Category: Lists

This was a great year in music. There were comeback releases from veterans (David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Daft Punk, Elvis Costello, Dismemberment Plan), solid releases from many established indie bands (Vampire Weekend, Arcade Fire, Low, Yo La Tengo, The National) and some great new emerging artists (Haim, Foxygen, San Fermin). All and all, exciting things happening.

1. Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City
2. Low – The Invisible Way
3. Caveman – Caveman
4. Queens of the Stone Age – Like Clockwork
5. Yo La Tengo – Fade
6. The Spinto Band – Cool Cocoon
7. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. – The Speed of Things
8. Kurt Vile – Wakin On A Pretty Daze
9. Arcade Fire – Relfektor
10. Sigur Ros – Kveikur
11. The Dodos – Carrier
12. Charles Bradley – Victim of Love
13. Paul McCartney – New
14. Chvrches – The Bones of What You Believe
15. The National – Trouble Will Find Me
16. San Fermin – San Fermin
17. Elvis Costello and The Roots – Wise Up Ghost
18. Janelle Monae – The Electric Lady
19. Volcano Choir – Repave
20. Dismemberment Plan – Uncanney Valley
21. Dr. Dog – B-Room
22. Telekinesis – Dormarion
23. Haim – Days Are Gone
24. Paramore – Paramore
25. Washed Out  – Paracosm
26. Local Natives – Hummingbird
27. Joshua James – Well Then I’ll Go to Hell
28. Ra Ra Riot – Beta Love
29. Toro Y Moi – Anything In Return
30. Justin Timberlake – The 20/20 Experience Pt. 1
31. Drew Danburry – Becoming Bastian Salazar
32. Phosphorescent – Muchacho
33. James Blake – Overgrown
34. Daft Punk – Random Access Memories
35. The Smith Westerns – Soft Will
36. Man Man – On Oni Pond
37. She & Him – Volume 3
38. Grouplove – Spreading Rumors
39. Atoms For Peace – AMOK
40. The Civil Wars – The Civil Wars
41. The Avett Brother s – Magpie And The Dandelion
42. What Mae Milwaukee Famous – You Can’t Fall off the Floor
43. Tennis – Small Sound
44. Andrew Bird – I Want to See Pulaski at Night
45. The Moth & The Flame – &
46. John Vanderslice – Dagger Beach
47. Foxygen – We Are the 21^st Century Ambassadors Of…
48. Tegan And Sara – Hearthrob
49. David Bowie – The Next Day
50. Okkervil River – The Silver Gymnasium

1. Caveman – “In the City”
2. Vampire Weekend – “Diane Young”
3. Haim – “The Wire”
4. Frightened Rabbit – “Holy”
5. Low – “Clarence White”
6. Paul McCartney – “New”
7. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. – “Beautiful Dream”
8. Phosphorescent – “Song For Zula”
9. Kurt Vile – “Wakin on a Pretty Day”
10. Arade Fire – “Reflektor”
11. Queens Of The Stone Age – “Keep Your Eyes Peeled”
12. Man Man – “Head On (Hold On To Your Heart)”
13. Janelle Monae – “Dance Apocalyptic”
14. Big Scary – “Twin Rivers”
15. Vampire Weekend – “Step”
16. Yo La Tengo – “Ohm”
17. Caveman – “Shut You Down”
18. Dismemberment Plan – “Invisible”
19. Arcade Fire – “Afterlife”
20. San Fermin – “Sonsick”
21. Smith Westerns – “3am Spiritual”
22. Ra Ra Riot – “Beta Love”
23. Elvis Costello And The Roots – “Refuse To Be Saved”
24. The National – “Sea of Love”
25. Lorde – “Royals”
26. Dr. Dog – “The Truth”
27. Eels – “New Alphabet”
28. Queens Of The Stone Age – “If I Had A Tail”
29. Sigur Ros – “Stormur”
30. Telekinesis – “Wires”
31. Toro Y Moi – “Say That”
32. Chvrches – “Gun”
33. James Blake – “Retrograde”
34. Daft Punk – “Get Lucky”
35. Vampire Weekend – “Unbelievers”
36. Charles Bradley – “Strictly Reserved For You”
37. M.I.A. – “Bad Girls”
38. Baths – “Ironworks”
39. Volcano Choir – “Byegone”
40. The Dodos – “Confidence”
41. Washed Out – “It All Feels Right”
42. Cloud Cult – “Meet Me Where You’re Going”
43. What Made Milwaukee Famous – “Just Run”
44. Grouplove – “Borderlines And Aliens”
45. The Spinto Band – “Shake It Off”
46. Tennis – “Cured of Youth”
47. David Bowie – “Where Are We Now?”
48. The Strokes – “One Way Trigger”
49. The Postal Service – “A Tattered Line of String”
50. Franz Ferdinand – “Right Action”

When it came time to make my best albums of the year list, I planned on only having 25 albums like I did for my Top 25 Albums of 2011, but I had such a hard time narrowing it down that I decided to expand it to 50. My list is admittedly skewed towards indie, folk and rock but I’m working on expanding my horizons. What do you think? I’d love to hear your comments. What did I miss?

Take a listen or subscribe to the list on Spotify: Best Albums of 2012

1. Kishi Bashi – 151a
2. Menomena – Moms
3. Alabama Shakes – Boys and Girls
4. Maps and Atlases – Beware and Be Grateful
5. The Shins – Port of Morrow
6. Ben Sollee – Half Made Man
7. Beach House – Bloom
8. Fiona Apple – The Idler Wheel
9. Japandroids – Celebration Rock
10. Frank Ocean – Channel Orange
11. Here We Go Magic – A Different Ship
12. Divine Fits – A Thing Called Divine Fits
13. Ramona Falls – Prophet
14. The Tallest Man on Earth – There’s No Leaving Now
15. Book On Tape Worm – All The World’s A Stage
16. Passion Pit – Gossamer
17. Trampled By Turtles – Stars and Satellites
18. Father John Misty – Fear Fun
19. Dr. Dog – Be The Void
20. Benjamin Gibbard – Former Lives
21. Kathleen Edwards – Voyageur
22. Jack White – Blunderbuss
23. The Walkmen – Heaven
24. The Helio Sequence – Negotiations
25. Grizzly Bear – Shields
26. The xx – Coexist
27. Andrew Bird – Break It Yourself
28. Ultraista – Ultraista
29. The Maccabees – Given To The Wild
30. Band of Horses – Mirage Rock
31. Islands – A Sleep & A Forgetting
32. Dirty Projectors – Swing Lo Magellan
33. David Bryne & St. Vincent – Love This Giant
34. Galactic – Carnivale Electricos
35. The Killers – Battle Born
36. Two Door Cinema Club – Beacon
37. Hot Chip – In Our Heads
38. Yellow Ostrich – Strange Land
39. The Avett Brothers – The Carpenter
40. Tennis – Young & Old
41. Sigur Ros – Valtari
42. Norah Jones – Little Broken Hearts
43. Joshua James – From the Top of Williamette Mountain
44. Murder By Death – Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon
45. Mumford and Sons – Babel
46. M. Ward – Wasteland Companion
47. Heartless Bastards – Arrow
48. Paul Banks – Banks
49. Grimes – Visions
50. Paul Weller – Sonik Kicks

This was a great year in music. Here is my list of favorite tunes. Most of them came off of albums from my “Top 50 Albums of 2012” list, with a handful of top 40 tunes thrown in. What were your favorite songs this year?

1. Alabama Shakes – “Hold On”
2. Japandroids – “The House That Heaven Built”
3. Kishi Bashi – “Bright Whites”
4. Ben Sollee – “Unfinished”
5. The Shins – “Simple Song”
6. Menomena – “Plumage”
7. Fiona Apple – “Every Single Night”
8. Maps & Atlases – “Winter”
9. Beach House – “Myth”
10. Wilco & Billy Bragg – “When The Roses Bloom Again”
11. Divine Fits – “My Love Is Real”
12. Frank Ocean – “Thinkin Bout You”
13. Neon Trees – “Everybody Talks”
14. Passion Pit – “Take A Walk”
15. The Tallest Man On Earth – “Leading Me Now”
16. Jack White – “Hypocritical Kiss”
17. Ramona Falls – “Spore”
18. Gotye – “Somebody That I Used To Know”
19. Paul Banks – “The Base”
20. Menomena – “Pique”
21. Mumford & Sons – “I Will Wait”
22. Dr. Dog – “Vampire”
23. The Lumineers – “Ho Hey”
24. Ben Sollee – “Whole Lot to Give”
25. The Killers – “Runaways”
26. Galactic – “Ha Di Ka”
27. Imagine Dragons – “It’s Time”
28. The Helio Sequence – “One More Time”
29. Ramona Falls – “Bodies of Water”
30. Ultraista – “Bad Insect”
31. Of Monsters And Men – “Little Talks”
32. Alabama Shakes – “Rise to the Sun”
33. Two Door Cinema Club – “Next Year”
34. Here We Go Magic – “How Do I Know”
35. Frank Ocean – “Pyramids”
36. Divine Fits – “Would That Not Be Nice”
37. Kishi Bashi – “Manchester”
38. Dr. Dog – “Lonesome”
39. Dirty Projectors – “About to Die”
40. Delta Spirit – “Teat It Up”
41. Glen Hansard – “This Gift”
42. David Byrne & St. Vincent – “Who”
43. The Walkmen – “Heartbreaker”
44. Passion Pit – “Mirrored Sea”
45. Paul Weller – “The Attic”
46. Andrew Bird – “Eyeoneye”
47. Father John Misty – “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings”
48. Fun. – “We Are Young”
49. Trampled By Turtles – “Alone”
50. Sigur Ros – “Fjogur piano”

Here’s my list for the best albums of 2011. Looking back, it was a pretty amazing year for music! Lots of great albums came out. If you have a Spotify account, click the link below and you can listen to everything on this list. What albums/artists did you like in 2011?

1. The Dodos – No Color
2. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
3. Wilco – The Whole Love
4. The Decemberists – The King is Dead
5. The Globes – Future Self
6. Milagres – Glowing Mouth
7. Bon Iver – Bon Iver
8. Radiohead – The King of Limbs
9. Black Keys – El Camino
10. Coldplay – Mylo Xyloto
11. Death Cab For Cutie – Codes and Keys
12. John Vanderslice – White Wilderness
13. Elbow – Build a Rocket Boys!
14. Antlers – Bursting Apart
15. Ryan Adams – Ashes & Fire
16. My Morning Jacket – Circuital
17. Feist – Metals
18. Low – C’mon
19. Say Hi – Um, Uh Oh
20. Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo
21. St. Vincent – Strange Mercy
22. Telekinesis – 12 Desperate Straight Lines
23. 31knots – Trump Harm
24. James Blake – James Blake
25. Foo Fighters – Wasting Light

Link to Spotify playlist: Top 25 Albums of 2011

1. Fleet Foxes – “Grown Ocean”
2. The Dodos – “Black Night”
3. Milagres – “Halfway”
4. Death Cab for Cutie – “Codes and Keys”
5. Grouplove – “Colours”
6. The Decemberists – “Don’t Carry It All”
7. Bon Iver – “Perth”
8. Adele – “Rolling In The Deep”
9. The Black Keys – “Lonely Boy”
10. Foster The People – “Don’t Stop (Color On The Walls)”
11. Wilco – “Art of Almost”
12. Radiohead – “Lotus Flower”
13. Awolnation – “Sail”
14. The Decemberists – “Down By The Water”
15. Fleet Foxes – “Bedouin Dress”
16. The Globes – “Pretty Birds Above Our Heads”
17. Foster The People – “Pumped Up Kicks”
18. Death Cab for Cutie – “Home Is A Fire”
19. St. Vincent – “Cruel”
20. The Antlers – “I Don’t Want Love”
21. Low – “Try to Sleep”
22. Coldplay – “Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall”
23. Beyonce – “Countdown”
24. Foo Fighters – “Walk”
25. Cage The Elephant – “Shake Me Down”

Link to Spotify playlist: Top 25 Songs of 2011