This is my best of 2012. Allow me the usual caveats: I can only include what I’ve heard, and I have not heard everything. It is very likely that many great releases are not included. There is still a month left in 2012, so any releases coming out soon will be omitted. Also, “best of” lists like that are somewhat arbitrary, perhaps meaningless, and you should not take them too seriously. So there ;)
The Best of 2012:
Anthony Braxton – Echo Echo Mirror House (NYC) 2011
Magma – Félicité Thösz
Nooumena – Argument with Eagerness
Redolfi, Michel – Sons-Frissons
Robinson, Jason – Tiresian Symmetry
Triptet – Figure in the Carpet
Van der Graaf Generator – Alt
Anduin – Stolen Years
Änglagård – Viljans Öga
Asva / Phillipe Petit – Empires Should Burn
Bergeron, Vincent (Vincent Berger Rond) – Elle avait raison Hathor
Biota – Cape Flyaway
Brenders, Kyle / Quartet – Offset
Burns, Daren – Fear is not the Natural State of Civilized People
Butcher, John – Bell Trove Spools
Davis, Jeff – Leaf House
Drake, Bob – Bob’s Drive In
Fujiwara, Tomas & the Hook Up – The Air is Different
Halvorson, Mary / Quintet – Bending Bridges
Harrison, Michael – Time Loops
Invisible Things – Home iS the Sun
Iyer, Vijay – Accelerando
Johnson, Max – Quartet
Kapustin Yar – Trithemius
Melvins – Freak Puke
Mercury Fools the Alchemist – The Science of Unobtainable Results
Mulm – The End of Greatness
Novik, Aaron – Secret of Secrets
Pail Bug (Eichmann, Weins, Hughes, Arnal) – Pail Bug
Paradoxical Frog – Union
Positive Catastrophe – Dibrujo, Dibrujo, Dibrujo…
Rainey, Tom / Trio – Camino Cielo Echo
Satisfacción Lab – Aido-Hwedo
Satisfacción Lab – Synthscape
Shipp, Matthew / Trio – Elastic Aspects
Threadgill, Henry / Zooid – Tomorrow Sunny / The Revelry, Spp
Ullmann, Gebhard / BassX3 – Transatlantic
Wrack / Kyle Bruckmann – Cracked Refraction
Young, Katherine / Pretty Monsters – Pretty Monsters
Honorable Mentions:
9 Volt (Parker / Maoz / Halevy / Berne) – Open Circuit
Ahleuchatistas – Heads Full of Poison
Arcana – As Bright as a Thousand Suns
Arcana – Emerald (EP)
Atrium Carceri – Reliquiae
Aviations – A Declaration of Sound
Aych (Hobbs / Halvorson / Bynum) – As the Crow Flies
Ballister – Mechanisms
Barbiero, Daniel – Not One Nor
Beger, Albert / Gerry Hemingway – There’s Nothing Better To Do
Bermel, Derek / Alarm Will Sound – Canzonas Americanas
Bilbao Syndrome – I-VI
Bisio, Michael / Matthew Shipp – Floating Ice
Blackshaw, James – Love is the Plan, the Plan is Death
Blaser, Samuel / Quartet – As the Sea
Blink – Twice
Braxton, Anthony – Composition No. 30
Braxton, Anthony – Syntactical GTM Choir (NYC) 2011
Catatumbo – Catatumbo
Centrozoon – Boner (Marziano Fontana Version)
Cherry, Neneh / The Thing – The Cherry Thing
Chicago Underground Duo – Age of Energy
Clarinet Trio (G.Ullmann, J.Kupke, M.Thieke) – 4
Construction Party – Instruments of Change
Cosa Brava – The Letter
Dabrowski, Tomasz – Tom Trio
Data Garden – Quartet: Live at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Desert Fathers, The (Jeff Kaiser / Gregory Taylor) – Charismata
Desiderii Marginis – Procession
Diaz de Leon, Mario – Hypnos
Dirty Projectors, The – Swing Lo Magellan
Eisenstadt, Harris – Canada Day III
Eisenstadt, Harris – Canada Day Octet
Ergo – If Not Inertia
Err0r_500 – Paths That Lead to Nowhere
Ethel -Heavy
Fazzini-Fedrigo XYQuartet – Idea F
Floating World, The – The Apparition
Gannets – Transmissions of Not
Gayle, Charles – Streets
Gray, Devin – Dirigo Rataplan
Gunnelpumpers – Tritonium
Halley, Rich / 4 – Back from Beyond
Hammond, Ross – Adored
Hannaford, Marc – Ordinary Madness
Harrison, Joel / Lorenzo Feliciati / Vu /Powell… – Holy Abyss
Heldentod – The Ghost Machine
Hildebrand, Gustaf – Heliopause
Hollmer, Lars – With Floury Hand (sketches)
Holmes, Ben / Quartet – Anvil of the Lord
Home of Easy Credit, The T- he Home of Easy Credit
Imbogodom – And They Turned Not When They Went
Irabagon’s Outright!, Jon – Unhinged
Irabagon, Jon / Mike Pride / Mick Barr – I Don’t Hear Nothin’ but the Blues, Volume 2: Appalachian Haze
Jack Dupon – Bascule a Vif
Janel & Anthony – Where Is Home
Kalima, Kalle / K-18 – Out to Lynch
Kang, Eyvind – The Narrow Garden
Kayo Dot – Gamma Knife
King Tears Bat Trip – King Tears Bat Trip
Kretzmer, Yoni / 2Bass Quartet – Weight
KTL – KTL V
Kuhl, Tim – St. Helena
Lee, Peggy Band – Invitation
Lehman, Steve – Dialect Fluorescent
Listing, Clint – In the Minds of Madness
Living By Lanterns – New Myth / Old Science
Locrian & Christoph Heemann – Locrian & Christoph Heemann
Locrian & Mamiffer – Bless Them That Curse You
Lopes, Luis / Humanization 4Tet – Electricity
Lundbom, Jon / Big Five Chord – No New Tunes
Lurie, Jessica / Ensemble – Megaphone Heart
Man Forever – Pansophical Cataract
McAuley, Jim – Gongfarmer 36: Used Strings
Mezei, Szilárd / Quintet – Singing Elephant
Mezei, Szilárd / Vocal Ensemble – Fújj Szél, Zenta, Visszhangozz Szél
Modirzadeh, Hafez – Post-Chromodal Out!
Morris, Joe / William Parker / Gerald Cleaver – Altitude
Nichelodeon – NO
Nieto, Juan Antonio – The Voice Inside
Noordzy, Mike / Quintet – Dream-Ee-Chi-Wah
Number None – Strategies Against Agriculture
Outhouse & Hilmar Jensson – Straw, Sticks + Bricks
Pixel – Reminder
PRCHR PRCHR – Familiar Music 1
Rader, Abbey – Live at PAX
Raison d’Etre – When the Earth Dissolves in Ashes: Live 2010-2011
Ratchet Orchestra – Hemlock
Rea, Dennis / Wally Shoup / Tom Zgonc – Subduction Zone
Redfearn, Alec K. & The Eyesores – Sister Death
Research Institute, The – Taktspuren
Resistencia Chaco – Una Puerta Roja en algún lugar de la República Checa
Romus, Rent / Lords of the Outland – The Cloudknitter Suite
Romus, Rent / Lords of the Outland – Thee Unhip
Rosaly, Frank – Centering and Displacement
Rosario, Eduardo F. – (Auto/Anti)nomía
Sarin Smoke – Vent
Seven Nines and Tens – Habitat 67
Short Term Effect, A – Furs and Masks (EP)
Shrine – Somnia
Sky Burial – There I Saw the Grey Wolf Gaping
Sky Thing – Garbage Strike
Slumgum / Hugh Ragin – The Sky His Own
Smith, Ches / Congs for Brums – Psycho Predictions
Smith, Wadada Leo – Ten Freedom Summers
Smith, Wadada Leo / Louis Moholo Moholo – Ancestors
Sonic Liberation Front – Jetway Confidential
Sound Collision Alliance – 53:38
Starring – ABCDEFG-HIJKLMNOP-QRSTUV-WXYZ
Stretch Orchestra – Stretch Orchestra
Thollem / Parker / Cline – The Gowanus Session
Tin Hat – Rain is a Handsome Animal
Treha Sektori – Endessiah
Tyree, Ben – Thoughtform Variations
Usaisamonster, The – Lost and Found
Various Artists – District of Noise Vol. 5
Various Artists – Lost in the Humming Air (Music Inspired by Harold Budd)
Walker, Brad – Redrawblak (Solo)
Walker, Brad / Simon Lott – Redrawblak
Ware, David S. / Cooper-Moore / W.Parker / M.Ali – Live at Jazzfestival Saalfelden 2011
Way Out Northwest – The White Spot
Weathers, Andrew / Ensemble – Guilford County Songs
Welcome, Chris – Electronic Music 2002-2011
Whammies, The – The Music of Steve Lacy
Witxes – Winter Light Burns
Yellowthief – Second Level Skills Vol. 1
Yowie – Damning with Faint Praise
Zs – Score – The Complete Sextet Works 2002-2007
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