The Fashionably Late Top 50 of 2012: #7a - Father John Misty

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: Father John Misty

WHAT: Fear Fun

WHEN: May 2012

WHERE: Sub Pop

WHY: Another record for whom I must credit others for having fallen in love with (thanks, Donny), Fear Fun grew on me quite a bit over the course of last year. Mister Josh Tillman, very sexily I might add, cavorts his way through the ghosts of faded, idyllic Hollywood, channeling at times shades of the Flying Burrito Brothers, Lee Hazelwood, and even Jerry Reed (yes, really). Tales are told with humor, but ever so bittersweetly, Tillman's croon at times angelic and at others deadpan ("My reality is realer than yours"). At the best bits, Fear Fun is untouchably good. And did I mention the sexiness of Mister Tillman? Just checking.

MY JAMS: "Funtimes In Babylon" "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings" "I'm Writing A Novel" "Misty's Nightmares 1 & 2" "Only Son of the Ladiesman" "This Is Sally Hatchet" "Tee Pees 1-12"

mp3: Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings (Father John Misty from Fear Fun)