{"id":614,"date":"2013-02-02T01:42:18","date_gmt":"2013-02-02T06:42:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/downthelinezine.com\/mattsmusings\/?p=614"},"modified":"2022-03-27T09:08:36","modified_gmt":"2022-03-27T14:08:36","slug":"matts-2012-picks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/downthelinezine.com\/mattsmusings\/2013\/02\/02\/matts-2012-picks\/","title":{"rendered":"Matt’s 2012 Picks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Picking a Top 20 was hard. I came up with a list of over 40, whittled it down to 20, and then couldn\u2019t decide on the order. So here they are alphabetically. Most of these came out in 2012, but I threw in a few here that I just discovered this year that are too good to leave out.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Bill Mallonee \u2013 Amber Waves<\/em>.<\/strong> Bill is still the best. Poetic words, great music.<\/li>\n
  2. The Bloody Strummers \u2013 Return of the Halcyon Days<\/em>.<\/strong> Coolest indie combination I have heard: The Doors + SF59. Genius.<\/li>\n
  3. Branden Mann And The Reprimand \u2013 The Chemicals Won\u2019t Balance<\/em>.<\/strong> This is 2011 that I just discovered. Groovy folk that is fun to cruise to.<\/li>\n
  4. The Choir \u2013 The Loudest Sound Ever Heard<\/em>.<\/strong> The Choir. What else needs to be said? They keep getting better with time.<\/li>\n
  5. Destroy Nate Allen \u2013 With Our Powers Combined<\/em>.<\/strong> Crazy fun folk punk that Josh Lory turned me on to.<\/li>\n
  6. Insomniac Folklore \u2013 A Place Where Runaways are not Alone<\/em>.<\/strong> I think Steve got me hooked on this dark gothic folk.<\/li>\n
  7. Jagged Doctrine \u2013 To Whom It May Concern<\/em>.<\/strong> Industrial metal still rules, and Jagged Doctrine is still bringing it.<\/li>\n
  8. Jeff Elbel + Ping \u2013 Gallery<\/em>.<\/strong> Elbel has been all over the place, but his own band is a great listen.<\/li>\n
  9. Kissing Cousins \u2013 Unfortunate End<\/em>.<\/strong> Just an EP, but still some great, dark alternative. The cousins never disappoint.<\/li>\n
  10. S. Underground \u2013 PTSD (Legacy Edition)<\/em>.<\/strong> Okay, the original was out years ago, but this re-master makes it perfect. Probably my top album of the year.<\/li>\n
  11. Megadeth \u2013 TH1RT3EN<\/em>.<\/strong> Another 2011 release that I got this year. Mustaine is killing it on his last few albums. This is awesome stuff. Metal rules!<\/li>\n
  12. Saint \u2013 The Revelation.<\/em><\/strong> Not terribly original, but top of the line power metal.<\/li>\n
  13. SLIDE \u2013 Auto Tune Massacre<\/em>.<\/strong> I love the sound they hit on here. Collector\u2019s Edition now that they changed their name to Dime Store Zombies.<\/li>\n
  14. Soul-Junk \u2013 1961<\/em>.<\/strong> Brilliant return to indie rock.<\/li>\n
  15. Starflyer 59 \u2013 IAMACEO<\/em>.<\/strong> Wasn\u2019t sure how this would be after the last album, but it is an excellent independent debut.<\/li>\n
  16. Steve Scott \u2013 Emotional Tourist: A Steve Scott Retrospective<\/em>.<\/strong> Career spanning album that should have been a box set.<\/li>\n
  17. Ultra Monark \u2013 Exorcising Spirits<\/em>.<\/strong> Elder\/4LC front man returns with the next level of twisted alterna-goth awesomeness.<\/li>\n
  18. Unteachers \u2013 Fear of Silence<\/em>.<\/strong> This is technically only one song on a split, but it is one awesome song and the 7-inch has one of the coolest covers ever.<\/li>\n
  19. W.A.S.P. \u2013 Babylon<\/em>.<\/strong> Okay, this one is actually 2009, but I finally got a copy and it is really good. Blackie makes more sense that he has embraced God.<\/li>\n
  20. Wovenhand \u2013 The Laughing Stalk<\/em>.<\/strong> Awesomeness. Epic awesomeness.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Picking a Top 20 was hard. I came up with a list of over 40, whittled it down to 20, and then couldn\u2019t decide on the order. So here they are alphabetically. Most of these came out in 2012, but … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[125],"tags":[126],"class_list":["post-614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-january-2013","tag-best-of"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/downthelinezine.com\/mattsmusings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/downthelinezine.com\/mattsmusings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/downthelinezine.com\/mattsmusings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downthelinezine.com\/mattsmusings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downthelinezine.com\/mattsmusings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=614"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/downthelinezine.com\/mattsmusings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":615,"href":"https:\/\/downthelinezine.com\/mattsmusings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614\/revisions\/615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/downthelinezine.com\/mattsmusings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downthelinezine.com\/mattsmusings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downthelinezine.com\/mattsmusings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}