Top10 New Sounds of 2012

1. Michael Kiwanuka – Home Again

It was the first and only I album I gave five stars. Though that doesn’t necessarily constitute it being my number one album, it still remains truly the most perfect piece of music I’ve heard this year. From start to finish, the album was just pure brilliance. It was understated, unfettered with any sort of grandiosity, and yet it had a richness to it that I don’t think I’ve heard before or since.

There are a couple albums that actually came close, but upon further inspection, I realized that none of them had the seamlessness that Home Again did — in composition or just how the songs flowed from one to the next. Truly, Michael Kiwanuka had one of the most incredible debut albums from an artist this year. If his future work is anything like this debut effort, he’s going to go down as one of the most brilliant artists of our time.

And that’s my list. Each of these albums touched me in a way that none other managed to this year. It wasn’t simply that I already admired some of the artists and was completely blown away by others. It was that the sounds were just so brazen, so bold in their newness that it would’ve been a shame to let a year go by without my at least sharing them with my lovely YAM Magazine folk out there. I’d love to know what you guys think of some of these albums. As I’m a lover of all things new and intriguing, I’d also like to know what were some of the most incredible sounds you’ve heard this year.

Until next year, my darlings.

If you’re at all interested, all the albums except Tall Black Guy’s Brazilian Chronicles, Wes Felton’s Handle With Care, and Austin Peralta’s Views of Saturn EP can be heard on Xiami. All albums except for the three mentioned can be purchased on iTunes.