Best of 2012: Vinyl Singles & EPs

Denney & The Jets :: Denney & The Jets EP
On "Fun Girls," Nashville's Denney & The Jets dish out rock 'n' roll as it was originally intended to be played: fast and loose, sweaty and fun, and fit for the dancefloor. With this new EP, the band's unleashed their finest sounding recording to date. When not cranking out Chuck Berry-worthy scorchers like "Close The Blinds," the band slows into drunken bar sing-along territory, as on "Paranoid," where Denney comically laments: "Honey we used to fuck. Now all you want to do is make love, but I don't like it that way."

Watch: Denney & The Jets - "Fun Girls" // Buy from Limited Fanfare

Haim - "Hold Me" (Fleetwood Mac)

Los Angeles sister-trio Haim covered our very favorite Christine McVie jam, the underappreciated impossible-not-to-sing-along-with "Hold Me," for the forthcoming Fleetwood mac tribute, Just Tell Me That You Want Me. The rhythmically-inclined ladies update the 1982 Mirage-era cut with a fat bass drum and bass line, muted grooves of guitar, and some seriously steamy three-part harmonies. The tribute, which also includes the gnarly Blake Mills-produced Billy Gibbons cut "Oh Well," is due out digitally on August 14th. In the meantime, dig up those old Fleetwood Mac records and cassettes and turn back the clock. I'll be to listening McVie's original on repeat. (via AV Club)

Sound & Vision 004: Blake Mills

Our bud Blake Mills is featured on the newest installment of the web documentary series Sound & Vision. Mills released ET's favorite record of 2010 via Break Mirrors and is the very first artist to press a record with our vinyl imprint, Analog Edition. So you might say we're pretty stoked on the music he's been putting out. Now, thanks to an appearance on Conan and an endless list of high profile collaborations (including Sara Watkins' beautiful new record Sun Midnight Sun, which he produced), the rest of the world seems to finally be catching up. Sound & Vision's video is an artfully shot and cut portrait of Mills: you get to see him eat breakfast with his awesomely talented girlfriend Danielle Haim, meet the parents, practice with the Goldsmith bros, and hear legends like Jackson Browne and The Heartbreakers' Benmont Tench wax philosophical about just what it is that makes Blake so unbelievably great. Oh yeah, he also plays the guitar pretty decently. Check it out after the jump. (Photo)

HAIM - "Forever"

Forever, the new three-track EP from the Los Angeles sisters known as HAIM, has been releasing some seriously funky Kate Bush vibes into the atmosphere of late. Danielle, Este, and Alana Haim gracefully step from layers of jumpy R&B flavored harmonies on opener "Better Off" to the sensual call-and-response burn of "Go Slow" and the epic closer and title-track, "Forever"—a sharp and masterful cut of bass-driven grooves and dance floor candy. "Forever" is a song you can't just play once. In fact, it's hard to stop playing. That handclap and synth breakdown near the 3:20 mark? Hips will move and mountains will shake. If you dig, last month we wrote about Danielle Haim's excellent collabs with her beau, guitar extraordinaire Blake Mills. Danielle also recently classed it up on Conan with Mills in what is easily the best musical performance I've ever seen on late night television.

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HAIM - "Forever" (from Forever EP)