Today and tomorrow Now I’ve Heard Everything will be presenting its Best Albums of 2012, with the Best Songs of 2012 to follow later. Each of those lists will be presented in two parts. Most (but not all) of the bands on the Now I’ve Heard Everything year end lists are locally based, as you would expect given NIHE’s coverage of local music.
We’ll begin with the Best Album of 2012, with the remaining records presented in alphabetical order.
Spanking Charlene – Where Are the Freaks?: Spanking Charlene’s stock in trade is a combination of rock and punk together with intelligent, often feminist lyrics. On this record, lead singer Charlene McPherson’s pristine vocals are mixed up front and with clarity and presence, while guitarist Mo Goldner provides both a snarling punk guitar and trades off leads with Eric Ambel. Where Are the Freaks? contains a generous helping of Spanking Charlene music, 14 tracks worth, clocking in at about 45 minutes. Two songs were produced by Steve Van Zandt, with the rest of the album produced by Eric Ambel. I did not hear a better straight ahead rock album this year.
Kathleen Edwards – Voyageur: This is the album that resulted from Kathleen’s divorce. The songs on it are, for the most part, reflective and introspective. But Voyageur is hardly a downer given Kathleen’s excellent songwriting and the records includes upbeat songs such as Mint and Change the Sheets. When Voyageur came out in January, I was a bit put off by the Bon Iver-ization of Kathleen’s sound. But having lived with the record for nearly a year now, I think I didn’t give it a fair chance at first. I still contend, though, that the original arrangement of Change the Sheets worked better. You can judge that for yourself here.
Harper Blynn – Busy Hands: One of the sadder moments for the live music scene in NYC was when Harper Blynn relocated from here to LA for good. But one of the best moments was when the band released this album full of wonderful pop rock songs for free. The vocals of Pete Harper and J Blynn, whether separately or together in amazing harmony, are only part of this band’s story. Whynot Jansvelt provides pulsating bass and Sarab Singh is one of the most inventive drummers in the business. Standouts here include the title track, I Think I’m Falling in Love and Sucker.
Heartless Bastards – Arrow: The first night of SXSW this year, I came across Austin’s Heartless Bastards and had one of those “oh wow” moments. The band shows that they are the real rock ‘n’ roll deal with their album Arrow. Lead singer Erika Wennerstrom leads the Heartless Bastards through a bunch of fuzz toned garage rockers, as well as a couple of quieter ballads. Erika’s rich, velvety voice makes songs like Parted Ways, Only for You and Got to Have Rock And Roll stand out.
Norah Jones – Little Broken Hearts: Norah Jones went into the studio with producer Danger Mouse (Brian Burton) with little more than a pen and some blank paper and this record is the result of that collaboration. The songs on Little Broken Hearts detail a particularly messy break up (including dueling affairs). Even though the story told through these songs is pretty much a downer, the album is never morose. Musically, the new electronic sounds introduced on this record are a continuation of the direction Norah started to move in on her previous record, The Fall. Norah works against image by including the murder ballad Miriam on this record, although she is quick to note in concert that the woman who did her wrong was not named Miriam and that no one was harmed.
Click here to see Best Albums of 2012 – Part 2.
