Best albums of 2012

Initially I was planning on just putting together a top 10 list of what I consider the best albums of 2012 but over time that proved to be immensely difficult. I decided to go with 20 of my favorite albums of 2012. Even that was difficult since I had to leave out a few albums off my list (like Assemblage 23's Bruise, The Birthday Massacre's Hide and Seek, and 9th Evolution's Retro Americana, Caustic's The Man Who Couldn't Stop...sorry guys, great albums though). After numerous revisions, I finally came up with a list I was happy with. 2012 was really a spectacular year for music. I never had so much difficulty writing a best of list as much as I have with this year's best of list. There was so much excellent music that I had heard. Kudos to all the artists whose albums I have put on this list and those who I couldn't find room for :).

20. Timewave: Zero - Grendel
19. III - Shiny Toy Guns
18. Valturi - Sigur Ros
17. Silentium Amoris - William Control
16. Halcyon - Ellie Goulding
15. Universal Blood - Inertia
14. Letting Go - Stray
13. Georgy #11811 - Mari Chrome
12. Chirality - The Frozen Autumn
11. Carry the Fire - Delta Rae
10. Music Box Opera - Delerium
09. Waveform (re-release) - Carved Souls
08. Electronic Saviours 2: Recurrence - Various Artists
07. Not Your Kind of People - Garbage
06. East - Ego Likeness
05. Escape - Future Perfect
04. Utopia - In Strict Confidence
03. Synthetic Movement - CHROM
02. In the Now - Nadina
01. Hearts of the World - Moonlight Cove

2012 was the year for synthpop for me. Never have I heard so many wonderful albums in that genre  in one year. CHROM and Moonlight Cove put out my two favorite synthpop albums of 2012. I would always play them constantly at both home and at work. Their music really struck a huge chord with me. Never have I heard music that heartfelt and sincere especially Hearts of the World by Moonlight Cove.   I do hope people will check the CHROM and Moonlight Cove albums. They are two of this year's overlooked albums in the electro scene IMHO.

Two of my favorite new discoveries were the groups Future Perfect and Mari Chrome. They really lit up my enthusiasm and passion for music.  The US music scene really needs to check these two bands out which is why I love championing their music a lot. 

Industrial music was good this year but not as good as synthpop. I thought Grendel, Inertia, and In Strict Confidence put out the strongest efforts for me. Believe it or not my beloved Hanzel und Gretyl put out one of the weakest albums I have heard this year. Disappointing for me. 

As for non-industrial/synthpop albums are concerned, just loved the debut albums by Delta Rae and Nadina. Their music really took up a lot of airtime at work and at home (and still do). I especially love the Nadina album which for me was even better than the new Delerium album (which I love too). I love Nadina's fusion of traditional Middle Eastern instruments/lyrics set to modern electronic beats. I am looking forward to hearing more music from Nadina. Delta Rae's brand of folk/country/pop/gospel is excellent too. Very catchy and a lot of fun to listen to especially "Bottom of the River". Not the kind of music I usually listen to but I love what I have heard on Carry the Fire.

Comments

  1. Excellent list. I have one of your CD's on my list (Sigur Ros) and quite a few that I haven't even had a chance to get, let alone listen to. Now you have given me inspiration to seek a lot of these out! Thanks for sharing!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I forgot to mention that I agree 100% with you on the Hanzel und Gretyl CD. It is so 'meh.'

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for the feedback. If and when you check out the other albums on my list, I hope you will like them as much as I do :).

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts