Firstly, let’s set something straight. There’s a degree of misrepresentation in the new track from The Starry Field. Mark Myers, formerly of The Middle East who I’m more than slighty partial to, is the brain, voice, hands and mixing desk behind The Starry Field and he used to look like this. Now he looks like this. So when when he sings ‘Just because I haven’t shaved for weeks, doesn’t mean I’m lazy’, I call shenanigans of the most outrageous order. It looks to me, Mr Myers, that you’d well and truly stayed atop your shaving game. There is one part of this track that rings quite true for me though- ‘I’m trying to be the most awe-inspiring guy that I can be’. The dude can write the hell out of a song, perform said song exceptionally then mix and master it perfectly. I say perfectly as if there’s an objectively correct way that mixing can be undergone and I tell you this: there is, and you’re hearing it.

This new single is the first we’ve heard from The forthcoming record from The Starry Field which is due out in March / April this year. It’s got an unreasonably catchy pop-hook though I have a sneaking suspicion that the rest of the record won’t follow along similar lines. I can see this smoking radio over the next month, maintaining a stranglehold over neural real-estate before the rest of the record drops and reassures punters that The Starry Field has a repertoire boasting not just catchiness but also poignancy.

Sometimes I wonder how these posts will read in retrospect and this is one that I write with the expectation that 2013 will be kind to The Starry Field. To the future you and I who are reading this with the gift of hindsight, I called it, right?

If these two tracks weren’t recorded underwater than it must have almost certainly been within a room fully submerged in gelatinous goop. We’re not talking lo-fi, just jam-packed with synth padding and reverbed snare snaps. The internet tells me that Water Graves is made up of two Perth gents and that they’ve been around since the start of last year. Iridescent has glittering pings and pops that remind me of Youth Lagoon‘s keyboard behaviour but it’s all a little more slow, a little more sluggish than Trevor Powers, boy wonder. Incidentally, we’d have to be due for a new Youth Lagoon track soon right? Probzzzzz. Water Graves are a little more candid about their next release and I can say with exactitude that their EP will be released sometime “early this year”. These two pieces are sufficiently lovely in the meantime. Download both tracks via Triple J Unearthed

I’d do that whole “There’s so much good music coming out of Perth right now!1!!” bit but that’d be stupid. I never understand it when people make a point of saying that a particular major city is producing good music at the moment. Three great bands doesn’t constitute a cultural renaissance and conversely, it doesn’t surprise me when a city of near two million people produces a series of great bands. This isn’t about Perth in particular, just all cities.

Cash and prizes to the first home-viewer who links me to an example of my hypocrisy.

With the domestic top ten out of the way, it’s time to move on to our international favourites for 2012. And when I say, “it’s time”, I obviously mean “It’s a week past time” so I apologise for the tardiness. As before, we’ll start with the omissions. At this very second I’m listening to Both Lights by AU and I’m already regretting my decision not to include it in this list. How about this, let’s just pretend that I replaced the Opossom record with AU. Deal? Deal. It was such a good record and more than that, it sounded NOTHING like anything else that came out this year. Listen to this. See what I mean? One of the better album covers for the year too, I might add. Wickerbird, Oberhofer, Kishi Bashi etc. Now the list.

1. Dr. John
Locked Down

I don’t know, maybe a dude has to ride the H train for a brief stint in life to end up in a space that allows them to make a record like this. As I said, I don’t know. This is a rare case where words might do more to damage your experience of this record by adding to an unecessary preconception. Just get yourself a copy and play these jams loud. Dan Auerbach aids with production and drops a few guitar lines here and there (see ‘Getaway’) but it’s the swampy, voodoo spirit channeling mysticism of the doctor that infuses this with so much funk. I can’t overemphasize the value of this record. My most listened to record of the year and, obviously, my favourite. I’ve avoided delving to deep into his heritage here but if you’re interested there exists a rich catalogue for your later investigation.

2. Mac Demarco
2

I got myself a copy on limited edition blue vinyl (BLUE, PEOPLE!) and it’s been one of the most spun records despite it’s late year release. I do momentarily wonder if it’s sitting so high up my glorious, glorious list because it’s a last quarter release and as such it’s still fresh to me, but then I put it on again, drift back into the wafting haze and realise that everything is once more as it should be. 2 is a record that benefits from a consistancy of sound that belies its capacity to produce stand-out singles. You’ll know a Mac Demarco track before you’ve heard four bars yet somehow you’re able to name each track. Suburban sensibilities pervade a record where Demarco is as happy discussing his favourite brand of cigarette as he is a lost love. All this through the thick wafting haze of Demarco’s home-made opium den. The last cut of the record is ‘Together’ and I’d love to pitch that to you here but I don’t feel it’s reflective of the rest of the record so I’m going with something more par for the course in ‘The Stars Keep On Calling My Name’. Truly though, ‘Together’ is unheard of levels of excellence that demand your attention as soon as you’ve finished reading through this list.

3. Joey Bada$$
1999

It’s fine to include mixtapes right? Ha, trick question. It’s my blog, I’ll do what I want. I was almost tempted to make the number three record of the year just a series of animated gifs but I figured that you might not be able to see them properly on your mobile device so I relented. Meanwhile, number three is Joey Bada$$. In my falsely humble opinion, 2012 was a bumper year for hip-hop and one of the best outcomes of this was the emergence of PRO ERA. The first to release a mixtape from said crew is the 17 year old Brooklyn rapper Joey Joe Joe Junior Shabadoo or just Joey Bada$$. The record sounds like something from hip-hop’s golden age and features some big samples from Nas, Jay and Doom + the simple decision to pick jazz keys and double bass over an 808. Not conceptually rich as a whole but as a technical rap production it’s out of sight. The kid can flow and pick a beat like noone else so for me, this one’s a no brainer.

4. Lord Huron
Lonesome Dreams

The marketing on this thing was half as good as the record, and that’s a high compliment given that the record was dynamite. They released a teaser video for each track, each week, all with the same prairie riding tumble weed vibe and each one getting my blood up slightly more than the last. The record eventually dropped and delivered as hoped. It’s the natural heir to Fleet Foxes pastoral throne though it’ll probably never see the global uptake that Fleet Foxes did but that was a particular time which has since passed. It’s a record of high energy Americana that has more than it’s fair share of builds and crescendos though may suffer from a slight lack of variety. Definitely worth your purchase if you’re a Sound Doctrine reader of old and you miss past organic, folk heavy musings.

5. Porcelain Raft
Strange Weekend

Strange Weekend is another of those records that sound as if they just couldn’t be the product of a solo artist yet somehow is. At this point I can’t even recall if it was released early 2012 of late 2011 but I’m going to run with it anyway as it was one hell of a record. Remiddi’s vocals are some of the most interesting of any on this list with a falsetto that changes from track to track. Also, his mid range on tracks like Backwords is undeniably charismatic, sitting on the cusp of androgyny. I’m just now listening through this record again after a very long time without and I can’t help but get caught by the soundscapes that are crafted with so much attention to detail. There’s not a redundant synth line across the record.

6. Dry The River
Shallow Bed

I’m sure there’ll be a slew of complaints to the ACCC on the back of this one but I’m going to do it, I’m going to drop Dry The River in here at number seven. Yes, it never saw an Australian release (which is baffling) but it did come out this year (at least in some places). Peter Liddle’s falsetto is something else and they do the grand build particularly well. There might be a little bit of melodrama amongst it all but the quality of the record is evident on immediate inspection. This right here might be the last time you’ll see a folk-rock in an SD best of given the flight of my changing tastes over the course of the year so make the most of it while you can. Simple rythms, simple parts and simple melodies but I still found it moving after multiple listens. Sorry if Vevo makes you watch an ad at the beginning of this one. I’m pretty sure they’re signed with Sony so tweet them all your frustrations.

7. The xx
Coexist

This is a tough one to address because candidly, you probably know more about The xx than I do. I loved the first record and I love this record but I’ve never spent nights in cold sweat wondering if I’d see them live, nor did I attend the Jamie xx set at GoodGod when last they were out. That said, I did see them play this year and they were, you know, pretty good I guess. Maybe both the live show and this record were dampened by the enormous weight of prehype about them but I was hoping that they’d be both show and album of the year. The record showcases Romy’s vocals more than did their first and the compositions are pretty impressive within something so sparse. For fans of: other music by The xx.

8. Capital Steez
Amerikkkan Korruption

Kendrick has Schoolboy Q and Joey Bada$$ has Capital Steez. For every hype-driven rapper that headds up a clique, there’s a mighty linguist standing in the wings – and just because the limelight is falling a few feet away, don’t think for a second they don’t deserve your attention. Like Joey, Capital Steez dropped his mixtape this year to critical acclaim. He’s propelled by the same love of 90s samples and outstanding loops though his mixtape demonstrate less consistancy/more variety so it kind of fell both ways. The track below is my pick of the bunch not for it’s politically charge rantz but by virtue of that druuuuum track that just won’t quit. Sadly, Capital Steez took is own life on Christmas eve so this is the only release we’ll ever hear from the 19 year old. A tragedy from an artististic standpoint but also just tragic to see any human feel like they couldn’t keep on living.

9. Beach House
Bloom

The duo didn’t deviate too far from what the form that made 2010′s Teen Dream a repeat presence on end of year best of’s which is why the record isn’t sitting higher in my own top 10. The record sounds amazing and Victoria Legrande’s vocals are in better form than ever. That said, it just isn’t that different to Teen Dream, I don’t know. We’ll be seeing them again tonight and I’m pretty excited. Bek’s mum asked us what we were doing this evening and I told her we were going to Beach House. She asked whose Beach House it was. Nawwwwwww. Meanwhile, still a really great record that manages to capture the sensation of intangible loss.

10. Opossom
Electric Hawaii

I read a review a while back wherein this record was called New Zealand’s answer to Tame Impala. Firstly, no one really needs to answer Tame Impala. Maybe we just need to agree that Tame Impala are the answer to Tame Impala and leave it at that. Secondly, no band anywhere needs an answer. To be called the answer to any other band seems hugely patronising (in my humble opinion) in that it suggests you’ve heard the first band’s sound before formulating your own in an entirely responsive manner. There’re obviously moments of huge similarity (‘Getaway Tonight’ feels like the biggest Impalan moment) but for me these are separate beasts. It’s easy to call this psychadelia because there’s are fuzzy vocals that soar into the nether parts of this deep sonic bistro but it’s worth recalling that psychedelic doesn’t just mean ‘weird’. Their live set wasn’t what I’d hoped but I’m thinking it may have been an off night. Great band.

As promised, here are some words on Electric Sea Spider. Dude has got to be my one of my favourite electronic acts kicking about at the moment. His most recent effort Supercash was no. 11 on my list of the 10 best records of 2012 which you should probably have a read of before osmosifying my opinions and regurgitating them next to the Xerox tomorrow afternoon. “D.D Dumbo over Tame Impala!? WHAT WAS HE THINKING!”

Anyway, yep, banger record and likely a record that could never have been if not for the tropicaso electricano (really sorry about that) work done by the short dude and the tall dude that make up Sydney’s Fishing. Would this record have come to be if this track had never dropped? The answer still ‘probably’, but WE JUST DON’T KNOW. Admittedly there’s only a couple of tracks that bid me cast my mind/rod/reel into FISHING territory and immediately below you’ll hear one of them.

Don’t let me fool you into thinking that ESS has stepped into the game riding coattails though, the dude had cut his teeth in 2010 on his Mohican Beats record that featured some beat/sample combos crunchier than a noodle salad. But like, a dry noodle salad, not the kind with too much dressing. You know what gets my blood up though? A live drum track within a hip-hop jam a la Free The Robots from the recently deceased Capital Steez. Failing that, just fool me. I’m willing to be duped by a drum track sample so long as it closely resembles a kit sound and so ‘Laker’ is just fine with me.

If Flume can blow up then surely there’s room for Electric Sea Spider out there somewhere? One would hope so. If I get enough IRL friends to throw a grown up people’s house party then this is the first jam you’ll be hearing on the night. Of course, you won’t actually hear it as I’ll be dropping it right on 730 to get the party jumping but it’ll be just me and my special lady slow dancing in the absence of any early-arriving patrons. Please try to be punctual in future.

Firstly, as a pre-emptive strike against possible format criticism, I know it’s bizarre to make a list that compares EPs to albums. The old apples and oranges argument, and so forth, but you’re forgetting that sometimes apples and oranges can come together to make a beverage both wholesome and nutritious providing a fantastic source of concentrated vitamin C. It’s just science bro. Sure, I could’ve separated my lists into Australian EP Of The Year and a more general Album Of The Year but I’d already started making these lists and it was too late when I thought of that so let’s just make do with what we’ve got, alright?

Secondly, the records that didn’t make it in. Electric Sea Spider’s Supercash was the most difficult omission. I’ve listen to that thing so many times that to see it cut from the ten was a sad and confusing moment for my gentle pink brain. I’m going to do a writeup on that record sometime in the next week or so just so that this world can make any sort of sense. Secondly, Courtney Barnett. If I’d have cottoned on to her EP earlier in the piece then it very likely would have seen itself in the ten. Look at me, “In the ten”. Sometimes it’s hard to extricate my head from the depths of my own anus thanks to the uppity industryspeak that finds it’s way onto my tongue every now and then. What else am I missing in here? Oh oh, records from Grand Salvo and Francolin were both mighty fine this year and deserved a showing but if I’ve learned anything over the past week or so, it’s that 15 does not fit into 10. Lastly, Boomgates. And Lower Plenty, and Love Migrate. In short, it was tough culling it down but here we are.

1. D.D Dumbo
D.D Dumbo

No surprises here for those who’ve been along for the ride this year. I’ve made no secret of the high regard in which I hold this release. The hardest choice for me this year wasn’t which release was going to top my list of Australia artists but which song by that artist I was going to choose to best represent them. In the end I’ve chosen one that isn’t actually a good representation of the rest of the EP but in my mind it may be the best stand-alone single. Additionally, it shows a side to Oliver Perry’s vocals you won’t hear on the rest of the EP – A smoother, sweeter perspective. I honestly don’t have a clue about how to describe the sound of this record. The best thing I can come up with is the beat scene discovering 70s blues rock and then padding it out with a wurlitzer. D.D don’t appear to be connected to any scene at the moment and I like that. They sound akin to anything that anyone else in Australia is putting out presently and that’s no mean feat.

2. Dirty Three
Toward The Low Sun

Dirty Three, or as I like to called them, the band that ended Wu Lyf. Don’t get me wrong, I actually didn’t mind Wu Lyf but it speaks volumes that it was a Dirty Three live set that made Wu Lyf realise it was probably time to call it quits. Taking lyves left right and center. Their most recent record is the eighth of their career and benefits from the highest production values they’ve had to date. It’s a literal safari (“Literally” used as per Dr Khalifa) of emotive instrumentation throughout which you’ll have your attention pointed to what you’ll soon discover to be an entirely false simplicity. The arrangements are not, in fact, just the three piece wankery of a violin, guitar and drums (sorry for making it sound like anyone’s ever suggest it is) but they’re brilliantly envisaged dramas packed with absurd time signatures/changes and a violin line that performs a similar function to a traditional vocal part. No simple “instrumental” band at all and the last record you want to dismiss lightly. This might also be the record that made me realise that I don’t really know anything about music.

3. Brothers Hand Mirror
Muddy Now

This has been my go to recommendation for most of 2012. They’ve been the answer to ‘What are you listening to lately?’ more times than I can remember and they’ve been the artist that I’ve shared with people who suggested Australian music was currently lacking innovation. Noones actually tried to make that argument but if they had, BHM would be go-to dudes. They dropped a brace of EPs this year, both of which were exceptional. I don’t feel like I need to reintroduce you to these cats since they’ve been stalwarts of the Sound Doctrine experience for the most of their existence. So much so that anything I say about them may simply be a repeat of this. Or this. Or this. Their second EP is what I’ve chosen to sit right up here though I know some small part of my subconscious is rating this on the strength of their combined releases. As far as I’m concerned it’s this sort of artist that Triple J should be including in their next crop; experimental, talented and on the cusp of breaking through into the greater consciousness. Oscar’s beats are by far and away the best possible base upon which anyone could hope to flow and HTMLflowers makes real use of that. There’s a relationship between MC and beat that is often forgone by many an MC leaving an uneasy disconnect – but not on these beats. This isn’t an MC who had some loops emailed through, this is a collaborative process that sees beat and lyric grow atop each other like vine and trellis. If I felt I could spare two spaces in my Australian top ten and retain a conscience this squeaky clean then you can bet BHM would have both EPs in here. Watch this space.

 
4. snakeface
Oberon

Ha! They said I couldn’t do it but I did it! I included a heavy act in the Sound Doc end of year top 10. Some major bigwigs will be talking about this round the watercooler tomorrow, yes they will! I guess it’s not that heavy, but even if it was, it doesn’t really subscribe to the same frame of reference as most other ‘heavy music’ in our over-metalcored Australian scene. It’s a semi-supergroup made up of western sydney legends of the fall and their collective technical ability doesn’t actually have much bearing on it’s high ranking in this year’s SD Championships. The technicality lies mostly latent as the conceptual strength of Oberon legups this release into the top five. It’s a record about the outskirts of suburbia, farmhands, rusty hinges etc. Sure, old man Liddiard might pull over for you to hitch a ride to the next town but for the most part it’s empty, dirty, old and you can hear that in the most visceral way across Oberon. There are also tracks like Occupy which have a few fistfuls of groove but the larger portions of the record are just callused hands and declining profits. A must listen if you’ve ever been into Converge or if you’re sick and tired of the state of heavy music right now (“aka THAT’S NOT TRUE METAL”)

 
5. Tame Impala
Lonerism

Does anything need to be said? They’ve backed up a first album that had the nation’s hearts a flutter with the perfect follow up. Someone who knows a whole lot more about music than myself argued that the strength of Innerspeaker lay in it’s ability to look backward and forward simultaneously. Does Lonerism then, simply revert to reversion? Does it regress to regression? It doesn’t. At least I don’t think it does anyway, and I know a thing or two by virtue of an Encarta filled upbringing. Yes, there’s obviously abundant finger pointing at the early 70s but it’s also wildly modern in it’s electronic/psychadelic (damnit, I was trying not say it) fusion. Also, on the absolute base level, it features what might be the biggest live tune of the year in ‘Feels Like We Only Go Backwards’. The thing starts with a chorus! Name just one other song in history that has done this. You can’t, because mathematically speaking, there are none. Sure, you can play me songs that sound like they begin with a chorus but I think you’ll find that these are just sonic illusions and that there are actually minor differences between this first “false chorus”™ and the later, true chorii. Like Innerspeaker, the whole record stays within the same recording spectrum but contains a variety of melody/song structure so that one wouldn’t dare complain of repetitiveness. Also, I found out just recently that Big Kev recorded this entire record on his Lonerismsome. That’s pretty astounding. Good one Kevbot.

 
6. Bearhug
Bill, Dance, Shiner

I love these dudes. Their no frills what-you-see-is-what-you-get attitude probably won’t see packing out the Enmore but it’s crazy endearing. This one came out pretty early on in the piece but it’s garnered a fair few listens over the course of the year. The music video for Over The Hill was one of the highlights, and obviously, the jam itself was a banger. Lead single Angeline was stuck in my head for the entirety of February and it wasn’t until Call Me Maybe finally dropped that I managed to bid it adieu. Also, no matter how many times I told her, every time Angeline came on in the car Bek would ask me “Who is this again?” – I mean, there’s not much to take from that story but it’s 100% true and that’s gotta count something. Just a really solid record that’ll provide me with a sound track to the next roadtrip or three. Winners.

 
7. Phobiac
All Boys

There’s something so thunderously enigmatic about this EP that it’s omission from this list was a complete impossibility as of the moment I first plumbed its depths. If Foals got crazy drunk/did a whole bunch of blow then recorded a single take EP, this is what I reckon would happen. It’s irrepressibly manic to the point of frustration but the cleanliness of guitar tone makes from a surprisingly easy listen. The tracks don’t exactly get bigger, rather they become harder and faster across their two and a half minutes-ish durations, building to breaking point. Also, it’s my understanding that they’re also excellent dudes which is unofficially a criteria for inclusion in this list.

 
8. Oscar Key Sung
Tape Voice EP

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again right now; Oscar Key Sung is the next big thing. Forget Triple J’s next crop (don’t actually forget them, there’s some good artists in there), you don’t need to look any farther than your boy Key Sung (actual name Oscar Slorach Thorn). The dude has more talent in his little finger than most little fingers have in their entire talent, you know what I mean? You probably don’t. Dude has talent, that’s the crux of it. He’s also one half of Brothers Hand Mirror (see above) and if you thought my BHM fanboy behaviour ran deep then you’ve yet to see me at my worst (here, here, here, here). His beats are sharp, angular and perfectly tasty and his falsetto is absolutely on point. The two in tandem is something of an etherial experience, the likes of which we were flattered with when Brothers Hand Mirror brought their show to FBi Social a few months back and Oscar dropped a couple of solo tracks. I’m willing to take bets on OKS vs BHM, to see which blows up first. With a full length on the way early (please) next year, my money is on this cat but both projects are anything if not predictable.

 
9. Mansion, Alaska
Mansion, Alaska

I think part of the reason I dig this record so much is because Simon Lam’s production is totally on point. Every howl of static or distortion is perfectly pitched and levelled allowing for the perfect harmony between cohesive and unsettling. Not to take away from the band itself though, as this really is a most excellent five tracker. ‘Small World’ and ‘Steps’ both have sufficient oomph so that this doesn’t suffer from the same ambient malnutrition that leaves many a record a touch gaunt for my liking, this year. ‘Us City Boys’ says to me that someone in the group has listened to more than their share of The National which I’m probably ok with. This is another to watch in 2013.

 
10. Thomas William
Deccan Technicolour

I’ve included Thomas William because he was the gateway drug that led me to experiment with the full force opiate that is the Aussie beat scene. The record staggers in and out of motion applying the brakes as liberally as the accelerator but it’s the refusal to acknowledge accessible time signatures that makes it worth listening to. I can usually verify the integrity of a record by playing it over the loudspeakers at my office. If I receive more than three ‘this is terrible’ emails then you can bank on it being a keeper, as was the case with T Willy. It was backed up by a remix record that just wouldn’t quit so this is in some ways a double entry. Take a second to hit play on the absurdly good track below and I swear to you, I SWEAR TO YOU, you’ll understand why this record is in here.