Album of 2012

[MartinT]

Don't remember discussing it, Tim. I'll look it up...

EDIT: duh, I actually bought it. Forgot you were talking about BR, though you were quoting a band

[MartinT]

Is it recorded as badly as their other albums?

2nd Law sounds pretty reasonable on vinyl. Not hugely dynamic, but that's the nature of their music.

[isuckedmandelsonslemons]

Lack of dynamic range, with digital recordings, is my personal bête noire!

Marco.

I think I agree. I'll just look up that Betty Noire thing.

Spot on Marco. That's why I've spent months listening to CDs and throwing away dozens and dozens.

Bad CD recordings really boil my piss. Spend a fortune on a system and have to listen to cack recordings is just not on.

And I'm still banned from the Cyrus Unofficial Forum.

[Marco]

Lol@Betty Noire! Aye, she does a wee 'trick for the boys', I'm sure you'd like, involving a Shetland pony and some Vaseline...

But, yes, the more revealing the system, the less tolerant it is of poor recordings, i.e, the more you will hear imperfections. Sometimes I can 'listen through' certain recording deficiencies, if the music is *really* good, but not when they have become a victim of the loudness wars!

Marco.

[Audioman]

Mmmmmm ''Loud on CD'. And for that reason . . . I'm out.

Precisely why many have a vinyl rig and may account partly for the formats resurgance. Unfortunately having shown early promise I find Muse rather repetitive boring Queen imitators.

[Tim]

This has been extremely tough to finish as I have bought around 300+ albums this year, 80+ of which are 2012 releases, so choosing a few from those has been difficult

Anyhow, I have already put forward my album of the year from Bill Fay, so here goes with my top ten..... mind you, I'm quite partial to a phrase Bob Harris once coined, when he was asked what's your favourite album? "My favourite album is the last one to arrive on the mat!" (or words to that effect). I can really relate to that, as it changes constantly and I don't think I have a favourite album anymore. I still have a few albums released in 2012 I have yet to play as well, so this list could be different next week

So as promised and in no particular order, here are ten albums from 2012 which I have really enjoyed;

• Gretchen Peters - Hello Cruel World
• Simone Felice - S/T
• Phantom Limb - The Pines
• Bonnie Raitt - Slipstream
• Chris Robinson Brotherhood - Big Moon Ritual
• Bill Fay - Life is People
• Jimmy LaFave - Depending on the Distance
• The Staves - Dead & Born & Grown
• Rose Cousins - We Have Made a Spark
• Marillion - Sounds That Can't Be Made

A lot of these were picked as I saw the artists live and many of the songs were performed by them, which always has an impact on me. The ones in bold relate to those artists I saw last year and in most cases I have a signed copy of their album, which also makes them memorable for me, the Rose Cousins album in particular strikes a chord as I had a great exchange of banter with her, during her set at Maverick festival - she's a very funny lady and its a fantastic album (you should check this one out Martin/Alex/Dan?).

Here's to 2013 and more music (John Grant has a new one in March and a new Midlake is on the way too).

[pjdowns]

Got to be the following for me

fun. - Some Nights
Gotye - Making Mirrors
Linkin Park - Living Things
Maroon 5 - Overexposed
The Kilkers - Battle Born
Mark Knopfler - Privateering

[YNWaN]

Best album of last year:

Keaton Henson 'Dare'