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 VA – 85 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 Republic – Save The Nation [2012]

05 Chevin – Borderland (Deluxe Version) [2012]

06 Bad Religion – True North [2013]

07 California X – California X [2013]

08 Madrid – Madrid [2012]

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

10 Heroes For Hire – No Apologies [2012]

11 Cox and the Riot – Death Disco [2012]

12 Free Energy – Love Sign [2013]

13 Roman Holiday – Death [2013]

14 Guards – In Guards We Trust [2013]

15 Cold Pumas – Persistent Malaise [2012]

16 Rescues – Blah Blah Love and War (iTunes) [2013]

17 Hounds Below – You Light Me Up in the Dark [2012]

18 Big Dipper – Crashes on the Platinum Planet [2012]

19 Last Royals – Twistification [2013]

20 Bleeding Rainbow – Yeah Right [2013]

21 Ducktails – The Flower Lane [2013]

22 Artist Vs Poet – Keep Your Secrets [2013]

23 Ra Ra Riot – Beta Love [2013]

24 Reptile Youth – Reptile Youth [2012]

25 Winter Sounds – Runner [2012]

26 77 Bombay Street – Oko Town [2012]

27 Cuff The Duke – Union [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 Foxygen – We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic [2013]

33 Courteeners – Anna [2013]

34 Growlers – Hung At Heart [2013]

35 Gallops – Yours Sincerely, Dr. Hardcore [2012]

36 Law – Trigger [2012]

37 Time And Distance – ONep [2012]

38 Veronica Falls – Waiting For Something To Happen [2013]

39 Cassettes On Tape – Cathedrals [2012]

40 Beach Fossils – Clash The Truth [2013]

41 Fidlar – Fidlar [2013]

42 Joy Formidable – Wolfs Law [2013]

43 Yo La Tengo – Fade [2013]

44 Ex Cops – True Hallucinations [2013]

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