FFFavorite Albums of 2012

Here's round two of Free Form Freakout's favorite releases of 2012, this time a list of albums that really captured my attention. With a few exceptions, all of these albums have appeared on the podcast shows at some point during the year or certainly will in the weeks ahead. Again, make what you will of the rank-ordered approach to all of this. I'd like to think that if people have checked in on a regular basis, though, that there should be very few surprises here. For me, Jason Lescalleet's Songs About Nothing release really stood out amongst the rest of the albums I heard this year for its sheer unclassifiable boldness and beauty. It's serious music with a sense of humor and purpose that stirs a wide range of emotions and is completely unlike anything else I heard. 

Facebook "likes" and YouTube posts can only go so far, so please stop by your local independent record store or visit some of the great mailorder sites listed below to support these artists and labels if you come across something you're curious about. You can also click on the label links for more information on each release and for ordering purposes. 

Discriminate Music, Mimaroglu Music Sales, Experimedia, Forced Exposure, Fabrica, Tomentosa, Aquarius Records, Volcanic Tongue, Boomkat

  

1) Jason Lescalleet Songs About Nothing (Erstwhile)

2) The Shadow Ring Remains Unchanged (Kye)

3) Aaron Dilloway Modern Jester (Hanson)

4) ÉLG Mil Pluton (Alter / Hundebiss)

5) CS Yeh Transitions (De Stijl)

6) Richard Youngs Core To The Brave (Root Strata)

7) Panabrite Soft Terminal (Digitalis)

8) Sean McCann & Matthew Sullivan Vanity Fair (Recital)

9) Gary War Jared’s Lot (Spectrum Spools)

10) Pedestrian Deposit Kithless (Arbor)

11) Ghedalia Tazartes Ante-Mortem (Hinterzimmer)

12) Mirror to Mirror Body Moving Slowly (Preservation)

13) Trouble Books Concatenating Fields (Mie Music)

14) Rain Drinkers Yesodic Helices (Brave Mysteries)

15) Decimus 11 (Digitalis)

16) Sparkling Wide Pressure Grandfather Harmonic (Preservation)

17) Dean Blunt & Inga Copeland Black Is Beautiful (Hyperdub)

18) Willie Lane Guitar Army of One (Cord-Art)

19) NHK’Koyxen Dance Classics Vol.1 (Pan)

20) Derek Rogers Saturations (Greenup Industries)

21) Insect Factory Melodies From a Dead Radio (Fabrica)

22) Tilth Angular Music (Soft Abuse)

23) Yek Koo Love Song For The Dead C (Emerald Cocoon)

24) Jandek Atlanta Saturday (Corwood Industries)

25) Featureless Ghost Personality Matrix (Night-People)