One of my favorite year-end traditions is revisiting my favorite albums of the last year. The fact that I track almost every song, artist, and album that I listen to via Last.fm makes this a much easier task every year. It’s always a joy looking over my Last.fm charts.

2012 was an interesting year for me. I bought fewer albums this year than I ever have, while consuming most of my music from streaming services like Spotify and Rdio. I can’t help but feel a sense of guilt looking over my Favorite Albums of 2012 list knowing I only own a handful of them. I’m a happy subscriber to Spotify, but the revenue sharing of these streaming services still leaves a lot to be desired. I doubt any of the artists I listen to will be making a living wage from streaming revenues.

Enough of the perennial lamentation about the state of the music industry, let’s get to my favorite albums. Here they are in alphabetical order according to the artist:

Alabama Shakes - Boys & Girls

Ever since hearing about this North Alabama band from a post on the semi-obscure blog Aquarium Drunkard, I’ve been addicted. Their first EP came out in 2011, but their first LP Boys & Girls was released this year. In his post about the band, Justin Gage had this to say:

I’m hunting for ‘the real’ — the stuff that can’t be faked…the happy accidents, the sound of strings out of tune from humidity, Ike Turner’s busted amp on “Rocket 88,” blood, sweat, tears, what-have-you.

I don’t think I could say it better myself. The Alabama Shakes are the real deal. Here’s one of my favorite tracks from the album Boys & Girls - “I Found You”.

Cloud Nothings - Attack On Memory

The Steve Albini produced Attack On Memory is probably the rawest album on this list. They’ve got a harsh sound backed up by some amazing melodies. I first heard about this band when their album leaked at the end of 2011. The 9 minute song “Wasted Days” picked up a good bit of buzz and is no doubt the anthem for many youth. The track “Stay Useless” is more typical of the rest of the album, full of gritty melody.

Damien Jurado - Maraqopa

Singer / songwriter Damien Jurado has been releasing albums for almost 20 years now. For his last two albums, he teamed up with one of my favorite artists and producers Richard Swift. Their latest album Maraqopa is a masterpiece. As always with Jurado, the song writing is top-tier. The production this time around is an evolution of what we saw on their last collaboration Saint Bartlett, with more psychedelic tones and instrumentation. You should definitely check out the album opener “Nothing Is the News”.

Father John Misty - Fear Fun

Father John Misty is another artist I was introduced to this year. Joshua Tillman took on the Father John Misty moniker for this album and is a former member of Fleet Foxes. The album Fear Fun sounds like a mushroom-tripping, dream sequence. It’s full of interesting instrumentation and songwriting. Without a doubt, one of the more varied releases this year. Due to the variety in this album, it was difficult for me to narrow down one track to share. Ultimately I chose “I’m Writing a Novel.” Check it out.

Grizzly Bear - Shields

Shields by Grizzly Bear was one of my most anticipated albums this year. Their last album Veckatimest was a feat of nuanced production and I was excited to see what they would do as a follow-up. Shields did not disappoint. Do yourself a favor. Find some good headphones and listen to the album opener “Sleeping Ute.”

Menomena - Moms

I’ve been a huge Menomena fan since their 2007 album Friend and Foe. They have a unique sound derived from their unconventional recording techniques. Most of their songs are composed one fragment at a time then looped through a Digial Looping Recorder. Moms is their first album without founding member Brent Knopf and is a bit of a departure. The production and mix of the album seem to be a bit sparser. Here’s one of the album highlights “Don’t Mess With Latexas.”

Metric - Synthetica

My buddy Stephen Biernacki got me hooked on this band. Their 2009 album Fantasies was one of his favorite albums that year, so I was sure to give this new one a listen. The album does not disappoint. Both the song writing and production of this album are stellar. I listened to this album non-stop for at least a month straight because I could not get these songs out of my head.

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Psychedelic Pill

If you love Neil Young’s crunchy guitar noodling and voice, you’ll love this album. If you don’t, skip it. For me, I was excited about his reunion with Crazy Horse and the album was exactly what I expected. The album opener “Driftin’ Back” clocks in at an amazing 27:37, but could have gone on another 30 minutes.

Or the Children’s Crusade - Football Season Is Over

I don’t know what’s in the water here in North Alabama, but having two local bands be in my year-end favorites list is quite the feat. Or The Children’s Crusade’s debut album Football Season is Over is full of anthemic songs that I have thrown my voice out singing to. They are in good company being described as post-Springsteen and similar to bands like The Gaslight Anthem. While the two previous artists have New Jersey as a recurring theme in their albums, Or the Children’s Crusade have Huntsville, AL “The Rocket City.” Do yourself a favor and check out this band. Head over to their Bandcamp page and get their album for whatever you want to pay for it.

Passion Pit - Gossamer

Gossamer is a powerful album of contrasts. I always struggle wondering if an artist’s back-story should be taken into consideration when evaluating their work. For some albums it’s hard to separate the two. See Bruce Springsteen’s Darkness at the Edge of Town as a prime example. Listening to Passion Pit’s Gossamer, it’s hard to not sense the manic sense of desperation in many of the album’s tracks, but after reading Pitchfork’s cover story on Michael Angelakos’ struggle with mental illness, the desperation takes on a new dimension. This is a rare album you can put on at a party and dance to, or play in a dark room in solitude.

She Does is Magic - My Height In Heels

This band and album kinda came out of nowhere for me. I’m a big fan of the independent Bloomington, Indiana based label Flannelgraph Records and happened to stumble upon My Height in Heels. I’ve always been a sucker for instrumental album openers and this album features one of the catchiest ones around. The album is full of great songwriting. Support indie artists and labels by checking this band out! Here’s one of my album favorites “You’ll Miss Me.”

Thanks for sharing your time with me. You can subscribe to a Spotify playlist containing each of the full albums here: Favorite Albums of 2012, or you can check out a playlist with one featured song from each of the albums here: Favorite Albums of 2012 - Featured Songs.