2012.5
Jumping on the bandwagon. Check these babies out. |
50 | | Beach House Bloom
Good, but just. |
49 | | Virtual Boy Virtual Boy
Downtempo for the dubstep generation. |
48 | | Blondes Blondes
What the fuck is microhouse. Can we just dance or something. |
47 | | Black Dice Mr. Impossible
The most fun I've had with a noise album since OOIOO came out with their last
release. |
46 | | Chromatics Kill For Love
Almost as long as Fiona Apple's album title. But plow through and you'll find
something remarkably cogent and personal. |
45 | | Miryo MIRYO a.k.a JOHONEY
Miryo talks/raps/sings about earlobes, apparently. It sounds great. |
44 | | Porcelain Raft Strange Weekend
Working with a familiar sonic palette, Mauro Remiddi creates unexpectedly good
songs that are almost as beautiful as he is. |
43 | | Pepe Deluxe Queen of the Wave
A bit too kitschy to really convince, but this album still blows minds. |
42 | | oOoOO Our Love Is Hurting Us
I'm still sad that "witch house" isn't really a thing anymore. Also sad that I can't put
the RITUALZ album from last year on this list. Oh, well. This is close enough. |
41 | | Huoratron Cryptocracy
Heavy stuff. See milquetoast white people mosh. |
40 | | Disasterpeace FEZ
Unexpectedly lovely. One of the most important chiptune releases of recent years. |
39 | | EXO-K Mama
The boy band tradition is alive and well. Bless. |
38 | | Hospitality Hospitality
Man, what would it be like if Vampire Weekend wrote genuinely smart songs? |
37 | | Demdike Stare Elemental
Sweep the dust off the floor (thump thump thump). |
36 | | Friends Manifest!
Kickin' back. |
35 | | Hello Venus Venus
The sort of maximalist bleacher pop Gwen Stefani wishes she could make. |
34 | | Jason Urick I Love You
Do yoga to this shit. |
33 | | Lone Galaxy Garden
In various settings: ecstatic, relaxing, hypnotic. |
32 | | Meysell Quintana Miracle of the Sun
GTB represent! Bitcrushed waves that sound impossibly organic. |
31 | | Sigur Ros Valtari
To paraphrase CMG, treading water in the clearest, most beautiful lake in the
universe. |
30 | | Orcas Orcas
Forget "amniotic pop" as a blog genre. This is real, submerged, dub-inflected pop,
and it sounds gorgeous. |
29 | | Justin Bieber Believe
He's all grown up, and he's putting out some of the best pop records on the radio
right now. |
28 | | Fiona Apple The Idler Wheel...
It's as if she never left us. |
27 | | Daughn Gibson All Hell
Creepy-sultry. Intoxicating stuff. |
26 | | OST Invisible Ink For Sketching Ghosts
Linklater is practically infallible to me, so this shit is a given. Damn good. |
25 | | 4minute Volume Up
K-pop does the sax solo thing better than anybody here did. |
24 | | Zammuto Zammuto
A tuneful abstraction that's as touchingly human as it is rough-hewn. |
23 | | ahnnu couch
Homebrewed beats any Brainfeeder freak would love. |
22 | | The 2 Bears Be Strong
Give the music all your lovin'. |
21 | | HEALTH MAX PAYNE 3
Whoever was in charge of this collaboration is underpaid. |
20 | | The Trap's Jaw An Awful Lot of Wires
GTB represent! Also, 16kbps MP3's produce extremely rewarding timbres. |
19 | | A Pink Une Annee
The best pop chorus of 2012 ("Bubibu") and the most unabashedly happy pop you'll
hear all year. |
18 | | of Montreal Paralytic Stalks
Kevin Barnes shatters his psyche and the demented parade from Paprika comes
shooting out. |
17 | | Lana Del Rey Born To Die
She might be bougie, but damn if she isn't a creative genius. |
16 | | One Direction Up All Night
Perfect pop, mercifully free of cynicism. |
15 | | Death Grips The Money Store
I want this shit in my areaaaaadfkgjfdsjkgdfdslkgasdf. Also, see white people mosh
again. |
14 | | Diplo Express Yourself
A monstrous "sea of broquility". |
13 | | Tyme. x Tujiko GYU
Gorgeous, sighing, transparent pop. |
12 | | Julia Holter Ekstasis
"Boy In The Moon" is a song that exists in this world. That is all you need to know. |
11 | | Karantamba Ndigal
Cosmopolitan aesthetes can't fetishize this. It's too vital. |
10 | | Peaking Lights Lucifer
Enough good vibes to fill a whole summer. |
9 | | Actress R.I.P
Heartbeats. |
8 | | Black Bananas Rad Times Xpress IV
Herrema goes hard. |
7 | | Leila U&I
Circuitry frying. |
6 | | King Felix Spring EP
Laurel Halo's second release on this list, a pitch-perfect melding of traditional
orchestral color with hummingbird beats. Gorgeous. |
5 | | Gatekeeper Exo
Goofy but brutal industrial techno, coming soon to a Gamestop near you. (I think.) |
4 | | Mouse on Mars Parastrophics
Witty, glitchy, squelchy dance music. Also, Facebook's a cockblocker. |
3 | | Burial Kindred
That bass is deep as fuck. |
2 | | Laurel Halo Quarantine
Pulseless electronic pop fighting to have a heart. |
1 | | Grimes Visions
DIY art-pop that's refreshingly hard to pin down. |
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