Best Albums of 2012

Almost missed the Top 10 this year! Nothing like just getting it in under the wire.

Those of you who check in on this blog from time to time won't be surprised at many of the choices here. Several of the folks below made appearances on the Friday Music Day posts. This was a great year for music, particularly music that resurrects some of the great rock styles. The list below has music that recreates the early 60s, the classic 70s, the New Wavy 80s, great Motown, and blistering bluegrass.

On top of it all are the Heartless Bastards. Arrow is just a great classic bar rock album. They can bring the crunch and they can slow it down a little too. This album just fits about any time.

‎10. Blunderbuss, Jack White
9. Boys & Girls, Alabama Shakes
8. O Be Joyful, Shovels & Rope
7. The Sheepdogs, The Sheepdogs
6. Carry Me Back, Old Crow Medicine Show
5. The Lion's Roar, First Aid Kit
4. Divine Fits, The Divine Fits
3. Heaven, The Walkmen
2. Signs & Signifiers, J.D. McPherson
1. Arrow, Heartless Bastards

Also in contention: Lambchop, The Magnetic Fields, The White Buffalo, Turbo Fruits, Tanlines, Dwight Yoakum, Dirty Projectors, Dinosaur Jr., Murder By Death, Beach House, The Lumineers, The Very Best.

Here also are my top songs. Gone Tomorrow is one of my favorite in sometime... and if I am not mistaken there is an ode to the great Randy Savage in the lyrics.

My Top 10 Songs:
1. Gone Tomorrow, Lambchop
2. Northside Girl, J.D. McPherson
3. Hold On, Alabma Shakes
4. Default, Django Django
5. Heaven, The Walkmen
6. Shivers, Divine Fits
7. Andrew In Drag, The Magnetic Fields
8. Ghost Fields, Murder By Death
9. Brothers, Tanlines
10. Feeling Good, The Sheepdogs

Friday Hijinx

I really enjoyed this...

Consensus

So about that scientific debate around climate change...

Disabled Americans Indeed

It takes a lot anymore for me to be surprised by Republicans... But even as cynical as I have become, this nearly made me spit out my coffee:

The Senate Tuesday fell short of the two-thirds vote required to ratify a United Nations treaty aimed at securing rights for disabled people around the world, when the vast majority of Republican senators voted against the treaty. The final vote was 61-38 vote. All the nay votes were Republican. 

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities essentially makes the 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act a non-binding international standard. It requires no change to U.S. law.

Read the article. This is essentially a high water mark in the idiocy, ideology, and isolation of modern conservatism.