Year-End Report: Looking Back at 2012 - Top 50 Albums 10-01

I think I've made it clear over the course of this blog that I have a serious music addiction, probably worthy of its own show on TLC, the “learning” channel. I’m not sure how big the audience is for watching me strung out around a pile of records, listening to my tenth of the day, and ranting about Brian Eno's genius; but hey, I’m willing to field offers from networks. Anyway, we have reached my Top 10, which I have culled from an astonishing 433 albums that I listened to in 2012. If you are wondering how I knew that number, I kept a list that I continually updated after I listened to something new. Sure this borders on insanity, but the records that made the cut mean more to me than I can probably put into text. These are the ones that came with me through many important and often frustrating moments in my life over the past year. Without further ado, I give you the definitive ten best albums of 2012.

Japandroids Spark Fire at The Middle East

In my opinion, Japandroids and Bass Drum of Death is an unbeatable combination of garage rock prowess. Knowing this, I really had no excuse for not getting a ticket in advance to their show at The Middle East yesterday. It was the day of the show and I was scrambling to find a ticket. Thankfully, they released some in the afternoon and I hopped on the opportunity to get one. Japandroids’ previous shows in Boston were among the more memorable I have seen and I was not about to miss this one.

Japandroids Are Back in Town

It's time to catch up on my show reviews after falling waaay behind. How could I have fallen so far behind in my show reviews? I'm glad you asked. Over the period of my disappearance, my computer had a mystifying accident with some water. You're probably thinking, "What kind of idiot blogger spills water on his computer?" Well, I didn't exactly spill the water. In fact, I don't really know what happened. I woke up to the sight of water underneath my computer; something no man should ever have to witness. With no glass in sight and an apparently ruined hard drive full of potentially timeless writing such as this, I was quite baffled. The only explanation I could come up with was that my computer processed my writing and then proceeded to take its own life - but who knows, I may be speculating for ages. Onward to the reviews, the first of which is a look back at my second time witnessing the two man spectacle known as Japandroids.

If a band puts on a great performance, you will make sure to get tickets every time they come back into town. Japandroids hooked me when I saw them on October 5, 2009 at Great Scott. That show was one of the more memorable performances that I saw last year. With that said, when I heard they were bringing their anthemic garage rock to The Middle East on March 31, 2010, I had to jump on the opportunity to see them in a larger venue.

Japandroids Take Over Great Scott!

On October 5, 2009, I had the chance to catch Japandroids as they invaded Great Scott in Allston, MA. Great Scott has firmly established itself as the venue to catch creative new bands on the rise. For those not in the know, Japandroids broke into the garage rock scene earlier this year with the release of their debut full-length Post-Nothing. The record is nothing short of impressive and contains nine catchy yet noisy tracks of rock including "Young Hearts Spark Fire" which was included in my article on the 250 Songs You Need to Hear from the 2000s. The two-piece from Vancouver took the opportunity to show attendees that they are just as powerful live as they are on record.