Live Review: Kendrick Lamar, O2 Academy, Newcastle, 1/15/2013

Kendrick Lamar may be in the midst of his first ever U.K. tour, but for many it already seems as though the 25-year-old has nothing left to prove. His are of course exceptional circumstances - what with the stream of acclaim and accolades launched in his direction these past few months - so it was inevitable that expectations were high among those who packed the floor of Newcastle's sold out O2 Academy. It said a lot, then, that the Compton native's hour and a quarter onstage proved anything but an anti-climax; his performance catered to every section of his following and all but confirmed his status as hip-hop's hottest current property.

Casey's EPs, Songs, and Albums of 2012

Reflecting back on 2012, I can't help to compare it to 2011 due to the fact that I only started paying attention to a broader scope of music that year. As of now, 2012 feels a lot weaker at the top than 2011, however the depth far surpasses it. It pained me to leave off records such as Chromatics, Gifts From Enola, Lone, Masked Intruder and Savoir Adore, but this year just had too many strong albums to mention every single one of them. It's even crazier when you think that if you had told me that all of Two Door Cinema Club, Say Anything, Sleigh Bells and Motion City Soundtrack wouldn't have a place on this list, I would have thought you were crazy. Surely a couple of those could release poor albums, but there was no chance that all of them could. Alas, the worst happened, and none of those albums will receive any more mention than this. Pop punk also had a very down year after taking up three of my top five spots (or so) last year, and you won't find a record that I consider pop punk amongst the top 25. Bands you will find featured predominantly are fun., Yellowcard, Frank Ocean, Take One Car, Kendrick Lamar, A$AP Rocky, ScHoolboy Q, and far more that you can find below. If you click on the name of the album, you will find links to our coverage. If you click on the name of the song, you will be taken to Youtube for a listen.