One of 2012’s top albums came from Ice Choir, the side project from The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart drummer Kurt Feldman. Written, produced, and engineered by Feldman and mixed by Violens’ Jorge Elbrecht, Afar drew me in with the kind of sophisticated pop once practiced by the likes of Tears For Fears, Spandau Ballet, and George Michael. First single “Teletrips” also landed on Popservations’ Top 100 Tracks of 2012.

Continuing Popservations’ year-end artist series, Feldman has shared the five tracks he loved most in 2012, his most memorable moment from the past year, and what he’ll be up to in 2020 (new music from Ice Choir is on ice for the time being).

Ice Choir’s 5 Favorite Tracks of 2012:

Chairlift – “I Belong In Your Arms”

Violens – “So Hard To See”

Trailer Trash Tracys – “Strangling Good Guys”

Lindstrøm – “Rà-àkõ-st”

Test House – “Love Is Not Enough”

Memorable moment from 2012:

“Visiting the Hapi Neko cat cafe with my girlfriend in Tokyo.”

Coming in 2020:

“Nothing new from Ice Choir in 2020. I’ve been focusing on producing and mixing music for other artists since I finished Afar and scoring music for an iPhone game, most of which will be released next year.”

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Even if you’re not intimately familiar with Ice Choir’s Afar, Jorge Elbrecht’s reflections on mixing the album are definitely worth a read.

Check out additional entries from Popservations’ year-end artist series, featuring 2012 favorites as picked by Bright Light Bright Light,  Queen of Hearts, Alphabeat, and others here.