Obligatory Best of 2012!

I haven't been following the current music scene as closely as I used to, but it just seems to me that there's been a lot of great music in 2012, so much so that even I've heard some of it! I've been meaning to categorize, rationalize, synthesize it all, but "le mieux est l'ennemi du bien", so all you're going to get is a basic list in no particular order and without much commentary (not that I know much about these musicians anyway).

Let's start with some dancey stuff to get things going. I love this video and I can't sit still watching it:

You know what else I like? Dance music with a slow rhythm! But check out the (possibly NSFW if you live in an uptight country like I do) vintage porn excerpts!

Weirder and more disconcerting, this piece of electronica comes with a spooky video that matches the mood perfectly:

So you think Syd Barrett's dead, huh? In reality, he's been in Australia all this time, along with his buddies from Pink Floyd, playing good old Piper-era music under a fake band name that only he could come up with:

You know who was a pleasant surprise this year? Cat Power! I don't like the whole album, but there's definitely a few great tracks, including this one: (but the video, which she directed herself, is pretty terrible in my opinion. Well, you be the judge...)

But Chan Marshall 2.0 is undeniably Sharon van Etten, and it so happens she had a new album too! It's not as catchy as her previous one, but there's still plenty of good songs in there too:

More obscure? You want more obscure? Julianna Barwick comes from the same scene as Sharon van Etten, and OMBRE is her latest collaboration. That this fantastic gem didn't make a single best of 2012 list is a crime:

And you might think this comes from a 60's folk compilation from Elektra (that would be a great blog post idea, actually...), but no, this really is from 2012, and it's fantastic:

Happy new year, full of laughter, fulfillment and great music!