Listening in 2012

2012 vinyl acquisitions

A Return to Vinyl

The biggest development in music for me, in 2012, wasn’t related to a specific release or artist. I’ve been increasingly troubled by the fact that artist’s aren’t getting adequate, proportional pay for streaming services like Rdio and Spotify, so I’ve started to make a conscious effort to pay for music. I’ve been circling the new releases bin at our very fine neighbourhood record store for weeks, purchasing a couple of used records here and there, but Kara opened the floodgates by buying me the PJ Harvey record for Christmas. I forgot how much fun vinyl is, how great it sounds, and how investing money in an object makes you give it more attention and consideration.

Favourite 2012 releases

  1. Andy Stott: Luxury Problems
  2. Kendrick Lamar: Good Kid, m.a.a.d. City
  3. Actress: R.I.P.
  4. Grimes: Genesis
  5. Flying Lotus: Until The Quiet Comes
  6. Dirty Projectors: Swing Low Magellan
  7. Grizzly Bear: Shields
  8. Wild Nothing: Nocturne
  9. Bloom: Beach House
  10. Purity Ring: Shrines
  11. Julia Holter: Ekstasis
  12. Blut Aus Nord: 777: Cosmosophy
  13. Burial: Kindred EP
  14. Chromatics: Kill For Love
  15. Tame Impala: Lonerism

High rotation in 2012

  • The Roots: Undun
  • Wolves in the Throne Room: Two Hunters and Celestial Lineage
  • St. Vincent: Strange Mercy
  • PJ Harvey: Let England Shake
  • Yamantaka Sonic Titan: YT//ST
  • Prurient: Bermuda Drain
  • The Sight Below: Glider
  • Maria Callas, Giuseppe Di Stefano; Carlo Maria Giulini: Orchestra & Chorus of La Scala Milan: Verdi: La Traviata
  • Shabazz Palaces: Black Up and Shabazz Palaces EP
  • Mastodon: The Hunter
  • Kurt Vile: Smoke Ring For My Halo
  • Eric Dolphy: Out to Lunch
  • Mastodon: The Hunter
  • Anna-Sophia Mutter; Herbert Von Karajan: Berlin Philhamonic Orchestra: Brahms: Violin Concerto
  • Bill Evans: Sunday at the Village Vanguard and Explorations
  • Mobb Deep: The Infamous
  • Andy Stott: Passed Me By and We Stay Together
  • Actress: Splazsh