2012 In Music

A - Asteroid Galaxy Tour -The brilliantly named Danish band returned with an impressive second album, the title track 'Out of Frequency' boasting one of the catchiest choruses of the year.

B - Breakthrough - The Alabama Shakes seem to have been fast tracked to success, the band was founded in 2009, championed as one to watch by the critics in 2011 and had a US number 8 album by April 2012. Boys & Girls is a solid album, especially 'Hold On'.

C - Chvrches - The Scottish electro trio released single 'The Mother We Share' earlier this year to much critical acclaim and are featured as one to watch on the BBC's Sound of 2013.

D - De Novo Adagio - Alicia Keys' classical pianist background is showcased on album opener 'De Novo Adagio', the catchy 'Tears Always Win' also one of the best from her new album Girl on Fire.

E - Eyes - Rapper Hopsin's contact lenses are quite scary even if they are just a publicity stunt. He excels as a lyricist with a biting critique of modern youth culture in 'Ill Mind of Hopsin 5'.

"You’re an adult with no skills at all.
You don’t read any books or play ball.
You don’t draw, you literally do nothing at all"

F- False Pretences - Lupe Fiasco put his neck on the line by following up his poorly received album Lasers with the ambitiously titled Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1 and it's fair to say it fails on both counts. 'Strange Fruition' is one of very few highlights.

G - Genius - Probably the best description for Jack White's musical talents. His first solo album Blunderbuss is nothing short of a masterpiece, featuring a range of different styles/genres and showcasing White's skill on a multitude of instruments. Worth listening to the whole record but in the meantime 'Trash Tongue Talker' is almost perfection.


H - Hair - King Charles has plenty of it. Debut album LoveBlood is full of melody and flamboyance. Mumford & Sons collaboration 'The Birghtest Lights' is musically sublime.  

I - Isolated System - Pondering thermodynamics and apocalypse, Muse's latest album The 2nd Law features a mish-mash of styles and ideas, with even some dub-step thrown in. 'Panic Station' (apparently inspired by the Scissor Sisters) sounds like Superstition mixed with Thriller. 'Supremacy' is classic Muse.

J - Jessica -  "I can't write a song for you, I'm out of melodies" sings Regina Spektor on one of the most beautiful and melodious song she's ever written. 'Jessica' along with 'Don't Leave Me (Ne Me Quitte Pas) are the two standouts on one of the best albums of this year.

K - The Killers - Battle Born is a rather uninspiring effort from The Killers but the slide guitar on 'From Here On Out' is exceptional.

L - The Lumineers - It just took one song to put The Lumineers on the map. Nothing else to say apart from 'Ho Hey'  is a great piece of music.

M - Middle Of The Bed – Lucy Rose finally released her debut album Like I Used To, and it was just as delightful as expected. Her sweet vocals and delicate songwriting style seem more suited to acoustic performances but the energy and volume of her live set is quite the opposite.  Fan favourite 'Middle Of The Bed'  and bonus track 'Little Brave' are both worthy of a mention.

N - Number One - Nothing particularly exciting topped the UK Singles Chart this year with the exception of Calvin Harris' and Florence Welch's 'Sweet Nothing'.

O - Olympics -  Elbow's incredibly powerful 'First Steps' provided the backdrop to the BBC's Olympics coverage, with booming drums, orchestras and choirs it couldn't be more befitting of the greatest sporting spectacle on earth.
Also, Channel 4's coverage of the Paralympics brought Public Enemy's  'Harder Than You Think' back into public consciousnesses. 

P - Pink - Not the artist but the colour of choice for Canadian band Jets Overhead, their album and title track 'Boredom and Joy' was praised by Travis's Fran Healy on twitter. 

Q - Quality not Quantity - Someone should tell this to Green Day whose idea of releasing a three part album ¡Uno! ¡Dos! ¡Tré! might have been original, however any quality control seemed to be absent. 'Kill The DJ' is a good attempt at a dance song but otherwise ¡Uno! doesn't have much else. ¡Dos! is filled with a collection of empty punk songs although ¡Tré! contains a lot more variety and melody, 'Drama Queen'  is impressive.

R - Ray Charles - Chiddy Bang pay homage to the great artist on the aptly named 'Ray Charles'. Groove and soul in abundance.

S - Stumpf Fiddle - The instrument of choice for Rend Collective Experiment, the Northern Irish folk group are very much the Christian equivalent of Mumford & Sons. 'Build Your Kingdom Here' their best new song in 2012.

T - Tallest Man On Earth - Comparisons to Bob Dylan aren't far from the mark, with a unique voice the Swedish singer received rave reviews for his third album There's No Leaving Me Now. The record is full of powerful vocals and melancholic guitar.  Hard to pick individual song on an album so fantastic but 'Revelation Blues' is a worthy shout.

U - Unicorn - The ever unpredictable Sufjan Stevens reached the 100 Christmas songs mark this year with the release of 58 brand new songs in volumes 6-10 of his annual Christmas EP's. Featuring covers of classic carols as well as original material, the prolific songwriter's variant style is prevalent on the 12 minute long epic 'Christmas Unicorn' which features a Joy Division refrain towards the end. Also the wonderful Lumberjack Christmas  combines Christmas cheer with the haunting "No one can save you from Christmases past".

V - Varðeldur - Sigurs Ros, the masters of ambiance and echoing instrumentation. Perfect music to serenade you to sleep. 

W - The Welcome Wagon - Onto their second album now and we first get to hear New York folk act The Welcome Wagon write for themselves without the aid of Sufjan Stevens who co-wrote their first album and EP. Overall a mixed album, some joyful songs like 'Rice and Beans (But no Beans!)'  and some more mellowed. Overall more good than bad.

X - Xylophone - Ok technically it's a Glockenspiel but I had to find something for 'X'! Anyway Tom Read's debut album Compass contains a lot of unique instrumentation. Apart from 'Do Not Stand at my Grave and Weep' his work isn't readily available on YouTube yet but his album is definitely worth Spotify-ing.

Y - Yassassin - The most obscure act to feature on this list, the unheard of London rockers demo of 'Be The Ones' deserves a lot more attention! 

Z - Zone - Comfort zone that is, and Keane made a welcome return to theirs with their fourth album Strangeland. After the poorly received synth/pop effort Perfect Symmetry the band went back to what they do best - piano driven ballads like 'Disconnected'. Although they do try something different on the excellent 'Boys' which features marimba and a quirky guitar solo.

So there it is, I'd go as far as saying 2012 was one of the most memorable years of music in recent years.
A quick mention to Passion Pit whose catchy album Gossamer just didn't quite fit into my list and a nod to Howard Shore whose composing skills for The Hobbit soundtrack deserve recognition (and also, apologies to Mumford & Sons fans, I'm told by everyone that Babel is a great record but I just can't get into them).

To recap my top 3 albums of the year are:

3. Lucy Rose - Like I Used To
2. Regina Spektor - What We Saw From The Cheap Seats
1. Jack White - Blunderbuss

And my top 3 songs:

3. Sufjan Stevens - Lumberjack Christmas - (No-one can save you from Christmases Past)
2. King Charles ft. Mumford & Sons - The Brightest Lights
1. Elbow - First Steps