Some good albums from 2012

Happy New Year, one and all.  Cannot believe it is already 2013, and in my desperation to cling onto the past here are ten albums I was into last year.  They are the albums I voted for in the UK Blogger Albums of 2012 poll run by the great Sweeping the Nation, the results of which you can find here.  However, if I like music I like it, and thus I found ranking these quite difficult.  Also, there are a lot of albums that come highly recommended that I have yet to check out, so there are some gaping holes in my list.  But sure, here are some albums I’d recommend from last year:

10. Angel Olsen – ‘Half Way Home’ - Because it was beautiful, romantic folksy bluesy music that more people need to check out and her voice is otherworldly and magic.

9. Frank Ocean – ‘Channel Orange’ - Because it was absolutely his year and, though It took some listening and growing for me to get the hype, this was some desperately-needed intelligent R&B and it was special.

8. Purity Ring – ‘Shrines’ - Because it was gaunt, shuffling electro with a futuristic vibe that was often dark and dissonant and always very good.

7. Tame Impala – ‘Lonerism’ - Because it was excellent, beautiful, whirring, hazy psychedelia unlike anything else released last year.

6. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – ‘Trouble’ - Because dance music needed more producers capable of making shimmering mazes of sound like this, and it was great in that capacity.

5. Grimes – ‘Genesis’ - Because it was bizarre and spacey but really cool and fun and dreamy.

4. Lucy Rose – ‘Like I Used To’ - Because she sings from the heart, and it was simple and honest.

3. Jessie Ware – ‘Devotion’ - Because, as already alluded to, it was the year it was okay to like R&B again (thank God) and she has amazingly smooth vocals over wonderful garage-type beats.

2.  Alt-J – ‘An Awesome Wave’ - Because it was different and weird, intricately put-together, and strangely catchy and generally exquisite.

1. Beach House – ‘Bloom’ - Because it showcased, as always, that this band makes impossibly pretty music and they do it perfectly.

Here is a Spotify playlist I made with a song from each album.  Plus ‘Call Me Maybe’, because frankly it was the track of the year: