Tag Archives: Sleigh Bells

LxL’s Best Albums of 2012

3 Jan

Top 20 Best Albums of 2012 including El-P, Jack White, and Fiona Apple

2012 turned out to be a pretty great year in music.  I think all three of us would agree the offerings in 2012 were deep in really good albums, without many albums rising to the level of true greatness.  That being said, I think I would rather have a pool of 60-80 really good albums come out in a year than 9-10 great albums.  Around here, we like variety, and we certainly got it this year.  There was a surprisingly surge of good hip-hop released in the second half of the year (Killer Mike, Nas, Meek Mill).  There was the long-awaited return of all-timer female singer songwriter types (Fiona Apple, Cat Power, Regina Spektor).  And there were also several much-anticipated sophomore wide releases (Sleigh Bells, Tame Impala, Beach House, Twin Shadow).  All in all, there may not have been a lot of perfect albums this year, but it was still a great year in music.  Enjoy the top 20.
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Top Ten Thursday: Best Live Acts of 2012

20 Dec

St. Vincent Best Live Act of 2012

Our best of the year coverage continues with our favorite rockers of the road, highlighting the ten best live shows we saw this year. This year LxL was able to get out to Coachella, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and the Pitchfork music festival, which many shows on this list stem from. So without further ado, here are our ten favorite live acts of the year.
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Top Ten Thursday: Best Albums of 2012….so far

28 Jun

It is a little over halfway through 2012 and a large breadth of music has been released in this time.  This of course means that it is time to list what, in our opinion, are the best albums so far this year.  We do this not to proselytize our readers into congratulating us on our superb music tastes, but instead to evaluate the current musical landscape.  Today’s list will also provide some loose guidelines for when we do make our end of the year list – although it is merely a predictor and not definitive on how we will feel at the end of the year.
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Weak List Wednesday: Top 5 Best Songs of 2012 (Thus Far)

27 Jun

July is almost upon us, which we thought was the perfect time to release our mid-year song list. Between the songs and the albums, there were quite a few split decisions, but below are the best we came up with for our favorite tracks that have been released so far this year. Hopefully you enjoy them as much as we do.
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This NOT That: The Healthy Choice

5 Mar

Eat This Not That Diet Book

While doing some light reading out of his wife’s diet magazines one evening, Wes discovered a brilliant scheme for us to rip off for a new LxL segment. Thus, today I am bringing you LxL’s first of many, “This NOT That” write-ups. Basically, we take a quick look at what is topping the charts and offer alternatives that we believe are healthier, more choice options for our readers to be listening too. Our goal is to trash a bit on the modern rubbish that is currently out-performing a few of the lesser-known, yet better options. So below are three selections from the current “Top 40” lists that I thought were especially appalling. One single, one album, and one music video. Let’s talk healthy listening …
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