February 02 2013 Drop Box Notes

02.02.13

Welcome to the first batch of new releases for 2013. However, as promised earlier this month, I’ve included a collection of tracks from 2012 that I thoroughly enjoyed and have played repeatedly. Most of these are simply put, pop songs, but as always the list traverses the gambit of musical influences. For those of you who actually read the notes each month, I promised 100 tracks, but after thinking about my list, it could have easily reached 200 tracks, but then I would just be putting in a number of songs from my Top 50 albums. All that said, if you are a frequent visitor to this drop box over the past 20 months or so, then you already have all of these songs in some way or another. If there is something you’ve missed along the way, you can always drop me a note in the drop box and I’ll hook you up.

The new releases this month demonstrates that there is an abundance of new music that is sadly underappreciated, but nevertheless pushes forward with a quality that continues to capture the imagination. I have started numbering the contributions only so I can keep track of them and to break away from the inevitable alphabetical order. So, you should not presume that what I have labeled as Number 1 is any better than number 49 on this month’s list. Rather, the list reflects when I decided that the album was good enough to be included in this month’s humble offerings. In fact, if you listen to FIDLAR (no. 41) or Ex-Cops (no. 44), I like these records just as much as I like Starflyer 59 (no.1) and the Scams (no .2). I think that there will be something for everyone this month and over the next week or so, I’ll update these notes to give you some clues as to why these albums are in the drop box. If you can’t wait, then several publications have reviewed about 60% of this list: pitchfork.com, consequenceofsound.net, nme.com, and stereogum.com.

The list:

00 VA85 Really Good Tracks From 2012 That I Liked And You Might Also Like [2012]

01 Starflyer 59 IAMACEO [2012]

02 Scams – Add and Subtract [2012]

03 Royal RepublicSave The Nation [2012]

05 Chevin – Borderland (Deluxe Version) [2012]

06 Bad ReligionTrue North [2013]

07 California X California X [2013]

08 Madrid Madrid [2012]

09 Alpaca Sports Alpaca Sports (Japanese Edition) [2013]

10 Heroes For HireNo Apologies [2012]

11 Cox and the Riot Death Disco [2012]

12 Free EnergyLove Sign [2013]

13 Roman HolidayDeath [2013]

14 Guards In Guards We Trust [2013]

15 Cold PumasPersistent Malaise [2012]

16 RescuesBlah Blah Love and War (iTunes) [2013]

17 Hounds BelowYou Light Me Up in the Dark [2012]

18 Big Dipper Crashes on the Platinum Planet [2012]

19 Last RoyalsTwistification [2013]

20 Bleeding RainbowYeah Right [2013]

21 DucktailsThe Flower Lane [2013]

22 Artist Vs PoetKeep Your Secrets [2013]

23 Ra Ra RiotBeta Love [2013]

24 Reptile Youth Reptile Youth [2012]

25 Winter SoundsRunner [2012]

26 77 Bombay StreetOko Town [2012]

27 Cuff The DukeUnion [2012]

28 Dig Midnight Flowers [2012]

29 Dropkick Murphys Signed and Sealed In Blood (Deluxe Version) [2013]

30 Uncle Tupelo The Seven Inch Singles [2012]

31 Subsonics In the Black Spot [2012]

32 FoxygenWe Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic [2013]

33 Courteeners Anna [2013]

34 GrowlersHung At Heart [2013]

35 GallopsYours Sincerely, Dr. Hardcore [2012]

36 Law – Trigger [2012]

37 Time And DistanceONep [2012]

38 Veronica FallsWaiting For Something To Happen [2013]

39 Cassettes On TapeCathedrals [2012]

40 Beach FossilsClash The Truth [2013]

41 Fidlar Fidlar [2013]

42 Joy Formidable – Wolfs Law [2013]

43 Yo La TengoFade [2013]

44 Ex CopsTrue Hallucinations [2013]

45 Everything Everything – Arc [Deluxe Version] [2013]

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