2012 Music Journals

[Aaron]

You know...

Would Pay Full Price and Then Some

David Crowder*Band - Give Us Rest (A Requiem Mass in C The Happiest of All Keys)
Sons - Keep Quiet
Green River Ordinance - Under Fire
Swoope - Wake Up
Howler - America Give Up

Would Pay Slightly Under Full Price

Flame - The 6th
Json - Growing Pains
Of Montreal - Paralytic Stalks

Would Pay Half Price

Samestate - The Alignment
Kiros - Lay Your Weapons Down
Snow Patrol - Fallen Empires
Lana Del Rey - Born to Die
Theory Hazit - Thr3e

Would Get Out of Dollar Bin

12 Stones - Beneath The Scars

Wouldn't Pay Anything or Take it as a Gift

The Skies Revolt - Some Kind of Cosmonaut

[bloop]

Buy It!
Bloom, Beach House (9.0)
Blunderbuss, Jack White (9.0)
Put Your Back N 2 It, Perfume Genius (8.5)
Sweet Heart Sweet Light, Spiritualized (8.5)
Ten Stories, mewithoutYou (8.0)
The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends, The Flaming Lips (8.0)
Port of Morrow, The Shins (8.0)
Break It Yourself, Andrew Bird (8.0)
Kindred EP, Burial (8.0)
Give Us Rest (A Requiem Mass in C The Happiest of All Keys), David Crowder*Band (8.0)


Try It
Wrecking Ball, Bruce Springsteen (7.5)
A Different Kind of Truth, Van Halen (7.5)
Old Ideas, Leonard Cohen (7.0)
Le Voyage Dans la Lune, Air (7.0 - need to hear it in context, though)
R.I.P, Actress (7.0)


Shrug It


F*ck It


Ongoing


Hey, You Cheated! (Live albums, broadcasts, covers, standards, mashups)


Digesting
Les Voyages De L'Ame, Alcest
Kill for Love, Chromatics
The Money Store, Death Grips
Born to Die, Lana Del Rey
Cancer for Cure, El-P
Visions, Grimes
Standing at the Sky's Edge, Richard Hawley
Trespassing, Adam Lambert
Open Your Heart, The Men
Young Man in America, Anais Mitchell
Paralytic Stalks, of Montreal
The Stars are Indifferent to Astronomy, Nada Surf
Sorrow and Extinction, Pallbearer
Black Radio, Robert Glasper Experiment
Interstellar, Frankie Rose
Valtari, Sigur Ros
Neck of the Woods, Silversun Pickups
Heaven, The Walkmen
Always, Xiu Xiu



F*ck It:
0.0: Not one redeeming characteristic (F)
0.5-1.5: Painful (F)
2.0-2.5: Terrible (F)
3.0-3.5: Poor  (F)
4.0-4.5: Nearing average (D)

Shrug It:
5.0: Average  (C-)
5.5: Slightly above average (C )
6.0: Pretty Good; serious flaws (C+)

Try It:
6.5: Solid; detracting problems (B-)
7.0: Good; well above average (B )
7.5: Impressive; few major reservations (B+)

Buy It!:
8.0: Excellent; repeated listens suggested (A-)
8.5: Exceptional; repeated listens demanded (A)
9.0-9.5: Great; Very few, if any, notable flaws (A+)
10.0: Essential; Among the best of all time (A++)

[Ian]

RATED LPS:

Actress - R.I.P. - 9.7
Anathema - Whether Systems - 9.0
Ne Obliviscaris - Portal of I - 9.0
Death Grips - The Money Store - 8.9
Shackleton - The Drawbar Organ EPs - 8.8
Killing Joke - MMXII - 8.7
Alcest - Les Voyages De L'Âme - 8.7
Killer Mike & El P - R A P - 8.7
Voices from the Lake - Voices from the Lake - 8.6
Black Breath - Sentenced to Life - 8.6
Dr John - Locked Down - 8.6
Portico Quartet - Portico Quartet - 8.5
Lone - Galaxy Garden
Shackleton - Music for the Quiet Hour - 8.5
Wizard Rifle - Speak Loud, Say Nothing - 8.3
Jack White - Blunderbuss - 8.2
Alex Winston - King Con - 8.2
Dala Sun - Gegenschein - 8.1
Gazpacho - March of Ghosts - 8.1
The Mars Volta - Noctourniquet - 8.0
mewithoutYou - Ten Stories - 7.9
Bersarin Quartet - II - 7.9
Astra - The Black Chord - 7.9
LHF - Keepers of the Light - 7.9
Esbjörn Svensson Trio - 301 - 7.9
Helios - Moiety - 7.8
John Talabot - ƒin- 7.8
Grimes - Visions - 7.8
ScHoolboy Q - Habits & Contradictions - 7.8
First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar - 7.6
Todd Terje - It's the Arps - 7.5
Lana Del Rey - Born to Die - 7.4
Worm Ouroboros - Come the Thaw - 7.4
Sigh - In Somniphobia -  7.2
Pennywise - All or Nothing - 7.0
Of Montreal - Paralytic Stalks - 6.8
Left - 君の宇宙と僕の声 - 6.8
Maribel - Reveries - 6.7
Loincloth - Iron Balls of Steel - 6.6
Liberteer - Better To Die On Your Feet Than Live On Your Knees - 6.5
Haley Reinhart - Listen Up! - 6.0
Настин Чай - Огонь Свободы - 1.5

QUEUE:

Snow Patrol - Fallen Empires
Mark Van Hoen - The Revenant Diary
Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory
Oren Ambarchi - Audience of One
Air - Le Voyage Dans La Lune
Chairlift - Something
Loops of Your Heart - And Never Ending Nights
DVA - Pretty Ugly
fun. - Some Nights
Big KRIT - 4eva N A Day
bvdub - Serenity
Jean Michel Jarre - Oxygene
Worm Ouroboros - Come the Thaw
Black Sheep Wall - No Matter Where It Ends
Zoo - Ceremony
James Murray - Floods
Edward - Teupitz
Robert Glasper - Black Radio
Meshuggah - Koloss
Orbital - Wonky
Monarch - Omens
Mgla - With Hearts Towards None
Beach House - Bloom
James Blackshaw - Love is the Plan, the Plan is Death
Keane - Strangeland
The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends
Monarch - Omens
BADBADNOTGOOD - BBNG2
Ancestors - In Dreams and Time
Amanda Mair - Amanda Mair
Selenities - Animaltar


RATED EPS/SINGLES:

Burial - Kindred EP - 9.5
Untold - Change in a Dynamic Environment - 9.0
Wax - No 303030 - 8.8
Lucy - Banality of Evil - 8.4
Old Man Lizard - Old Man Lizard - 8.3
Machinedrum - SXLND EP - 8.0
Locked Groove - Rooted - 7.2
Matthew Dear - Headcage - 7.0

QUEUE:

Detroit in Effect - Work It
Burn Idols - Theodicy
Animal Collective - Honeycomb / Gotham
Shigeto - Lineage EP
Special Request - Lolita / Deflowered

[ewok20t3]

Full Length Studio Albums & EP's Over 30 Minutes Long
Five Stars (Perfection To My Ears)

Four Stars (Love It)
Sons - Keep Quiet
mewithoutYou - Ten Stories
JT Daly - Memory
Lovedrug - Wild Blood

Three Stars (Like It)
Alcest - Les Voyages De L'âme
Tallhart - Sister of Mine
Beach House - Bloom
Good Old War - Come Back As Rain
Daytrader - Twelve Years
Great Lake Swimmers - New Wild Everywhere
Barcelona - Not Quite Yours
Sucré - A Minor Bird
Ascend The Hill - O Ransomed Son
Fun. - Some Nights
Dead Icons - Condemned
The Followers - Wounded Healer

Two Stars (Indifferent/Dislike It)
We Are Creation - We Are Creation

One Star (Awful)



COMPILATIONS, LIVE ALBUMS, SINGLES, MIX TAPES, RE-ISSUES, AND EP'S UNDER 30 MINUTES
Five Stars (Perfection To My Ears)

Four Stars (Love It)
Moving Mountains - New Light
Fever Fever - Kingdom EP
Tongue & Pen - The Likeness EP
Vinyl Thief - Rebel Hill EP

Three Stars (Like It)
Tallhart - Bloodlines EP
Least of These - More Than Conquerors
Empires - Can't Steal Your Heart Away
Eisley - Deep Space EP
Among Savages - Start At The Beginning EP

Two Stars (Indifferent/Dislike It)


One Star(Awful)



Digesting:
David Crowder Band - Give Us Rest (A Requiem Mass in C The Happiest of All Keys)

Anticipating:
Gates - You Are All You Have Left To Fear (May 29)
States - Room To Run (Re-Release) (June 19)
Athletics - Who You Are Is Not Enough (June 26)
Anberlin (June)
Anchor & Braille - The Quiet Life (July 31)
Spoken (September)
Everything In Slow Motion
Athletics - Stop Torturing Yourself EP
The Frozen Ocean - Skeleton Key
Further Seems Forever
Hands
Living Sacrifice
Low Dark Hills - EP
Misery Signals
Paper Route - The Peace of Wild Things
Project 86 - Wait For The Siren
Schematic
Search The City
Shai Hulud
Terrible Things

Somewhat Anticipating/Interested In Hearing:
Sigur Ros - Valtari (May 28)
Kanye West - G.O.O.D. Music (Spring)
The Rocketboys - Build Anyway (June 5)
Metric - Synthetica (June 12)
Smashing Pumpkins - Oceania (June 19)
Mindy Smith - Mindy Smith (June 26)
Wesley Blaylock - Wesley Blaylock (June 26)
House of Heroes - Cold Hard Want (July 10)
P.O.D. - Murdered Love (July 10)
Baroness - Yellow & Green (July 17)
The Chariot - One Wing (August)
Vinyl Thief (August)
Converge - All We Love We Leave Behind (Summer)
The Classic Crime (Summer)
The Overseer (Summer)
Muse (October)
The Lulls In Traffic (Fall)
Skillet (Fall)
Deftones ("Late 2012")
The Accident Experiment
The Appleseed Cast
Black Sabbath
Bloc Party
Brother Leather - Meat Mural
Carrolhood
Caspian
Dependency
Endeavor - Steadfast
Fiction Family
Glower
Gray Lines of Perfection
He Is Legend
Hyland
The Killers - Battle Born
Low & Behold
My Bloody Valentine
The Myriad
Over The Ocean
P.O.S.
Pompeii
Sins
Sixpence None The Richer - Lost In Transition
Solace - Call & Response
U2

2013 Releases?


Already Out, Need To Hear:
Accents - Growth And Squalor
Anthony Green - Beautiful Things
Becoming The Archetype - Celestial Progression
Cloud Nothings - Attack On Memory
Demon Hunter - True Defiance
Evans Blue - Graveyard of Empires
Grimes - Visions
Matt Skiba And The Sekrets - Babylon
MxPx - Plans Within Plans
The Panic Division - Eternalism
S/S/S - Beak & Claw EP
Say Anything - Anarchy, My Dear
War of Ages - Return To Life

[murlough23]

Top 10:
1. David Crowder Band - Give Us Rest or (A Requiem Mass in C [The Happiest of All Keys]) B+
2. Sucré - A Minor Bird B+
3. Punch Brothers - Who's Feeling Young Now? B+
4. Butterfly Boucher - Butterfly Boucher B
5. Andrew Bird - Break It Yourself B-

Honorable Mention:
Officer Negative - Existence Is an Illusion

The Rest:
Zilch - Neutronium

Dishonorable Mention:
fun. - Some Nights D+

Compilations/EPs/Singles/Re-releases:
Eisley - Deep Space EP C+
Josh Ritter - Bringing in the Darlings EP C-
Barenaked Ladies - Stop Us If You've Heard This One Before C-

Digesting:
Norah Jones - Little Broken Hearts
Kutless - Believer
Kevin Max - Fiefdom of Angels: Side One
John Mayer - Born and Raised
mewithoutYou - Ten Stories
Jason Mraz - Love Is a Four-Letter Word
The Shins - Port of Morrow
Starfield - The Kingdom
Jaci Velasquez - Diamond
Sara Watkins - Sun Midnight Sun

Already Released, Need to Hear It:
Sarah Macintosh - Current

Eagerly Anticipating:
House of Heroes - Cold Hard Want (July 10)
Sixpence None the Richer - Lost in Transition (July)
Relient K (Summer)
Matchbox Twenty (September)
Muse (Autumn)
Anberlin
Eisley
Mew
Paper Route - The Peace of Wild Things
Vampire Weekend

Meagerly Anticipating:
Sigur Rós - Valtari (May 28)
The Temper Trap - The Temper Trap (June 5)
Metric - Synthetica (June 12)
Capital Lights - RhythmN'Moves (June 19)
Linkin Park - Living Things (June 26)
Mark Tremonti - All I Was (July 3)
P.O.D. - Murdered Love (July 10)
Alanis Morissette - Havoc and Bright Lights (August)
Owl City (Summer/Autumn)
Green Day - ¡Uno! (September 25)
No Doubt (September 25)
Animal Collective - Centipede Hz (September)
Green Day - ¡Dos! (November 13)
Empire of the Sun
Fiction Family
Grizzly Bear
The Killers
Pearl Jam
Plumb - Faster than a Bullet

Morbidly Anticipating:
Skillet (Autumn)
Creed

Rumors, Hearsay, and Development Hell:
Michelle Branch - West Coast Time
Dixie Chicks
Future of Forestry
Modest Mouse
The Myriad
Andrew Peterson
The Polyphonic Spree
Radiohead
The River Empires - Mars/Brighton Part II
Snowden
Tool
U2
Derek Webb

See You in 2013:
Five Iron Frenzy
Green Day - ¡Tré! (January 15)

Looking Back:
2011 Music Journal
2010 Music Journal
2009 Music Journal
2008 Music Journal
2007 Music Journal
2006 Music Journal
2005 Music Journal
2004 Music Journal
2003 Music Journal
1991-2002 Music Journals


How My Grades Work:
A+: The rarest of the rare. An artistic achievement and a highly listenable collection of tunes. Flaws are negligible or nonexistent. Such outstanding work that I would recommend it to almost anyone with no hesitation.
A: An awesome and unique piece of work. Not quite at the level of greatness to be considered an undisputed classic, but any weaknesses present are nitpicks at best.
A-: Impressively consistent, with most tracks being highlights. Maybe an occasional weaker track here and there, but still no major flaws.
B+: Incredibly solid, with the occasional middling track or two keeping an "A" grade just out of reach, but no major screw-ups. The highest grade that I will likely feel compelled to "gush" about.
B: Good job. Might not get me totally excited, but still a largely positive and enjoyable listening experience. Worth a try for those on the fence about the artist.
B-: Reasonably enjoyable. Still above average, but inconsistent. Highlights tend to stand in stark comparison next to mostly average tracks (and maybe a few bad ones).
C+: Just slightly above average. Aside from one or two notable highlights, it either blends in with the middle of the road, or demonstrates a volatile level of inconsistency from one track to another, to the point where it makes getting through the album difficult despite the strong points.
C: Shows a bare minimum of competence, and little more. There are likely few highlights that would compel me to go back to it, but I might still give it a recommendation to existing fans with several caveats attached.
C-: The point where the flaws outweigh the highlights. Stronger tracks might show promise of better work ahead, but the net balance is disappointingly sub-par.
D+: Mediocre. Highlights are a surprising exception to the disappointing rule here.
D: Pretty lousy, but not to the point where its failures are the stuff of legend.
D-: Astonishingly bad; approaching the point of dismal failure, but with the occasional glimmer of decency here and there.
F+: A thoroughly dull or obnoxious record, with any brief redeeming factors causing a reaction such as, "Wow, where the hell did that come from?"
F: Complete and utter failure. Not a single redeeming quality to be found.
F-: The lowest level of musical hell. I wouldn't wish it upon a mortal enemy. You pretty much have to be trying to suck this hard.

How My Lists Work:
Top 10/20  - Keeps track of my 10 favorites as the year progression, and is expanded to 20 items once at least 10 or more fill up the "Honorable Mention" list. Must rank at least a B- to be included.
Honorable Mention - Items #11-20 after the "Top 10", or items #21-30 after the "Top 20", depending on how much there is to fill the first list. Must rank at least a B- to be included.
The Rest - Everything not good enough for "Honorable Mention" (usually starting with some B- albums that didn't make the cut for that list), but still decent enough to warrant a cautious recommendation (ranking a straight C or higher).
Dishonorable Mention - The worst 20 items on the list. Must rank a C- or lower to qualify. Basically, anything that I don't enjoy enough to recommend as a whole, even with reservations. #1 is the absolute worst in this case.
Don't Get It, So I Can't Rate It: Music that I personally couldn't get into, but that I can see is well-respected enough by others that it doesn't seem fair for someone like me, who has a limited perspective on their music, to give it a low grade. Established artists who I have rated before and feel comfortable evaluating based on their previous work should never end up here - it's generally reserved for artists I'm trying for the first time who end up being too "out-there" for me to really form a solid opinion.
Compilations/EPs/Singles - Anything that isn't long enough to be considered an "album", or that consists largely of previously released recordings. My "Top Albums" list is almost exclusively reserved for new material, or at least new recordings of said material.
Digesting: Albums that I'm still listening to, and don't feel ready to rate just yet.
Downloaded It, Need to Listen to It: Albums that physically exist on my computer, that I need to remind myself to sit down and listen to.
Already Released, Need to Hear It: Anything from my "Anticipating" lists that is already available for purchase - when the "Digesting" list starts to get shorter, this is where I will look for new things to listen to first.
Eagerly Anticipating: The upcoming releases that I am looking forward to the most, based on past performances of the artists involved. Many of these will be "automatic buys" for me when they are released.
Meagerly Ancitipating: Albums that I'm sort of looking forward to - I don't expect them to be bad, but I don't expect to totally fall in love with them, either.
Morbidly Anticipating: Stuff that I expect to suck, but will still listen to, in the interest of fairness (or because I'm running low on things to make fun of.)
Rumors, Hearsay & Development Hell: Stuff that would be on one of the "Anticipated" lists, but based on a lack of news updates or evidence of progress being made in the studio (or an actual known release date), I don't expect it to see the light of day this year, assuming it exists at all.
See You in 2013: Stuff that I've been given good reason to expect it will see an actual release date next year.


(Last Update: 5/23/12)

[Aaron]

zilch as in the guys who made up the dctalk backing band in the 90s? 

[plvarona]

Updated: 5/19/2012

(* denotes albums I have heard in their entirety, but do not own.)
Top 10 (so far):
1. Lauren Mann and the Fairly Odd Folk: Over Land and Sea (A-)
2. Sons: Keep Quiet (A-)
3. David Crowder Band: Give Us Rest or (a Requiem Mass in C [The Happiest of All Keys!]) (A-)
4. Lovedrug: Wild Blood (B+)
5. Sugar and the Hi Lows: self-titled (B+)
6. Sarah MacIntosh: Current (*) (B )

The Next 10:
(Wait for the above section to fill first)

Honorable Mention:
(See above)

Mild Recommendations:
(Null set)

Nah:
Lindsay McCaul: If It Leads Me Back (*) (C )

EPs, Live Albums, Greatest Hits, etc.:
Resurrection Lake: Quiet Despair (*) (B )

Currently Digesting:
Ascend The Hill: O Ransomed Son (Currently streaming on Relevant Magazine's "The Drop.")

Current Releases I Plan to Check Out:
Kevin Max: The Fiefdom of Angels, Side 1 EP

Current Releases That Somewhat Intrigue Me:
Dave Barnes: Stories to Tell
Eisley: Deep Space EP
fun.: Some Nights
mewithoutYou: Ten Stories
Sucre': A Minor Bird

Currently Releases That I May Check Out - if I'm Feeling Particularly Masochistic:
Kutless: Believer

Eagerly Anticipating:
Anberlin
Future of Forestry
The Hawk in Paris - (in studio)
House of Heroes: Cold Hard Want - 7/10
Paper Route: The Peace of Wild Things
Andrew Peterson: Light For The Lost Boy - 8/21
Relient K
The Rocket Summer: Life Will Write the Words - 6/5
Seabird
Sixpence None the Richer: Lost in Transition
U2

Somewhat Anticipating:
Anchor and Braille: The Quiet Life - 7/31
Capital Lights: Rhythm N Moves - 7/17
Children 18:3: On The Run - 6/19
The Classic Crime
Fiction Family
Mumford and Sons

Morbidly Anticipating:
Creed

[ajyouthguy]

Enjoyed:
David Crowder Band--Give Us Rest or (a Requiem Mass in C [The Happiest of All Keys!])
Snow Patrol--Fallen Empires
Sons--Keep Quiet
Rosie Thomas--With Love
The Fray--Scars and Stories
Safetysuit--These Times

Anticipating:
Anberlin - June
David Crowder Band: Give Us Rest or (a Requiem Mass in C [The Happiest of All Keys!]) - 1/10
Eisley: Deep Space - 2/14
Future of Forestry
Paper Route: The Peace of Wild Things
The Rocket Summer
Seabird
U2
Fiction Family
mewithoutYou: 5
Avett Brothers
Mumford and Sons

[NinjaRob17]

Love It

Like It

OK With It

Dislike It

Hate It

EPs, Live Albums, Cover Albums, Etc.

Digesting
David Crowder Band - Give Us Rest...
Kayo Dot - Gamma Knife
Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory
Foxy Shazam! - The Church of Rock and Roll
Super Mash Bros. - Mile(y) High Club
John Talabot - ƒin
Sleigh Bells - Reign of Terror
Frankie Rose - Interstellar
Grimes - Visions
fun. - Some Nights
of Montreal - Paralytic Stalks
No Trigger - Tycoon
Lambchop - Mr. M

[Ian]

Fallen Empires is 2011 guys.

[ajyouthguy]

Fallen Empires is 2011 guys.

it released overseas in 2011, but not until this past week in the U.S.

[Ian]

Ah!  Well in that case I'll add it to my list

[murlough23]

Morbidly Anticipating:
Kutless: Believer - 2/28

Sweet! I was just thinking the other day that I haven't the chance to make fun of them for a while.

[murlough23]

zilch as in the guys who made up the dctalk backing band in the 90s? 

Just in case you or other folks didn't catch on, I was simply coming up with creative ways to say "Zero" or "Nothing" when I didn't have anything to put in a list yet. I guess that flew over people's heads because I was using real band names this time and just parodying their album titles.

[NinjaRob17]

Eagerly Anticipating:
Five Iron Frenzy

Not sure if you know this, but their new album isn't coming out until 2013.

[murlough23]

Not sure if you know this, but their new album isn't coming out until 2013.

Didn't know that. I guess that gives them more time to get it right.

[RedcoatJones]

Top 10:

The Rest:

EPs, Reissues, Live Albums, Greatest Hits, etc.:

Currently Digesting:
Leonard Cohen - Old Ideas
Punch Brothers - Who's Feeling Young Now?
Chuck Prophet - Temple Beautiful
Ravi Shankar - Nine Decades Volume 2: Reminiscence of North Vista

Ratings Guide (stolen from Popmatters):
10 - The Best of the Best
9 - Very Nearly Perfect
8 - Excellent
7 - Damn Good
6 - Good
5 - Average
4 - Unexceptional
3 - Weak
2 - Seriously Flawed
1 - Terrible