The Stripwax Top Ten Trax of 2012

10. “Go!” – Killer Mike, R.A.P. Music

Fast and nasty and retro like he just don’t care, Killer Mike freestyles wall to wall over mechabeats and honest-to-gawd scratches, namedrops Eazy and Dre, and just dominates. My favorite track from my favorite hip-hop elpee in 2012.

9. “Holy Ghostly” – Like Like The The The Death, Ghosts Of Dead Bros

Here’s what I wrote about this track last spring: “…pure pop confection with a soaring chorus, some crisp guitar work, and 90% of the swarf removed. It’s a warm weather, drive-around-with-the-top-down kind of song.” I imagined this track getting traction in Milwaukee on FM radio, and taking off for the stratosphere from there, but nah… didn’t happen. Not the fault of the LLTTTD. This is a brilliant song from a great debut elpee.

8. “Show Me Everything” – Tindersticks, The Something Rain

What I wrote last February: “’Show Me Everything’ is…quite unlike anything I’ve heard in twenty years of soundtracking my own personal romantic anguish to their music. Tindersticks have ever-so-slowly developed into a (dark) soul band, and this spare, sleek track is as soulful as anything I can recall them doing. It starts off as a slow burn of light percussion, understated keys and guitars, and some just-enough backing vocals from Gina Foster, but Staples, Foster and the band build it up gradually to stormy proportions. “Show Me Everything” is gritty yet elegant, like Roxy Music without the glitter. Best track on the record.”

Indeed. It took me a month to get this track out of my head.

7. “Mexiqo” – Tilts, Tilts

Slightly hairy, Seventies-style power pop that could be mistaken for a long-lost Cheap Trick record upon a first, casual ear-grazing. So. Much. Power.

6. “(My Baby’s) Got The Black Lung” – Police Teeth, Police Teeth

Consistent with every Police Teeth elpee to date, their fourth, self-titled release is so thick with great tracks, it’s not that easy to pick a favorite, but the new one is a bit quieter than the first three, which makes this one stand out right away. To see Police Teeth play “(My Baby’s) Got The Black Lung” live is to feel like the long haired reclining dood in the old Maxell tape print ad where everything is retreating from the force of the sound. Add that power to the fury in James Burns’ voice as he counts off every injustice ever suffered in a hospital waiting room, and what you have, friends, is a rock song that means something. It can still happen.

5) “Robocop 4 – Fuck Off Robocop” – Future Of The Left, The Plot Against Common Sense

I’m not gonna give anything away here, but I’ll tell you that I’ll show you my Top Ten Elpeez for 2012 in this space next week, and The Plot Against Common Sense is high up on that list. Picking a favorite from that elpee was tough, but I did finally settle on the record’s most violently funny song “Robocop 4 – Fuck Off Robocop.” It’s bandleader Andy Falkous’ completely unhinged rant against the LAZY Hollywood film industry. THEE MOST aggressive, hysterical, and entertaining thing you could wish for.

4. “Muscle Man” – Ty Segall Band, Slaughterhouse

God, I love this song. It’s nothing fancy at all, It’s not about anything really, but it just swings and moves and is just the right mix of ear-shattering guitar volume and “Oooooh Oooooh” harmonics. Loud and simple. To be honest, I’ve dreamed of covering this song in a random bar and shooting a video starring all my friends for it.

3. “False Starts” – Blackout Dates, Beverly

What I wrote last August about this fantastic song: “‘False Starts’ should just be handed out as a free MP3 to every thirteen year old kid on earth. It’s a gentle beauty, a heart tenderizer, and a warm blanket made of sounds.”

Oh, I meant it, and I mean it when I say that Beverly was one if the best records I heard in all of 2012. More on that next week.

2. “Rad Times” – Black Bananas, Rad Times Express IV

This was my kinda-sorta personal mantra through the troubles of 2012. “Rad Times” is just fun to listen to, and I must’ve listened to it a thousand times this year. I an’t top what I wrote about it last winter: “Rad Times” is exactly what I want to hear the moment I’m walking into a party crowded with friends who are dancing and kissing my grinning face as they hand me strong and fancy cocktails. Imagine what would’ve happened if Prince walked into a Revolting Cocks recording session with a bunch of girls he picked up at a party in say, 1987. They would’ve had to have mailed any and all recordings they’d done together to THE FUTURE, because 1987 couldn’t have handled it. That’s what “Rad Times” sounds like.

1. “Collapse And Divide” – IFIHADAHIFI, Songs From Sexy Results: Cedar Block’s Dig for the Higgs and How the Quest Was Won

I started the year off with this track, knew that back story about how the Cedar Block group was trying to get people interested in the Higgs-Boson search and wanted IFIHADAHIFI’s involvement because, well, the HIFI is one of the few bands on the planet that actually care about the Higgs-Boson and understand its significance. HIFI actually wrote an eight-song eepee called Songs From Sexy Results: Cedar Block’s Dig for the Higgs and How the Quest Was Won. “Collapse And Divide” is the project’s best an most brilliant composition. It manages be stay noisy, be funny (the opening line, “I am only interested in that which is possible/Like how you cut the head off of a headless dragon” is my favorite line written by anyone this year) and also be profoundly gorgeous, something you don’t get too often from these guys. It was the best thing ever this year.

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