Craig Hlavaty's 10 Best Houston Albums of 2012

By Craig Hlavaty Thu., Dec. 13 2012 at 9:00 AM

1. BLACKIE, GEN
No one in Houston was this bare and honest this year. GEN didn't prove that B L A C K I E is gifted; no, he did that a long time ago with hundreds of sweat-stained gigs across the globe. GEN proved that Michael LaCour is in this for life, not as a musician, but as a capital-A Artist.

GEN largely left behind the walls of sound you know from B L A C K I E's last three EPs and 2008 debut LP Wilderness of North America for horns, keyboards, acoustic guitars, haunting, harried, and hellish choruses, that remind the listener more of blues than the damaged hip-hop that made him an underground institution. It was folk fed through his noise thresher.

HONORABLE MENTION

From Beyond, The Color Out of Space EP

Hell City Kings, "Devil's Law"/"Surfin' On the A"

Omotai, Terrestrial Grief

Follow @hprocksoff

Tags:

local music

We Recommend

jenkinshouse55

2 Like

It was a good year for Houston. Here are 16 I enjoyed hearing, watching, and photographing. Hope I'm not forgetting a favorite... - Jason Smith

16. Square and Compass – HOW TO ESCAPE

15. Grandfather Child – GRANDFATHER CHILD

14. Linus Pauling Quartet - Bag of Hammers

13. Excusemesir – WITH YOU IN MIND

12. Free Radicals – THE FREEDOM FENCE

11. Venomous Maximus – BEG UPON THE LIGHT

10. Ancient Cat Society – STAY HOME

9. From Beyond – THE COLOR OUT OF SPACE

8. Second Lovers – WISHERS, DREAMERS, & LIARS

7. Sunrise and Ammunition – TESSERACT

6. New York City Queens – BURN OUT LIKE ROMAN CANDLES

5. Bang Bangz – BANG BABGZ EP

4. Featherface – ACTUAL MAGIC

3. The Dead Revolt – A NIGHT OF NOSTALGIA

2. The Manichean – LOVERS

1. Buxton – NOTHING HERE SEEMS STRANGE

sheaserrano

B L A C K I E's GEN really just made me feel all sorts of ways about all sorts of things. So very good. The part about dancing with his mom is Christmas is undeniably moving. Everything about that specific moment is unbelievable. I want to give him all of my money.

yeep

I think this is great, and sums up the year just fine.

Haters, this is not an article on the top 100 Houston albums of 2012..

WhiteLightning

1 Like

NYC Queens may be the worst band to pop onto the scene in a long long time.

darkblueskye

Elect Trick City's EP "Vote Trick City" is on repeat on my computer since I got it in November. No female bands on the list? Shame on you, Houston Press. Shame on you.