So it’s February 2013 already, and I just realized that I neglected to share my top 10 albums from 2012.
Is it too late? No? Good. Thanks for understanding.
This year, I’m going to throw in a couple of bonus selections: two albums that, while not exactly new, were first made available in 2012. Let’s start with those first.
Grateful Dead, Spring 1990: So Glad You Could Make It—a more affordable two-CD version of the mammoth, limited-edition release that only comfortably retired hippies could afford
Terje Rypdal, Odyssey: In Studio & In Concert—the best guitar player you’ve never heard of, Rypdal is at the top of his game in this first-on-CD complete version (plus bonus tracks) of the original 1975 album
Now for the top 10 new releases of 2012…
Dave Douglas, Be Still—a sublime recording of Douglas’s jazz quintet fronted by contemporary bluegrass singer Aoife O’Donovan (listen to “Be Still My Soul”)
Porcupine Tree, Octane Twisted—live Porcupine Tree, which means I shouldn’t have to say any more
Krzysztof Penderecki / Jonny Greenwood, Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima, etc.—the avant-garde composer meets the Radiohead guitarist
Storm Corrosion, Storm Corrosion—debut collaboration between Porcupine Tree’s Steven Wilson and Opeth’s Mikael Åkerfeldt
Arvo Pärt, Creator Spiritus—Pärt creates some of the most ethereally beautiful music you’ll ever hear
Chick Corea / Eddie Gomez / Paul Motian, Further Explorations—one of the last albums Motian recorded before he died last year, this is a double-disc live set of standards (mostly by Bill Evans) plus some original tunes
Stile Antico / Fretwork, Tune thy Musicke to thy Hart—Tudor and Jacobean sacred music for private devotion
Steve Kuhn Trio, Wisteria—Kuhn re-unites with Steve Swallow, one of my favorite electric bass players, for a surprisingly varied program
Return to Forever, The Mothership Returns—with the addition of flutist Jean-Luc Ponty, Return to Forever breathes new life into some of their classic material from the 70s
Baroness, Yellow & Green—my son and I were gobsmacked when we saw these guys open for Mastodon a couple of years ago, and they just keep getting better (listen to “Green Theme”)
by linda witherup