Q1 of 2013 report – Nicole’s fav albums so far + most anticipated Q2

a list of some albums I liked in the first quarter of 2013 and some upcoming releases that I’m looking forward to listening to

Motion Sickness of Time Travel & Imperial Topaz Split
Tranquility Tapes, released January 12

Indians - Somewhere Else
4AD, released January 28

Beach Fossils – Clash The Truth
Captured Tracks, released February 19

Melissa’s Top Albums of 2012

I have been sitting on ranking these albums for quite some time and now it’s a year late!  Oh well.  It’s not like the music of 2012 just disappears and is forgotten.  So these are my top albums of [last] year that still remain relevant a day into 2013.  Happy New Year!

Nicole’s 10 Albums You Missed Out On This Year

Since I’ve already posted my ‘Best Albums of 2012′ list on my own website, here’s something different; a list of albums from my ‘best of 2012′ list that no one else has played on WCDB (albums that one or two other people have played are denoted with a *). These are albums I thought were really great, but never saw any airplay at WCDB because we never got the physical CDs into the station. Maybe some of these albums you haven’t yet heard either? Listen below..

Kyle’s Favorite 25 Albums of 2012

Hey there everyone, my name’s Kyle and I’m the Alternative Rock director over here at WCDB Albany. I’d like to preface this list by saying that I’m by no means a qualified music critic, I’m solely a college kid who loves music and has a lot of access to it. This being said I’ve been looking forward to making this list forever because comparing albums to each other is an amazingly fun process for me. Hope you enjoy, and feel free to high five me or question if I have ears in the comments below!

Top 50 Albums by Kurt Cobain

In light of 2012 nearing its end and our DJs reflecting on the best albums of the year, we look back to Kurt Cobain’s (handwritten) 50 favorites.

The Most Played Artists in the History of WCDB

WCDB started charting online in 2002 (8/23/2002 by DJ Starks who played Pharcyde – Passin Me By). Some of us (I) were (was) curious to find out which artists have been played the most on our station since that starting point.  This entire list was constructed through manual searches so there are potential artists that could’ve slipped through the cracks. If you find one make sure to let me know in the comments. (Just know that you have to make sure you don’t count covers of their songs and songs where they were just featured.)

All this being said, I’m proud to present the top 10 artists that I found in WCDB’s charting history!

Bfargz’s 2011 Albums of the Year

2011 had a lot of ups and downs. I think the choices I have in my top ten list are reflective of that. Many of these albums can be downloaded for free from ifyoumakeit.com.

2011: The Year of Escapism

Conjuring up motifs and noises of the past, these ten artists have put their spin on nostalgia and have created a sound unique to each of them.  Music as always is a testament of the times, somehow it seems we’re being catapulted backwards. In some cases the artist deals head on with the current turmoil lyrically, but even when the content is irrelevant we’re sucked into a simpler time. Although it’s hard to remain hopeful when the skies look so dark and gloomy, there’s always “Watch The Thrown.”

Melissa’s Top 10 Albums of 2011

It’s been a pretty decent year for new alternative albums.  I’ve managed to pick just enough of them after dismissing a lot of the indie garbage that dominated the CD releases these past 12 months.  I believe this list embodies my tastes fairly well and I have conviction in my choices and their order.  So now that the year is rapidly coming to an end, let’s recap some music!

The Best of Electronic Dance Music in 2011

I feel bad for artists in December. What with deadlines and expectations and the weight of eleven months on the backs of every critic, it seems that otherwise relevant releases get lost in the shuffle. So yes, it’s December 4th and I’m writing a best of 2011 list that would more appropriately be composed in January – mea culpa.

This was an interesting year, as “EDM” (Christ I hate that acronym) cemented a footing in the mainstream consciousness – especially here in Albany, be it Dayglow, Deadmau5 or Foam Fest (ahem, Electric Flurry…). So, as the director of the electronic music department here at WCDB (somewhat confusingly titled RPM) I feel as if it is my duty to sift through all of the roughage, and somehow – in a year where Skrillex colloborated with the doors and Rihanna with Calvin Harris – present an accurate, unbiased snapshot of the scene’s state.

What follows is a top 20 list, the opinion of one man plain and simple. And while the pretentious, alt-rock kid inside of me wants to exclude every song known to more than ___ listeners, I have to admit: sometimes things get popular for a very good reason. And in case seeking out and giving attention to each of these songs individually is a daunting task, I’ve also included a mix (~45 minutes) that, I hope, captures the year:

https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F29591644 WCDB Top 20 by mr.kissner

It’s been a long one…