The Best 50 Albums of 2012

1. Shearwater – Animal Joy
2. Kyla La Grange – Ashes
3. Japandroids – Celebration Rock
4. The Killers – Battle Born
5. Sinead O’Connor – How About I Be Me (And You Be You)?
6. Bruce Springsteen – Wrecking Ball
7. Father John Misty – Fear Fun
8. Of Monsters and Men – My Head Is an Animal
9. Leonard Cohen – Old Ideas
10. Cosmo Jarvis – Think Bigger
11. Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Psychedelic Pill
12. Kishi Bashi – 151a
13. The Mountain Goats – Transcendental Youth
14. Bob Dylan – Tempest
15. Calexico – Algiers
16. Hip Hatchet – Joy and Better Days
17. Cat Power – Sun
18. Lost in the Trees – A Church That Fits Our Needs
19. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - The Heist
20. Jason Lytle – Dept. of Disappearance
21. Sigur Rós – Valtari
22. PS I Love You – Death Dreams
23. Die Ärzte – Auch
24. the xx – Coexist
25. Swans – The Seer
26. Glen Hansard – Rhythm and Repose
27. Cody ChesnuTT – Landing on a Hundred
28. Andre Williams & The Sadies – Night & Day
29. The Raveonettes – Observator
30. Julia Holter – Ekstasis
31. Fang Island – Major
32. Oberhofer – Time Capsules II
33. Miguel – Kaleidoscope Dreams
34. Patti Smith – Banga
35. Bill Fay – Life Is People
36. James Iha – Look to the Sky
37. Killer Mike – R.A.P. Music
38. Plants and Animals – The End of the That
39. Lower Dens – Nootropics
40. The Shins – Port of Morrow
41. Sun Kil Moon – Among the Leaves
42. Howlin’ Rain – The Russian Wilds
43. mewithoutYou – Ten Stories
44. iamamiwhoami – Kin
45. Best Coast – The Only Place
46. Men Without Hats – Love in the Age of War
47. Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!
48. The dB’s – Falling Off the Sky
49. Islands – A Sleep & A Forgetting
50. Titus Andronicus – Local Business

Note: I excluded any albums I worked PR for from consideration.