Top 100 Albums of 2012

Weird year. Cool year, but weird. For these ears, my favourite records this year didn't so much push boundaries, but rather borrowed from the past really really well. Records that sound heavily influenced by another era are a delicate matter. A lot of those types of albums this year sounded like 2012 wrapped nicely in 1980's or 1960's bows and ribbons, rather than the shameful gimmicky type of homage that happens far too frequently.

So for as many year end lists that will see the likes of Animal Collective and Godspeed You! Black Emperor on top (much respect to both - they're in here), it would be pretty disingenuous if my top picks didn't showcase the tremendous sincere pop music that made it into my headphones most often throughout 2012. My lists will almost always default to clever, genuine, heartfelt melodies and lyrics, and brevity. Hopefully this one is representative of that.

As with any major list undertaking, and similar to previous years, I have a reckoning that sequencing gets inherently dodgy after about the top 50. Also no amount of additional tinkering is going to make me more okay with it, and within 15 minutes of posting, I'll regret 75% of this, but here goes.......

100	Clinic	Free Reign
99	Kid Koala	12 Bit Blues
98	Orbital	Wonky
97	Spiritualized	Sweet Heart Sweet Light
96	Ceremony	Zoo
95	And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead	Lost Songs
94	Camouflage Nights	Camouflage Nights
93	Electric Guest	Mondo
92	Actress	R.I.P.
91	The Maccabees	Given To The Wild
90	Dirty Projectors	Swing Lo Magellan
89	Sleigh Bells	Reign of Terror
88	Cloud Nothings	Attack on Memory
87	Lotus Plaza	Spooky Action at A Distance
86	The Raveonettes	Observator
85	Bahamas	Barchords
84	Tribes	Baby
83	Light Asylum	Light Asylum
82	Lower Dens	Nootropics
81	Howler	America Give Up
80	Gypsy & The Cat	The Late Blue
79	Dead Can Dance	Anastasis
78	Nas	Life Is Good
77	Melody's Echo Chamber	Melody's Echo Chamber
76	Seapony	Falling
75	Richard Hawley	Standing At The Sky's Edge
74	John K. Samson	Provincial
73	Spector	Enjoy It While It Lasts
72	Menomena	Moms
71	The Evens	The Odds
70	Missions Of Burma	Unsound
69	Crystal Castles	Crystal Castles (III)
68	Young Rival	Stay Young
67	A.C. Newman	Shut Down The Streets
66	Wintersleep	Hello Hum
65	Errors	Have Some Faith in Magic
64	Cat Power	Sun
63	Joel Plaskett Emergency	Scrappy Happiness
62	Humans	Traps
61	Citizens!	Here We Are
60	Grizzly Bear	Shields
59	Bats For Lashes	The Haunted Man
58	Deerhoof	Breakup Song
57	Jaill	Traps
56	Japandroids	Celebration Rock
55	Eight and A Half	Eight and A Half
54	Lightships	Electric Cables
53	Cadence Weapon	Hope In Dirt City
52	Matt & Kim	Lightning
51	Best Coast	The Only Place
50	Sigur Ros	Valtari
49	The Walkmen	Heaven
48	Animal Collective	Centipede Hz
47	Dinosaur Jr.	I Bet On Sky
46	Pet Shop Boys	Elysium
45	Liars	WIXIW
44	Vcmg	SSSS
43	The Shins	Port of Morrow
42	Saint Etienne	Words and Music by Saint Etienne
41	White Rabbits	Milk Famous
40	Paul Banks	Banks
39	Mike O'Neill	Wild Lines
38	Yukon Blonde	Tiger Talk
37	New Build	Yesterday Was Lived and Lost
36	Shearwater	Animal Joy
35	Mystery Jets	Radlands
34	The Helio Sequence	Negotiations
33	Brendan Benson	What Kind of World
32	Ultravox	Brilliant
31	Crocodiles	Endless Flowers
30	Godspeed You! Black Emperor	Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!
29	Tame Impala	Lonerism
28	Van She	Idea of Happiness
27	Brothertiger	Golden Years
26	Bob Mould	Silver Age
25	Two Door Cinema Club	Beacon
24	Of Montreal	Paralytic Stalks
23	Frankie Rose	Interstellar
22	Imperial Teen	Feel The Sound
21	Django Django	Django Django
20	Ladyhawke	Anxiety
19	Field Music	Plumb
18	Chromatics	Kill For Love
17	Yeasayer	Fragrant World
16	Grimes	Visions
15	Alt-J	An Awesome Wave
14	The xx	Coexist
13	Diiv	Oshin
12	Diamond Rings	Free Dimensional
11	Beach House	Bloom
10	The Presets	Pacifica
9	Purity Ring	Shrines
8	Bear In Heaven	I Love You, It's Cool
7	Tanlines	Mixed Emotions
6	Wild Nothing	Nocturne
5	Hot Chip	In Our Heads
4	School Of Seven Bells	Ghostory
3	Divine Fits	A Thing Called Divine Fits
2	Twin Shadow	Confess
1	Redd Kross	Researching The Blues