Press play above or listen via Spotify.

I don’t consider EPs when making my list for best albums (LPs) of the year, so I’ve constructed a separate ranking here of my top 10 EPs of 2012.  Below is the list, including the name of the track I put in the above sampler.

2012 Top 10 EPs

1.  Kitten – Cut It Out   (track: “Cut It Out”)

2.  The 1975 – Sex   (track: “Sex”)

3.  The Antlers – Undersea   (track: “Endless Ladder”)

4.  Dum Dum Girls – End Of Daze   (track: “Trees And Flowers”)

5.  School Of Seven Bells – Put Your Sad Down   (track: “Secret Days”)

6.  Daley – Alone Together   (track: “Those Who Wait”)

7.  Ben Howard – The Burgh Island E.P.   (track: “Burgh Island”)

8.  Frightened Rabbit – State Hospital   (track: “Home From War”)

9.  Azure Ray – As Above So Below   (track: “The Heart Has Its Reasons”)

10.  Lana Del Rey – Paradise   (track: “Ride”)

The following are the critics’ 50 best albums of 2012 as based on an aggregate of 72 publications’ (from the US, UK, Ireland, and Canada) year-end lists.

The majority #1 album of 2012:   Frank Ocean – channel ORANGE

Follow these links to listen to a selected song from each album in spotify:
Critics’ Top Albums Of 2012 – Disc 1 and Disc 2

Critics’ Top Albums Of 2012

1.    Frank Ocean – channel ORANGE

2.    Grimes – Visions

3.    Tame Impala – Lonerism

4.    Kendrick Lamar – good kid, m.A.A.d. city

5.    Swans – The Seer

6.    Fiona Apple – The Idle Wheel Is Wiser…

7.    Grizzly Bear – Shields

8.    Chromatics – Kill For Love

9.    Japandroids – Celebration Rock

10.   Sharon Van Etten – Tramp

11.   Beach House – Bloom

12.   Jack White – Blunderbuss

13.   Jessie Ware – Devotion

14.   Dirty Projectors – Swing Lo Magellan

15.   ∆ – An Awesome Wave

Click through for the rest of the 50!

Press play above or listen via Spotify.

Over here you can find the complete list of 50 albums.

2012 Top 50 Albums Sampler

Track Listing:

1.  WALK THE MOON – Anna Sun

2.  Foreign Fields – Fake Arms

3.  Of Monsters And Men – Dirty Paws

4.  Dry The River – No Rest

5.  Frank Ocean – Pyramids

6.  Beach House – Myth

7.  Kendrick Lamar – Swimming Pools (Drank)

8.  Port St. Willow – North

9.  Geographer – Life Of Crime

10.  Paper Route – Letting You Let Go

11.  Metric – Breathing Underwater

12.  California Wives – Purple

13.  Reptar – Orifice Origami

14.  School Of Seven Bells – Low Times

15.  Jonquil – History Of Headaches

Click here to see the rest of the playlist…

It’s time to look back at 2012 and discuss our favorites in music and film. While my list for best movies of the year won’t be completed for another month as I catch up on some awards season favorites, I’ve digested 163 albums (and previewed many more) and derived this list of 50 stand-outs.

Stay tuned next week for the top 10 EPs of the year (which, as such, have been excluded from this list.)

My #1 album of 2012:   WALK THE MOON

CLAIMER:   I’m a sucker for hooks. A catchy tune gets me every time. This album was my home for happy.

Follow this link to listen to a selected song from each album in spotify: 2012 Top 50 Albums Sampler

50 Best Albums Of 2012

1.    WALK THE MOON – WALK THE MOON

2.    Foreign Fields – Anywhere But Where I Am

3.    Of Monsters And Men – My Head Is An Animal

4.    Dry The River – Shallow Bed

5.    Frank Ocean – channel ORANGE

6.    Beach House – Bloom

7.    Kendrick Lamar – good kid, m.A.A.d city

8.    Port St. Willow – Holiday

9.    Geographer – Myth

10.   Paper Route – The Peace Of Wild Things

11.   Metric – Synthetica

12.   California Wives – Art History

13.   Reptar – Body Faucet

14.   School Of Seven Bells – Ghostory

15.   Jonquil – History Of Headaches

Click through for the rest of the 50!

**This list was revised to include “In A Better World” which upon viewing could not, in good conscience, be left off.**

I realize we are over halfway through 2012, but I was finally able to see all the movies I wanted to before making this list.  So let’s look back at the previous calendar year in film.  The following is a list of my favorite movies of 2011.

11.  Shame

An excruciating plunge into the world of sexual addiction.  The shame of Fassbender’s character continues to sink its teeth into you well after the credits roll.  The acting is possessed and unruly, leading it to be a very uncomfortable film to watch.  This is one of the most provocative portrayals of a tortured and compulsive existence to which I’ve endured witness.

10.  Moneyball

Six words: Brad Pitt. Jonah Hill. Aaron Sorkin.

9.  Take Shelter

Probably a victim of mis-marketing, Take Shelter is actually a psychological drama; and one of the most terror-ific kind.  Ambiguous endings seem to be the theme this year as we must decide for ourselves whether Shannon’s character is truly mad or remarkably prophetic.

8.  We Need To Talk About Kevin

While this is not the kind of movie that I would casually recommend to someone, it deserves commendation.  Great editing (especially sound), great directing, great acting, and great style.  It’s a grisly and harrowing story, and one I’m still thinking about weeks later.

7.  The Artist

Nothing short of amazing.  What is accomplished with no (well, almost no) sound is incredible.  I’m not much a fan for silent film, but somehow, perhaps magically, director Michel Hazanavicius has both captured and set free the wonder of cinema.

6.  Incendies

Boasting some gorgeous cinematic moments and a story you’ll have to see to believe, Incendies is my favorite foreign film of the year.

5.  Melancholia

The more time that passes the more I look back on this film with adoration.  While there’s a lot left unsaid, Melancholia is begging for its audience to bring themselves to the experience and embody the gaps.  With an obtuse balance of surrealism, minimalism, and meaning, Melancholia is a visionary, albeit demanding, experience.

4.  Warrior

Much how 127 Hours made my top 10 last year, Warrior holds its place as the most emotionally moving film of the year for me.  I’m a sucker for a good martial arts story (thanks TMNT) and the dynamic between the brothers was intensely significant to me.

3.  In A Better World

In A Better World is more aptly described by its Danish title, Hævnen, which means Vengeance but also serves as a play on the spelling of “Heaven.”  It is a subtle yet complex and deep drama about the struggles inherent in human co-existence.  No one character is without flaw.  There is no hero and there nearly is no villain(s) (unless you count the Sudanese warlord among the primary cast.) Susanne Bier has once again directed a masterpiece.  Beautiful filmmaking and gorgeous cinematography undergird this Academy Award winning film that all at once captures our weakness and our beauty.

2.  Martha Marcy Mae Marlene

I was completely engrossed in this film.  I loved the cinematography and art direction.  The performances were impeccable, especially by the star Elizabeth Olsen.  The ambiguous final scene, albeit frustrating at first, is the only way this psychological suspense story could “end”, and opens up a multitude of interpretations I was blind to during my entranced viewing.  This is a complex, dark, and wonderfully constructed work.

1.  Drive

I love this movie.  I never watch movies more than once so the fact that I’ve seen this three times speaks volumes.  If you saw last year’s list you might remember that I’m defenseless against highly stylized films; and this 80s-noir thriller-drama is, for me, one of only a few five-star films of 2011.

Honorable Mentions:

Margin Call

Intelligent and well-acted.  An engrossing movie for an aspiring Quant like myself.

Horrible Bosses

The funniest film of the year (yes, sorry Bridesmaids), Horrible Bosses is hilarious, a credit to the pitch perfect cast who are able to maximize this irreverent and immodest office comedy.

The Help

Another powerhouse performance movie that affected me deeply.

A Separation

While it’s almost less about divorce than the suspenseful drama who-dun-it that propels the story along, the relational complexities of this broken family are the soul of this story.  I can find nothing wrong with this film.  You will remember it.

Significant Letdowns:

Margaret

Watching Paquin’s character, Lisa, emotionally vomit on everything in sight for two and a half hours is not my idea of a good time.  Turns out, it doesn’t make for a very good movie either.  If there was an actual story through-line buried in this wreckage of a handful of superbly acted and existentially meaningful scenes, it’s too much to ask to unbury it.  Not to mention that the exercise of sifting through debris for meaning is a wholly pretentious one at that.

The Tree Of Life

A mesmerizing journey for the senses, The Tree Of Life, for all it does right, sinks its roots deep into Malick’s pretentious theology-art and doesn’t offer any symmetry from which to interpret its abstractions.

The Interrupters

A good documentary gets you to care about the subject(s) or the cause.  This did neither.

Certified Copy

Are you satisfied with a copy, or do you want the original?  I was not only unsatisfied by this “certified copy” of a disintegrated relationship, I was irritated.  It’s not that I find it pretentious or too artistic, it’s more that it’s shambling to the point of frustration.  I’m aware this film is a bit of a mystery, framed in the form of a question, but the lack of something real to sink one’s teeth into is both revelatory of my rationalist/realist disposition and the infuriating ambiguity of the nature of the co-stars’ relationship.  This movie should come with a warning, or at least a more directly offered foreshadowing of the duality of the make-believe that dominates the majority of the runtime.  But if the question to be answered is not whether it’s real or fiction, but rather whether you are content with a good copy or prefer the real thing, Certified Copy wholly succeeds.  And I clearly prefer the latter.

 
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I listened to 112 albums from 2011. The following are my top 50 albums of the year.  It’s a personal list based on my tastes and preferences and it should be noted that the rankings are inspired by my song ratings on each album and their cumulative valuation. #nerdalert

You can play a select mix of 50 songs from each of the 50 albums by clicking on the image to the right.

My 50 Best Albums Of 2011

	ARTIST		ALBUM
#1 -	Bon Iver		Bon Iver, Bon Iver
#2 -	Other Lives		Tamer Animals
#3 -	Wye Oak		Civilian
#4 -	Beirut		The Rip Tide
#5 -	Dawes		Nothing Is Wrong
#6 -	The Weeknd		House Of Balloons
#7 -	Youth Lagoon		The Year Of Hibernation
#8 -	Treefight For Sunlight		A Collection Of Vibrations For Your Skull
#9 -	The Antlers		Burst Apart
#10 -	Caveman		CoCo Beware
#11 -	City And Colour		Little Hell
#12 -	Saigon		The Greatest Story Never Told
#13 -	tUnE-yArDs		W H O K I L L
#14 -	Lykke Li		Wounded Rhymes
#15 -	Active Child		You Are All I See
#16 -	Radiohead		The King Of Limbs
#17 -	Incubus		If Not Now, When?
#18 -	M83		Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming.
#19 -	Switchfoot		Vice Verses
#20 -	Seryn		This Is Where We Are
#21 -	The Milk Carton Kids		Prologue
#22 -	Fleet Foxes		Helplessness Blues
#23 -	Slow Club		Paradise
#24 -	Laura Marling		A Creature I Don’t Know
#25 -	Lia Ices		Grown Unknown

Click to reveal #26-50!

Clearly, I listen to mostly indie music, followed by a fair mix of Folk, Rock, Pop, Urban, and Electronic styles.  Here is a breakdown of the albums I listen to by genre.

Of the 112 albums I listened to:

42% were Indie.     13% were Folk.     13% were Rock.     12% were Pop or Urban.     7% were Electronic.     6% were Rap. 5% were Indie Electronic.     1% were Soundtrack.

My 50 Best Albums Of 2011 are made up of:

44% Indie  [22 albums].     14% Folk  [7 albums].     12% Rock  [6].     12% Pop or Urban  [6].     8% Rap  [4].     6% Indie Electronic  [3].     2% Electronic  [1].     2% Soundtrack  [1].

Top 5 Albums By Genre

My Top 5 Electronic Albums Of 2011:

#1 -	Rustie		Glass Swords
#2 -	Tycho		Dive
#3 -	Apparat		The Devil’s Walk
#4 -	Björk		Biophilia
#5 -	Sun Glitters		Everything Could Be Fine

My Top 5 Indie Electronic Albums Of 2011:

#1 -	Active Child		You Are All I See
#2 -	M83		Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming.
#3 -	Neon Indian		Era Extraña
#4 -	Class Actress		Rapprocher
#5 -	Cut Copy		Zonoscope

My Top 5 Rap Albums Of 2011:

#1 -	Saigon		The Greatest Story Never Told
#2 -	The Throne		Watch The Throne
#3 -	Wale		Ambition
#4 -	Lupe Fiasco		Lasers
#5 -	The Roots		undun

My Top 5 Pop / Urban Albums Of 2011:

#1 -	The Weeknd		House Of Balloons
#2 -	Kevin Cossom		By Any Means [Mixtape]
#3 -	Rihanna		Talk That Talk
#4 -	Adele		21
#5 -	Mariah McManus		Nice To Meet You

My Top 5 Rock Albums Of 2011:

#1 -	City And Colour		Little Hell
#2 -	Radiohead		King Of Limbs
#3 -	Incubus		If Not Now, When?
#4 -	Switchfoot		Vice Verses
#5 -	My Morning Jacket		Circuital

My Top 5 Folk Albums Of 2011:

#1 -	Dawes		Nothing Is Wrong
#2 -	The Milk Carton Kids		Prologue
#3 -	Fleet Foxes		Helplessness Blues
#4 -	Laura Marling		A Creature I Don’t Know
#5 -	Middle Brother		Middle Brother

My Top 5 Indie Albums Of 2011:

#1 -	Bon Iver		Bon Iver, Bon Iver
#2 -	Other Lives		Tamer Animals
#3 -	Wye Oak		Civilian
#4 -	Beirut		The Rip Tide
#5 -	Youth Lagoon		The Year Of Hibernation

Notable exclusions from my top 50 albums of 2011:

(I listened to these, but they didn’t make the cut for one reason or another…)

PJ Harvey – Let England Shake

St. Vincent – Strange Mercy

James Blake – James Blake

Wild Beasts – Smother

Drake – Take Care

Wilco – The Whole Love

Nicolas Jaar – Space Is Only Noise

Foo Fighters – Wasting Light

Florence + The Machine – Ceremonials

As many of you might already know, I love end of the year lists.  I compile numerous “best of” lists in the form of a critics’ consensus at the end of each year, as well as construct a list of my own favorites.  Another thing I like to do is go back and listen to all those albums from the previous year that I might have missed.  There is usually a lot of music that the critics deemed noteworthy that I’ve never even heard of.  So I spend the better part of the next year catching up on those albums with the final product being this REVISED list of the 50 Best Albums Of 2010.

After listening to 131 albums from 2010 (yes, that’s right, I spend most of my waking hours with music playing) I’ve developed this final and exhaustive list.  It’s a personal list that is entirely based on my tastes and preferences but I hope it introduces you to some new sounds.  It should be noted that the rankings are inevitably driven by my ratings of the individual songs on an album and their cumulative valuation (think algorithms… seriously) and less so by sentiments or feelings on the work as a whole (I’m a math guy, that’s the way it works.) And frankly, in order to be objective in any list longer than 10 you need some sort of mathematical criteria because it’s virtually humanly impossible to say that, for instance, you like album #33 more than #34.

To view my original 10 Best Albums Of 2010 click here.

To view the Critics’ Consensus 50 Best Albums Of 2010 click here.

My 50 Best Albums Of 2010 [Revised]

	ARTIST		ALBUM
#1 -	Kanye West		My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
#2 -	The National		High Violet
#3 -	Mumford & Sons		Sigh No More
#4 -	Foals		Total Life Forever
#5 -	The Tallest Man On Earth		Wild Hunt
#6 -	Laura Marling		I Speak Because I Can
#7 -	Jónsi		Go
#8 -	Two Door Cinema Club		Tourist History
#9 -	Sara Bareilles		Kaleidoscope Heart
#10 -	The-Dream		Love King
#11 -	Frightened Rabbit		The Winter Of Mixed Drinks
#12 -	My Chemical Romance		Danger Days: The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys
#13 -	Ne-Yo		Libra Scale
#14 -	Delta Spirit		History From Below
#15 -	Local Natives		Gorilla Manor
#16 -	Arcade Fire		The Suburbs
#17 -	The Naked And Famous		Passive Me, Aggressive You
#18 -	Menomena		Mines
#19 -	Midlake		The Courage Of Others
#20 -	Keri Hilson		No Boys Allowed

Click to reveal #21-50!

Lists are fun.  Here are my picks for the best movies of 2010.  There are a few I was unable to see in time for this post that I would have liked to.  In no particular order, those films are: Carlos, Inside Job, Another Year, A Film Unfinished, Biutiful, Let Me In, and The Ghost Writer.  Now on to the list.

10.  Toy Story 3

Animated films by their nature are less commendable in my opinion due to there being no onscreen actors.  It’d be easy to hide bad performances behind the bells and whistles of CGI and adventure.  But the Toy Story franchise has never done this.  Sure the second film was weaker than the original, but this third installment is spot on with a great story featuring the characters we’ve grown to love.

9.  Shutter Island

Leonardo DiCaprio chose some good projects this year.  This perhaps being the more dramatically demanding of the two.  It’s a dark look deep into the eyes of insanity.  The last line of the film captures the protagonists oddly elective psychosis and sums up this unique film: “Which would be worse, to live as a monster, or to die as a good man?”

8.  The King’s Speech

A lot of people are picking this as their film of the year and while it’s not top five for me, it sure is a great one.  A wonderful drama about a man with a mental barrier that manifests itself outwardly.  There’s a neuroticism to his painstaking delivery that is complex and Colin Firth is downright amazing.  The performances here are worth the calculated pacing of the movie.

7.  The Kids Are All Right

My review, which can be linked above, says it better than I could in a couple sentences here but this has got to be one of the most refreshing drama/comedies I’ve seen in a long time.  Not refreshing in the sense of being overtly positive or uplifting, but refreshing in its realism.  It’s a story about family and relationships.  Seeing characters treated as question marks rather than periods never felt so good.

6.  Animal Kingdom

A gripping Australian crime/mob family story, this one was off the radar for most folks but deserves a viewing.  Its montage heavy and melodramatic cinematography is apposite to the gravity of the story.  Put this one at the top of your Netflix queue.

5.  Inception

This one is right up my alley.  A mind-bending thriller.  Perhaps my favorite genre.  Christopher Nolan is a stud and it also features two of my favorites actors, DiCaprio and Ellen Page.

4.  The Fighter

As a boxing movie it works.  As a movie about the effects of drug addiction it works.  But it works best as a film about family.  Great performances from Christian Bale and Melissa Leo as well as the rest of the ensemble cast.  One of the many must see films from what turned out to be a great year for cinema.

3.  127 Hours

I loved this movie.  This stylized autobiographical account of a man’s will to survive is empowering.  When I left the theater I was in the best mood I’d been in all year.  And thank you Sigur Rós.

2.  The Social Network

At this point it’s become an institution.  Facebook is the most significant change to our social landscape in decades and this film bookmarks its place in history.  Beyond its cultural importance it’s an outstanding film.  I love me some Aaron Sorkin and the script here is some of his best work.  I walked out of this one wishing I could talk as cool as he writes.

1.  Black Swan

A perfect film.  Intense, breathtaking, gripping, powerful, dark, and most of all beautiful.  I’ve never had a film command my emotions the way this one did.  My chest gets heavy just thinking about it.  Aronofsky is genius.

Honorable Mentions:

Rabbit Hole

Quite a sad film.  It’s about a very real healing process.  The themes of grief and resentment are universally human.  Nicole Kidman is great as always.

Catfish

Wow.  So unique.  Check this one out for sure.  Won’t say much else about this documentary except that it plays like a voyeuristic sequel to The Social Network.  Or maybe it’s more like the virtual-social fallout of a Facebook bomb.

The Town

What’s not to like?  If you don’t respect Ben Affleck’s filmmaking ability yet, by now you should wise up.

Exit Through The Gift Shop

Not a great documentary as is, but as a prank-umentary it’s a very original concept.  Will the real Banksy please stand up?

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Disclosure: There are some albums of 2010 I haven’t listened to yet that are arguably among the year’s best.  Notably: Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs, Janelle Monae’s The ArchAndroid, and The National’s High Violet.  However, this year like every year I listened to upwards of 60 albums.  My listening habits admittedly reside in the mainstream, but throughout the year I will be working my way through the experts’ top 50 and will release my adjusted top 20 albums at the end of the year.  See my adjusted top 20 of 2009 here.

Without further drag, my favorite albums of 2010…

10.  Ne-Yo – Libra Scale

A short little LP, at ten tracks this one is neat and tidy.  Yet in succinct fashion Ne-Yo creates a space fully inhabited by the characters of the short films he’s releasing in conjunction with Libra Scale.  It’s the mood of this R&B story that wins me over.

9.  Kings Of Leon – Come Around Sundown

It didn’t take me long to like this one.  The melodies are memorable and the dynamics powerful.  Kings Of Leon have this ability to make simple lines feel rich with meaning.  Maybe it’s just that Caleb’s gritty vocals sound so affected.

8.  The-Dream – Love King

What more is there to say about Terius “The-Dream” Nash?  In the production world he’s not just the Love King, he’s King Midas.  This guy is money and on his third album his suite-like writing style — indebted more to classical and prog rock than R&B — is in full effect.  Radio Killa!

7.  Frightened Rabbit – The Winter Of Mixed Drinks

I’d never heard of these Scottish lads until this year and I’m sure glad I did (thanks @Meeeshell_Kim).  The Winter Of Mixed Drinks is warm and thick, and in the midst of some heavy subject matter still leaves me feeling hopeful at the bottom of the glass.

6.  Local Natives – Gorilla Manor

Great debut from a Silver Lake indie rock band with a great band name.  Layers.  That’s what comes to mind when thinking about this album.  The more I listen to it the better it gets.  I expect this band will continue to impress for years to come.

5.  Sara Bareilles – Kaleidoscope Heart

What can I say.  I’m a sucker for good pop.  Especially when the singer’s got pipes like this one.  I’ve seen her live a couple times now and she’s just as advertised.  She puts emotion in a lyric better than anyone in the biz.  Exhibit A: Her cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire.” And “Basket Case.” And “Hold My Heart.”

4.  My Chemical Romance – Danger Days: The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys

This one comes as a bit of a surprise.  I really didn’t like their last album and the one before that was mostly good for its radio singles.  But with their fourth LP they managed something rather epic.  Taking cues from Green Day’s recent successes, My Chemical Romance created a concept tour-de-force.  There isn’t a bad track on this album and each song brings a unique catchy stamp.

3.  Sleigh Bells – Treats

Wow.  What out there is quite like this?  Original.  Daring.  Exciting.  Do yourself a favor and give this a chance.  Admittedly it takes a little adjusting to “get” the style but once you do, you’ll be in Noise-Pop heaven.

2.  Jónsi – Go

The lead singer of Sigur Rós adds a little Pop sensibility to his game and wins my award for most inspirational release.  Even when you can’t understand this guy through his heavy accent you know he must be saying some positive stuff.  How could he not with such transcendent tunes as his foundation?  In an era where hope and change are diluted buzz words, Jónsi brings the real thing.

1.  Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

No, I didn’t just pick this one because it’s the consensus #1 album of the year.  It’s really damn good.  I don’t endorse Kanye as a role model or even as a balanced human being — would sociopathy explain his behavior? — but his hip-hop is unparalleled.  This is an urban masterpiece.  It’s gritty, dark, and powerful.  So many good beats and so many good flows, it’s impossible to deny this album its due.

Honorable Mentions:

Coheed And Cambria – Year Of The Black Rainbow, Delta Spirit – History From Below, Jimmy Eat World – Invented, Taylor Swift – Speak Now, Pete Stewart – Under North Sky