There were reports, rumours, and fearmongering that the world was going to come to a tumultuous end on December 21, 2012, started perhaps by the fact that the day, month, and year were multiple configurations of ones and twos, or perhaps by the purported end to some Mayan calendar. And these myths were likely the basis for the natural disaster, end of the world film that came out three years prior and to this day, I’m not even sure I’ve seen. All of which is moot, given that the world didn’t actually come to an end, else I wouldn’t actually be writing these words and you wouldn’t be reading them.
However, some things that did come to pass were that the Encyclopedia Britannia went out of print after 246 years in physical existence, Megaupload was shut down by the FBI, and Lonesome George died, rendering a certain giant turtle subspecies extinct. Vladimir Putin was elected President of Russia, Barack Obama was re-elected for his second term as president of the United States, and Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her 60th year on the throne. We saw the worst power outage in history take place in India, leaving 620 million without power for two days. The exploratory rover, Curiosity, landed on Mars. The Summer Olympics were held in London, England and the World Expo in Yeosu, South Korea. It was the year that saw the birth of internet sensation Grumpy Cat, but sadly we lost many more in Whitney Houston (singer, actress), Dick Clark (NYE host), Ray Bradbury (author), Neil Armstrong (astronaut), Ravi Shankar (sitarist), and Richard Dawson (game show host).
On a personal level, I cannot think of anything super remarkable that happened, the usual work, eat, sleep, and music. Speaking of music, 2012 was the year I started collecting vinyl again, thanks to my lovely wife, and I did see a lot of great shows, including my first full festival tour of Ottawa Bluesfest and the first of two years in a row at Montreal’s Osheaga. I also discovered and listened to a lot of great artists, as will be evidenced by this list as it plays out. As always, enjoy and let me know what you think.
#30 Langhorne Slim and the Law “The way we move” (from The way we move)
#29 Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra “Want it back” (from Theatre is evil)
#28 Dr. Dog “These days” (from Be the void)
#27 The Dandy Warhols “I am free” (from This machine)
#26 Passenger “Let her go” (from All the little lights)
#25 Sea Wolf “Priscilla” (from Old world romance)
#24 John K. Samson “Heart of the continent” (from Provincial)
#23 Miike Snow “The wave” (from Happy to you)
#22 Family Of The Year “Hero” (from Loma Vista)
#21 The Maccabees “Ayla” (from Given to the wild)
#20 Trampled By Turtles “Alone” (from Stars and satellites)
#19 Great Lake Swimmers “Easy come easy go” (from New wild everywhere)
#18 Stars “Hold on when you get love and let go when you give it” (from The north)
#17 The Raveonettes “Curse the night” (from Observator)
#16 Amos the Transparent “Sure as the weather” (from Goodnight, my dear… I’m falling apart)
#15 Metric “Breathing underwater” (from Synthetica)
#14 Dum Dum Girls “Season in hell” (from End of daze EP)
#13 The Tallest Man on Earth “1904” (from There’s no leaving now)
#12 Frankie Rose “Pair of wings” (from Interstellar)
#11 Young Galaxy “Youth is wasted on the young” (from Shoreless kid b/w Youth is wasted on the young)
#10 Father John Misty “I’m writing a novel” (from Fear fun)
#9 Spiritualized “Hey Jane” (from Sweet heart sweet light)
#8 The Shins “Simple song” (from Port of morrow)
#7 Porcelain Raft “Drifting in and out” (from Strange weekend)
#6 Allo Darlin’ “Tallulah” (from Europe)
#5 Divine Fits “Would that not be nice” (from A thing called the Divine Fits)
#4 July Talk “Paper girl” (from July Talk)
#3 First Aid Kit “Emmylou” (from The lion’s roar)
#2 Blur “Under the westway” (from Under the westway)
#1 Of Monsters And Men “Little talks” (from My head is an animal)
My (life in) music lists 