{"id":1828,"date":"2012-12-30T11:59:27","date_gmt":"2012-12-30T19:59:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/?p=1828"},"modified":"2015-01-12T09:31:49","modified_gmt":"2015-01-12T17:31:49","slug":"rankstravaganza-my-30-favorite-tracks-of-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/2012\/12\/rankstravaganza-my-30-favorite-tracks-of-2012\/","title":{"rendered":"Rankstravaganza: My 30 Favorite Tracks of 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_1698\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1698\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/shearwater.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1698 \" title=\"shearwater\" src=\"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/shearwater-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Shearwater's Jonathan Meiburg\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/shearwater-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/shearwater.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1698\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The band responsible for my favorite track of 2012 (photo by Greg Szeto, courtesy of Sub Pop Records)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Here is this year&#8217;s obligatory list-making, by the numbers:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>3 Bay Area acts<\/li>\n<li>6 solo female artists<\/li>\n<li>2 re-united &#8217;90s bands<\/li>\n<li>A ton of vaguely folky indie rock\u2014no surprise<\/li>\n<li>Just 2 hip-hop tracks\u2014I apologize<\/li>\n<li>1 song that actually got some radio airplay<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I make these disclaimers out of habit, I think. In my newspaper days, I&#8217;d always get readers complaining that they&#8217;d never heard of any of the entries on my year-end lists. I suppose I don&#8217;t have to worry about that now. But, still, don&#8217;t feel bad if Adele is the only name you recognize below. The end of December is all about discovering new music. I&#8217;m busy pouring over other blogs and publications, marveling at all the great songs that I missed out on. It is truly the most wonderful time of the year for music nerds. <!--more--><\/p>\n<h3><strong>30. &#8220;Chariot Rise,&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.katekilbane.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Kate Kilbane &amp; The Cellar Doors<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Assuming I&#8217;m reading things correctly on her website, it sounds like San Francisco singer\/bassist Kate Kilbane wrote <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.medeacycle.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Medea Cycle<\/a>, <\/em>a rock opera based on the ultimate &#8220;woman scorned&#8221; story from Greek mythology, back in 2010, but it wasn&#8217;t until this year that the full 12-song composition was available on CD. Although it&#8217;s wrapped in vivid lyrics and pleasing pop melodies\u001f\u2014I always get a Ben Folds Five vibe from the music, but maybe that&#8217;s just because of the instrumentation\u2014it&#8217;s a fairly faithful telling of an ancient tale of revenge. In this track, the magically gifted Medea is swooping down on the city of Iolcos to kill her brother-in-law so that her husband, Jason (of Argonauts fame), can assume the throne. Needless to say, there isn&#8217;t a happy ending.<\/p>\n<p>[mp3 available as a pay-what-you-want download via <a href=\"http:\/\/katekilbane.bandcamp.com\/track\/chariot-rise\" target=\"_blank\">Bandcamp<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ElfNN2puHCI\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>Catch Kate Kilbane live at 6 p.m. Jan. 31 at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thetridentsausalito.com\/home\/home.html\" target=\"_blank\">The Trident<\/a> in Sausalito. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thetridentsausalito.com\/home\/events.html\" target=\"_blank\">Click for details<\/a>. She&#8217;ll also be performing at several of <a href=\"http:\/\/offthegridsf.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Off the Grid<\/a>&#8216;s weekly markets in the coming months. <a href=\"http:\/\/offthegridsf.com\/music\" target=\"_blank\">Check the calendar.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<h3><strong>29. &#8220;If Nothing Lasts Forever,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/tsool\" target=\"_blank\">The Soundtrack of Our Lives<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The Swedish rock band had its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo.php?fbid=10151633535388712&amp;set=a.10150194161638712.370375.49087023711&amp;type=1&amp;theater\" target=\"_blank\">final show<\/a> just one week ago in Stockholm. The group had a mild breakthrough in the United States back in 2002, scoring a Grammy nomination and a spot opening for Oasis on tour, but I missed all that. So I guess I&#8217;ll have to add TSOOL to the list of bands that I found out about just in time for them to break up. As is often the case, I&#8217;m told, this track is a jangly, amalgam of great influences: Think Pink Floyd by way of Drive-By Truckers. Nothing may last forever, but this proves that guitar-driven rock isn&#8217;t dead yet.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/z_ZvW9JrMAs\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>28. &#8220;Plant White Roses,&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/kellyhogan.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Kelly Hogan<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Back in college, I interviewed Kelly Hogan for a class project on Chicago&#8217;s alt-country scene, and I can report that she is just as sweet and charming in person as she sounds on record. Twelve years later, she and her amazing voice finally got some well-deserved national recognition with her fifth album, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.anti.com\/releases\/i-like-to-keep-myself-in-pain\/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>I Like to Keep Myself in Pain<\/em><\/a>. Here she takes a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.houseoftomorrow.com\/tmf.php\" target=\"_blank\">The Magnetic Fields<\/a> tune and makes it sound like a classic Dolly Parton torch song.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yQE7VIyhhz8\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>27. &#8220;Battle in Me,&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/garbage.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Garbage<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>I&#8217;ve always been an unabashed Garbage fan, so I was happy to hear the group was reuniting, though I kept my expectations for <em>Not Your Kind of People <\/em>rather modest. While the latest album is a step up from 2005&#8217;s <em>Bleed Like Me<\/em>, I doubt I&#8217;ll be listening to many of its tracks in a year, either. This song, however, has some potential. It has enough dirty-pop energy and grunge-vamp attitude that it would have fit right in on either of the group&#8217;s first two albums. You know, the classics.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/D_vLW-SIAXw\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>26. &#8220;Skyfall,&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/home.adele.tv\/\" target=\"_blank\">Adele<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>This is the first Bond theme in a long time that felt <em>important<\/em>. I suppose it helps if you have the most talked-about singer on the planet, but I think it has at least as much to do with the sound of that 77-piece orchestra recorded at Abbey Road Studios. You can&#8217;t fake that kind of gravitas.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7HKoqNJtMTQ\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>25. &#8220;All the Rowboats,&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.reginaspektor.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Regina Spektor<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Much of the Spektor&#8217;s new album is full of pleasant-enough piano balladry, but on this track the Russian-American singer lets her inner Kate Bush loose. It&#8217;s mysterious and full of weirdo touches, like mouth percussion (BOOSH!) and lyrics about being in a museum after hours, where masterpieces are locked up and &#8220;serving maximum sentences.&#8221; &#8220;It&#8217;s their own fault, for being priceless,&#8221; she concludes.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2CZ8ossU4pc\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>24. &#8220;45,&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thegaslightanthem.com\/#!All\" target=\"_blank\">The Gaslight Anthem<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Sometimes, all a song needs is a great lyrical hook. &#8220;Hey, turn the record over. I&#8217;ll see you on the flipside.&#8221; Simple, straightforward. That, in a nutshell, is the New Jersey band&#8217;s whole approach to rock. Why mess with the proven, potent combination of backbeat and nostalgia?<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oST77VRHXt0\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>23. &#8220;Serpents,&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/sharonvanetten.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Sharon Van Etten<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Part of me misses the simple, stripped-down, plugged-in folk of the Brooklyn-based singer&#8217;s earlier work, but Van Etten is getting big enough now that her reputation almost demands a bigger sound. This song delivers it, without trampling all over the things that made her music special to begin with.<\/p>\n<p>[<a href=\"http:\/\/serve.castfire.com\/audio\/824071\/sharon-van-etten-serpents_2011-12-20-154611.128.mp3\" target=\"_blank\">mp3<\/a> via <a href=\"http:\/\/www.spinner.com\/2012\/01\/02\/sharon-van-etten-serpents-free-mp3-download\/\" target=\"_blank\">Spinner<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hYgyQ20TJAs\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>22. &#8220;Cherry Wine,&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.islanddefjam.com\/artist\/home.aspx?artistID=7312\" target=\"_blank\">Nas<\/a> feat. Amy Winehouse<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>It would be easy to be overshadowed by the specter of an assist from Winehouse, who recorded this track with Nas during the same 2008 sessions that produced their duet &#8220;Like Smoke,&#8221; featured on her posthumous album <em><em>Lioness: Hidden Treasures<\/em>. <\/em>The fact that he holds his own says a lot about how confident the Brooklyn rapper sounds on his latest album, as he pours out his feelings about the breakup of his marriage and, on this track, ponders whether there&#8217;s a perfect soulmate somewhere out there.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6903zFUIxoU\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>21. &#8220;Dirty Money,&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.antibalas.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Antibalas<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>These guys are to Afrobeat music what the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sharonjonesandthedapkings.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Dap-Kings<\/a> are to classic soul\u2014no coincidence, since they&#8217;re both on the same label and even have a few members in common. The Brooklyn-based orchestra won some acclaim for arranging and producing the music for the Broadway musical <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.felaonbroadway.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Fela!<\/a> <\/em>Purists might ask, &#8220;Why not just listen to actual Fela Kuti recordings instead of a group that tries its best to recreate that sound?&#8221; I think a better question is: Is it funky? Yes. Yes it is.<\/p>\n<p>[mp3 via <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/entertainment\/archive\/2012\/06\/listen-antibalass-partystarting-afrobeat-anthem-dirty-money\/259035\/#\" target=\"_blank\">The Atlantic<\/a> in exchange for email address]<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KMXlEqlnAIg\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h3><strong>20. &#8220;Time to Run,&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lordhuron.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Lord Huron<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Fellow Michigan native Ben Schneider got <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mlive.com\/lansing-news\/index.ssf\/2012\/12\/lord_huron_lansing-area_native.html\" target=\"_blank\">a lot of love from NPR<\/a> this year, which caught my attention. (Well, OK, that and the name. Like I&#8217;m <em>not <\/em>going to check out a musical project called Lord Huron.) Luckily, the music lived up to the hype. This song is designed to appeal to fans of lush folk-rock and hopeless romantics. I&#8217;m a bit of both, I&#8217;m afraid.<\/p>\n<p>[<a href=\"http:\/\/music.rocketdog.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Lord_Huron_-_Time_to_Run.mp3\" target=\"_blank\">free mp3<\/a> via <a href=\"http:\/\/music.rocketdog.com\/?music=free-mp3-lord-huron-time-to-run\" target=\"_blank\">Rocket Dog Blog<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5_e8RRTT0r8\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>19. &#8220;Ye Renew the Plaintiff,&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ofmontreal.net\/\" target=\"_blank\">Of Montreal<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>This maybe isn&#8217;t the most obvious choice from <em>Paralytic Stalks, <\/em>Kevin Barnes&#8217; latest opus of self-loathing and dance beats. This track is nearly nine minutes long and bookended by a bunch of strange, halting, burbling, occasionally dissonant fragments. I kinda like those bookends, but everyone should be able to get behind the middle part, which rocks as hard as anything the Athens, Ga., band has ever put out.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FruCLjy7ZFQ\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>18. &#8220;Special Forces,&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/mattjones.bandcamp.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Matt Jones &amp; The Reconstruction<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Funny story: At a <a href=\"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/2012\/12\/photos-flatfood-cd-release-woodruffs-ypsilanti-mich-12-08-12\/\">recent show<\/a> in Ypsilanti, Mich., my friend started harassing a tall guy who had stood directly in front of us. (She&#8217;s a confrontational sort and was only half serious&#8230;I think.) Later, another friend who lives in town mentioned that the tall guy was named Matt Jones. &#8220;Matt Jones! Of the Ypsilanti band Matt Jones &amp; The Reconstruction?!&#8221; I exclaimed. I started looking around the bar for Jones so I could tell him how much I enjoyed his new album of thoroughly Michigan-esque folk-rock, but, alas, he was nowhere to be seen\u2014no doubt driven away by my friend&#8217;s incessant needling. Perhaps he will write a song about the incident.<\/p>\n<p>[mp3 available as a pay-what-you-want download via <a href=\"http:\/\/mattjones.bandcamp.com\/track\/special-forces\" target=\"_blank\">Bandcamp<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cHoad_2xzco\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>17. &#8220;My Murder, My Love,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheCoup\" target=\"_blank\">The Coup<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Oakland&#8217;s famed hip-hop crew returned after a six-year absence with a new collection of political, live-instrumentation, funky jams. This might be the funkies\u001ft (and least political) jam of the bunch. The chorus has a way of burrowing itself into my brain for days at a time. If you see a 6-foot-2 white dude walking down Lakeshore Avenue singing, &#8220;My murder, my sweet, what kind of pills did we eat?,&#8221; it&#8217;s probably me.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/N5LxUqdN6xk\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>Catch The Coup live, opening for Erykah Badu, at 9 p.m. Dec. 31 at the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefoxoakland.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Fox Theater<\/a> in Oakland. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ticketmaster.com\/event\/1C004959B6CF5DB5?brand=anotherplanet&amp;camefrom=CFC_ANOTHERPLANET\" target=\"_blank\">Click for tickets<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><strong>16. &#8220;Out of the Game,&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rufuswainwright.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Rufus Wainwright<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Wainwright has <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7ahJbiEJyD0\" target=\"_blank\">called<\/a> <em>Out of the Game <\/em>the &#8220;most accessible, pop, playable, radio-friendly album I&#8217;ve ever made,&#8221; and, yup, he&#8217;s probably right. Like the other songs on the album, the title track is produced by British pop whiz Mark Ronson, which adds a playful sophistication to Wainwright&#8217;s songwriting. Unlike the other songs, I&#8217;m pretty sure the lyrics to this one are about checking out prostitutes on a street corner.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6KvTDeHlIfI\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>15. &#8220;Don&#8217;t Get Married Without Me,&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.punchbrothers.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Punch Brothers<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Like so much of the acoustic quintet&#8217;s oeuvre, this song skirts the lines between traditional bluegrass, avant-garde composition and pop accessibility. All three pull at each other nearly to the breaking point, until the final product starts to seem like all of them and none of them at once. It&#8217;s a nifty trick. So is Chris Thile&#8217;s ability to make the lyrics, about a guy who wants all the benefits of a break-up with none of the sacrifices, seem sweet and charming. And, as always, the instrumental chops are impressive, to say the least.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eTQeu3Joea4\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>14. &#8220;Danse Caribe,&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.andrewbird.net\/\" target=\"_blank\">Andrew Bird<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Two years ago, I wrote a song that begins, &#8220;It&#8217;s hard to tell the hills from the clouds today.&#8221; One year later, Andrew Bird comes out with a song whose chorus is, &#8220;Here we go mistaking clouds for mountains.&#8221; The thing is, this Caribbean-inspired jig is so good I don&#8217;t even care that Bird stole my lyrical idea. And I&#8217;m not even the slightest bit jealous that he&#8217;s such a good songwriter\/violinist\/whistler. Not one iota. Nope.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/E287_JDzZhw\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>13. &#8220;Blunderbuss,&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/jackwhiteiii.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Jack White<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>There are songs on Jack White&#8217;s first solo album that wouldn&#8217;t sound out of place on a White Stripes, Raconteurs or Dead Weather album. The title track isn&#8217;t quite one of them, though it is unmistakably White&#8217;s work. It&#8217;s a laid back, Zeppelin-esque, country-blues ballad, complete with a lovely pedal steel solo and surreal lyrics. It&#8217;s also maybe the best example of how the Nashville transplant was able to thrive on an album where he was free to follow his muse wherever it took him.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Okgoj2Xxa04\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>12. &#8220;I&#8217;ve Been Accused,&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/corychisel.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>In the last year, I&#8217;ve started to receive a lot of submissions from musicians, even as my blog-posting frequency has plummeted. I still try to make an honest attempt to listen to everyone who takes the time to reach out to me, but this is the only submission I received this year that made it into heavy rotation. The fact that it was produced by Brendan Benson\u2014a fellow Raconteur with Jack White and a fine power-pop songwriter in his own right\u2014got my attention. The imminently singable chorus kept me coming back. The Wisconsin band even got a chance to perform the tune on<em> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7rxZP_PnlSw\" target=\"_blank\">Late Show with David Letterman<\/a><\/em>, so I&#8217;m not the only one who has taken notice of Chisel&#8217;s agreeable brand of Americana.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7rxZP_PnlSw\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>11. &#8220;We Take Care of Our Own,&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/brucespringsteen.net\/\" target=\"_blank\">Bruce Springsteen<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>While not nearly as egregious the Reagan campaign&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.overthinkingit.com\/2009\/07\/03\/born-in-the-usa-our-most-misappropriated-patriotic-song\/\" target=\"_blank\">appropriation<\/a> of &#8220;Born in the USA,&#8221; I shook my head when I heard this song playing in the background of Obama&#8217;s re-election victory celebration. Like the Boss&#8217; 1984 megahit, this latest single has a rousing, arena-ready chorus that can overshadow the pointed social criticism at its heart: that the American Dream has fallen out of reach for many people. I suppose that <em>was<\/em> part of the president&#8217;s message, and Bruce was such a strong Obama supporter he probably gave his blessing to use the song, but I think some of its nuances were lost amid the balloons and confetti.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-x8zBzxCwsM\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h3><strong>10. &#8220;Would That not Be Nice?,&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/divinefits.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Divine Fits<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Can a supergroup be greater than the sum of its parts? Who cares! When those parts are as great as Spoon and Wolf Parade, the end result is going to be pretty fantastic. Britt Daniel of the former and Dan Boeckner of the latter teamed up for a project that combined all their best attributes into one rhythmic, spacey jam.<\/p>\n<p>[free mp3 available via <a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/mergerecords\/divine-fits-would-that-not-be\" target=\"_blank\">SoundCloud<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8NqbhygoDSA\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>9. &#8220;That Dangerous Age,&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.paulweller.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Paul Weller<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>I didn&#8217;t fall quite as hard for the Modfather&#8217;s latest release as I did for <em>Wake up the Nation, <\/em>which made my Top 10 <a href=\"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/2010\/12\/rankstravaganza-my-top-albums-of-2010-no-15-11\/\">albums of 2010<\/a>, but this song is as potent as anything on that previous outing. With it&#8217;s &#8220;shoop&#8221; vocals and fuzzy keyboards, it achieves the same retro-minded-yet-forward-looking balance the British rock veteran achieved last go-round.<\/p>\n<p>[Arctic Monkeys remix available as <a href=\"http:\/\/www.undertheradarmag.com\/uploads\/media\/THAT_DANGEROUS_AGE_MATT_HELDERS_ARCTIC_MONKEYS_REMIX.mp3\" target=\"_blank\">free mp3<\/a> via <a href=\"http:\/\/www.undertheradarmag.com\/news\/listen_paul_weller_that_dangerous_age_matt_helders_arctic_monkeys_remix\/\" target=\"_blank\">Under the Radar<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/twsiVLPazfk\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>8. &#8220;Call My Name,&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ghostandthecity.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Ghost &amp; The City<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong><\/strong>Three local acts made it into my Top 30 this year, and Ghost &amp; The City has the honor of holding the highest position. Led by the gruff-voiced Ash Maynor, this Oakland group is classy but still a little rough around the edges. It&#8217;s best classified as a big band, but it isn&#8217;t about nostalgic purity or re-creating the sounds of the swing era. It&#8217;s more like a twisted take on a variety of bygone influences, from jazz to Motown, with the latter really shining through on this track, which was released this spring as a single.<\/p>\n<p>[<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ghostandthecity.com\/audio\/Call_My_Name.mp3\" target=\"_blank\">free mp3<\/a> available via <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ghostandthecity.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">ghostandthecity.com<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hbARrrLm07M\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>Catch Ghost &amp; The City live at 9 p.m. Feb. 1 at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.uptownnightclub.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Uptown Nightclub<\/a> in Oakland. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.uptownnightclub.com\/events\/first-friday-street-eaters-field-trips-ghost-the-city\/\" target=\"_blank\">Click for details<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><strong>7. &#8220;Every Single Night,&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fiona-apple.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Fiona Apple<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Singing about how messed up her brain is isn&#8217;t exactly new lyrical territory for Fiona Apple, but the bare-bones minimalism of this track was something of a surprise. There is little here other than sparse <a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/templates\/story\/story.php?storyId=1568920\" target=\"_blank\">celeste<\/a> chords and her raw, exposed vocals\u2014a brave way for her to begin her fourth album. By now we should all expect Apple to take chances and defy expectations, but it&#8217;s still thrilling every time she pulls it off.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bIlLq4BqGdg\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>6. &#8220;Tuck the Darkness In,&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bowerbirds.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Bowerbirds<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.mlive.com\/citpat-pluggedin\/2009\/12\/my_top_10_albums_of_2009_--_di.html\" target=\"_blank\">last time<\/a> this North Carolina alt-folk group showed up in one of my year-end lists, I compared it to the rustic, acoustic beauty of Bon Iver. This time, it sounds like they&#8217;ve taken some grandiosity lessons from Arcade Fire. Everything builds, layer upon layer, until the song explodes in a cathartic, blissful wall of sound.<\/p>\n<p>[<a href=\"http:\/\/www.scjag.com\/mp3\/do\/tuckthedarknessin.mp3\" target=\"_blank\">free mp3<\/a> via <a href=\"http:\/\/deadoceans.com\/artist.php?name=bowerbirds\" target=\"_blank\">Dead Oceans<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xZccFsXPZis\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>5. &#8220;Sleeping Ute,&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/grizzly-bear.net\/\" target=\"_blank\">Grizzly Bear<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Grizzly Bear is the space where indie rock and modern classical music meet. The Brooklyn band doesn&#8217;t just write music, it <em>composes<\/em> it. Listen to that crazy 12\/8 time signature on this piece. I mean, I think it&#8217;s 12\/8. I can&#8217;t even count the damn thing.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Hk3tURx8a2Q\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>4. &#8220;Closer Than This,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/stlucianewyork\" target=\"_blank\">St. Lucia<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Hey, 1988 called to say this song is awesome. You like keyboards? You like harmony-rich choruses? Well, me and 1988 think you ought to drop whatever it is you&#8217;re doing, listen to this song, and tell all your friends about New York musician Jean-Philip Grobler and his bedroom-pop project.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/R_2JjIUKEu4\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>St. Lucia is opening for Ellie Goulding at 8 p.m. Feb. 8 at the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefoxoakland.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Fox Theater<\/a> in Oakland, but it&#8217;s already sold out so I guess you&#8217;re out of luck.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><strong>3. &#8220;You&#8217;re the Kind of Girl,&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/leefieldsandtheexpressions.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Lee Fields &amp; The Expressions<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Lee Fields has been making soul music since the 1970s. This is some sweet, sweltering romance right here: &#8220;I never met a girl so cool, so fine and in control, looking like a centerfold.&#8221; Men, I&#8217;m surprised all of our wives have it left us for this guy.<\/p>\n<p>[<a href=\"http:\/\/mp3.rollingstone.com\/download\/LeeFields_YoureTheKindOfGirl.mp3\" target=\"_blank\">free mp3<\/a> via <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/news\/exclusive-download-from-lee-fields-20111213\" target=\"_blank\">Rolling Stone<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0izlYypNyu0\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>2. &#8220;Draw a Crowd,&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.benfolds.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Ben Folds Five<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>I&#8217;m not proud of the fact that this is the No. 2 song on my list. While I am thrilled that Ben Folds, Robert Sledge and Darren Jessee reunited this year for their first album since 1999, this track is probably the most immature thing they&#8217;ve ever recorded together. I can&#8217;t help it. Just listening to that syncopated piano line at the beginning takes me straight back to my middle school years when I listened to nothing but Billy Joel. The fuzzed out bass and\u00a0 vocal harmonies take me back to freshman year of college, when blasting &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=pPgtMCg7ftU\" target=\"_blank\">Underground<\/a>&#8221; earned me the grudging respect of the sophomores on my floor. And the song contains my absolute favorite couplet of 2012: &#8220;I only wanted to be Stevie Wonder, but I&#8217;ve got to settle for this vanilla thunder.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Wc1uDRJTvf0\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>Catch Ben Folds Five live at 8 p.m. Jan. 31 at <a href=\"http:\/\/thewarfieldtheatre.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Warfield<\/a> in San Francisco. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.axs.com\/events\/2110\/ben-folds-five?src=AEGLIVE_WSFWFD08&amp;skin=warfield&amp;fbShareURL=http%253A%252F%252Fthewarfieldtheatre.com%252Feventdetail.php%253Fid%253D38449\" target=\"_blank\">Click for tickets<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><strong>1. &#8220;Star of the Age,&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/shearwatermusic.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Shearwater<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>On first listen, this is an unassuming song. Oh, sure, the chords are dramatic and Jonathan Meiburg&#8217;s voice is as dark and commanding as ever, but when it&#8217;s done washing over you, you&#8217;re initially left without many specific impressions. At least that&#8217;s how it worked for me. It&#8217;s almost like my subconscious figured out this was a great song and kept driving me back to it before the rest of my brain caught up. The lyrics, it turns out, read like something out of a forgotten volume of Blake or Keats:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>Oh shining world!<\/em><br \/>\n<em> Where nothing is happening<\/em><br \/>\n<em> But what is in our minds<\/em><br \/>\n<em> The swelling stars of the age<\/em><br \/>\n<em> But still my life<\/em><br \/>\n<em> the only relieving light<\/em><br \/>\n<em> In the spinning darkness of our lives<\/em><br \/>\n<em> Is when I see you again<\/em><br \/>\n<em> In the moonlight<\/em><br \/>\n<em> In the starlight<\/em><br \/>\n<em> In the sunlight<\/em><br \/>\n<em>And I believe it again<\/em><\/p>\n<p>See? Doesn&#8217;t that remind you of English lit class? The music, meanwhile, takes its cues from the more intellectual corners of &#8217;80s rock. That decade wasn&#8217;t all dance-pop and New Kids on the Block, after all. The Austin band&#8217;s eighth album is strong all around\u2014as we&#8217;ll see in my album rankings\u2014but this closing track really tops it off, taking listeners to the pinnacle and then dissolving into shimmering arpeggios. Keats would have liked it, I bet.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EG2aBa9Gvbw\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Bonus Track: Best Non-2012 Song Discovered in 2012<\/h2>\n<h3><strong>&#8220;The Birds Would Understand&#8221; (2011), <a href=\"http:\/\/www.putnamsmith.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Putnam Smith<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Portland, Maine, folksinger Putnam Smith keeps everything acoustic on this track, which ought to please traditionalists, but the banjo is frenetic and syncopated enough satisfy the indie rock kids. Not that it comes off as calculated in the slightest\u2014it&#8217;s just a good ol&#8217; honest music with a pulsing beat and wide appeal.<\/p>\n<p>[free mp3 via <a href=\"http:\/\/aroots.bandcamp.com\/track\/the-birds-would-understand\" target=\"_blank\">Bandcamp<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"position: relative; display: block; width: 400px; height: 100px;\" src=\"http:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/v=2\/track=2028418288\/size=venti\/bgcol=FFFFFF\/linkcol=4285BB\/\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"400\" height=\"100\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n<!-- Share-Widget Button BEGIN -->\n<a href=\"javascript:void(0);\" myshare_id=\"mys_shareit\" myshare_url=\"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/2012\/12\/rankstravaganza-my-30-favorite-tracks-of-2012\/\" myshare_title=\"Rankstravaganza: My 30 Favorite Tracks of 2012\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\" return false;\" style=\"text-decoration:none; color:#000000; font-size:11px; line-height:20px;\">\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-content\/plugins\/share-widget\/img\/share-button-white-small.png\" height=\"20\" alt=\"Share\" style=\"border:0\"\/><\/a>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n<!--\nvar _myssmw=true;\n\n\/\/-->\n<\/script>\n<!-- Share-Widget Button END -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here is this year&#8217;s obligatory list-making, by the numbers: 3 Bay Area acts 6 solo female artists 2 re-united &#8217;90s bands A ton of vaguely&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,836,4],"tags":[151,396,645,729,561,42,684,685,693,426,731,732,51,725,695,733,687,722,724,688,730,686,728,24,25,53,15,726,691,692,694,672,714,727,723],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1828"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1828"}],"version-history":[{"count":43,"href":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1828\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2304,"href":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1828\/revisions\/2304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}