2012 in review

A collection of Top 10 lists for you to enjoy

It’s that time of year again: That time when members of the arts community look back and obsessively compile their favourite pop culture moments from the past year.
Here are a few lists of records, shows, films and… Well, you’ll see.


TOP 10 NON-LOCAL CANADIAN RECORDS
Taylor Burgess, writer/editor

1. VARIOUS ARTISTS - Castledrum Companions
2. FAN FICTION - Raising Awareness
3. ALPHA COUPLE - Covers
4. BRAZILIAN MONEY - Doug Nasty
5. WASTED CATHEDRAL - Wasted Cathedral
6. JLK & BABYSITTER - c30
7. RANDOM CUTS - Adventures in Somnambulism
8. MAC DEMARCO - Rock and Roll Night Club
9. NU SENSAE - Sundowning
10. FREAK HEAT WAVES - Freak Heat Waves

TOP 10 LONG NIGHTS AT LOCAL SHOWS
Kent Davies, CKUW 95.9 FM radio show host

1. Melvins at the West End Cultural Centre and Whitelung with Pop Crimes at Ngtvspc, July 9
2. Propagandhi with Head Hits Concrete and This Hisses at the WECC and Nova @ Aceart, Oct. 19
3. Arrabio with the Pink Slips and the Thrashers at Ngtvspc, Oct. 24
4. Slim Cessna’s Auto Club with Vibrating Beds at the WECC, July 29
5. Trapezoids, 77 Guns and Breath Grenades at Ngtvspc, April 13
6. Damo Suzuki at the WECC and the Hoots at Lo Pub, March 22
7. Lil’ Ed and the Blues Imperials at Times Change(d) High and Lonesome Club, March 2
8. Geoff Berner, Wax Mannequin, Jenny Omnichord at the Urban Forest Lounge Café and in the Exchange District, July 23
9. Rainbow Trout Bike Jam and Brazilian Money with Freak Heat Waves in the Exchange District on Nuit Blanche, Sept. 29
10. The No Label Collective Showcase at Lo Pub, Aug. 9

TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2012
Damien Ferland, filmmaker

1. ANDY STOTT - Luxury Problems
2. CHROMATICS - Kill For Love
3. FLYING LOTUS - Until the Quiet Comes
4. ARIEL PINK’S HAUNTED GRAFFITI - Mature Themes
5. PYE CORNER AUDIO - Black Mill Tapes Vols. 1 & 2
6. DAPHNI - Jiaolong
7. CAN - The Lost Tapes
8. DEMDIKE STARE - Elemental
9. SECRET CIRCUIT - Nebula Sphynx 12”
10. DAM-FUNK - I Don’t Wanna Be a Star 12”

TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2012
Nicholas Friesen, editor/filmmaker

1. JULIE DOIRON - So Many Days
2. MISE EN SCENE - Desire’s Despair
3. PS I LOVE YOU - Death Dreams
4. LEE RANALDO - Between the Times and the Tides
5. SHARON VAN ETTEN - Tramp
6. DEPARTURES - Still and Moving Lines
7. JULY TALK - July Talk
8. NOVA - Midnight Midnight
9. JOHN K. SAMSON - Provincial
10. THE WALKMEN - Heaven

TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2012 (in no particular order)
Charles Granger, musician/filmmaker/artist

1. TWEAK BIRD - Undercover Crops
2. THE RAVEONETTES - Observator
3. THE DANDY WARHOLS - This Machine
4. SINEAD O’CONNOR - How About I Be Me (And You Be You)?
5. JOHNNY SIZZLE - Home Sweet Home
6. ANIMAL COLLECTIVE - Centipede Hz
7. VARIOUS - Songs in the Key of Hope: The Derek Wheeler Story
8. MOBINA GALORE - Skeletons EP
9. MARY JANE STOLE MY GIRL - Welcome to the Cassette Tape Nation
10. VAMPIRES - Vampires

TOP 10 “TOP 10 LISTS” I TRIED TO WRITE FOR THIS
Jaymez, visualist/editor

10. Top 10 musicians I’ve done visuals for
9. Top 10 bus shacks to avoid
8. Top 10 awesome venues that shut down
7. Top 10 bands with awesome tour vans
6. Top 10 veggie burgers in Western Canada
5. Top 10 pirated movies you probably never heard of
4. Top 10 discount projectors
3. Top 10 artists who moved away and then moved back
2. Top 10 movie trilogies that only have 2 out of 3 films on Netflix
1. Top 10 “Top 10 Lists” I tried to write for this

TOP 10 SHOWS OF 2012 (by date)
Jenna Kahn, reporter, Breakfast Television

1.  JP Hoe at the West End Cultural Centre, May 10
2.  The Black Keys at the MTS Centre, May 14
3.  Imaginary Cities at the Pyramid Cabaret, June 21
4.  The Head and the Heart at the Winnipeg Folk Festival, July 7
5.  Bahamas at the Winnipeg Folk Festival, July 8
6.  Sloan at the Pyramid Cabaret, Sept. 20
7.  Buddy Guy at the MTS Centre, Sept. 21
8.  Del Barber at the West End Cultural Centre, Oct. 26
9.  Hawksley Workman at the West End Cultural Centre, Oct. 30
10. Neil Young with Crazy Horse at the MTS Centre, Nov. 16

TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2012 (in no particular order)
Nicholas Luchak, musician/graphic designer

1. ANIMAL COLLECTIVE - Centipede Hz
2. DIRTY PROJECTORS - Swing Lo Magellan
3. DR. DOG - Be the Void
4. FATHER JOHN MISTY - Fear Fun
5. FRANK OCEAN - Channel Orange
6. GRIZZLY BEAR - Shields
7. DAN ROSSEN - Silent Hour/Golden Mile
8. DR. JOHN - Locked Down
9. DELICATE STEVE - Positive Force
10. LADYHAWK - No Can Do


TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2012
Deborah Remus, writer

1. THE MENZINGERS - On The Impossible Past
2. NO TRIGGER - Tycoon
3. PROPAGANDHI - Failed States
4. THE HOLY MESS - Cande Ru Las Degas
5. BASEMENT - Colourmeinkindness
6. MASKED INTRUDER - Masked Intruder
7. GREAT LAKES USA - Live Fast, Die Whenever
8. BILLY TALENT - Dead Silence
9. JOYCE MANOR - Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired
10. CANCER BATS - Dead Set On Living

TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2012
Jared Story, writer/comedian

1. GOJIRA - L’Enfant Sauvage
2. TESTAMENT - Dark Roots of Earth
3. HIGH ON FIRE - De Vermis Mysteriis
4. STORM CORROSION - Storm Corrosion
5. DOWN - Down IV Part I - The Purple EP
6. CORB LUND - Cabin Fever
7. CANCER BATS - Dead Set on Living
8. BARONESS - Yellow & Green
9. SOUNDGARDEN - King Animal
10. PRONG - Carved Into Stone

TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2012
Robert Vilar, actor/DJ

1.  PEAKING LIGHTS - Lucifer
2.  FRANKIE ROSE - Interstellar
3.  CHAIRLIFT - Something
4.  TINDERSTICKS - The Something Rain
5.  SYMMETRY - Themes For An Imaginary Film
6.  AERIEL PINK - Mature Themes
7.  NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE - Psychedelic Pill
8.  CRYSTAL CASTLES - III
9.  TOPS - Tender Opposites
10. GRIMES - Visions

TOP 10 FILMS OF 2012 THAT SHOULD’VE STARRED RYAN GOSLING
Gareth Williams, musician

1. The Hunger Games (as Pita’s brother, Spicy Hummus)
2. Dark Knight Rises (as The Riddler who answers his own riddles)
3. The Avengers (as Iron Man’s suit)
4. Twilight (as Bella’s rapidly maturing vampire baby)
5. Looper (goes back in time to unmake Young Hercules)
6. The Bourne Legacy (as the guy who finally kills that sucka!)
7. Magic Mike (CGI’d over Channing Tatum’s face)
8. Cloud Atlas (as every character in that mess)
9. Katy Perry: Part of Me (as Katy, obvs!)
10. Titanic 3D (everyone gets saved!)

TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2012
Matt Williams, musician (Haunter)

1. THE LYTICS - They Told Me
2. JAPANDROIDS - Celebration Rock
3. SLAM DUNK - Welcome to Miami
4. TITUS ANDRONICUS - Local Business
5. NOVA - Midnight Midnight
6. JULIE DOIRON - So Many Days
7. LADYHAWK - No Can Do
8. JOHN K. SAMSON - Provincial
9. THE MEN - Open Your Heart
10. MISE EN SCENE - Desire’s Despair

TOP 10 FILMS OF 2012 (in no particular order)
Aaron Zeghers, filmmaker and musician (SitDownTracy)

1. Beasts of the Southern Wild by Benh Zeitlin
2. Bestiaire by Denis Côté
3. Amour by Michael Haneke
4. Monsieur Lazhar by Philippe Falardeau
5. Le Vendeur by Sébastien Pilote
6. The Master by P.T. Anderson
7. Holy Motors by Leos Carax
8. The Invisible War by Kirby Dick
9. This is Not a Film by Mojtaba Mirtahmasb, Jafar Panahi
10. Volcano by Rúnar Rúnarsson

Special Mentions

Alps by Giorgos Lanthimosa
The Cabin in the Woods by Drew Goddard

TOP 10 FILMS I ACTUALLY GOT AROUND TO SEEING IN THE THEATRE
David Zellis, filmmaker

1. Cabin in the Woods (viewed at Silver City Polo Park)
2. Painless (viewed at the Toronto Film Festival)
3. Bernie (viewed at the Globe)
4. Cosmopolis (viewed at Grant Park)
5. I Declare War (viewed at the Toronto Film Festival)
6. The Avengers (viewed at Silver City Polo Park)
7. The Secret World of Arrietty (viewed at Silver City Polo Park)
8. Beyond the Black Rainbow (viewed at Cinematheque)
9. Finding Nemo 3D (viewed at the Luxury Towne 8 Cinema)
10. Kill List (viewed at the Gimli Film Festival)


TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2012
Jen Zoratti, music journalist

1. MISE EN SCENE - Desire’s Despair
2. DIVINE FITS - A Thing Called Divine Fits
3. LADYHAWK - No Can Do
4. PS I LOVE YOU - Death Dreams
5. DUM DUM GIRLS - End of Daze
6. FIRST AID KIT - The Lion’s Roar
7. MOTHER MOTHER - The Sticks
8. NADA SURF - The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy
9. THE WALKMEN - Heaven
10. BAHAMAS - Barchords

Published in Volume 67, Number 14 of The Uniter (December 7, 2012)