2012: My year in review
I know it is a cliche to say that this year has been amazing, if not one of the best years in music for me but truth be told, 2012 has been simply incredible. To see this year come to an end almost makes me sad.
I saw so many excellent concerts this year with Rammstein being my top favorite live show of 2012. That show totally blew me away. On a smaller scale, I would say the Theory of Revolution 2012 tour with Carved Souls, For All the Emptiness and Deviant UK (with local band Thought Thieves) was my favorite. Got to meet some really great musicians and heard some excellent synthpop. If you haven't heard of For All the Emptiness, Deviant UK, and Carved Souls, you should do it now. Other great concerts I have attended this year includes: Icon of Coil, I:Scintilla, Howard Jones, Metric, Florence and The Machine (who by the way sounded incredible live), All Cities Destroyed tour (w/Aesthetic Perfection, X-RX, BlakOpz), and The Birthday Massacre w/Aesthetic Perfection and William Control. I hate saying this but I wasn't all that impressed with The Jesus and Mary Chain show. Not only did my friend who was supposed to go to the show with me never showed up (and somehow mysteriously vanished off my radar) but the band or the venue couldn't get their shit together. Plus the band had no chemistry whatsoever. Why tour if you can't stand each other (ahem, Reid brothers)? Still at least I can say I have seen them live once. Overall great year for live music.
2012 has been a very good year for local music. My personal new favorite local band is Scarlet Mother. Their guitarist Neil was in the band Autumn. Definitely can hear some of his old band in Scarlet Mother's music (along with Cocteau Twins). Really love what I have heard from them so far. Can't wait until they unleash some music for the public to buy. I am going to be all over that like white on rice. HAHA. My other new favorite local bands includes Wiping Out Thousands and L'Assassins. My friends in Geodesic has evolved quite a bit and became Geodesique. I really love the new direction the band has gone, starting with the addition of Lala Fairshadow. Their two recently released EPs 88 and Smoke are simply divine. You can buy the band's music here. There was a time when I once felt that the local music scene had nothing to offer for me but that attitude has changed for the better as I started attending more shows over the years. I am looking forward to seeing where the Twin Cities goth/industrial scene goes to in the coming years. As someone who has created a blog dedicated to the local (as well as national) music scene, my eyes and ears are on full alert.
2012 has turned out to be the year in synthpop for me. I have never come across so many wonderful bands in the genre as I have this year. Not to say I hadn't heard any awesome industrial albums however synthpop ruled my world this year. CHROM and Moonlight Cove put out my 2 very favorite synthpop albums of the year. I especially love Moonlight Cove's Hearts of the World. Never have I heard such heartfelt lyrics and lush melodies as I have on the band's second album. My favorite new discovery of 2012? Well it is actually two...Future Perfect and Mari Chrome. When I first discovered those two bands either on youtube or on an Alfa Matrix compilation, I was totally blown away by these two bands. I can hardly wait to hear more music from these two bands.
Outside of synthpop, I was thrilled for the return of Garbage with Not Your Kind of People. After a seven year hiatus, the band's return was much needed. I recently picked up Passage by Exitmusic. What a fantastic debut album. My curiousity was piqued a couple of weeks ago in City Pages and I fell in love with their music after checking it out on youtube. Their music sounds like a fusion of Bat for Lashes and Sigur Ros. I also enjoyed the debut album by Nadina In the Now and Delerium's Music Box Opera. Believe it or not, I also enjoyed some pop music this year with Pink's The Truth About Love and Ellie Goulding's Halcyon. And I really dug the debut album by Delta Rae Carry the Fire. If anything 2012 has proven to me that not all mainstream music sucks ass. The aforementioned artists/bands has shown me that pop music isn't all that crappy. At least to me. LOL.
As far as industrial music goes this year wasn't that hot for me. I did love the Electronic Saviours 2 compilation from Metropolis Records. Kick ass music. Most of it anyways. Some didn't float my boat. My top faves in the genre were In Strict Confidence's Utopia and Inertia's Universal Blood. Believe it or not, I was so unimpressed by Hanzel und Gretyl's Born to be Heiled. LOVE the new Stray album. After a four year wait, Erica Dunham finally put out a follow up to Abuse by Proxy with Letting Go. I wouldn't call Stray's music "industrial" but there certainly are elements in the music but in a more subtle manner than what one would hear in Unter Null's music.
With 2012 coming to a close soon, I am eagerly anticipating for what 2013 has to offer. I am definitely looking forward to hearing new music from Ayria, Sensuous Enemy, Icon of Coil, Blutengel, and Unter Null (duh!).
I saw so many excellent concerts this year with Rammstein being my top favorite live show of 2012. That show totally blew me away. On a smaller scale, I would say the Theory of Revolution 2012 tour with Carved Souls, For All the Emptiness and Deviant UK (with local band Thought Thieves) was my favorite. Got to meet some really great musicians and heard some excellent synthpop. If you haven't heard of For All the Emptiness, Deviant UK, and Carved Souls, you should do it now. Other great concerts I have attended this year includes: Icon of Coil, I:Scintilla, Howard Jones, Metric, Florence and The Machine (who by the way sounded incredible live), All Cities Destroyed tour (w/Aesthetic Perfection, X-RX, BlakOpz), and The Birthday Massacre w/Aesthetic Perfection and William Control. I hate saying this but I wasn't all that impressed with The Jesus and Mary Chain show. Not only did my friend who was supposed to go to the show with me never showed up (and somehow mysteriously vanished off my radar) but the band or the venue couldn't get their shit together. Plus the band had no chemistry whatsoever. Why tour if you can't stand each other (ahem, Reid brothers)? Still at least I can say I have seen them live once. Overall great year for live music.
2012 has been a very good year for local music. My personal new favorite local band is Scarlet Mother. Their guitarist Neil was in the band Autumn. Definitely can hear some of his old band in Scarlet Mother's music (along with Cocteau Twins). Really love what I have heard from them so far. Can't wait until they unleash some music for the public to buy. I am going to be all over that like white on rice. HAHA. My other new favorite local bands includes Wiping Out Thousands and L'Assassins. My friends in Geodesic has evolved quite a bit and became Geodesique. I really love the new direction the band has gone, starting with the addition of Lala Fairshadow. Their two recently released EPs 88 and Smoke are simply divine. You can buy the band's music here. There was a time when I once felt that the local music scene had nothing to offer for me but that attitude has changed for the better as I started attending more shows over the years. I am looking forward to seeing where the Twin Cities goth/industrial scene goes to in the coming years. As someone who has created a blog dedicated to the local (as well as national) music scene, my eyes and ears are on full alert.
2012 has turned out to be the year in synthpop for me. I have never come across so many wonderful bands in the genre as I have this year. Not to say I hadn't heard any awesome industrial albums however synthpop ruled my world this year. CHROM and Moonlight Cove put out my 2 very favorite synthpop albums of the year. I especially love Moonlight Cove's Hearts of the World. Never have I heard such heartfelt lyrics and lush melodies as I have on the band's second album. My favorite new discovery of 2012? Well it is actually two...Future Perfect and Mari Chrome. When I first discovered those two bands either on youtube or on an Alfa Matrix compilation, I was totally blown away by these two bands. I can hardly wait to hear more music from these two bands.
Outside of synthpop, I was thrilled for the return of Garbage with Not Your Kind of People. After a seven year hiatus, the band's return was much needed. I recently picked up Passage by Exitmusic. What a fantastic debut album. My curiousity was piqued a couple of weeks ago in City Pages and I fell in love with their music after checking it out on youtube. Their music sounds like a fusion of Bat for Lashes and Sigur Ros. I also enjoyed the debut album by Nadina In the Now and Delerium's Music Box Opera. Believe it or not, I also enjoyed some pop music this year with Pink's The Truth About Love and Ellie Goulding's Halcyon. And I really dug the debut album by Delta Rae Carry the Fire. If anything 2012 has proven to me that not all mainstream music sucks ass. The aforementioned artists/bands has shown me that pop music isn't all that crappy. At least to me. LOL.
As far as industrial music goes this year wasn't that hot for me. I did love the Electronic Saviours 2 compilation from Metropolis Records. Kick ass music. Most of it anyways. Some didn't float my boat. My top faves in the genre were In Strict Confidence's Utopia and Inertia's Universal Blood. Believe it or not, I was so unimpressed by Hanzel und Gretyl's Born to be Heiled. LOVE the new Stray album. After a four year wait, Erica Dunham finally put out a follow up to Abuse by Proxy with Letting Go. I wouldn't call Stray's music "industrial" but there certainly are elements in the music but in a more subtle manner than what one would hear in Unter Null's music.
With 2012 coming to a close soon, I am eagerly anticipating for what 2013 has to offer. I am definitely looking forward to hearing new music from Ayria, Sensuous Enemy, Icon of Coil, Blutengel, and Unter Null (duh!).
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