Last year, all year long, we were typing about how broke and pathetic and unemployable we at the ZeCat Castle are. Not because we want you, dear readers, to feel sorry for us, but because the lack of funds/employment keeps us from buying all the albums and going to all the movies required to offer the quality of lists and columns and features and reviews we’ve offered in past years. Last year’s lists ended up decent enough regardless; check out our 2011 music list HERE and our 2011 film list HERE.
So far, 2012 has been another tough one for us. Our pockets have been even lighter than ever and thus we’ve not been able to go to nearly as many movies or buy nearly as many albums as we’d like. But forget that noise; below you’ll find a few modest 2012 lists featuring music and films released during the first quarter of 2012. So far. not a great year, but there’s much to come, so we’re hopeful.
FAVORITE FILMS FROM THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2012
1. Chronicle (Josh Trank)
2. The Hunger Games (Gary Ross)
3. Wanderlust (David Wain)
4. Haywire (Steven Soderbergh)
5. John Carter (Andrew Stanton)
6. Friends with Kids (Jennifer Westfeldt)
Worst film of 2012 so far: The Grey (Joe Carnahan)
Have not seen but plan to: 21 Jump Street; Bully; The Deep Blue Sea; American Reunion; Damsels In Distress; Jeff Who Lives at Home; Natural Selection; Being Flynn; Man On a Ledge; Contraband; The Secret World of Arrietty; The Lorax; Safe House; The Cabin In the Woods
FAVORITE SONGS FROM THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2012
1. “Doughnut for a Snowman,” Guided by Voices
2. “Amen,” Leonard Cohen
3. “Diet Mountain Dew,” Lana Del Rey
4. “Friends of Friends,” Hospitality
5. “Simple Song,” The Shins
6. “The Unmistakable Fats Domino,” Guided by Voices
7. “All Waters,” Perfume Genius
8. “Going Home,” Leonard Cohen
9. “Easy Ryder,” Ty Segall and White Fence
10. “We Take Care of Our Own,” Bruce Springsteen
11. “Andrew In Drag,” The Magnetic Fields
12. “Born to Die,” Lana Del Rey
13. “Burn You to the Ground,” Lee Miles
14. “Anyhow,” Leonard Cohen
15. “Video Games,” Lana Del Rey
16. “Chocolate Boy,” Guided by Voices
17. “Jack of All Trades,” Bruce Springsteen
18. “The Rifle’s Spiral,” The Shins
19. “Ray Charles,” Chiddy Bang
20. “Show Me the Place,” Leonard Cohen
… and lots of White Fence tracks that we’ve not yet learned the names of.
FAVORITE ALBUMS FROM THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2012
1. Guided by Voices – Let’s Go Eat the Factory
2. Lana Del Rey – Born to Die
3. White Fence – Family Perfume Vol. 1 + 2
4. Leonard Cohen – Old Ideas
5. Hospitality – Hospitality
6. The Shins – Port of Morrow
7. Action Bronson – Blue Chips
8. Dr. Dog – Be the Void
9. Ty Segall and White Fence – Hair
10. Perfume Genius – Put Your Back N 2 It
11. Bruce Springsteen – Wrecking Ball
12. Lee Ranaldo – Between the Times & the Tides
13. Andrew Bird – Break It Yourself
14. Craig Finn – Clear Heart Full Eyes
15. Harley Poe – Satan, Sex and No Regrets
16. The Big Pink – Future This
17. Chiddy Bang – Breakfast
18. Ceremony – Zoo
19. Howler – America Give Up
20. Ben Kweller – Go Fly a Kite
Worst album of 2012 so far: Grimes – Visions
Have not purchased but plan to: The Men’s Open Your Heart; Damien Jurado’s Maraqopa; Imperial Teen’s Feel the Sound; Django Django’s Django Django; Cloud Nothing’s Attack On Memory; Todd Snider’s Agnostic Hymns and Stoner Fables; Chuck Prophet’s Temple Beautiful; John K. Samson’s Provincial; Justin Townes Earle’s Nothing’s Going To Change the Way
FAVORITE TELEVISION FROM THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2012
1. Shameless
2. Parks and Recreation
3. Happy Endings
4. Survivor
5. New Girl
6. Breakout Kings
7. The Walking Dead
8. Californication
9. The Office
10. Community
My favorite albums of the year so far:
1. The Men–Open Your Heart
2. Chuck Prophet–Temple Beautiful
3. Cloud Nothings–Attack on Memory
4. Mind Spiders–Meltdown
5. Vijay Iyer–Accelerando
6. Dirty Three–Toward the Low Sun
7. Ceremony–Zoo
8. Anais Mitchell–Young Man in America
9. Robert Glasper Experiment–Black Radio
10. Pallbearer–Sorrow and Extinction
11. Todd Snider–Agnostic Hymns and Stoner Fables
12. Lucero–Women and Work
13. Bruce Springsteen–Wrecking Ball
14. Everything, Now!–Do It on the Moon
15. Pontiak–Echo Ono
Still need to hear: GBV, High on Fire, Dr. John, Lee Ranaldo, Gentleman Jesse, Radar Eyes, Lee Fields, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Screaming Females, Chromatics, Lotus Plaza, Damien Jurado, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Action Bronson
Good stuff, Caleb!!