I know people usually post their 'Best of' lists sometime around November or December but I wanted to give 2012 a little time to settle. Also, I don't really like making 'Best of' lists in the first place. Oh, and I'm terrible at updating.
So without further ado, here's (in no particular order) SOME STUFF I LIKED IN 2012!
MUSIC:
Kendrick Lamar,
Good Kid M.A.A.D. City - A great rap album. A great LA album. A great album, period. Forgive me for using the C-word but we may have a classic on our hands here.
Sean Price,
Mic Tyson - The year could be 3012, I'm still gonna need to hear some straight-up New York rappity rap. Most appropriately titled album of the year? Every punchline is devastating and if you let your guard down this album will devour your ears. P!
Killer Mike,
R.A.P. Music - Killer Mike talks about some actual real stuff here (like I wish more rappers would) and the production suits him perfectly with its post-apocalyptic Bomb Squad aesthetic. Futuristic and nostalgic all at once.
Nas,
Life Is Good - When hip hop heads talk about 'grown man rap' they're usually talking about 'grumpy man rap'. But this isn't that. Nas has a perspective on life and music that only a handful of MC's share, and even fewer would be willing to speak on. Some really great beats, too, and when's the last time anyone said that about a Nas record?
How to Dress Well,
Total Loss - Not the most instantly accessible album I heard this year, but one of the most rewarding. When it's really hitting, it sounds like Prince, Jon Brion and Dr. Strange got together to produce an album of Gregorian Chants as performed by Ready for the World. The low points sound like Robin Thicke on prescription cough medicine but those are few and far between.
Frank Ocean,
Channel Orange - Some of the very first CD's I ever owned were that of Jodeci, Tevin Campbell, etc. to which I would spend hours playing Sega Genesis. (You haven't lived until you've performed Sub-Zero's finishing move to "Cry For You"). But somewhere along the way I fell out of love with the genre. This dude's music is a big reason why I'm back. Not the greatest vocals, not always the smoothest production, but there's something about the songwriting that really sticks with you.
Miguel,
Kaleidoscope Dream - This album does a great job of bridging the gap between traditional R&B and some of the more esoteric trends to emerge from that world in recent years. There's a little something for everybody here. It's just a great sounding album.
Cody ChesnuTT,
Landing on a Hundred - The third time I heard The Headphone Masterpiece I knew Cody ChesnuTT was a musical genius (the first 2 times I didn't know what the hell I was listening to). And in true musical genius fashion, Cody wouldn't release a proper follow-up album for another decade. This album ain't his first one but it's still damn good, incredibly soulful and quite possibly the feel good album of the year.
Childish Gambino,
Royalty - I was reluctant to embrace Donald Glover as a rapper for the obvious reasons, but this stuff knocks. And where else are you gonna hear Bun B, RZA and Tina Fey all on the same mixtape?
E-40,
The Block Brochure - I gotta give this one props for sheer audacity alone. A triple album?! That's over 50 tracks. If even 2/3 of them are garbage, you still have 18 good tracks. Technically that's more good tracks than Illmatic had. So how is one supposed to grade this thing? I'll tell you how. A+
...And an honorable mention to Oddisee, Big Boy, Action Bronson, Trinidad James, Rick Ross, Big KRIT, Schoolboy Q who all put out some killer stuff as well. It was a great year for music.
COMICS:
Tale of Sand - Okay, yeah, so technically this came out in late December of 2011. What are you, the blog police? That's cool though, because this book also happens to be in my ALL TIME top 10. All time, baby! Originally conceived for film by Jim Henson and beautifully adapted by Ramon Perez, this thing is like injecting pure inspiration directly into your retinas.
Parker: The Score - Darwyn Cooke threepeats with yet another brilliant adaptation from the Richard Stark series. A master class in visual storytelling, and a really fun heist story to boot. I really got a kick out of how Parker's gang was based on other comic artists, too.
Prince of Cats - I originally bought this one just to look at Ron Wimberly's artwork, and I gotta admit... when I cracked it open and saw all the dialogue was written in iambic pentameter, I groaned. It's a testament to his art skills that I started reading it anyway, and an even bigger testament to his writing skills that I totally loved everything about it. Especially the dialogue! It's basically a remixed, re-telling of Romeo & Juliet set in a stylish, trecherous retro-futuristic Brooklyn. Look, it just works. Read it.
Last Days of an Immortal - Philosophical, possibly bordering on navel-gazing (not that there's anything wrong with that) story that moves slowly and gracefully while at the same time playing fast and loose with mind-blowing sci-fi concepts. I don't know why more people weren't talking about this one. I loved it.
Prophet - More weirdo sci-fi (I'm on a bit of a kick), this time in the vein of Conan the Barbarian. It's creepy, it's funny, it's brutal... I've never read anything quite like it.
Saga - Mention the words "epic fantasy" around me, and I'm breaking out quicker than the piano player at an old western saloon. Nothing personal, I just ain't got time for all your hand-drawn maps and alien races with unpronounceable names. But Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples get it. They know it's the characters that drive a story, and every time I pick up an issue of Saga I feel like I'm checking in on old friends. Maybe I should get out more, but that doesn't change the fact that this is a great comic book. I have a feeling it will go down as one of
the great comic books.
Wizzywig - When Ed Piskor picks a topic, the dude goes in. This well-researched and wonderfully executed story put me up on the infancy of hacking and got me thinking about social engineering in general.
Batman Inc. - Superheroes are inherently wacky to me and I tend to gravitate towards the stories that embrace that. You can have your Nolan trilogy, I'm rolling with the guy who came up with Bat-Cow.
Hawkeye - Hawkeye is cool, but this Hawkeye is
cool. Probably my favorite superhero book that looks and feels nothing like a superhero book.
Manhattan Projects - It's fun. It's funny. The concepts are crazy. The art is awesome. Been reading it for 8 months now. Still not sure what it's about.
So there it is. What'd I miss?
