The Fashionably Late Top 50 of 2012: #1b - The Brian Jonestown Massacre

When it comes to year-end lists, y'all know I don't mess around. I don't post my picks from the previous year for weeks after the next year has started. In 2012, there was a bounty of music that entered the world that made me deliriously happy to be blessed with the sense of sound. So I pondered, marinated, and contemplated for weeks. Music from 2012 has been digested for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And now, friends, it's time. Time to share with you what I consider the cream of quite a crop indeed. You might see things omitted here that you think should be on a Best Of list. This list isn't what I think you want to read. This list is what I feel about last year. If it's not here, I either didn't spend enough time with it or just didn't love it enough. A big thank you to all of the artists who created the music that I fell in love with last year.

WHO: The Brian Jonestown Massacre

WHAT: Aufheben

WHEN: April 2012

WHERE: 'a' Records

WHY: To say that there is Anton Newcombe and then there is everyone else probably sounds a bit overly dramatic, but sometimes I don't wonder if it's true. What begins with the trippy Eastern promise of "Panic In Babylon" soon shows itself to be what you'd expect from The Brian Jonestown Massacre, that is to say lots of amazing, intricate sounds swirled together into one hazy smoke puff of sexy nouveau psych rock noise. "Aufheben" might mean a whole lot of different things, and Aufheben might bring together a whole lot of different sounds, but both are pure Anton Newcombe, most definitely in rare form. Over 20 years on, and he's still more than got it. This is absolutely turning into a favorite of the BJM's catalog for me, and I can't urge you enough to drop what you're doing and have a listen.  

MY JAMS: "Vihollseni Maalla" "Gaz Hilarant" "I Want To Hold Your Other Hand" "The Clouds Are Lies" "Stairway To The Best Party In The Universe" "Waking Up To Hand Grenades" "Blue Order / New Monday"

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