Around this time in 2012, I came up with 40 records, released between January and June, that I liked enough to include in a six-month Best-Of list. Either I’m being more diligent, or less discerning, or else 2013 is shaping up to be a better year: as you can see, I’ve managed 67 here.
Once again, I’ve gone for alphabetical order, rather than trying to fiddle them into any kind of order. Hopefully they all fall within the Jan-June period, though apologies in advance if any rogue releases have sneaked under the wire; I haven’t been exactly obsessive at factchecking this. Parquet Courts and Matt White show up as a result of their UK releases coming in 2013, before you start. Links point to longer pieces I’ve written about those specific albums.
Doubtless I’ve missed a few things, so please list your own favourites in the comments thread below – plus you can tell me off for being disappointed by the Queens Of The Stone Age album or whatever. Seriously, though, it’s always nice to see your comments. And thanks, as ever, for all your loyalty, encouragement and recommendations. Be amazing if the back end of 2013 turns out to be as strong as this, I think…
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1. A Hawk And A Hacksaw – You Have Already Gone To The Other World (Lm Dupli-Cation)
2. Arbouretum – Coming Out Of The Fog (Thrill Jockey)
3. Atoms For Peace – Amok (XL)
4. Bitchin Bajas – Krausened (Permanent)
5. Bitchin Bajas – Bitchitronics (Drag City)
6. Black Twig Pickers – Rough Carpenters (Thrill Jockey)
7. James Blackshaw & Lubomyr Melnyk – The Watchers (Important)
8. Boards Of Canada – Tomorrow’s Harvest (Warp)
9. Broadcast – Berberian Sound Studio (Warp)
10. The Cairo Gang – Tiny Rebels (Empty Cellar)
11. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Push The Sky Away (Bad Seed Ltd)
12. Chelsea Light Moving – Chelsea Light Moving (Matador)
13. Cool Ghouls – Cool Ghouls (Empty Cellar)
14. Mikal Cronin – MCII (Merge)
15. Daft Punk – Random Access Memories (Columbia)
16. Date Palms – The Dusted Sessions (Thrill Jockey)
17. Elephant Micah – Globe Rush Progressions (Product Of Palmyra)
18. Endless Boogie – Long Island (No Quarter)
19. Lawrence English – Lonely Woman’s Club (Important)
20. Eleanor Friedberger – Personal Record (Merge)
21. Golden Gunn – Golden Gunn (Three Lobed Recordings)
22. Steve Gunn – Time Off (Paradise Of Bachelors)
23. The Handsome Family – Wilderness (Loose)
24. Liam Hayes – A Glimpse Inside The Mind Of Charles Swan III (Night Fever)
25. Hiss Golden Messenger – Haw (Paradise Of Bachelors)
26. Houndstooth – Ride Out The Dark (No Quarter)
27. Jim James – Regions Of Light And Sound Of God (V2)
28. Chuck Johnson – Crows In The Basilica (Three Lobed Recordings)
29. Glenn Jones – My Garden State (Thrill Jockey)
30. Goran Kajfeš Subtropic Arkestra – The Reason Why Vol. 1 (Headspin)
31. The Knife – Shaking The Habitual (Rabid)
32. Mark Kozelek & Jimmy Lavalle – Perils From The Sea (Caldo Verde)
33. Mark Kozelek – Like Rats (Caldo Verde)
34. Mark Lanegan & Duke Garwood – Black Pudding (Heavenly)
35. Low – The Invisible Way (Sub Pop)
36. Laura Marling – Once I Was An Eagle (Virgin)
37. The Master Musicians Of Bukkake – Far West (Important)
38. Matmos – The Marriage Of True Minds (Thrill Jockey)
39. Dawn McCarthy & Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – What The Brothers Sang (Domino)
40. Lubomyr Melnyk – Corollaries (Erased Tapes)
41. Mountains – Centralia (Thrill Jockey)
42. μ-Ziq – Chewed Corners (Planet Mu)
43. My Bloody Valentine – m b v (My Bloody Valentine)
44. The Oblivians – Desperation (In The Red)
45. Thee Oh Sees – Floating Coffin (Castleface)
46. Pantha Du Prince & The Bell Laboratory – Elements Of Light (Rough Trade)
47. Van Dyke Parks – Songs Cycled (Bella Union)
48. Parquet Courts – Light Up Gold (What’s Your Rupture)
49. Duane Pitre – Bridges (Important)
50. Purling Hiss – Water On Mars (Drag City)
51. Rangda/Dead C – Rangda/Dead C (Ba Da Bing)
52. Retribution Gospel Choir – 3 (Chaperone)
53. Gregor Schwellenbach – Gregor Schwellenbach Spielt 20 Jahre Kompakt (Kompakt)
54. Ravi Shankar – The Living Room Sessions Part 2 (East Meets West Music)
55. The Shouting Matches – Grownass Man (Middle West)
56. Splashgirl – Field Day Rituals (Hubro)
57. These New Puritans – Field Of Reeds (Infectious)
58. Richard Thompson – Electric (Proper)
59. Justin Timberlake – The 20/20 Experience (RCA)
60. William Tyler – Impossible Truth (Merge)
61. Unknown Mortal Orchestra – II (Jagjaguwar)
62. Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats – Mind Control (Rise Above)
63. Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires Of The City (XL)
64. Jozef Van Wissem – Nihil Obstat (Important)
65. Kurt Vile – Wakin On A Pretty Daze (Matador)
66. Matthew E White – Big Inner (Domino)
67. White Fence – Cyclops Reap (Castleface)