Best Album of 2012 or New Music for you in 2012

[Stark]

I'm surprised this thread doesn't exist yet, but I always love seeing what people on here liked this year in music. Since I'm starting the thread I'm doing 2 categories: Category 1 is best album(s) that came out in 2012 and Category 2 is best music that you discovered in 2012 for the first time.

Best Album Released in 2012
Port of Morrow - The Shins

The Shins remind me of dating my wife and therefore hold a special place in my heart. This album is very Shins-y and I love it. I love James Mercer's lyrics and the way he sings, lots of heart behind it.

Honorable Mention for Released in 2012
The Sound of the Life and Mind - Ben Folds Five

I love Ben Folds and hearing him back with his old bandmates was a musical treat. The music has matured alot with Ben doing the solo thing, but this reunion feels natural for them. Great album.

Best New Music (To Me) in 2012
Saturdays = Youth - M83

I'm both sad that I've never heard M83 before this year and elated that I finally found them. This is a great album to get introduced to them with to. Very airy, great background music. Love love love.

[BurningDoom]

This album actually came out in 2009, but I just discovered it this year, so it's the best album I've heard this year.

Amorphis - Skyforger


The album is a metal masterpiece. It's astonishingly amazing. From the first song to the last, it's sounds incredible. They just don't make albums like this much anymore. The art of making "albums" is lost to an older generation or for a niche crowd. Most bands/artists just make a handful of radio hits then fill the rest of the disc with filler. I can listen to his album over and over and over again and always find something new to appreciate.

[dsheinem]

3 great picks, Stark. all 3 would make my top 10-20 for their respective years

[Stark]

3 great picks, Stark. all 3 would make my top 10-20 for their respective years

Thanks dude! Now where's your picks?

[ZenErik]

I've listened to a lot of new music this year, but a lot of it was not released in 2012.

Best Album:
Nightwish - Imaginaerum



Honorable mentions:
Genki Rockets - GENKI ROCKETS Ⅱ-No border between us-Repackage



Sota Fujimori - SYNTHESIZED4



My Chemical Romance - Conventional Weapons (only 3 of 5 parts were released in 2012)

[Gamerforlife]

I've listened to a lot of new music this year, but a lot of it was not released in 2012.

Best Album:
Nightwish - Imaginaerum

I loved that album, big Nightwish fan

[BoneSnapDeez]

Long and picture-heavy...

Best of 2012

Moss Icon - Complete Discography

Okay, I'm cheating a bit here - this isn't an album but a discography compilation. Moss Icon was one of the best bands to play 80s-style emocore. Incredibly loud and abrasive, but with some surprisingly catchy hooks and melodies. Strongly recommended for any hardcore punk fans.

Honorable Mentions 2012

Alcest - Les voyages de l'âme

Simply one of my favorite bands ever. People call this "post-rock", "blackgaze", whatever... I call it dream music. Sublimely beautiful.

Les Discrets - Ariettes oubliées...

Looks like Alcest, sounds like Alcest, features members of Alcest... It's no surprise that I also adore this record.

Swans - The Seer

I really don't know how to describe Swans to someone who has never listened to them. A brutal and experimental record. Glad to see they're back together.

Swans - We Rose From Your Bed With the Sun in Our Head

As a general rule, I hate most live albums. They're generally released as cash-grabs or to fulfill record contract obligations. Not so with Swans - this features unreleased songs and retooled versions of the classics. Essential.

New Discoveries

Ragnarok - Arising Realm

Classic Norwegian black metal that I somehow skipped over back in the 1990s. Better late than never.

Unholy - The Second Ring of Power

I had always heard this band's name dropped in doom metal discussions, but I could never track down any of their albums. The band's second record (released in 1994, finally re-issued in 2011) is trippy, bizarre, almost hysterical at times. I dig it.

Desire - Infinity... A Timeless Journey Through an Emotional Dream

Holy mother, what a hilariously bad album title. Thank God the music is awesome - mid-90s death/doom in the vein of Anathema, My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost, etc. Another hidden gem.

Arcana Coelestia - Le mirage de l'idéal

Absurdly grandiose black metal/doom metal/neoclassical hybrid from this Italian band. The production is poor, everything sounds like a wall of noise, but the incredible atmosphere prevails.

Pan.Thy.Monium - Dawn of Dreams

Noisy, esoteric, Swedish death metal with keys, saxophones, and a 20 minute opening track. I love it.

[Gamerforlife]

I didn't listen to a ton of music in 2012. Most of what I did listen to was from artists I've already been a fan of, so not a ton of new discoveries for me



I'm not a big folk metal guy, but I love these guys. Their whole catalog of songs shows a lot of diversity, including instrumental pieces, melodic death metal, and pure folk songs that don't even have any metal influence. Two stand out tracks:






Not their best effort, but still solid. The new vocalist doesn't even seem to have changed their style and sound in any way, an easy transition.



The new Crystal Castles album, hooked on these two songs




That's about it. I'm pretty out of the loop with 2012's music scene

[AppleQueso]

Only things I really picked up this year were the most recent releases from a few of my favorite bands. The big standout to me is this one though:

Devin Townsend - Epicloud(er)


I'm a huge HevyDevy fanboy and I try and gush about him a little every chance I get.

This is nice, uplifting proggy metal with Devin's signature wall of sound. "Heavy music about themes that aren't generally considered appropriate for heavy music." It's pretty good, the new, re-recorded version of Kingdom on this album has probably the best vocals this guy has ever recorded. Other standout tracks for me are Liberation, Save Our Now, and Grace. It's all very catchy and uplifiting, and Save Our Now was based on a Pendulum song which is pretty cool! So many moments of this album just put a big, stupid grin on my face.

The bonus disc, Epiclouder, is even better though.

Kinda an awkward situation though where I ended up liking the more eclectic bonus disc of rejected songs for the album a lot more than the album itself. I greatly enjoy both discs, but the second one has some seriously awesome gems like Love and Marriage. I love all the clean guitar stuff and the fact that Devin's really exploring a lot of new territory for himself in almost all of these tracks.

The bonus disc is structured and flows as if it were any other album in his discography. Which is nice for all kinds of reasons.

...oh and the newest Napalm Death and Sigh albums were both fantastic and I'd highly recommend them.

[dsheinem]

Swans - The Seer

I really don't know how to describe Swans to someone who has never listened to them. A brutal and experimental record. Glad to see they're back together.

"fucking awesome" would be a good way to describe them and this album...