Ditmas Park’s Best Music of 2012
The end of 2012 is almost here but humanity has survived — that’s as good an excuse to listen to great music as any. With 2013 around the corner, here is some of our favorite music from Ditmas Park this year in no particular order. We want to see your choices too, so leave a comment with your recommendations.
• Michaela Anne has been seen all over the neighborhood this year and has put out some really beautiful tunes in that time. Taken Away, recorded in Washington DC at WAMU’s Bluegrass Country, is one of Michaela’s best. If you’re looking for more, tune into her gorgeous performance of Willow Tree last year.
• Spirit Family Reunion‘s brand of gospel folk found thousands of new fans when they performed Leave Your Troubles At The Gate and more on NPR’s Tiny Music Desk series.
• The Spring Standards put out some of the best songs of the year period on their new double EP yellow//gold. Only Skin and Heavy Home are two songs that deserve more ears.
• Guilty Ghosts (Tristan O’Donnel) put out a very good ambient post-rock album called Trespasser. If the genre appeals to you, check out the new album and then explore Tristan’s earlier work. Everlasting Evening in particular is a dark, heavy and impressive example of just how high this one-man operation can reach.
• Sharon Van Etten is busy touring the world with Nick Cave so we’ll just have to appreciate her from afar. Magic Chords, complete with a driving tune and a great video, has been a major success for her this year.
• The White Rhino produced his second full-length album this year and has scored a number of great shows all over the country as a result. We spoke with the man in charge of the outfit, Julian Rhine, here about the neighborhood and the next album.
• Lucius has one full EP out and it’s got more quality than most bands produce in a lifetime. Don’t Just Sit There remains a personal favorite but Turn It Around and the rest of the tracks are impressive as well. As we wrote recently, Lucius has to be one of Ditmas Park’s loveliest sounds.
What did you love to listen to this year?