Honorable mention first, followed by numbers 20-1


Mumford & Sons - Babel



Crimson Mourn - Bring Your Desires Here



James Levy And The Blood Red Rose - Pray To Be Free



Eighteen Individual Eyes - Unovae Nights



Chromatics - Kill For Love



Delta Spirit - Delta Spirit



Murder By Death - Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon



Rococode - Guns, Sex & Glory



Andrew Bird - Break It Yourself



Scott Lucas & The Married Men - Blood Half Moon



Black Twig - Paper Trees



PosterGel - Curvatura Espacio Tiempo



Youth Of The Beast - Seventy Seven



Shovels And Rope - O' Be Joyful



Bat For Lashes - The Haunted Man



Bad Books - II



20. Whirr - Pipe Dreams



19. fun. - Some Nights



18. I Am Oak - Nowhere Or Tammensari



17. Tame Impala - Lonerism



16. The Jealous Sound - A Gentle Reminder



15. Geographer - Myth



14. Mark Lanegan Band - Blues Funeral



13. The Maccabees - Given To The Wild



12. The Men - Open Your Heart



11. Shearwater - Animal Joy



10. Tiger High - Myth Is This



9. Cloud Nothings - Attack On Memory



8. Allo Darlin' - Europe



7. Palomar - Sense & Antisense



6. Jukebox The Ghost - Safe Travels



5. Woods - Bend Beyond



4. The Drowning Men - All Of The Unknown



3. John Murry - The Graceless Age



2. Japandroids - Celebration Rock



1. Dustin Wong - Dreams Say, View, Create, Shadow Leads


the top twenty are pretty well ordered, the rest could be interchaged for the most part. after looking at my itunes, I listened to over 300 albums released this year. seems like a lot. im sure i missed or overlooked some gems. I feel like this year was not as good as last year and probably weaker than 2010 as well, but I think my top 5 will stay with me for a while. i wouldnt have found john murry if not for billy, so Im grateful for that, and several of these albums were downloads on bandcamp that I just stumbled upon (postergel, eighteen individual eyes, etc.).

Mark Lanegan was the first album I heard from 2012, and it makes the list. Thats testament to how good it is, I think, and I probably should have it higher. The Jealous Sound was the 2012 album I listened to the most this year, and it benefits on this list from the fact that it was very good driving to work music. The Drowning Men were a concert discover, and they were brilliant in that setting.

The #1 record is an interesting case. A wordless solo guitar exploration from Ponytail guitarist Dustin Wong. The melodies are beautiful, the layering perfect, its one of the few things that I could listen to this year and feel no temptation to skip ahead in a track or to the next track. Outside of the top 5, I dont think anything on this list is particularly earth-shattering, and you could easily dismiss some of the poppier stuff (JTG, fun., Mumford) as throwaway, but it endeared itself to me in some fashion.

Full List

Mumford & Sons - Babel
Crimson Mourn - Bring Your Desires Here
James Levy And The Blood Red Rose - Pray To Be Free
Eighteen Individual Eyes - Unovae Nights
Chromatics - Kill For Love
Delta Spirit - Delta Spirit
Murder By Death - Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon
Rococode - Guns, Sex & Glory
Andrew Bird - Break It Yourself
Scott Lucas & The Married Men - Blood Half Moon
Black Twig - Paper Trees
PosterGel - Curvatura Espacio Tiempo
Youth Of The Beast - Seventy Seven
Shovels And Rope - O' Be Joyful
Bat For Lashes - The Haunted Man
Bad Books - II
20. Whirr - Pipe Dreams
19. fun. - Some Nights
18. I Am Oak - Nowhere Or Tammensari
17. Tame Impala - Lonerism
16. The Jealous Sound - A Gentle Reminder
15. Geographer - Myth
14. Mark Lanegan Band - Blues Funeral
13. The Maccabees - Given To The Wild
12. The Men - Open Your Heart
11. Shearwater - Animal Joy
10. Tiger High - Myth Is This
9. Cloud Nothings - Attack On Memory
8. Allo Darlin' - Europe
7. Palomar - Sense & Antisense
6. Jukebox The Ghost - Safe Travels
5. Woods - Bend Beyond
4. The Drowning Men - All Of The Unknown
3. John Murry - The Graceless Age
2. Japandroids - Celebration Rock
1. Dustin Wong - Dreams Say, View, Create Shadow Leads

Interesting list. A couple of things I'm going to check out that I've not heard (of).

Good job, doc.

james levy, drowning men, shovels and rope and delta spirit would all go over pretty well around here i would think.

I listened to that Delta Spirit a good bit when it first came out but it sort of fell out of favor--i liked the last one better I guess.

Interesting list. I like your #1 choice, but it didn't impress me quite as much. I'd be much happier with a new Ponytail record. Too many guitarists making these kinds of "ambient" records these days, IMO, but this is one of the better ones I've heard, for sure.

Oh man, I completely missed that Tiger High! Loved them at Soundland 2011. My fault for not following them more vigilantly. Will be checking it out shortly.

I never gave that Woods album many listens. It has shown up on some friends' lists. Guess I owe it a chance.

Guess I need to check out that Dustin Wong with Drinky's reveal that it's a "ambient guitar" album.

finally some Shearwater love! really great album. it will be in my Top 10 if and when....

a lot of shit here I've never heard of.

The Woods album is good. Their last one was, too. And the one before that.

I'm calling the Dustin Wong album "ambient" but maybe some other people wouldn't. It's worth hearing, anyway.

I thought the same thing

i had no idea they even released an album in 2012