CUCKOO'S TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2012

After covering only a handful of albums released in 2011, The Nut Suite stepped it up a notch and wiped our nuts on over 150 albums from 2012.  

With more albums to choose from, I found it even more difficult to narrow it down to favorites for my Top 10 Of The Year, as there were so many great albums in a large variety of genres that I had the pleasure of exploring.  Within all the good stuff, I stumbled upon some real stinkers that baffle me as to how they received so much critical & commercial acclaim...not to mention the first "frisbee" rated album for the Suite I had the displeasure of hearing.

Enough babbling, let's get on with it:

(click on the names for mini-reviews)

10.  DANNY ELFMAN / Iris: Cirque Du Soleil

9.    PERFUME GENIUS / Put Your Back N 2 It

8.    THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM / Handwritten

7.    SWANS / The Seer

6.    THE MOUNT FUJI DOOMJAZZ INCORPORATION / Egor

5.    SOAP&SKIN / Narrow

4.    GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR / 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!

3.    DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA / Pandora's Piñata

2.    HEROIN IN TAHITI / Death Surf

1.    SANTIGOLD / Master Of My Make-Believe

Some honorable mentions go to:

CITIES AVIV / Black Pleasure

DEATH GRIPS / The Money Store

NORAH JONES / Little Broken Hearts

KILLER MIKE / R.A.P. Music

P!NK / The Truth About Love

SONIC AREA / Music For Ghosts

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN / Wrecking Ball

SCOTT WALKER / Bish Bosch

WOVENHAND / Live At Roepaen

A WHISPER IN THE NOISE / To Forget

With maybe 40 or so more albums I could gush about, that painfully sums it up.

Agree?  Disagree?  Did we miss your favorite? What were yours?

CUCKOO'S TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2011

People keep saying new music is crap but I don't believe it. Out of the 50 albums or so that I reviewed this year, I can honestly say I'd recommend atleast 80% of them which is pretty good. Granted I did do some digging to find some of this stuff...but it's worth it when you find it.

It wasn't that tough a decision to narrow down my top 10 seeing as I awarded only 10 albums with 5 "stars".

(click on the names for the mini-reviews)

10. BLUE SKY BLACK DEATH / Noir

9. THE CURE / Bestival Live 2011

8. PJ HARVEY / Let England Shake

7. THE WAR ON DRUGS / Slave Ambient

6. VESPERTINA / The Waiting Wolf

5. TOM WAITS / Bad As Me

4. ANDREW JACKSON JIHAD / Knife Man

3. LYDIA LOVELESS / Indestructible Machine

2. LYKKE LI / Wounded Rhymes

1. FRANK TURNER / England Keep My Bones


Some honorable mentions go to:

BANG DATA / Maldito Carnaval
BLINK-182 / Neighborhoods
DIRTY BEACHES / Badlands
DOOMTREE / No Kings
DUM DUM GIRLS / Only In Dreams
DAVID LYNCH / Crazy Clown Time
JEFF MARTIN 777 / The Ground Cries Out
PUSCIFER / Conditions Of My Parole
ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS / Songs Of Man
VARIOUS ARTISTS / Drive (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)