The Tame Impala juggernaut continues to roll on with tremendous force, and following on from their globe-conquering sophomore album Lonerism taking out the J Awards last week, and single ‘Elephant’ winning Best Song at the recent EG Awards, Kevin Parker and his merry band of Perth cosmonauts are now the toast of Britain’s longest-running tastemakers, NME Magazine.
Lonerism has topped NME‘s Album of the Year poll, with the Australian quartet beating out UK favourites and recent Mercury Prize recipients Alt-J to #1, as well as albums from the likes of forthcoming Meredith act Grimes, brave neo-RnB storyteller Frank Ocean, and the ever-prolific Jack White.
Tame Impala join the likes of Nirvana, Oasis, and Bloc Party in the list of previous NME Album of the Year recipients, which last year added PJ Harvey to the ranks with her album Let England Shake. The list is compiled by music reviewers and independent journalists that write and work for the magazine and its website counterpart.
As FasterLouder points out, it also marks the first time in the 38-year history of the NME poll that an Australian band has conquered the list, not only that, but the influence of the group is rife throughout; with side-project Pond also cracking the Top 10, coming at #7 with their psychelicious LP Beard Wives Denim, while the Kevin Parker-produced, self-titled debut from French singer Melody’s Echo Chamber ranks at #16.The UK magazine’s love affair with the Beatles-esque sounds of Tame Impala and their Revolver-hued Lonerism is just the latest in a string of critical and commercial accolades…
The UK magazine’s love affair with the Beatles-esque sounds of Tame Impala and their Revolver-hued Lonerism is just the latest in a string of critical and commercial accolades for the group’s follow-up to debut album, 2010’s Innerspeaker and arrives only a matter of weeks before the group’s national headline tour kicks off.
Lonerism has already received rave reviews across music media (including Tone Deaf’s), as well as experiencing enormous commercial sales to match in the UK and America; where Tame Impala are winding up tours to capitalise on their chart successes, where Lonerism debuted at #14 in the UK Albums Chart and cracked the US Top 40 upon release.
Tame Impala are set for a busy Australian touring schedule that capitalises on what has been a banner year for the band, and considering their debut at #4 on the Australian album charts, they’ll be plenty flocking to their headline tour through December, as well as playing a spate of music festivals in the summer season. Including Meredith Music Festival, Homebake’s 2012 ‘Global Edition‘, and finishing with Pyramid Rock Festival at year’s end.
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How does one write such globally-resonant music you might ask? Well, as frontman Kevin Parker revealed in his recent interview with Tone Deaf, it’s usually starts with a “just one little melody or chord change, or blip and I love the sound of that happening.”
Remarking on his unique, isolated songwriting process, Parker added: “It’s generally just a chorus, like 30 seconds, and it will just go over and over, that’ll suddenly appear to me. It’s usually sparked by a jolt of something,” says the Tame Impala frontman.
NME’s 50 Best Albums Of 2012
50 Purity Ring – Shrines
49 Flying Lotus – Until The Quiet Comes
48 The 2 Bears – Be Strong
47 John Talabot – fIN
46 Bobby Womack – The Bravest Man In The Universe
45 Lana Del Rey – Born To Die
44 Kendrick Lamar – Good Kid, mAAd City
43 Ratking – Wiki93
42 Paul Weller – Sonik Kicks
41 Ty Segall – Twins
40 Polica – Give You The Ghost
39 Liars – WIXIW
38 TEED – Trouble
37 Enter Shikari – A Flash Flood Of Colour
36 The Vaccines – Come Of Age
35 Metz – Metz
34 Bat For Lashes – The Haunted Man
33 Hot Chip – In Our Heads
32 Graham Coxon – A+E
31 G.O.O.D. Music – Cruel Summer
30 Breton – Other People’s Problems
29 Mac DeMarco – 2
28 Spiritualized – Sweet Heart, Sweet Light
27 Jessie Ware – Devotion
26 Spector – Enjoy It While It Lasts
25 Ariel Pink – Mature Themes
24 Merchandise – Children Of Desire
23 Richard Hawley – Standing At The Sky’s Edge
22 Beach House – Bloom
21 Cat Power – Sun
20 Howler – America Give Up
19 Toy – Toy
18 Tribes – Baby
17 Grizzly Bear – Shields
16 Melody’s Echo Chamber – Melody’s Echo Chamber
15 Sharon Van Etten – Tramp
14 The xx – Coexist
13 DIIV – Oshin
12 David Byrne & St. Vincent – Love This Giant
11 Django Django – Django Django
10 Jack White – Blunderbuss
09 Jake Bugg – Jake Bugg
08 The Cribs – In The Belly Of The Brazen Bull
07 Pond – Beard Wives Denim
06 The Maccabees – Given To The Wild
05 Alt-J – An Awesome Wave
04 Crystal Castles – (iii)
03 Frank Ocean – Channel Orange
02 Grimes – Visions
01 Tame Impala – Lonerism
