Ugandan Methods - Sixth Method 12"

How the hell did I miss this? One of the best electronic releases of the year, and yes I am someone who loves hyperbole but wow. This 20 minute 12" starts out with two clean, minimal dance tracks and then works itself into a third track of industrial feedback and muffled vocals. Up there with Muslimgauze and Vatican Shadow.

download

Twist Barbie

This will probably be taken down within a matter of minutes, but if you can snag it, your finals week will suck infinitely less. Guaranteed.

Tortoise Brand Pot Cleaner's Theme (Sea Turtle)

Also, this:

Shonen ('boy') have very cute feelings and 'knife' have very keen or very strange feeling.

Best of 2012

It was a good year for industrial, and a laughable year for "DIY" (here's lookin' at you, Merchandise), and the countless number of Drive Like Jehu imitators that magically spawned as if on cue. Overall, things were pretty solid on the electronic front, with Andy Stott's impeccably produced and emotionally androgynous "Luxury Problems" coming in at #1 for me.

1. Andy Stott - "Luxury Problems" (Modern Love)
2. Raime - "Quarter Turns Over A Living Line" (Blackest Ever Black)
3. Vatican Shadow - "Ornamented Walls" (Modern Love)
4. Speedy Ortiz - "Sports EP" (Exploding In Sound)
5. Roomrunner - "Super Vague 12"" (Fan Death)
6. Swans - "The Seer" (Young God)
7. Useless Children - "Post Ending // Pre Completion" (Iron Lung)
8. Shoxx - "Demo Cassette" (C6)
9. Silent Servant - "Negative Fascination" (Hospital Productions)
10. Jan Jelinek - "Music For Fragments / Music & Birds" (Faitiche)

Honorable Mentions:

Taco Leg - "Taco Leg" LP

Lamps - "Under The Water Under The Ground"

Tearist - "Purple Video" [Cass.]

Slices - "Still Cruising"

Mutant Video - "Head Scan - Part Two"

Dum Dum Girls - "End Of Daze EP" (surprisingly good, and a Strawberry Switchblade cover!)

Potty Mouth's new 12" managed to step in to sate Shoppers fans, though overall I wasn't that impressed with the new material, but thank god for Dark Times---a band that never fails to impress. Their record Girl Hate saw them going in a less melodic and more hardcore direction. It's desperate and fast moving and fantastic.

Also, I am shamelessly gonna plug Sean's new project, No Paris. He's touring sometime in the spring with Screen Vinyl Image.

Various (Reissues/Live):

Unwound - "Live Leaves" (you can stream here)

The Cleaners From Venus - Blow Away Your Troubles / On Any Normal Monday / Midnight Cleaners

Medicine - "Shot Forth Self Living"

My Bloody Valentine - "EP's 1988-1991"

Bikini Kill - "Bikini Kill" EP

William Basinski - "The Disintegration Loops"