / iTunes / eMusic
   Acid-washed San Francisco garage rockers, Thee Oh Sees restrained themselves to only one release in 2012, and what they produced is an amazingly free feeling that lasts long after the music ends. Garage pop sweetness, dirges with scribbling strings, bird-wolf screamers, dial tone feedback voyages–this album will drop your mind off at the pool and pick it up again among the final rays of a warm, colorful sunset. Island Song: “Flood’s New Light”
4. Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do (Epic)
   BUY: Reckless / Permanent / Insound / iTunes / eMusic
   Powerful but austere, Fiona Apple’s all-acoustic fourth album out Kanye’s Kanye in it’s deeply personal, painfully honest portrait of an artist biting themselves and the ones around them to feed their ravenous love of their craft. Island Song: “Valentine”
5. Ty Segall - Twins (Drag City)
   BUY: Reckless / Permanent / Insound / iTunes / eMusic
   As the third Ty Segall release of 2012, many reviews pointed out Twins fails to punk as hard as Slaughterhouse or jam as free as Hair, but I argue that psych fans will rest assured that their faces will be melted by the same psych garage-pop sensibilities that makes Segall such a force to be reckoned with. If you don’t agree Twins ends the year strong, you won’t have to wait long for the next one. Island Song: “Thank God for Sinners”
6. Django Django- Django Django (Ribbon Music)
   BUY: Reckless / Permanent / Insound / iTunes / eMusic
   Fans of The Beta Band will understand my appreciation of Django Django’s debut effort. For those that have no idea who The Beta Band is, rest assured that Django Django may not last the test of time, but their like-minded pursuit to re-produce the pop magic of the Beach Boys with a modern twist is a worthy, timeless tradition–even if the participants themselves may not be as timeless. Island Song: “Hail Bop”
7. Azealia Banks- 1991 EP (Polydor)
   BUY: Reckless / Permanent / Insound / iTunes / eMusic
   Azealia Banks was another story of talent and fearlessness overshadowed by Frank Ocean’s media zeitgeist. Her foul-mouth distracts attention from her Missy-Elliott-caliber lyrical acrobatics or her unique blend of Hip-Hop MC and throwback dance beats. Frank Ocean may have been the bigger story, but Azealia Banks’ buzz this year may be a sign of what’s to come. Island Song: “212”
8. Karriem Riggins - Alone Together (Stones Throw)
   BUY: Reckless / Permanent / Insound / iTunes / eMusic
   Detroit native Karriem Riggins’ first solo effort, since producing and drumming for everyone under the sun, exchanges his J Dilla protégé status to becoming a torch-bearer, creating an instrumental beat album as intricate and pleasing as anything to come out of Detroit since Dilla’s untimely death. Island Song: “Round The Outside”
9. Dr. John - Locked Down (Nonesuch)
   BUY: Reckless / Permanent / Insound / iTunes / eMusic
   Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys produced the New Orleans legend’s latest album, and like Black Keys albums before it, “Locked Down” amplifies the past, adding modern flourishes to attract sons and daughters. With these fresh new ingredients, his signature New Orleans funk and R&B is served piping hot, spicy and delicious. Island Song: “Revelation”
10. The Funk Ark - High Noon (ESL)
    BUY: Reckless / Permanent / Insound / iTunes / eMusic
    Large funk driven ensembles like The Budos Band and Antibalas aren’t anything new, but The Funk Ark unleashed an massive afro-funk explosion that deserves recognition as this year’s best of the bunch. Island Song: “Hey Mamajo”