Matt K: Top Albums of 2012

Cambridge, MA

This was the year I gave up trying to be a fifth-rate rock snob (“Yeah, so my favorite band is, um, The Kinks? You ever heard of them?”) and embraced a new role as pop philistine. My taste in music is now officially even worse than my taste in food, and both lean severely toward the canned, the corporate, and the artificially saccharine. You can, if you like, consider these picks the Heinz Baked Beans, Campbell’s Pea Soup, and the Equal Sweetner Packets of 2012. Just remember that they all taste fucking great to me.

top ten albums

10Jack White: Blunderbuss

Standout Track(s): Love Interruption, Hypocritical Kiss

09Purity Ring: Shrines

Standout Track(s): Fireshrine, Crawlersout

08Cat Power: Sun

Standout Track(s): Cherokee, Ruin

07Dum Dum Girls: End of Daze EP

Standout Track(s): Lord Knows

06Father John Misty: Fear Fun

Standout Track(s): I’m Writing A Novel, Nancy From Now On

05Ke$ha: Warrior

Feelin’ like a saber-toothed ti-ger. Sippin’ on a warm Budwei-ser.

Standout Track(s): Die Young, C’mon, Crazy Kids

04Frank Ocean: Channel Orange

Sure it’s uneven, but you judge an album on its highs and not its lows, right?

Standout Track(s): Pyramids, Thinkin Bout You, Super Rich Kids

03The Darkness: Hot Cakes

Warmed-over Queen meets washed-up Boston. You gotta problem?

Standout Track(s): Love Is Not The Answer, Nothin’s Gonna Stop Us, Keep Me Hangin’ On

02Flo Rida: Wild Ones

Any old cut-rate philistine can get behind Ke$ha, but this is what separates the men from the boys. There’s only one Flo and one Rida.

Standout Track(s): Wild Ones, Good Feeling, I Cry

01Lana Del Rey: Born to Die

Stop worrying about who’s authentic and who’s ironic and who’s whatever the fuck, and just listen to her voice. Also, cue up that video where she and A$AP Rocky play JFK and Jackie O, because it’s awesome.

Standout Track(s): Video Games, National Anthem, Summertime Sadness

honorable mentions

The xx – Coexist; Bruce Springsteen – Wrecking Ball; Raveonettes – Observator; Taylor Swift – Red; Grizzly Bear – Shields

similarity to overall top ten: 11.17%, 2 matches

top songs

10Rihanna, Diamonds (ft. Kanye West)39 plays on my iTunes. Ye made it through the hurricane!

09Waka Flocka Flame, Get Low41 plays. My nominee for twerking song of the year.

08Gotye, Somebody I Used To Know (Miami Nights 1984 Remix)23 plays. My fave among several excellent remixes by 4FRNT, Adrock, Bibio, etc. Total count of “Somebody I Used To Know” plays this year, including original song and remixes: 217. Yeah, it took me a while to get to this point: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hLEB_Bswlq8

07Purity Ring, Fireshrine44 plays.

06Dum Dum Girls, Lord Knows23 plays.

05Ke$ha, Die Young28 plays.

04Lana Del Rey, Video Games23 plays.

03Flo Rida, Wild Ones (ft. Sia)52 plays. Not so secretly the best pure dance pop song of the year.

02Fun., We Are Young (ft. Janelle Monae)71 plays. Resistance is futile.

01Frank Ocean, Pyramids31 plays. Set the cheetahs on the loose: a top ten album in just one song.

similar voters suggested albums

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