(2012 end-of-year lists) – STEPHANIE MERCHAK

I asked some of my favorite musician and artist friends, from Beirut and beyond, to list their 10 favorite albums of 2012…
Alternately, they could also provide me with a list of the records they listened to the most in 2012, regardless of date of release.

Stephanie Merchak (musician)
https://soundcloud.com/stephanie-merchak

1- Dictaphone: Poems From A Rooftop (2012)
2- Amiina: Puzzle (2010)
3- 22-20s: Self-titled (2005)
4- She & Him: Volume Two (2010)
5- Miles Davis: Ascenseur pour l’échafaud (1957)
6- Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht; Variations, Op.31 / Herbert Von Karajan, Berliner Philharmoniker (1975/1990)
7- Tomandandy: Resident Evil, Afterlife OST (2010)
8- Waldeck: Ballroom Stories (2007)
9- Danny Elfman: Alice In Wonderland OST (2010)
10- Trifonic: Ninth Wave (2012)

(2012 end-of-year lists) – RABIH SALLOUM

I asked some of my favorite musician and artist friends, from Beirut and beyond, to list their 10 favorite albums of 2012…
Alternately, they could also provide me with a list of the records they listened to the most in 2012, regardless of date of release.

Rabih Salloum (musician, Slutterhouse)

1- Frank Ocean: Channel Orange
2- 50 Cent: 5 (Murders By Numbers)
3- Emeli Sande: Our Version Of Events
4- Lana Del Rey: Born To Die
5- A$AP Rocky: LongLiveA$AP
6- Pet Shop Boys: Elysium
7- Usher: Looking 4 Myself
8- The XX: Coexist
9- Ultravox: Brilliant
10- Slash: Apocalyptic Love

(2012 end-of-year lists) – SETH AYYAZ

I asked some of my favorite musician and artist friends, from Beirut and beyond, to list their 10 favorite albums of 2012…
Alternately, they could also provide me with a list of the records they listened to the most in 2012, regardless of date of release.

Seth Ayyaz (musician)
http://www.sethayyaz.com/

On heavy rotation in the studio and in the home, in no particular order:

– Ti Frère: Homage à Ti Frère
– Marcus Schmickler: Palace Of Marvels (Queered Pitch)
– Ghédalia Tazartès: Repas Froid
– Florian Hecker & Reza Negarestani: Chimerization (شیمرسازی)
– MoHa!: One-Way Ticket To Candyland
– Bernard Parmegiani: La Création Du Monde
– Butthole Surfers: Locust Abortion Technician
– Chris Watson: Cima Verde
– Ishilan N-Tenere: Guitar Music From The Western Sahel
– Gregory Whitehead: The Pleasure Of Ruins And Other Castaways

(2012 end-of-year lists) – MIKE COOPER

I asked some of my favorite musician and artist friends, from Beirut and beyond, to list their 10 favorite albums of 2012…
Alternately, they could also provide me with a list of the records they listened to the most in 2012, regardless of date of release.

Mike Cooper (musician)
http://www.cooparia.com/

– THE MAGIC I.D.: I’M SO AWAKE (STAUBGOLD VINYL ANALOG 4)

– EL INFIERNO MUSICAL [CHRISTOF KURZMANN, KEN VANDERMARK, EVA REITER, CLAYTON THOMAS & MARTIN BRANDLMAYR]: SELF-TITLED (MIKROTON CD 20)

– JOHN FAHEY: FARE FORWARD VOYAGERS (SHANACHIE CD)

– LUCA VENITUCI: INTERSTIZIO (BRIGADISCO VINYL BRG031)

– VAN DYKE PARKS: HOLD BACK TIME / AMAZING GRACE (SEVEN INCH VINYL SINGLE)

– VARIOUS ARTISTS: LISTEN WHITEY / THE SOUNDS OF BLACK POWER (LIGHT IN THE ATTIC RECORDS, LITA 081 CD)

– THE HENRYS: SO THIS IS TOMORROW (CD+DVD, HEN 2009)

– SUN RA: MAYAN TEMPLES (BLACK SAINT CD)

– VARIOUS ARTISTS: REMBETIKA 1850-1960 (26 CD BOXSET, MINOS-EMI)

– SCOTT WALKER: BISH BOSCH (4AD CD)

(2012 end-of-year lists) – JOSEPH GHOSN

I asked some of my favorite musician and artist friends, from Beirut and beyond, to list their 10 favorite albums of 2012…
Alternately, they could also provide me with a list of the records they listened to the most in 2012, regardless of date of release.

Joseph Ghosn (writer & musician)

10 disques de 2012 à réévaluer en 2022:

1. Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe: Timon Irnok Manta
2. Vindicatrix: Mengamuk
3. Mika Vaino, Kevin Drumm, Axel Dörner & Lucio Capece: Venexia
4. Carter Tutti Void: Transverse
5. Curt Crakrach: Happy Holidays
6. Dean Blunt: The Narcissist II
7. Pete Swanson / Rene Hell: Split
8. Four Tet: Pink
9. German Army: III
10. Je Suis Le Petit Chevalier: Venice Is Falling/An Age Of Wonder

(2012 end-of-year lists) – YOUMNA SABA

I asked some of my favorite musician and artist friends, from Beirut and beyond, to list their 10 favorite albums of 2012…
Alternately, they could also provide me with a list of the records they listened to the most in 2012, regardless of date of release.

Youmna Saba (musician)
https://soundcloud.com/youmna-saba

– Kyungso Park: Dung-Tta (http://parkkyungso.com/)
– Piotr Kurek: Edena (http://soundcloud.com/piotr-kurek)
– Studiocanoe: Soothe (http://studiocanoe.com/)
– Fiona Apple: The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than The Driver Of The Screw And Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do
– Kamilya Jubran & Werner Hasler: Wanabni
– Julia Holter: Ekstasis
– The Incompetents: Of Minor Differences… And Narcissism

(2012 end-of-year lists) – MICHAEL THIEKE

I asked some of my favorite musician and artist friends, from Beirut and beyond, to list their 10 favorite albums of 2012…
Alternately, they could also provide me with a list of the records they listened to the most in 2012, regardless of date of release.

Michael Thieke (musician, The International Nothing / The Magic I.D.)
http://www.michael-thieke.de/

1- Seamus Cater/Vlijam Nybacka: The Anecdotes
2- Rashid al-Qundarji: The Falsetto Of Baghdad
3- Earth: Angels Of Darkness, Demons Of Light II
4- The Original Sound Of Cumbia: The History of Colombian Cumbia & Porro As Told By The Phonograph 1948-79
5- Streifenjunko: Sval Torv
6- Trapist: The Golden Years
7- El Infierno Musical (Christof Kurzmann, Ken Vandermark, Eva Reiter, Clayton Thomas & Martin Brandlmayr): Self-titled
8- Swans: The Seer
9- Skip James: The Complete Early Recordings Of Skip James (1931)
10- Charles Mingus: Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus

(2012 end-of-year lists) – GHASSAN SALHAB

I asked some of my favorite musician and artist friends, from Beirut and beyond, to list their 10 favorite albums of 2012…
Alternately, they could also provide me with a list of the records they listened to the most in 2012, regardless of date of release.

Ghassan Salhab (filmmaker)
http://www.ghassansalhab.com/

– François Couperin: Tic-Toc-Choc & autres pièces / Alexandre Tharaud (piano)
– The Brian Jonestown Massacre
– Richard Skelton: Skura
– Godspeed You! Black Emperor: ‘Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!
– Schubert: Lieder / Bernarda Fink, Gerold Huber (piano)
– Mogwai: Earth Division EP
– Neil Young: Le Noise
– Set Fire To Flames: Telegraphs In Negative/Mouths Trapped In Static
– Tropic Of Cancer: The End Of All Things
– The Haxan Cloak: The Haxan Cloak

(2012 end-of-year lists) – ZIAD MOUKARZEL

I asked some of my favorite musician and artist friends, from Beirut and beyond, to list their 10 favorite albums of 2012…
Alternately, they could also provide me with a list of the records they listened to the most in 2012, regardless of date of release.

Ziad Moukarzel (musician, Mocques)

– Flying Lotus: Until The Quiet Comes [Warp]
– Captain Murphy: Duality [Self-released]
– El Rass & Munma: Kachf el Mahjoub (Unveiling The Hidden) [Ruptured]
– Jimmy Edgar: Majenta [Hotflush]
– Godspeed You! Black Emperor: ‘Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend! [Constellation]
– Grimes: Visions [4AD / Arbutus]
– Various Artists: Enduser Shares Needles With The Teknoist [Ad Noiseam]
– El-P: Cancer For Cure [Fat Possum]
– Die Antwoord: TEN$ION [Zef Recordings]
– Lone: Galaxy Garden [R&S Records]

Runners-up:

TNGHT, Baauer, The Outside Agency, Kids These Days, Death Grips, Gaslamp Killer, Tame Impala, Four Tet, Tasjiil Moujahed, Major Lazer…

(2012 end-of-year lists) – CHARIF MEGARBANE

I asked some of my favorite musician and artist friends, from Beirut and beyond, to list their 10 favorite albums of 2012…
Alternately, they could also provide me with a list of the records they listened to the most in 2012, regardless of date of release.

Charif Megarbane (musician, Cosmic Analog Ensemble / Heroes & Villains)
http://hisstology.bandcamp.com/

– Allessandro Alessandroni: Romance And Drama
– Kaidi Tatham: Various releases
– Pond: Beards, Wives, Denim
– Ballaké Sissoko & Vincent Segal: Chamber Music
– Janko Nilovic: Rythmes Contemporains
– Broadcast: Various releases
– Large Professor: Unreleased instrumentals

Memorable 2012 choruses:

– Bat For Lashes: “Laura”
– Tame Impala: “Why Won’t They Talk To Me”
– F. Gibbs & Madlib feat. BJ The Chicago Kid: “Shame”