The Top 50 Albums of 2012

I am posting this a few weeks later than I would have liked, but I suppose that’s what comes from having a full-time job. The past year was a surprisingly good one for music. There weren’t any runaway winners, just a lot of very, very good albums. Consequently, the list of the top 50 seems even more arbitrarily ordered than in previous years. Given my time constraints, I have opted to forgo descriptions of each album. Just go and listen to them.


1. Passion Pit, Gossamer


2. Chromatics, Kill for Love


3. Lost in the Trees, A Church That Fits Our Needs


4. Bat for Lashes, The Haunted Man


5. Beach House, Bloom


6. Kendrick Lamar, good kid, m.A.A.d city


7. Perfume Genius, Put Your Back N 2 It


8. Dan Deacon, America


9. Karriem Riggins, Alone Together


10. iamamiwhoami, Kin


11. Fiona Apple, The Idler Wheel…


12. Spiritualized, Sweet Heart Sweet Light


13. Grimes, Visions


14. Andy Stott, Luxury Problems


15. Moonface, With Siinai: Heartbreaking Bravery


16. Tame Impala, Lonerism


17. Julia Holter, Ekstasis


18. Sleigh Bells, Reign of Terror


19. DIIV, Oshin


20. Grizzly Bear, Shields

21. Crystal Castles, (III)
22. Trust, TRST
23. Hustle and Drone, Hustle and Drone EP
24. Twin Shadow, Confess
25. Purity Ring, Shrines
26. Frank Ocean, Channel Orange
27. The xx, Coexist
28. Wild Nothing, Nocturne
29. Metric, Synthetica
30. Flying Lotus, Until the Quiet Comes
31. Antony & the Johnsons, Cut the World
32. Divine Fits, A Thing Called Divine Fits
33. El-P, Cancer 4 Cure
34. Cooly G, Playin’ Me
35. Menomena, Moms
36. The Shins, Port of Morrow
37. Lotus Plaza, Spooky Action at a Distance
38. Tim Hecker and Daniel Lopatin, Instrumental Tourist
39. Bowerbirds, The Clearing
40. Solange, True
41. Tussle, Tempest
42. Poliça, Give You the Ghost
43. Ellie Goulding, Halcyon
44. Father John Misty, Fear Fun
45. Santigold, Master of My Make-Believe
46. Tanlines, Mixed Emotions
47. Lone, Galaxy Garden
48. Chairlift, Something
49. John Talabot, ƒIN
50. Hot Chip, In Our Heads

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