WVAU Top Music of 2012: #9

General Manager

#9 Album:
Grizzly Bear – Shields

Grizzly Bear has established themselves as one of the most successful indie rock bands with Veckatimest, and Shields has only added to their success, reaching number 7 on the Billboard 200 and number 1 on Billboard’s Independent Albums. It’s exactly what you want to see from a band that is getting older and more mature.

The overall sound of Shields is less dreamy than Grizzly Bear’s earlier work but it’s more raw and grounded. There’s significantly less reverb on everything, especially vocals, which makes the album sound clearer and heavier. The songwriting is complex and intricate, yet the tracks don’t come across as complicated. It is a mature and more down to earth album from an experienced band that has fine-tuned their craft.

By Drew Sher

#9 Song:
Miguel – “Adorn”

After three Grammy nominations, serious comparisons to “Sexual Healing” and countless remixes, Miguel has adorned us with a new R&B classic. The first track and single off of Kaleidoscope Dream, “Adorn” mixes the smooth gospel soul of Marvin Gaye and the overtly sensual rock of Prince. It’s got classic R&B male back-up harmonies and sensibilities, but when Miguel throws his signature vocal hiccup on top and rides over a luxurious beat – it’s totally transformed.

“Adorn” is steamy, not sleazy, evocative of the past but never retro and catchy without ever being cheap. It’s a simple metaphor: Miguel just wants you to accept his love like jewelry and wear it proudly. His tenor croon is thrilling, dripping with sensuality. But calling Miguel just an R&B singer would be selling him short. From the campy love song “Do you..” to the nightlife anthem “The Thrill” or the blissed out, sexed-up surprise appearance of the Zombies “Time of the Season,” Kaleidoscope Dream challenges listener expectations at every turn. It’s sonically dynamic and lyrically scandalous. It’s been said Miguel is part of a class of artists like The Weeknd or Frank Ocean who redefine the R&B genre – but he’s just mononymous Miguel in a class all his own.

By Emily White