2012 has come and gone, and as I look back on the year in music my main thought is “meh”. That’s not to say there weren’t some good albums, there were quite a few actually. There just weren’t a high number of albums I could call great. All in all, I consider it a solid, but not spectacular year in music. Part of this thinking may come from my own personal preferences, as I found myself just plain bored by many releases this year. That’s the reason you may find this list a bit more eclectic than usual, which in the long run is probably a good thing for my musical evolution.
This past year I purchased, in some form, 77 albums…71 of which are eligible. I do not include EPs, Reissues, Soundtracks, Live Albums, Holiday Albums, or B-Side/Rarity type releases as albums eligible for my list. As always, there’s plenty of albums that I never got around to procuring, so yes, there’s going to be very worthy albums that don’t make my list. So if you have a question as to why your favorite album isn’t on my list, well it’s because I either didn’t get it, or just plain didn’t like it as much as you…simple as that. After the jump, you can see the list of all albums I purchased, in order of release date. Also, over to the right, you can see the schedule over the next few days as I continue the countdown.
Cloud Nothings – Attack On Memory
Laura Gibson – La Grande
Craig Finn – Clear Heart Full Eyes
Hospitality – Hospitality
Dr. Dog- Be The Void
Sharon Van Etten – Tramp
The Twilight Sad – No One Can Ever Know
Islands – A Sleep and A Forgetting
Shearwater – Animal Joy
The Menzingers – On The Impossible Past
Grimes – Visions
Damien Jurado – Maraqopa
Sleigh Bells – Reign of Terror
fun. – Some Nights
Fanfarlo – Rooms Filled With Light
The Men – Open Your Heart
Andrew Bird – Break It Yourself
Bowerbirds – The Clearing
White Rabbits – Milk Famous
Daniel Rossen – Silent Hour/Golden Mile (EP)*
Choir of Young Believers – Rhine Gold
The Shins – Port of Morrow
Oberhofer – Time Capsules II
Alabama Shakes – Boys & Girls
M. Ward – A Wasteland Companion
Spiritualized – Sweet Heart Sweet Light
Allo Darlin’ – Europe
Moonface – With Siinai: Heartbreaking Bravery
Suckers – Candy Salad
Father John Misty – Fear Fun
Beach House – Bloom
Japandroids – Celebration Rock
The Walkmen – Heaven
Sigur Rós – Valtari
Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros – Here
The Tallest Man On Earth – There’s No Leaving Now
Metric – Synthetica
Fiona Apple – The Idler Wheel…
Chairlift – Something
Twin Shadow – Confess
Frank Ocean – Channel Orange
Dirty Projectors – Swing Lo Magellan
Purity Ring – Shrines
Passion Pit – Gossamer
The Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten
Fang Island – Major
The Antlers – Undersea (EP)*
Best Coast – The Only Place
Further Seems Forever – Penny Black
Frightened Rabbit – State Hospital (EP)*
Jessie Ware – Devotion
Yeasayer – Fragrant World
Swans – The Seer
Divine Fits – A Thing Called Divine Fits
Wild Nothing – Nocturne
Jens Lekman – I Know What Love Isn’t
Animal Collective – Centipede HZ
Cat Power – Sun
Stars – The North
David Byrne & St. Vincent – Love This Giant
The xx – Coexist
The Avett Brothers – The Carpenter
Band of Horses – Mirage Rock
Grizzly Bear – Shields
Dinosaur Jr. – I Bet On Sky
Earlimart – System Preferences
Mumford & Sons – Babel
Dum Dum Girls – End of Daze (EP)*
The Mountain Goats – Transcendental Youth
METZ – METZ
Tame Impala – Lonerism
Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!
Bat For Lashes – The Haunted Man
Kendrick Lamar – good kid, m.A.A.d. city
Titus Andronicus – Local Business
Dirty Projectors – About To Die (EP)*
Sufjan Stevens – Silver & Gold*
*Not Eligible
A Round of Sound 