Night Thief Confessional: Thirteen of '12

thirteen of '12 from kelcey on 8tracks Radio.

A bakers' dozen of my favorite songs of 2012 – this is the home-listening / people singing and rhyming about shit version. If I can steal a few minutes before the year closes I will try to throw together an instrumental / dance-floor companion. The following are listed in no particular order and with no claims of completeness.

Chromatics – Lady
Kendrick Lamar – Cartoons & Cereal
Darq E Freaker & Danny Brown – Blueberry (Pills & Cocaine)
Jessie Ware – 110%
Mykki Blanco – Wavvy
Jai Paul – Jasmine (demo)
Andy Stott – Luxury Problems
Frank Ocean – Pyramids
Stubborn Heart – Two Times a Maybe
Gonjasufi – Skin
Hitomi – Thrown Like Jacks X Venus in Furs
Zebra Katz feat Njena Reddd Foxxx– Ima Read
Le1f – Wut

Chromatics – Lady

The best Chromatics songs exist in a liminal space where unformed possibility and nostalgic yearning co-exist. Lady is born of that gauzy, lens-flare time of the night when, by definition, it can't get any later and the cruise control has just locked course for well after dawn.

Kendrick Lamar (feat Gunplay) – Cartoons & Cereal

Elementary hood shit. Sure Swimming Pools was bigger, Kill My Vibe was catchier, and Good Kid had that Roy Ayers sample but for sheer wtf?? factor this was Lamar's calling card. The unsettling juxtaposition of guntalk w/ Saturday morning nostalgia; the slung yet restless production, saturated in hiss and old tv samples threatening to collapse in on itself; Lamar's helium Quasimoto playing against Gunplay's gruff pre-crack DMX; in the end its a heady, keenly unique experience.

Darq E Freaker & Danny Brown – Blueberry (Pills & Cocaine)

Crazy, Psycho, Deranged. What it says on the tin. Madman London grime producer teams up with madman Detroit MC and a dark, unstable carnival ride of a track is born. Appropriately, the video is guaranteed to give you the spins dead-sober in the afternoon.

Jessie Ware – 110%

There are probably better Jessie Ware songs but I am a sucker for a dreamy summer jam. Julio Bashmore turns his swashbuckling skills to a straight up pop song custom built for Saturday afternoons spent lying on sun kissed grass sipping cool wine from the bottle. OG version with Big Pun sample intact is a must.

Mykki Blanco – Wavvy

The ultimate, getting-ready-to-go, pre-game Friday soundtrack. It also led to more than few late morning impromptu dance parties. Not to mention all the surprise live appearances at 285 Kent, Cameo and seemingly wherever they would give Mykki a mic. Get in now because he and his militia are primed to take over. Also one of my favorite videos of the year.

Jai Paul – Jasmine (demo)

“demo” in the sense that it is raw as fuck. If this ever gets “proper” shine and gloss mixdown a la the Weeknd I will weep.

Andy Stott – Luxury Problems

My personal hurricane soundtrack. Somehow it was the perfect vibe for confusing bus rides and freezing walks over the 59th street bridge, turned down low and kept on constant repeat for two weeks straight.

Frank Ocean – Pyramids

Frank Ocean goes big, 10 minutes and Egyptian history big, and some how pulls it off. Grammy please!

Stubborn Heart – Two Times a Maybe

Shout out to Kelly Hogan by way of Giles Peterson (it's a winner!). The full LP is great but nothing else on it manages to match the listing narcotic enchantment of this early single. Forgetting a chick's name (twice!) has never carried such existential weight.

Gonjasufi – Skin

Heartbreaking, stripped to the bone, lament from the sufi. Apparitions with GLK is amazing as well.

Hitomi – Thrown Like Jacks X Venus in Furs

Velvet Underground cover? meh. Classic rock mashup? what is this 2003? This should be at best an amusing throw away tune. Instead it is hypnotic, haunting and transcendent. Hitomi's vocals and subtle re-edit make this something completely other, both from its component parts and anything else out there.

Zebra Katz (feat Njena Reddd Foxxx)– Ima Read

Give me a brutal stripped-back bass drum, a little ballroom attitude and a heavy dose of disturbing over-enunciated lyrics and watch all the hair on my neck stand up. Throw in Ms. Njena complete with all her extra ds and xs as well as one truly disturbing game of double dutch and you have the weirdo hit of the year.

Le1f – Wut

Everything on Dark York is stellar. This track is a great example of up and coming hip hop guys pulling inspiration and production from the best of the underground dance/beat scene (in this case 5kinAndBone5) and doing whatever they please with it.

Bonus - Lambo Furnace

The most devastating bootleg remix of the most inescapable jeep/block/club track of the long hot summer. Turn it up real loud one last time and then let's all move on and never speak of it again.