Albums of 2012 // 10-1

And there was only ever going to be one winner for me in 2012. How To Dress Well's record stands apart, taking R&B into divine new places, and for that 'Total Loss' sits proudly at the summit of an incredible top 10.

10. Japandroids - 'Celebration Rock'



9. Grimes - 'Visions'



8. Perfume Genius - 'Put Your Back N 2 It'



7. Frank Ocean - 'channel ORANGE'



6. Death Grips - 'The Money Store'



5. Sharon Van Etten - 'Tramp'



4. Kindness - 'World, You Need A Change Of Mind'



3. Liars - 'WIXIW'





2. Jack White - 'Blunderbuss'





1. How To Dress Well - 'Total Loss'





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Albums of 2012 // 20-11

Into the top 20, from Kendrick Lamar's opus and its Janet Jackson sampling Poetic Justice, via a quartet of Pitchfork Paris standouts through to Angel Olsen's otherworldly modern folk. Oh, and the 30 minute video of Dan Deacon at SXSW below is insanely good. What a guy.

20. Kendrick Lamar - 'good kid, m.A.A.d city'



19. Dean Blunt & Inga Copeland - 'Black Is Beautiful'



18. Breton - 'Other People's Problems'



17. Purity Ring - 'Shrines'



16. John Talabot - 'fin'



15. Dan Deacon - 'America'



14. DIIV - 'Oshin'



13. Gang Colours - 'The Keychain Collection'



12. Tame Impala - 'Lonerism'



11. Angel Olsen - 'Half Way Home'



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Albums of 2012 // 30-21

The next 10 brings some of the best choruses to grace 2012 in First Aid Kit's Emmylou and pretty much every track off Jessie Ware's 'Devotion', while if this is, as rumoured, the last Grizzly Bear record, what a way to go.

30. Dam Mantle - 'Brothers Fowl'



29. First Aid Kit - 'The Lion's Roar'



28. Jessie Ware - 'Devotion'



27. Lower Dens - 'Nootropics'



26. Halls - 'Ark'



25. Chromatics - 'Kill For Love'



24. Grizzly Bear - 'Shields'



23. Actress - 'R.I.P.'



22. Django Django - 'Django Django'



21. Fort Romeau - 'Kingdoms'



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Albums of 2012 // 40-31

The next ten brings a lot of love for merry ole England and its audio-visual output, with Micachu's Lambeth walking vid for Easy, the warped urban dystopia of Alt-J's video for Fitzpleasure, taken from their Mercury winning 'An Awesome Wave', through to NZCA/LINES' awesome self titled debut.

40. Cloud Nothings - 'Attack On Memory'



39. TOY - 'TOY'



38. Micachu & The Shapes - 'Never'



37. Julia Holter - 'Ekstasis'



36. Willis Earl Beal - 'Acousmatic Sourcery'



35. Peaking Lights - 'Lucifer'



34. Metz - 'METZ'



33. alt-J - 'An Awesome Wave'



32. Weird Dreams - 'Choreography'



31. NZCA/LINES - 'NZCA/LINES'



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Albums of 2012 // 52 - 41

I could suggest that the reason for this being a top 52 is to allow for one album per week. That would be neat. Except it would also be a lie, the truth being that my indecisive nature has meant I'm unable to trim my favourite albums of 2012 list down any further. It just wouldn't be fair.

As such, here is the first installment of incredible music that actually did make the cut (and there was a cut), taking in 'SFV Acid #2''s fractured electronic beats, the psychedelic swoon of 'Melody's Echo Chamber' and the lo-fi blitzkrieg of PAWS' debut 'Cokefloat'.

52. Lands & Peoples - 'Pop Guilt'



51. Menomena - 'Moms'



50. OMBRE - 'Believe You Me'



49. Mount Eerie - 'Clear Moon'



48. Nite Jewel - 'One Second Of Love'



47. The Walkmen - 'Heaven'



46. Ceremony - 'Zoo'



45. Cold Specks - 'I Predict a Graceful Explosion'



44. Laurel Halo - 'Quarantine'



43. Melody's Echo Chamber - 'Melody's Echo Chamber'



42. SFV Acid - 'SFV Acid #2'



41. PAWS - 'Cokefloat'

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