Best albums of 2012: mid-yearedition

Perhaps it feels a touch early for 2012 ‘Best Of’ lists, but we are only two weeks away from the middle of the year. Yep, we’re almost half way through the year that your annoying, barefoot, conspiracy theory believing mate keeps insisting will be our last. So let’s pause briefly to assess the year’s album releases.

While we can’t mention every album released in the first half of 2012 (and have no doubt failed to mention your favourite) the year so far has seen the return of The Shins and The Hives; the solo debut from Jack White; introduced us to new favourites including Quakers, Alabama Shakes, Michael Kiwanuka, Django Django, Grimes and Lana Del Rey;and added new records from the likes of Silversun Pickups, White Rabbits, Band Of Skulls, Pulled Apart By Horses, Spritualized, Mark Lanegan, Bobby Womack, Dr John and Sigur Ros to our playlists. On the local front, albums from Catcall, Ladyhawke, Bleeding Knees Club, DZ Deathrays, Bearhug, Pond, Children Collide, Deep Sea Arcade and Dirty Three have all clamoured for attention

A few publications – Spin, Stereogum, The Guardian and NPR – have all jumped the gun on the rest of the pack by dropping their mid-year list already and adding plenty of fuel to the ‘Album of the Year’ debate.

Spin favours a list of “Alt-rock legends, disco revisionists, country heartbreakers, the children of Def Leppard, sludge-metal mutations, the best rap record of 1987, and at least three pieces of Chicago footwork”; The Guardian list features everything from “avant hip-hop to disco-tinged electro”, while over at NPR their list finds space for Death Grips, Usher, and the Berlin Philharmonic.

Here are the lists from Spin, The Guardian, NPR and Stereogum – who’s on your list?

Best Albums of 2012

Spin’s list:

Action Bronson – Blue Chips
Addison Groove – Transistor
Actress – R.I.P.
Air – Le Voyage Dans Le Lune
Amadou & Mariam – Folila
Beak> – >>
Beach House – Bloom
Willis Earl Beal – Acousmatic Sorcery
Best Coast – The Only Place
Carter Tutti Void – Transverse
Ceremony – Zoo
Cloud Nothings – Attack on Memory
DJ Rashad – TEKLIFE Vol. 1 Welcome to the Chi
Kathleen Edwards – Voyageur
Escort – Escort
Future – Pluto
Daughn Gibson – All Hell
Guided by Voices – Let’s Go Eat the Factory
Himanshu – Nehru Jackets
Imperial Teen – Feel the Sound
Japandroids – Celebration Rock
Killer Mike – R.A.P. Music
King Tuff – King Tuff
Mark Lanegan Band – Blues Funeral
Lindstrøm – Six Cups of Rebel
Spoek Mathambo – Father Creeper
The Men – Open Your Heart
Meshuggah – Koloss
Miguel – Art Dealer Chic Vol. 1 – 2 & 3
Moonface – With Siinai: Heartbreaking Bravery
Nicki Minaj – Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded
Pallbearer – Sorrow and Extinction
Frankie Rose – Interstellar
Santigold – Master of My Make Believe
Siinai – Olympic Games
Sleigh Bells – Reign of Terror
Spiritualized – Sweet Heart Sweet Light
Torche – Harmonicraft
Traxman – The Mind of Traxman
Jack White – Blunderbuss

NPR’s list:

Ab-Soul – Control System
Alabama Shakes – Boys & Girls
Berlin Philharmonic: St. Matthew Passion
Billy Hart – All Our Reasons
Bobby Womack – The Bravest Man In The Universe
Death Grips – The Money Store
DJ Burn One – Where There’s Smoke
Dr. John – Locked Down
Exitmusic – Passage
fun. – Some Nights
Jack White – Blunderbuss
Japandroids – Celebration Rock
Jeremy Denk – Ligeti/Beethoven
Kelly Hogan – I Like to Keep Myself in Pain
Killer Mike – R.A.P. Music
Leonard Cohen – Old Ideas
Mati Zundel – Amazonico Gravitante
Pallbearer – Sorrow and Extinction
Patrick Watson – Adventures in Your Own Backyard
Sharon Van Etten – Tramp
Spiritualized – Sweet Heart Sweet Light
Usher – Looking For Myself
Vijay Iyer Trio – Accelerando
Yva Las Vegass – I Was Born In a Place of Sunshine and the Smell of Ripe Mangoes
The 2 Bears – Be Strong

The Guardian’s list:

Actress – R.I.P.
Bobby Womack – The Bravest Man in the Universe
Chairlift – Something
Death Grips – The Money Store
A Time You May – Love Songs
Krystle Warren – Embrace
Dexys – One Day I’m Going To Soar
Django Django – Django Django
Dr John – Locked Down
Grimes – Visions
Hot Chip – In Our Heads
Jack White – Blunderbuss
Jam City – Classical Curves
John Talabot – fin
Lana Del Rey – Born To Die
Leonard Cohen – Old Ideas
The Maccabees – Given To The Wild
Nicki Minaj – Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded
Poliça – Give You the Ghost
Roberto Fonseca – Yo
Saint Etienne – Words and Music

Stereogum’s list:

Heems – Nehru Jackets
Ceremony – Zoo
Willis Earl Beal – Acousmatic Sorcery
Grimes – Visions
Kindness – World You Need A Change Of Mind
Spiritualized – Sweet Heart Sweet Light
Chromatics – Kill For Love
Death Grips – The Money Store
Frankie Rose – Interstellar
Tanlines – Mixed Emotions
Torche – Harmonicraft
Lotus Plaza – Spooky Action At A Distance
Julia Holter – Ekstasis
Action Bronson & Party Supplies – Blue Chips
Killer Mike – R.A.P. Music
Future – Pluto
Sleigh Bells – Reign Of Terror
Rick Ross – Rich Forever
Screaming Females – Ugly
El-P – Cancer For Cure
Beach House – Bloom
Japandroids – Celebration Rock
Chairlift – Something
The Walkmen – Heaven
Cloud Nothings – Attack On Memory