My Top 20 Albums of 2012
The thinking behind this list is to simply pick my top twenty favourite albums released in 2012. I make no claims of special critical insight.
It was relatively easy to pick a top ten but pulling a further ten records from the sheer number I’ve listened to over the last twelve months was not easy and changes were made even in the final seconds before posting this!
- Maraqopa by Damien Jurado
- Blues Funeral by Mark Lanegan Band
- Mid Air by Paul Buchanan
- Traces by Karine Polwart
- Spooky Action At A Distance by Lotus Plaza
- Oh Holy Molar by Félix
- Animal Joy by Shearwater
- Attack On Memory by Cloud Nothings
- Tramp by Sharon Van Etten
- Yellow and Green by Baroness
- Bloom by Beach House
- The Marble Downs by Trembling Bells and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy
- Banga by Patti Smith
- Toy by Toy
- Devotion by Jessie Ware
- Come Home To Mama by Martha Wainwright
- The Hunger Games: Songs From District 12 by Various Artists
- Channel Orange by Frank Ocean
- The Light The Dead See by Soulsavers
- The Something Rain by Tindersticks
Spotify playlist of all these albums
Maraqopa went from being in the top ten to the top three after seeing Jurado perform in Glasgow. It guaranteed the album of the year spot with the release of the deluxe edition at the end of the year that includes a song called Let Us All In (a particular highlight of the live show) and a cover of Christmas Time Is Here from the ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ soundtrack that earwormed me for the whole of December. Sadly these extra tracks are missing from the Spotify playlist