10 Best Albums 2012

2012 was definitely the most divisive year of my life: I started studying to be an English teacher and I met some amazing people, I made a lot of friends and I started to see life and joy in a different perspective. I also lost one of my best friends in the worst way possible, and my anxiety and paranoia grew like never before. I enjoyed that year so much in some ways, and I suffered it in some others. But in all aspects of my life, music was continuing to be an important pillar to my sane and my spiritual ballance.

Once again, the vast majority of the albums that I'm going to show came to my life a couple of years later, and nowadays form some of the most quintessential records in my catalogue. This list is truly ecclectic and varied, as my year was. And it goes like this...

1. Andy Stott - Luxury Problems 

Score: 9.2 

This fantastic electronic album dwelves into dub techno and post-industrial music to form cavernous tracks that breathe and ooze in cinematic ways. The spectrum is all black, grey and white, but Andy Stott manages to give diversity and humanity to suffocating beats and mumbling, mechanic structures. Few other records of the like have made such an impressive physical response on me like Luxury Problems; a sensation I continue to have.

2. Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan 

Score: 9.1 

After their magnum opus Bitte Orca, it was pretty difficult for the outfit Dirty Projectors to equal or surpass expectations and, luckily, they've created an album as intelligent, fun and unorthodox. The songs on it pulsate eerily magnetic rhythms that tackle social injustices, personal issues and collective desperation in artistic, mnemonic ways. The crew sounds as connected as ever, and David Longstreth's persona shines like few other times.

3. Lisandro Aristimuño - Mundo Anfibio 

Score: 9.0 

The Argentinian singer-songwriter and producer has been modestly known in the folk scene for his independent record company and his somewhat ecclectic take on traditional music, but Mundo Anfibio (Anfibian World) marks the biggest shift in his career, twitching into experimental electronic, soft rock and classical-crossover techniques to create one of the most unique records ever made in the country. The album, simply, explodes beauty.

4. Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel... 

Score: 9.0 

The fourth record from the acclaimed pianist, singer and song-writer is another testament of her grandiose take on soft pop and rock. There's no need to excel the tracks with tumultuous vocals or instrumentals when the core elements are this gorgeous: her voice and hands seem to be connected in a way that's as difficult to dechiper as passionately loveable. And the tracks are heart-broken bangers. Nothing more to say than geniality.

5. Tame Impala - Lonerism 

Score: 9.0 

The sophomore release from the Australian band continued to break minds with modern psychedelia, heavily relatable lyrics and awesome performances from Kevin Parker and his colleagues. If Innerspeaker caught everyone's eyes onto this phenomenal take, Lonerism defined their status as a cult group from millenials and newbies in the scene. The album turns out as influential as categoric in sound and word.

6. alt-J - An Awesome Wave 

Score: 8.6 

The debut record from the English trio alt-J felt super alien: their take on electronic rock/pop/folk music was unique and rarely seen before. It was the nasal tones of the voices, the barroque cinematic passages, the undoubted bangers and the constant ecclecticism what surprised medias and fans alike, and it's still one of the oddest and most alluring indie releases of the decade.

7. Scott Walker - Bish Bosch 

Score: 8.9 

The legendary artist Scott Walker appeared on the music modern scene when nobody was expecting it and nailed it with this record. There's an enormous quantity of substance going on on these tracks, that cry over the singer's lamentous voice, the avant-garde fueled instrumentals and the constantly horrifying themes and executions. Bish Bosch is a rare animal that definitely won't please everyone and, maybe, that was the point all along.

8. Purity Ring - Shrines 

Score: 8.6 

The debut album from this duo turned out to be more influential than expected: it was a pretty interesting thing to analyse when you heard just how scattered and chopped the tracks on it were, melting into sugary synth-pop with breakbeat and chirpy electronics. The lyrics are raw and explicit, whilst the connection between the members felt organic and necessary for it to fully work. And believe me when I say it worked.

9. Ondatrópica - Ondatrópica 

Score: 8.5 

This is not the first cumbia record out there, and definitely won't be the last, but it certainly was one of the few that caught the attention of many independent listeners in the Northern Hemisphere. And there are enough reasons to say that: lively, tropical and juicy instrumentals mixed with harmonic guest vocalists and breathy lyrics compose an album that floats and mumbles by itself in all its existence. A gem of a record.

10. Flume - Flume 

Score: 8.5 

The first full-length album from this young Aussie producer defied and changed the perceptions we all had around Electronic Dance Music (EDM), filling great arenas while experimenting with tone, rhythm, harmonies and pace. Flume has a freaking lot of fun on these tracks, that feel as on-the-road as introspective in essence, and as mainstream as detailed in composition and execution. The most delicious record of that year.