AllMusic Loves 2012
Dec. 13, 2012
Like any other collection of music lovers, the editors of AllMusic can't help but succumb to the temptation of shepherding their favorite albums and songs of 2012 into a list. And here they are, the personal lists of 19 of our editors, all picking and ranking the music they liked best this year. Some of these albums you may already know well -- as a staff, we've also been taken with Frank Ocean, Fiona Apple, and Kendrick Lamar, just like so many other critics, bloggers, and music lovers -- but some of the other selections may surprise you. This may mean you'll discover something challenging and experimental; this may mean that you'll be surprised that somebody likes the entirety of the Carly Rae Jepsen album. Our editors love music from both extremes and each individual list captures the personality of our editors, showcasing what music they loved best in 2012.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine [Spotify]
In this digital age, it's still pretty easy to know what constitutes a full-length album, so compiling a list of 20 records isn't all that hard; you may change your mind after you've published your list -- and I already have -- but you know that each one of your selections is a full album. It's getting harder and harder to discern what actually constitutes a single, however. Usually, I wind up limiting myself to songs that have charted, but this year I just went for songs that I loved best, which is why Ke$ha's "Gold Trans Am" -- a song available only on the deluxe edition of Warrior -- sits on top of this list. A few other album tracks are here, but I've still tried to emphasize songs you'd likely hear on the radio or click on a YouTube link or perhaps hear somewhere in the actual world. Selected highlights from the year can be heard on this Spotify playlist. For more in-depth lists, including a list of my favorite reissues, check out my infrequently updated blog in the next couple days.
Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel
Dwight Yoakam - 3 Pears
Donald Fagen - Sunken Condos
Ke$ha - Warrior
Jessie Ware – Devotion
Bob Mould - Silver Age
Ty Segall - Twins
Norah Jones - Little Broken Hearts
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
Jerrod Niemann - Free the Music
P!nk - The Truth About Love
Jack White - Blunderbuss
Jamey Johnson - Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran
Carly Rae Jepsen - Kiss
David Byrne & St. Vincent - Love This Giant
Elle Varner - Perfectly Imperfect
Grimes - Visions
Robert Glasper Experiment - Black Radio
Turnpike Troubadours - Goodbye Normal Street
Brandi Carlile - Bear Creek
Ke$ha - "Gold Trans Am"
Christina Aguilera - "Red Hot Kinda Love"
Carly Rae Jepsen - "Call Me Maybe"
Gotye - "Someone Like You"
Dwight Yoakam - "Heart Like Mine"
Blur - "Under the Westway"
Taylor Swift - "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"
Bob Dylan - "Pay in Blood"
Ellie Goulding - "Lights"
ZZ Top - "I Gotsta Get Paid"
Beck - "I Just Started Hating Some People Today"
Jack White - "16 Saltines"
Toby Keith - "I Like Girls That Drink Beer"
Adam Lambert - "Trespassing"
Paul Weller - "That Dangerous Age"
Ke$ha - "Die Young"
Arctic Monkeys - "R U Mine"
Green Day - "Fuck Time"
Low Cut Connie - "Boozophilia"
The Rolling Stones - "Doom & Gloom"
John Bush
Deerhoof - Breakup Song
Fenster - Bones
Grimes - Visions
Beach House - Bloom
Flying Lotus - Until the Quiet Comes
Gudrun Gut - Wildlife
Tame Impala - Lonerism
The xx - Coexist
THEESatisfaction - Awe Naturale
Death Grips - The Money Store
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
Pond - Beard, Wives, Denim
Best Coast - The Only Place
The Very Best - MTMTMK
...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - Lost Songs
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Mature Themes
Divine Fits - A Thing Called Divine Fits
The Young - Dub Egg
Justin Bieber - Believe
Twin Shadow - Confess
Heather Phares
Beak> - >>
Breakbot - By Your Side
David Byrne & St. Vincent - Love This Giant
Clinic - Free Reign
Crystal Castles - III
Disappears - Pre Language
Firewater - International Orange!
Gravenhurst - The Ghost in Daylight
Grimes - Visions
Laurel Halo - Quarantine
Liars - WIXIW
Lonely Drifter Karen - Poles
Loscil - Sketches of New Brighton
Mouse on Mars - Parastrophics
Niki & the Dove - Instinct
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Mature Themes
Prinzhorn Dance School - Clay Class
Naomi Punk - The Feeling
Punks on Mars - Bad Expectation
Shintaro Sakamoto - How to Live with a Phantom
Brandy - "Put It Down"
Breakbot - "One Out of Two"
Cat Power - "Cherokee"
Dignan Porch - "Picking Up Dust"
Divine Fits - "My Love Is Real"
Eraas - "At Heart"
Grimes - "Oblivion"
Gravenhurst - "The Prize"
Icona Pop - "I Love It"
Kendrick Lamar - "Swimming Pools (Drank)"
Cate Le Bon - "Puts Me to Work"
Liars - "No. 1 Against the Rush"
Lonely Drifter Karen - "Velvet Rope"
Matmos - "Very Large Green Triangles"
Naomi Punk - "Burned Body"
Frank Ocean - "Thinkin' Bout You"
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - "Only in My Dreams"
Kelly Rowland - "Ice"
Tim Sendra
Breakbot – By Your Side
Burning Hearts – Extinctions
Chromatics – Kill for Love
Devin – Romancing
Grimes – Visions
Cate Le Bon – Cyrk
Jens Lekman – I Know What Love Isn’t
Lightships – Electric Cables
Melody’s Echo Chamber – Melody’s Echo Chamber
Dylan Mondegreen – Dylan Mondegreen
Poolside – Pacific Standard Time
Redd Kross – Researching the Blues
Frankie Rose – Interstellar
Royal Headache – Royal Headache
Shintaro Sakamoto – How to Live with a Phantom
Shrag – Canines
Sweater Girls – Sweater Girls Were Here
Taken by Trees – Other Worlds
Two Wounded Birds – Two Wounded Birds
Jessie Ware – Devotion
Matt Collar
There are no less than three jazz albums on my list -- which speaks to the genre-bending levels of talent going on in jazz right now. A dead genre? I think not. I also have two albums by artists who had some of their biggest successes in the '80s, and in Donald Fagen's case, the '70s, which counters a lot of popular thought that rock musicians should retire before they go gray. Thankfully, Asia did no such thing and continue to be one the best original lineups in rock. There are current and former members of the Smashing Pumpkins on my list; sadly, neither are D'arcy Wretzky. There is also a fair amount of chilly yet soulful alt-R&B here and I'm not even talking about Frank Ocean -- though he's here. Admittedly, I found a loophole to include JD McPherson's Signs & Signifiers, which originally came out in 2010, since it was reissued by Rounder in 2012. This record is absolutely worth cheating the system and repeating myself. It's that good.
Asia - XXX
Beachwood Sparks - The Tarnished Gold
The Datsuns - Death Rattle Boogie
Donald Fagen - Sunken Condos
Field Music - Plump
Robert Glasper Experiment - Black Radio
Ellie Goulding - Halcyon
James Iha - Look to the Sky
Lightships - Electric Cables
JD McPherson - Signs & Signifiers
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
Jason Palmer - Take a Little Trip: Jason Palmer Plays Minnie Riperton
Christian Scott - Christian aTunde Adjuah
The Smashing Pumpkins - Oceania
The Temper Trap - The Temper Trap
Kristina Train - Dark Black
Jessie Ware - Devotion
Alex Winston - King Con
The xx - Coexist
Yellow Ostrich - Strange Land
Greg Heaney
Tame Impala - Lonerism
Torche - Harmonicraft
Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan
Dan Deacon - America
Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel
Converge - All We Love We Leave Behind
Ty Segall Band - Slaughterhouse
Deftones - Koi No Yokan
Flying Lotus - Until the Quiet Comes
OFF! - OFF!
Pig Destroyer - Book Burner
Tyvek - On Triple Beams
Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City
Mares of Thrace - The Pilgrimage
JEFF the Brotherhood - Hypnotic Nights
Homeboy Sandman - First of a Living Breed
Craig Finn - Clear Heart, Full Eyes
Grimes - Visions
Murder by Death - Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon
MellowHype - Numbers
Thom Jurek
The recordings listed below are a representative sample of the music I listen to most often during my daily lengthy commute. They are only new recordings here. (Reissues would encompass far more than 20 titles.) Many of my other year-end choices are reflected in specific AllMusic genre categories -- jazz, rock, singer/songwriter, metal, electronic, country, etc. But these were singled out for their continuing presence in my automobile's CD player. Other than the first three, which I consider my very favorite recordings this year, none of the others are listed in any particular order.
Bill Fay - Life Is People
Robert Glasper Experiment - Black Radio
Dr. John - Locked Down
Flying Lotus - Until the Quiet Comes
Leonard Cohen - Old Ideas
Bobby Womack - The Bravest Man in the Universe
Karriem Riggins - Alone Together
Scott Walker - Bish Bosch
Dirty Three - Toward the Low Sun
Alcest - Voyages de l'Âme
Earth - Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light, Vol. 2
Tindersticks - The Something Rain
Bonnie Raitt - Slipstream
Anders Osborne - Black Eye Galaxy
Spectrum Road - Spectrum Road
Horseback - Halfblood
Neneh Cherry & the Thing - The Cherry Thing
Kathy Mattea - Calling Me Home
Van Morrison - Born to Sing: No Plan B
Gretchen Peters - Hello Cruel World
Andy Kellman [Spotify]
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City
Andy Stott - Luxury Problems
Levon Vincent - Fabric 63
Jessie Ware - Devotion
Miguel - Kaleidoscope Dream
Flying Lotus - Until the Quiet Comes
Robert Glasper Experiment - Black Radio
Karriem Riggins - Alone Together
THEESatisfaction - AwE NaturalE
Ka - Grief Pedigree
Laurel Halo - Quarantine
Actress - R.I.P.
Elle Varner - Perfectly Imperfect
Lone - Galaxy Garden
Matthew Dear - Beams
Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music
Christian Scott - Christian aTunde ADJuah
House Shoes - Let It Go
Brandy - Two Eleven
Miguel - "Adorn"
Kendrick Lamar - "Swimming Pools (Drank)"
Frank Ocean - "Pyramids"
Jessie Ware - "Running"
Fhloston Paradigm - "The Chase"
House Shoes - "Castles (The Sky Is Ours)"
Elle Varner - "I Don't Care"
Jam City - "How We Relate to the Body"
Usher - "Climax"
Matthew Dear - "Her Fantasy"
Lone - "Crystal Caverns 1991"
Andrew Ashong - "Flowers"
Storm Queen - "Let's Make Mistakes"
I:Cube - "Transpiration"
Neneh Cherry & the Thing - "Dream Baby Dream [Four Tet Remix]"
Andrés - "New for U"
Ultraísta - "Smalltalk"
Bat for Lashes - "All Your Gold"
Sawlin - "Eviment"
Burial - "Kindred"
Jason Lymangrover
...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - Lost Songs
Actress - R.I.P.
The Alchemist - Russian Roulette
Beak> - >>
Brian Jonestown Massacre - Aaufheben
Death Grips - The Money Store
Flying Lotus - Until the Quiet Comes
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
Grimes - Visions
Jessie Ware - Devotion
Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid, M.A.A.D City
Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music
Liars - WIXIW
The Luyas - Animator
Merchandise - Children of Desire
PAWS - Cokefloat!
Pond - Beards Wives Denim
Ringo Deathstarr - Mauve
Torche - Harmonicraft
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs - Trouble
James Christopher Monger
Santigold - Master of My Make-Believe
Father John Misty - Fear Fun
Stealing Sheep - Into the Diamond Sun
Alt-J - An Awesome Wave
Lost in the Trees - A Church That Fits Our Needs
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
Kaizers Orchestra - Violeta Violeta, Vol. 2
Torche - Harmonicraft
Band of Skulls - Sweet Sour
Frankie Rose - Interstellar
Daniel Rossen - Silent Hour/Golden Mile
Sam Lee - Ground of Its Own
High on Fire - De Vermis Mysteriis
Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball
Elfin Saddle - Devastates
Titus Andronicus - Local Business
Shearwater - Animal Joy
The High Strung - ¿Posible - O - Imposible?
Django Django - Django Django
Julia Holter - Ekstasis
Andy Prieboy - "All Hail the Corporation"
Redd Kross - "Stay Away from Downtown"
Ellie Goulding - "Anything Can Happen"
Matt Jones & the Reconstruction - "Special Forces"
Mark Lanegan Band - "The Gravedigger's Song"
The Fresh & Onlys - "Dream Girl"
Jukebox the Ghost - "Adulthood"
Misty Lyn & The Big Beautiful - "Capitol Song"
Ken Stringfellow - "History Buffs"
Passion Pit - "It's Not My Fault, I'm Happy"
Jake Bugg - "Two Fingers"
Grasscut - "Reservoir"
A.C. Newman - "I'm Not Talking"
Cate Le Bon - "Fold the Cloth"
Fang Island - "Never Understand"
Grizzly Bear - "A Simple Answer"
Lord Huron - "Time to Run"
Dry the River - "New Ceremony"
Johnny Headband - "Hot Button Topic"
The Darkness - "Love Is Not the Answer"
Fred Thomas
Bat for Lashes - The Haunted Man
Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel
Flying Lotus - Until the Quiet Comes
Grimes - Visions
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City
Lana Del Rey - Born To Die
Chromatics – Kill for Love
Carly Rae Jepsen - Kiss
Lotus Plaza - Spooky Action at a Distance
Tyvek - On Triple Beams
Peaking Lights – Lucifer
Royal Headache – Royal Headache
Woods - Bend Beyond
Echo Lake - Wild Peace
C Spencer Yeh – Transitions
Frankie Rose – Interstellar
Grass Widow - Internal Logic
Sean Westergaard
You might think we sit around listening to fantastic music all day long. Yes, working for Rovi's All Music Guide is a great job but there's actually tons of work to do and we don't necessarily get to listen to things we want to as much as you might think. That's pretty much the subtext to my list. I probably flat out missed any number of fine albums this year and probably forgot about more. Then there are the 20+ Zappa titles reissued on CD this year from the original analog tapes for the first time ever(!) that could have made my list. Anyway, here is a list of albums from 2012 that I liked that probably aren't on anyone else's list.
Acid Mothers Temple - Son of a Bitches Brew
Ahleuchatistas - Heads Full of Poison
Michael Blake - In the Grand Scheme of Things
Charles Bobuck - Codgers on the Moon
Bushman's Revenge - A Little Bit of Big Bonanza
Bushman's Revenge - Never Mind the Botox
Marco Cappelli's Italian Surf Academy - The American Dream
Fontanelle - Vitamin F
Hairybones - Snakelust
Vijay Iyer Trio - Accelerando
Jazz Punks - Smashups
Guy Klucevsek/Ain't Nothin' But a Polka Band - Polka from the Fringe
Fela Kuti - Live in Detroit 1986
Jon Lundbom & Big Five Chord - No New Tunes
Anders Nilsson/Gerald Cleaver/Raoul Björkenheim - Kalabalik
Jeff Parker Trio - Bright Light in Winter
Elliott Sharp Trio - Aggregat
Matthew Garbutt [Spotify]
Beak> - >>
Bev Lee Harling - Barefoot in your Kitchen
Cowbell - Beat Stampede
Dan Sartain - Too Tough to Live
Dexys - One Day I’m Going to Soar
Django Django - Django Django
Fay Hallam & The Bongolian - Lost in Sound
Get the Blessing - OCDC
Hot Chip - In Our Heads
JD McPherson - Signs & Signifiers
Polica - Give You the Ghost
Saint Etienne - Words and Music by Saint Etienne
Tame Impala - Lonerism
The Caezars - Worth the Attention
The Jim Jones Revue - The Savage Heart
The Liminanas - Crystal Anis
Thee Exciters - Perpetual Happening
Thee Gravemen - Thee Gravemen
Tindersticks - The Something Rain
Two Wounded Birds - Two Wounded Birds
Anika - "Ich Will Mit Dir Tanzen, Baby"
Antibalas - "Dirty Money"
Belleruche - "Longer Days, Longer Nights"
Cody ChestnuTT - "What Kind of Cool Will We Think of Next?"
Daddy Long Legs - "Evil Eye"
Dirty Beaches - "Tu Ne Dis Rien"
Electric Guest - "This Head I Hold"
Joe Gideon & the Shark - "Higher Power/Where Have All The Good Times Gone?"
La Sera - "Please Be My Third Eye"
Lee Fields & the Expressions - "Faithful Man"
Menahan Street Band - "Lights Out"
Moon Duo - "Sleepwalker"
Nicole Willis & the Soul Investigators - "Tell Me When (We Can Begin Our Love Thing Again)"
The Branded - "All I Got"
The Brute Chorus - "My Testament"
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - "Black Mold"
The Monochrome Set - "Hip Kitten Spinning Chrome"
The New Mastersounds - "You Mess Me Up"
The Sugarman 3 - "Rudy’s Intervention"
Thee Oh Sees - "Lupine Dominus"
James Wilkinson
Django Django - Django Django
Beachwood Sparks - The Tarnished Gold
Bill Fay - Life Is People
Gravenhurst - The Ghost in Daylight
Belbury Poly - The Belbury Tales
Beach House - Bloom
James Yorkston - I Was a Cat from a Book
The Magnetic North - Orkney: Symphony of the Magnetic North
Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Psychedelic Pill
Bob Dylan - Tempest
Paul Buchanan - Mid Air
Allah-Las - Allah-Las
Willy Mason - Carry On
Band of Horses - Mirage Rock
The Eccentronic Research Council - 1612 Overture
Angel Olsen - Half Way Home
Oddfellow's Casino - The Raven's Empire
Pye Corner Audio - Sleep Games
Jon Brooks - Shapwick
Raime - Quarter Turns Over a Living Line
John Buchanan
Sylvain Chauveau - Simple
Converge - All We Love We Leave Behind
Deepchord - Sommer
Taylor Deupree - Faint
Brian Eno - Lux
Heimataerde - Gottgleich
Ben Klock - Fabric 66
Loscil - Sketches from New Brighton
Mala - Mala in Cuba
Norman Nodge - Berghain 06
Pig Destroyer - Book Burner
Simon Scott - Below Sea Level
Shed - The Killer
Sid - M&W
Sigha - Living with Ghosts
Andy Stott - Luxury Problems
S_W_Z_K - S_W_Z_K
TK - Flowering
Willits + Sakamoto - Ancient Future
Hans Zimmer - The Dark Knight Rises
Daniel Clancy
Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory
Future of the Left - The Plot Against Common Sense
Ten Kens - Namesake
Tindersticks - The Something Rain
David Byrne & St. Vincent - Love This Giant
Graham Coxon - A+E
The Maccabees - Given to the Wild
METZ - METZ
Deerhoof - Breakup Song
Micachu and the Shapes - Never
The Walkmen - Heaven
Alt-J - An Awesome Wave
Jack White - Blunderbuss
La Sera - Sees the Light
Field Music - Plumb
Django Django - Django Django
Japandroids - Celebration Rock
Best Coast - The Only Place
Paintings of Ships - English Weather
Scott Kerr [Spotify]
Diiv - Oshin
Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel
First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!
Grizzly Bear - Shields
Hundred Waters - Hundred Waters
Keaton Henson - Dear
Kishi Bashi - 151a
METZ - METZ
Meursault - Something for the Weakend
Of Monsters and Men - My Head is an Animal
Patrick Watson - Adventures in Your Own Backyard
PAWS - Cokefloat!
Sharon Van Etten - Tramp
Sigur Rós - Valtari
Stealing Sheep - Into the Diamond Sun
Sweet Billy Pilgrim - Crown and Treaty
The Tallest Man on Earth - There's No Leaving Now
Trust - TRST
The Twilight Sad - No One Can Ever Know
Aneet Nijjar
Julia Holter - Ekstasis
Actress - R.I.P.
Shackleton - Music for the Quiet Hour/The Drawbar Organ EPs
Raime - Quarter Turns Over a Living Line
Laurel Halo - Quarantine
Pye Corner Audio - Sleep Games
Silent Servant - Negative Fascination
Carter Tutti Void - Transverse
Dean Blunt & Inga Copeland - Black Is Beautiful
Tindersticks - The Something Rain
oOoOO - Our Love Is Hurting Us
Goat - World Music
Belbury Poly - The Belbury Tales
X-TG - Desertshore/The Final Report
Swans - The Seer
Umberto - The Night Has a Thousand Screams
Lust for Youth - Growing Seeds
I:Cube - "M" Megamix
Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music
SpaceGhostPurrp - Mysterious Phonk: The Chronicles of SpaceGhostPurrp
Population One - "I Program My Computer Rights"
Vatican Shadow - "Jordanian Descent"
In Aerternam Vale - "Dust Under Brightness (2)"
Blawan - Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage?
EDMX - Cerberus
Powell - Body Music
Karenn - Untitled (Sheworks 004)
Diamond Version - Science for a Better Life
B M B - Where Pail Limbs Lie
Emptyset - Collapsed
Richard Wilson
Angel Olsen - Half Way Home
Bee Mask - When We Were Eating Unripe Pears
Calexico - Algiers
Diiv - Oshin
Dirty Three - Towards the Low Sun
Forward Strategy Group - Labour Division
Hospitality - Hospitality
Japandroids - Celebration Rock
Jessica Bailiff - At the Down-Turned Jagged Rim of the Sky
The Men - Open Your Heart
METZ - METZ
Moonface - Heartbreaking Bravery
Nü Sensae - Sundowning
Neil Halstead - Palindrome Hunches
Perfume Genius - Put Your Back N 2 It
Raime - Quarter Turns Over a Living Line
Shifted - Crossed Paths
Sigur Rós - Valtari
Silent Servant - Negative Fascination
Swans - The Seer
Abdulla Rashim - Weldiya EP
Blawan - His He She & She
B M B - Where Pail Limbs Lie
Ctrls - Interface
EDMX - Cerberus
Emptyset - Collapsed
Joseph McGeechan - Failed by the Conformists
Karenn - Untitled (Sheworks 004)
MPIA3 - Wttp
Orphx - Hunger Knows No Law
Perc - A New Brutality
Phase - Binary Opposition
Rrose - Preretinal
Sawlin - Techno Dumping
Svreca - Vilna
Tessela - D Jane
Tommy Four Seven - Monad XIII
TR\\ER - "UC"
Ugandan Methods - Sixth Method
Vatican Shadow - Jordanian Descent
Stephen Thomas Erlewine [Spotify]
In this digital age, it's still pretty easy to know what constitutes a full-length album, so compiling a list of 20 records isn't all that hard; you may change your mind after you've published your list -- and I already have -- but you know that each one of your selections is a full album. It's getting harder and harder to discern what actually constitutes a single, however. Usually, I wind up limiting myself to songs that have charted, but this year I just went for songs that I loved best, which is why Ke$ha's "Gold Trans Am" -- a song available only on the deluxe edition of Warrior -- sits on top of this list. A few other album tracks are here, but I've still tried to emphasize songs you'd likely hear on the radio or click on a YouTube link or perhaps hear somewhere in the actual world. Selected highlights from the year can be heard on this Spotify playlist. For more in-depth lists, including a list of my favorite reissues, check out my infrequently updated blog in the next couple days.
Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel
Dwight Yoakam - 3 Pears
Donald Fagen - Sunken Condos
Ke$ha - Warrior
Jessie Ware – Devotion
Bob Mould - Silver Age
Ty Segall - Twins
Norah Jones - Little Broken Hearts
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
Jerrod Niemann - Free the Music
P!nk - The Truth About Love
Jack White - Blunderbuss
Jamey Johnson - Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran
Carly Rae Jepsen - Kiss
David Byrne & St. Vincent - Love This Giant
Elle Varner - Perfectly Imperfect
Grimes - Visions
Robert Glasper Experiment - Black Radio
Turnpike Troubadours - Goodbye Normal Street
Brandi Carlile - Bear Creek
Ke$ha - "Gold Trans Am"
Christina Aguilera - "Red Hot Kinda Love"
Carly Rae Jepsen - "Call Me Maybe"
Gotye - "Someone Like You"
Dwight Yoakam - "Heart Like Mine"
Blur - "Under the Westway"
Taylor Swift - "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"
Bob Dylan - "Pay in Blood"
Ellie Goulding - "Lights"
ZZ Top - "I Gotsta Get Paid"
Beck - "I Just Started Hating Some People Today"
Jack White - "16 Saltines"
Toby Keith - "I Like Girls That Drink Beer"
Adam Lambert - "Trespassing"
Paul Weller - "That Dangerous Age"
Ke$ha - "Die Young"
Arctic Monkeys - "R U Mine"
Green Day - "Fuck Time"
Low Cut Connie - "Boozophilia"
The Rolling Stones - "Doom & Gloom"
John Bush
Deerhoof - Breakup Song
Fenster - Bones
Grimes - Visions
Beach House - Bloom
Flying Lotus - Until the Quiet Comes
Gudrun Gut - Wildlife
Tame Impala - Lonerism
The xx - Coexist
THEESatisfaction - Awe Naturale
Death Grips - The Money Store
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
Pond - Beard, Wives, Denim
Best Coast - The Only Place
The Very Best - MTMTMK
...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - Lost Songs
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Mature Themes
Divine Fits - A Thing Called Divine Fits
The Young - Dub Egg
Justin Bieber - Believe
Twin Shadow - Confess
Heather Phares
Beak> - >>
Breakbot - By Your Side
David Byrne & St. Vincent - Love This Giant
Clinic - Free Reign
Crystal Castles - III
Disappears - Pre Language
Firewater - International Orange!
Gravenhurst - The Ghost in Daylight
Grimes - Visions
Laurel Halo - Quarantine
Liars - WIXIW
Lonely Drifter Karen - Poles
Loscil - Sketches of New Brighton
Mouse on Mars - Parastrophics
Niki & the Dove - Instinct
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Mature Themes
Prinzhorn Dance School - Clay Class
Naomi Punk - The Feeling
Punks on Mars - Bad Expectation
Shintaro Sakamoto - How to Live with a Phantom
Brandy - "Put It Down"
Breakbot - "One Out of Two"
Cat Power - "Cherokee"
Dignan Porch - "Picking Up Dust"
Divine Fits - "My Love Is Real"
Eraas - "At Heart"
Grimes - "Oblivion"
Gravenhurst - "The Prize"
Icona Pop - "I Love It"
Kendrick Lamar - "Swimming Pools (Drank)"
Cate Le Bon - "Puts Me to Work"
Liars - "No. 1 Against the Rush"
Lonely Drifter Karen - "Velvet Rope"
Matmos - "Very Large Green Triangles"
Naomi Punk - "Burned Body"
Frank Ocean - "Thinkin' Bout You"
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - "Only in My Dreams"
Kelly Rowland - "Ice"
Tim Sendra
Breakbot – By Your Side
Burning Hearts – Extinctions
Chromatics – Kill for Love
Devin – Romancing
Grimes – Visions
Cate Le Bon – Cyrk
Jens Lekman – I Know What Love Isn’t
Lightships – Electric Cables
Melody’s Echo Chamber – Melody’s Echo Chamber
Dylan Mondegreen – Dylan Mondegreen
Poolside – Pacific Standard Time
Redd Kross – Researching the Blues
Frankie Rose – Interstellar
Royal Headache – Royal Headache
Shintaro Sakamoto – How to Live with a Phantom
Shrag – Canines
Sweater Girls – Sweater Girls Were Here
Taken by Trees – Other Worlds
Two Wounded Birds – Two Wounded Birds
Jessie Ware – Devotion
Matt Collar
There are no less than three jazz albums on my list -- which speaks to the genre-bending levels of talent going on in jazz right now. A dead genre? I think not. I also have two albums by artists who had some of their biggest successes in the '80s, and in Donald Fagen's case, the '70s, which counters a lot of popular thought that rock musicians should retire before they go gray. Thankfully, Asia did no such thing and continue to be one the best original lineups in rock. There are current and former members of the Smashing Pumpkins on my list; sadly, neither are D'arcy Wretzky. There is also a fair amount of chilly yet soulful alt-R&B here and I'm not even talking about Frank Ocean -- though he's here. Admittedly, I found a loophole to include JD McPherson's Signs & Signifiers, which originally came out in 2010, since it was reissued by Rounder in 2012. This record is absolutely worth cheating the system and repeating myself. It's that good.
Asia - XXX
Beachwood Sparks - The Tarnished Gold
The Datsuns - Death Rattle Boogie
Donald Fagen - Sunken Condos
Field Music - Plump
Robert Glasper Experiment - Black Radio
Ellie Goulding - Halcyon
James Iha - Look to the Sky
Lightships - Electric Cables
JD McPherson - Signs & Signifiers
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
Jason Palmer - Take a Little Trip: Jason Palmer Plays Minnie Riperton
Christian Scott - Christian aTunde Adjuah
The Smashing Pumpkins - Oceania
The Temper Trap - The Temper Trap
Kristina Train - Dark Black
Jessie Ware - Devotion
Alex Winston - King Con
The xx - Coexist
Yellow Ostrich - Strange Land
Greg Heaney
Tame Impala - Lonerism
Torche - Harmonicraft
Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan
Dan Deacon - America
Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel
Converge - All We Love We Leave Behind
Ty Segall Band - Slaughterhouse
Deftones - Koi No Yokan
Flying Lotus - Until the Quiet Comes
OFF! - OFF!
Pig Destroyer - Book Burner
Tyvek - On Triple Beams
Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City
Mares of Thrace - The Pilgrimage
JEFF the Brotherhood - Hypnotic Nights
Homeboy Sandman - First of a Living Breed
Craig Finn - Clear Heart, Full Eyes
Grimes - Visions
Murder by Death - Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon
MellowHype - Numbers
Thom Jurek
The recordings listed below are a representative sample of the music I listen to most often during my daily lengthy commute. They are only new recordings here. (Reissues would encompass far more than 20 titles.) Many of my other year-end choices are reflected in specific AllMusic genre categories -- jazz, rock, singer/songwriter, metal, electronic, country, etc. But these were singled out for their continuing presence in my automobile's CD player. Other than the first three, which I consider my very favorite recordings this year, none of the others are listed in any particular order.
Bill Fay - Life Is People
Robert Glasper Experiment - Black Radio
Dr. John - Locked Down
Flying Lotus - Until the Quiet Comes
Leonard Cohen - Old Ideas
Bobby Womack - The Bravest Man in the Universe
Karriem Riggins - Alone Together
Scott Walker - Bish Bosch
Dirty Three - Toward the Low Sun
Alcest - Voyages de l'Âme
Earth - Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light, Vol. 2
Tindersticks - The Something Rain
Bonnie Raitt - Slipstream
Anders Osborne - Black Eye Galaxy
Spectrum Road - Spectrum Road
Horseback - Halfblood
Neneh Cherry & the Thing - The Cherry Thing
Kathy Mattea - Calling Me Home
Van Morrison - Born to Sing: No Plan B
Gretchen Peters - Hello Cruel World
Andy Kellman [Spotify]
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City
Andy Stott - Luxury Problems
Levon Vincent - Fabric 63
Jessie Ware - Devotion
Miguel - Kaleidoscope Dream
Flying Lotus - Until the Quiet Comes
Robert Glasper Experiment - Black Radio
Karriem Riggins - Alone Together
THEESatisfaction - AwE NaturalE
Ka - Grief Pedigree
Laurel Halo - Quarantine
Actress - R.I.P.
Elle Varner - Perfectly Imperfect
Lone - Galaxy Garden
Matthew Dear - Beams
Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music
Christian Scott - Christian aTunde ADJuah
House Shoes - Let It Go
Brandy - Two Eleven
Miguel - "Adorn"
Kendrick Lamar - "Swimming Pools (Drank)"
Frank Ocean - "Pyramids"
Jessie Ware - "Running"
Fhloston Paradigm - "The Chase"
House Shoes - "Castles (The Sky Is Ours)"
Elle Varner - "I Don't Care"
Jam City - "How We Relate to the Body"
Usher - "Climax"
Matthew Dear - "Her Fantasy"
Lone - "Crystal Caverns 1991"
Andrew Ashong - "Flowers"
Storm Queen - "Let's Make Mistakes"
I:Cube - "Transpiration"
Neneh Cherry & the Thing - "Dream Baby Dream [Four Tet Remix]"
Andrés - "New for U"
Ultraísta - "Smalltalk"
Bat for Lashes - "All Your Gold"
Sawlin - "Eviment"
Burial - "Kindred"
Jason Lymangrover
...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - Lost Songs
Actress - R.I.P.
The Alchemist - Russian Roulette
Beak> - >>
Brian Jonestown Massacre - Aaufheben
Death Grips - The Money Store
Flying Lotus - Until the Quiet Comes
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
Grimes - Visions
Jessie Ware - Devotion
Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid, M.A.A.D City
Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music
Liars - WIXIW
The Luyas - Animator
Merchandise - Children of Desire
PAWS - Cokefloat!
Pond - Beards Wives Denim
Ringo Deathstarr - Mauve
Torche - Harmonicraft
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs - Trouble
James Christopher Monger
Santigold - Master of My Make-Believe
Father John Misty - Fear Fun
Stealing Sheep - Into the Diamond Sun
Alt-J - An Awesome Wave
Lost in the Trees - A Church That Fits Our Needs
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
Kaizers Orchestra - Violeta Violeta, Vol. 2
Torche - Harmonicraft
Band of Skulls - Sweet Sour
Frankie Rose - Interstellar
Daniel Rossen - Silent Hour/Golden Mile
Sam Lee - Ground of Its Own
High on Fire - De Vermis Mysteriis
Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball
Elfin Saddle - Devastates
Titus Andronicus - Local Business
Shearwater - Animal Joy
The High Strung - ¿Posible - O - Imposible?
Django Django - Django Django
Julia Holter - Ekstasis
Andy Prieboy - "All Hail the Corporation"
Redd Kross - "Stay Away from Downtown"
Ellie Goulding - "Anything Can Happen"
Matt Jones & the Reconstruction - "Special Forces"
Mark Lanegan Band - "The Gravedigger's Song"
The Fresh & Onlys - "Dream Girl"
Jukebox the Ghost - "Adulthood"
Misty Lyn & The Big Beautiful - "Capitol Song"
Ken Stringfellow - "History Buffs"
Passion Pit - "It's Not My Fault, I'm Happy"
Jake Bugg - "Two Fingers"
Grasscut - "Reservoir"
A.C. Newman - "I'm Not Talking"
Cate Le Bon - "Fold the Cloth"
Fang Island - "Never Understand"
Grizzly Bear - "A Simple Answer"
Lord Huron - "Time to Run"
Dry the River - "New Ceremony"
Johnny Headband - "Hot Button Topic"
The Darkness - "Love Is Not the Answer"
Fred Thomas
Bat for Lashes - The Haunted Man
Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel
Flying Lotus - Until the Quiet Comes
Grimes - Visions
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City
Lana Del Rey - Born To Die
Chromatics – Kill for Love
Carly Rae Jepsen - Kiss
Lotus Plaza - Spooky Action at a Distance
Tyvek - On Triple Beams
Peaking Lights – Lucifer
Royal Headache – Royal Headache
Woods - Bend Beyond
Echo Lake - Wild Peace
C Spencer Yeh – Transitions
Frankie Rose – Interstellar
Grass Widow - Internal Logic
Sean Westergaard
You might think we sit around listening to fantastic music all day long. Yes, working for Rovi's All Music Guide is a great job but there's actually tons of work to do and we don't necessarily get to listen to things we want to as much as you might think. That's pretty much the subtext to my list. I probably flat out missed any number of fine albums this year and probably forgot about more. Then there are the 20+ Zappa titles reissued on CD this year from the original analog tapes for the first time ever(!) that could have made my list. Anyway, here is a list of albums from 2012 that I liked that probably aren't on anyone else's list.
Acid Mothers Temple - Son of a Bitches Brew
Ahleuchatistas - Heads Full of Poison
Michael Blake - In the Grand Scheme of Things
Charles Bobuck - Codgers on the Moon
Bushman's Revenge - A Little Bit of Big Bonanza
Bushman's Revenge - Never Mind the Botox
Marco Cappelli's Italian Surf Academy - The American Dream
Fontanelle - Vitamin F
Hairybones - Snakelust
Vijay Iyer Trio - Accelerando
Jazz Punks - Smashups
Guy Klucevsek/Ain't Nothin' But a Polka Band - Polka from the Fringe
Fela Kuti - Live in Detroit 1986
Jon Lundbom & Big Five Chord - No New Tunes
Anders Nilsson/Gerald Cleaver/Raoul Björkenheim - Kalabalik
Jeff Parker Trio - Bright Light in Winter
Elliott Sharp Trio - Aggregat
Matthew Garbutt [Spotify]
Beak> - >>
Bev Lee Harling - Barefoot in your Kitchen
Cowbell - Beat Stampede
Dan Sartain - Too Tough to Live
Dexys - One Day I’m Going to Soar
Django Django - Django Django
Fay Hallam & The Bongolian - Lost in Sound
Get the Blessing - OCDC
Hot Chip - In Our Heads
JD McPherson - Signs & Signifiers
Polica - Give You the Ghost
Saint Etienne - Words and Music by Saint Etienne
Tame Impala - Lonerism
The Caezars - Worth the Attention
The Jim Jones Revue - The Savage Heart
The Liminanas - Crystal Anis
Thee Exciters - Perpetual Happening
Thee Gravemen - Thee Gravemen
Tindersticks - The Something Rain
Two Wounded Birds - Two Wounded Birds
Anika - "Ich Will Mit Dir Tanzen, Baby"
Antibalas - "Dirty Money"
Belleruche - "Longer Days, Longer Nights"
Cody ChestnuTT - "What Kind of Cool Will We Think of Next?"
Daddy Long Legs - "Evil Eye"
Dirty Beaches - "Tu Ne Dis Rien"
Electric Guest - "This Head I Hold"
Joe Gideon & the Shark - "Higher Power/Where Have All The Good Times Gone?"
La Sera - "Please Be My Third Eye"
Lee Fields & the Expressions - "Faithful Man"
Menahan Street Band - "Lights Out"
Moon Duo - "Sleepwalker"
Nicole Willis & the Soul Investigators - "Tell Me When (We Can Begin Our Love Thing Again)"
The Branded - "All I Got"
The Brute Chorus - "My Testament"
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - "Black Mold"
The Monochrome Set - "Hip Kitten Spinning Chrome"
The New Mastersounds - "You Mess Me Up"
The Sugarman 3 - "Rudy’s Intervention"
Thee Oh Sees - "Lupine Dominus"
James Wilkinson
Django Django - Django Django
Beachwood Sparks - The Tarnished Gold
Bill Fay - Life Is People
Gravenhurst - The Ghost in Daylight
Belbury Poly - The Belbury Tales
Beach House - Bloom
James Yorkston - I Was a Cat from a Book
The Magnetic North - Orkney: Symphony of the Magnetic North
Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Psychedelic Pill
Bob Dylan - Tempest
Paul Buchanan - Mid Air
Allah-Las - Allah-Las
Willy Mason - Carry On
Band of Horses - Mirage Rock
The Eccentronic Research Council - 1612 Overture
Angel Olsen - Half Way Home
Oddfellow's Casino - The Raven's Empire
Pye Corner Audio - Sleep Games
Jon Brooks - Shapwick
Raime - Quarter Turns Over a Living Line
John Buchanan
Sylvain Chauveau - Simple
Converge - All We Love We Leave Behind
Deepchord - Sommer
Taylor Deupree - Faint
Brian Eno - Lux
Heimataerde - Gottgleich
Ben Klock - Fabric 66
Loscil - Sketches from New Brighton
Mala - Mala in Cuba
Norman Nodge - Berghain 06
Pig Destroyer - Book Burner
Simon Scott - Below Sea Level
Shed - The Killer
Sid - M&W
Sigha - Living with Ghosts
Andy Stott - Luxury Problems
S_W_Z_K - S_W_Z_K
TK - Flowering
Willits + Sakamoto - Ancient Future
Hans Zimmer - The Dark Knight Rises
Daniel Clancy
Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory
Future of the Left - The Plot Against Common Sense
Ten Kens - Namesake
Tindersticks - The Something Rain
David Byrne & St. Vincent - Love This Giant
Graham Coxon - A+E
The Maccabees - Given to the Wild
METZ - METZ
Deerhoof - Breakup Song
Micachu and the Shapes - Never
The Walkmen - Heaven
Alt-J - An Awesome Wave
Jack White - Blunderbuss
La Sera - Sees the Light
Field Music - Plumb
Django Django - Django Django
Japandroids - Celebration Rock
Best Coast - The Only Place
Paintings of Ships - English Weather
Scott Kerr [Spotify]
Diiv - Oshin
Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel
First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!
Grizzly Bear - Shields
Hundred Waters - Hundred Waters
Keaton Henson - Dear
Kishi Bashi - 151a
METZ - METZ
Meursault - Something for the Weakend
Of Monsters and Men - My Head is an Animal
Patrick Watson - Adventures in Your Own Backyard
PAWS - Cokefloat!
Sharon Van Etten - Tramp
Sigur Rós - Valtari
Stealing Sheep - Into the Diamond Sun
Sweet Billy Pilgrim - Crown and Treaty
The Tallest Man on Earth - There's No Leaving Now
Trust - TRST
The Twilight Sad - No One Can Ever Know
Aneet Nijjar
Julia Holter - Ekstasis
Actress - R.I.P.
Shackleton - Music for the Quiet Hour/The Drawbar Organ EPs
Raime - Quarter Turns Over a Living Line
Laurel Halo - Quarantine
Pye Corner Audio - Sleep Games
Silent Servant - Negative Fascination
Carter Tutti Void - Transverse
Dean Blunt & Inga Copeland - Black Is Beautiful
Tindersticks - The Something Rain
oOoOO - Our Love Is Hurting Us
Goat - World Music
Belbury Poly - The Belbury Tales
X-TG - Desertshore/The Final Report
Swans - The Seer
Umberto - The Night Has a Thousand Screams
Lust for Youth - Growing Seeds
I:Cube - "M" Megamix
Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music
SpaceGhostPurrp - Mysterious Phonk: The Chronicles of SpaceGhostPurrp
Population One - "I Program My Computer Rights"
Vatican Shadow - "Jordanian Descent"
In Aerternam Vale - "Dust Under Brightness (2)"
Blawan - Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage?
EDMX - Cerberus
Powell - Body Music
Karenn - Untitled (Sheworks 004)
Diamond Version - Science for a Better Life
B M B - Where Pail Limbs Lie
Emptyset - Collapsed
Richard Wilson
Angel Olsen - Half Way Home
Bee Mask - When We Were Eating Unripe Pears
Calexico - Algiers
Diiv - Oshin
Dirty Three - Towards the Low Sun
Forward Strategy Group - Labour Division
Hospitality - Hospitality
Japandroids - Celebration Rock
Jessica Bailiff - At the Down-Turned Jagged Rim of the Sky
The Men - Open Your Heart
METZ - METZ
Moonface - Heartbreaking Bravery
Nü Sensae - Sundowning
Neil Halstead - Palindrome Hunches
Perfume Genius - Put Your Back N 2 It
Raime - Quarter Turns Over a Living Line
Shifted - Crossed Paths
Sigur Rós - Valtari
Silent Servant - Negative Fascination
Swans - The Seer
Abdulla Rashim - Weldiya EP
Blawan - His He She & She
B M B - Where Pail Limbs Lie
Ctrls - Interface
EDMX - Cerberus
Emptyset - Collapsed
Joseph McGeechan - Failed by the Conformists
Karenn - Untitled (Sheworks 004)
MPIA3 - Wttp
Orphx - Hunger Knows No Law
Perc - A New Brutality
Phase - Binary Opposition
Rrose - Preretinal
Sawlin - Techno Dumping
Svreca - Vilna
Tessela - D Jane
Tommy Four Seven - Monad XIII
TR\\ER - "UC"
Ugandan Methods - Sixth Method
Vatican Shadow - Jordanian Descent