BestOf

1. Superchunk - "This Summer" - This Summer 7" (Merge)
2. The Mountain Goats - "Cry For Judas" - Transcendental Youth (Merge)
3. Tame Impala - "Elephant (Todd Rundgren Remix)" - Elephant 12" (Modular)
4. Japandroids - "The House That Heaven Built" - Celebration Rock (Polyvinyl)
5. Desaparecidos - "Backsell" - MariKKKopa 7" (S/R)
6. John K. Samson - "When I Write My Master's Thesis" - Provincial (ANTI-)
7. Jack White - "Weep Themselves to Sleep" - Blunderbuss (Third Man)

Top 7 EPs of 2012

1. Tsar - The Dark Stuff E.P. (Aderra)
2. Chicano Batman - Joven Navegante (S/R)
3. Matmos - The Ganzfeld EP (Thrill Jockey)
4. Lenz - Under Neon (Tic Tac Totally)
5. Thee Oh Sees - Putrifiers II EP (In The Red)
6. Azure Ray - As Above So Below (Saddle Creek)
7. Blasted Canyons — 2nd Place (Castle Face)

Top 7 Live Shows of 2012

• The Soft Moon, Weekend - The New Parish - February 1
• The Olivia Tremor Control - The Garage (UK) March 7
• Jeff Mangum All Tomorrow's Parties (UK) - March 9-12
• Dr. John - The Independent - August 16
• Twin Shadow - Great American Music Hall - August 17
• Six Organs Of Admittance - Bottom of the Hill - September 27
• Afghan Whigs - The Fillmore - November 8

• A Place To Bury Strangers- On Wards To The Wall (Dead Oceans)
• Gary Clark Jr.- Blak And Blu ( Warner Bros.)
• Clinic – Free Reign (Domino)
• Golden Void - S/T (Thrill Jockey)
• Hawklords - We Are One (Shell Shock)
• Hawkwind – Onward (4Worlds)
• Roger Knox And PVC - Stranger In My Land (Bloodshot)
• MMoss – Only Children (Trouble In Mind)
• Moon Duo - Circles (Sacred Bones)
• Graham Parker & The Rumour - Three Cord Good (Primary Wave)
• Radar Eyes - S/T (Hozac)
• Royal Baths - Better Luck Next Life (Kanine)
• Silver Machine - Symmetry (S/R)
• Chris Smither - Hundred Dollar Valentine (Signature Sound)
• Spectrum Road - S/T (Palmetto)
• Staff Benda Bilili - Bouger Le Mondel (Crammed)
• Tame Impala -Lonerism (Modular)
• The White Buffalo - Once Upon A Time In The West (Unison)
• White Hills - Frying On This Rock (Thrill Jockey)
• Neil Young & Crazy - Psychedelic Pill (Reprise)

Best Reissues Of 2012

• Can - The Lost Tapes (Spoon)
• Philip Glass/ Robert Wilson - Einstein On The Beach (Nonesuch)
• Hawkwind - It Is The Business Of The Future To Be Dangerous (Atomhenge)
• Hawkwind - Palace Springs (Atomhenge)
• Rockin’ Horse - Yes It Is (Sing Sing)
• String Driven Thing - S/T (Esoteric)
• String Driven Thing - The Machine That Cried (Esoteric)
• The Greatest Show On Earth - Horizons (Esoteric)

Best Cat Songs Of 2012

• Chris Forsyth - “Paranoid Cat, Part 1-3”- Paranoid Cat (Family Vineyard)
• House Of  Cosy Cushions - “Outcast Cats” –Haunt Me Sweetly (S/R)
• Ty Segall - “Fuzzy Cat”-Singles 2007-2010 (Goner)

1. Nick Waterhouse - Time's All Gone (Innovative Leisure)
2. Bahamas - Barchords (Brushfire)
3. Jessica Pratt - S/T (Birth)
4. Terry Malts - Killing Time (Slumberland Records)
5. Standard Fare - Out of Sight, Out of Town (Melodic)
6. Allah-Las - S/T (Innovative Leisure)
7. Allo Darlin' - Europe (Slumberland)   
8. Gentleman Jesse - Leaving Atlanta (Douchemaster)
9. Lee Fields & the Expressions - Faithful Man (Truth & Soul)
10. The Babies - Our House on the Hill (Woodsist)
11. Parquet Courts - Light Up Gold (What's Your Rupture?)

• Barn Burning
• Charito & FunkCH3N
• Chonk
• Ensemble Mik Nawooj
• It Thing
• Los Boleros Havana Dance Party (remote from The Ashkenaz)
• The Phenomenauts
• The She's
• Victory & Associates
• Waterstrider
• Whoosie What's It's

Fave Compilations

• Brave New Surf (Double Crown)
• Future Sounds of Buenos Aires (ZZK)
• Tallinn Music Week Compilation Vol 4 (TMW)

Some of the Songs That Really Hit Me

• Congo Sanchez - "T.E.T.O. (Strut)" - Congo Sanchez Vol. 1 (ESL)
• Cumbia Machin - "Indika" - Esuper Cumbia (Esuper)
• Diego's Umbrella - "Thrash Mexican Budapest" - Proper Cowboy (Ninth Street Opus)
• Edem - "Over Again" - Volta Regime (Last 2)
• El Rey - "Cherry Cheeks" - BRAVE NEW SURF (Double Crown)
• Ewert and the Two Dragons - Good Man Down - Good Man Down (I Love You)
• Fog Digging Sessions - "Cambodian Cat" - Post-Hummus (S/R)
• Funk Ark - "419" - High Noon (ESL)
• Diego Garcia - "You Were Never There" - Laura (Nacional)
• Grimes - "Oblivion" - Visions (4AD)
• Guru - "Lapaz Toyota" - Democracy 2 (Empire Entertainment)
• The Imagineers - "Mariana" - See As I Say (S/R)
• The Lions - "Roll It Round" - A Sampler (Stones Throw)
• Rene Lopez - "Shing-a-Ling Is What I Bring" - E.L.S. (Nat Geo)
• Malcolm Lincoln - "Loaded With Zoul" - Loaded With Zoul (Universal)
• The New Kinetics - "Polly Pocket" - Contact (Aural Gravy)
• Melvin Jones - "Funkytown Shuffle" - Pivot  (Turnaround)
• 2 Bears - "Warm and Easy" - Be Strong (S/R)
• Mati Zundel - "Señor Montecostez" - Amazonico Gravitante (Waxploitation)

All Good List

• All Good Funk Alliance - Jacks of All Trades (Fort Knox)
• The Imagineers - See As I Say (S/R)
• Melvin Jones - Pivot (Turnaround)
• Limiñanas - Crystal Anis (Hozac)
• Los Straitjackets - Jet Set (Yep Roc)
• Mariel Vandersteel - Hickory (Hearth)

Fave Why Baby Why Picks

• Matias Cena y Los Fictions - "Arnhem" - Arauco Cajun (Algorecords)
• Eastbound Jesus - "Corn Whiskey" - Holy Smokes (S/R)
• 8 Ball Aitken - "Nobody Looks Ugly After Midnight" - The Tamworth Tapes (Phoenix Movement)
• Gitla - "The Brambling" - Single (S/R)
• Orbo and the Longshots - "Highway Tears" - Prairie Sun (Blue Mood)
• Ramblin' Ambassadors - "Dallas B. Goode" - Ramble On (Mint)
• Stig - "Puumaa Ma Metsastan" - single - (Warner Finland)
• Mariel Vandersteel - "Hickory" - Hickory (Hearth)
• The Wood Brothers - "Stumbled In" - Smoke Ring Halo (Southern Ground)
• The Yawpers - "Runner" - S/T (Adventure)

• Squarepusher + Yeah Yeah Yeahs - March 17 @ The Creators Project - Fort Mason
• Nicolas Jarr - March 25 @ The Indpendent
• Mazzy Star - April 11 @ KALX co-announce - Regency Ballrom
• Gang Gang Dance - May 20 @ Symbiosis Festival
• Little Dragon - May 21 @ Symbiosis Festival
• Subatomic Soundsystem - May 28 @ Dub Mission, Elbo Room
• Nosaj Thing - June 2nd @ Low End Theory - 1015 Folsom
• Captain Planet - June 7 @ Afrolicious - Elbo Room
• Chrissy Murderbot - June 17 @ Icon Ultra
• Sergio - July 12 @ Spilt Milk - Milk Bar
• Novalima - July 14 @ The Independent
• DRMS - July 29 @ KALX co-announce - Rickshaw Stop
• Squarepusher - August 2 @ KALX co-announce - Regency Ballroom
• The Pharcyde (performing Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde)- August 3 @ 1015 Folsom
• Twin Shadow + Poolside - August 17 @ Great American Ballroom
• The Funk Ark - August 19 @ The Ashkenaz
• Austra - September 17 @ KALX co-announce - The Indpendent
• The Dodos - September 28 @ KALX 50th Anniversary - Berkeley Art Museum
• Amon Tobin - October 6 @ Greek Theater
• Poolside - October 11  @ Mezzanine
• Peaches - October 20 @ 1015 Folsom
• Flying Lotus - October 25 - Fox Theater
• Mount Kimbie - November 9 @ 1015 Folsom
• The Jazz Mafia - November 18 @ The Fillmore
• Simian Mobile Disco - December 2 @ Mezzanine

Favorite local releases

• Afrolicious - Pleasuretime (ESL)
• Will Magid - Midnight High (S/R)
• Bondi Blaster - Lo Juimo! (Stronghold Sound)
• Undercover Presents: Black Sabbath's Paranoid (Undercover Presents) 

Fave albums

• Analog Players Society - Hurricane Season In Brooklyn (Studio Brooklyn)
• Bonobo - Black Sands Remixed (Ninja Tune)
• Cumbia Cosmonauts - Tribal Amazonico EP (Chusma)
• Nickodemus - Moon People (ESL)
• Peaking Lights - Lucifer (Mexcian Summer)
• Poolside - Pacific Standard Time (Poolside Music)
• Fourt Tet - Pink (Text Records)
• Flying Lotus - Until The Quite Comes (Warp)

Dope compilations

• The Best of Disco Demands  (KAKZ9)
• AOR Disco Presents The Mojo Filter Vintage Edits
• Future Sounds of Buenos Aires (ZZK)

1. Leonard Cohen - Old Ideas (Columbia)
2. Jack White - Blunderbuss (Third Man)
3. Dr. John - Locked Down (Nonesuch)
4. Richard Hawley - Standing at the Sky's Edge (Mute)
5. Quantic & Alice Russell - Look Around The Corner (Tru Thoughts)
6. Jimmy Cliff - Rebirth (Sunpower)
7. The Coup - Sorry to Bother You (Anti-)
8. Social Studies - Developer (Antenna Farm)
9. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Meat and Bone (Mom and Pop)
10. Kelly Hogan - I Like To Keep Myself In Pain (Anti-)
11. Magic Bullets - Much Ado About (Mon Amie)
12. John K. Samson - Provincial (ADA?Epitaph)
13. Lee Ranaldo - Between the Times and the Tides (Matador)
14. First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar (Wichita)
15. The New Kinetics - Contact (Aural Gravy)

Best Reissues of 2012

1. Billy Bragg & Wilco - Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions (Nonesuch)
2. Woody Guthrie - Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection (Smithsonian Folkways)
3. The Beach Boys - The Smile Sessions (Capitol)
4. Can - The Lost Tapes (Mute)
5. The Avengers - S/T (Water)

• Alejandro Escovedo - Big Station (Fantasy)
• Tara Linda - Torch And Sass (Physalia)
• Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel Is Wiser (Epic)
• The Gravel Spreaders - Metal Hee-Haw (S/R)
• Carolina Chocolate Drops - Leaving Eden (Nonesuch)
• Jimmy Fallon - Blow Your Pants Off (Warner Bros.)
• Sidi Toure - Koima (Thrill Jockey)
• Beats Antique - Contraption V.2 (Antique)

Best Compilation

• Various Artists - Ivory Coast Soul (Hot Casa)

Best Single

• The Secret Sisters - Wishing Well (Third Man)

Best Live Artist On Deep Mission

• Lee White And Kim Kenney - 12/23/2012

Best KALX Live Artist (Hosted By Deep Mission)

• Chonk - 12/8/2012

Best Shows

• The Gravel Spreaders - Thee Parkside, 12/30/2012
• Kim Nalley (W/Tammy Hall On Piano) - The Rrazz Room, 12/31/2012

• Scissor Sisters - Shady Love (Silkie Remix)
• Wiley - Cheer Up, It's Christmas
• Dillinja - So Hard
• Junior Boys - Like a Child (Carl Craig remix)
• Cookbook feat. Chino XL - Musica Grande
• Toddla T - Badder Man Runs (Agitated by Ross Orton and Pipes)
• Adrian Sherwood - Starship Bahia
• Neotropic - Tall Fences (The Electric Fence remix by Deaflemon)
• Jamie Woon - Spirits
• Joker - On my Mind (Goldie Remix)

1. Frank Ocean – channel ORANGE (Def Jam)
2. Andrew Bird – Break It Yourself (Mom + Pop)
3. Alt-J – An Awesome Wave (Canvasback)
4. Jack White – Blunderbuss (Third Man)
5. Jake Bugg – S/T (Mercury)
6. Two Gallants – The Bloom & the Blight (ATO)
7. Kendrick Lamar – good kid m.A.A.d city (Interscope)
8. Glen Hansard – Rhythm & Repose (Anti-)
9. Alabama Shakes – Boys & Girls (ATO)
10. The Tallest Man on Earth – There’s No Leaving Now (Dead Oceans)
11. M. Ward – A Wasteland Companion (Merge)
12. Peace – Delicious EP (Columbia)
13. Lucy Rose – Like I Used To (Columbia)
14. Spiritualized – Sweet Heart, Sweet Light (Double Six)
15. Grizzly Bear – Shields (Warp)
16. Joey Bada$$ - 1999 (Cinematic)
17. Spector – Enjoy It While It Lasts (Fiction)
18. Hodgy Beats – Untitled EP (Odd Future)
19. Father John Misty – Fear Fun (Sub Pop)
20. Tame Impala – Lonerism (Modular)
21. Bahamas – Barchords (Brushfire)
22. Bloc Party – Four (Frenchkiss)
23. The Maccabees – Given to the Wild (Fiction)
24. Sigur Ros – Valtari (XL)
25. The Cribs – In the Belly of the Brazen Bull (Wichita)

• Dark Time Sunshine - ANX (Fake Four Inc)
• Typical Cats - 3 (Galapagos4)
• Ecid - Werewolf Hologram (Fill in the Breaks)
• Aesop Rock - Skelethon (Rhymesayers)
• Edison - Delayed Reaction Elements (self-released)
• P.O.S - We Don't Even Live Here (Rhymesayers)
• Sole - A Ruthless Criticism of Everything Existing (Black Canyon)
• Gaslamp Killer - Breakthrough (Brainfeeder)
• Chicharones - Swine Flew (Camobear)
• Archetype - Red Wedding (Dekagon)

Honorable mentions

• Blueprint - Deleted Scenes (Weightless)
• Avatar - This Machine Has Gone Wrong... (Dumptruck)
• David Ramos - Sento La Tua Mancanza (Fake Four Inc)
• Bigg Jus - Machines That Make Civilization Fun (Mush)
• Blu & Exile - Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them (Fat Beats)

• Actress - R.I.P. (Honest Jon’s)
• Andy Stott - Luxury Problems (Modern Love)
• Blawan - Long Distance Open Water Worker (Black Sun)
• Boys Noize - Out of the Black (Boysnoize)
• Burial - Kindred (Hyperdub)
• Clark - Fantasm Planes (Warp)
• Death Grips - No Love Deep Web (Third Worlds)
• Four Tet - Pink (Text)
• Golden Retriever - Occupied with the Unspoken (Thrill Jockey)
• J. Soliday - Nonagon Knives (C.I.P.)
• John Bischoff - Audio Combine (New World)
• John Talabot - ƒIN (Permanent Vacation)
• Lorn - Ask The Dust (Ninja Tune)
• Maggi Payne - Ahh-Ahh - Music For Ed Tannenbaum’s Technological Feets, 1984-1987 (Root Strata)
• Mark Fell - Sentielle Objectif Actualité (Editions Mego)
• Mouse On Mars - Parastrophics (Monkeytown)
• Mr. Oizo - STADE 3 (S/R)
• Oneohtrix Point Never / Rene Hell - Oneohtrix Point Never / Rene Hell Split LP (NNA Tapes)
• Otto Von Schirach - Supermeng (Monkeytown)
• Percussions - Birds Songs / Rabbit Songs (Text)
• Peter Seligman - FDD (S/R)
• Peter Seligman - Swing Freeze (S/R)
• Peter Seligman - Whale (Immigrant Breast Nest)
• Richard Devine - Risp LP (Detroit Underground)
• RL Grime - GRAPES EP (Wedidit Collective)
• Robert Hood - Motor: Nighttime World 3 (Music Man)
• Rrose - Wedge of Chastity (Eaux)
• Salo - Is This Jazz? (Immigrant Breast Nest)
• Sepalcure - Eternally Yrs (Hotflush)
• Shawn Lee - Synthesizers in Space (Eighteenth Street Lounge Music)
• Simian Mobile Disco - Unpatterns (Wichita)
• Skeleton Lipstick - Glows Then Melts (Airlines Tapes)
• SpaceGhostPurrp - Mysterious Phonk: The Chronicles Of SpaceGhostPurrp (4AD)
• Squarepusher - Ufabulum (Warp)
• Suicide Booth - How You Get Ants (S/R)
• Various Artists - The Sine Wave Vol. 1 (Sine Field)
• Various Artists - Beat Stew Vol. 4 (Proximal)
• Various Artists - Universus Vol. IV (Circuitree)
• Wake - Oakland Blackouts (Proximal)
• Wake - The Fifth Finger (Proximal)

1. Prince Rama – Top Ten Hits for the End of the World (Pawtracks)
2. Swans – The Seer (Young God)
3. Tame Impala – Lonerism (Modular)
4. Bob Mould – Silver Age (Merge)
5. Psychotic Pineapple – Where’s the Party reissue (Richmond)
6. Grass Widow – Internal Logic (HLR)
7. Neon Piss –S/T (Deranged)
8. Tragedy – live and Darker Days Ahead (Tragedy)
9. The Coup – Sorry to Bother You (Anti-)
10. Red Kross – Researching the Blues (Merge)
11. Jawbreaker – Bivouac reissue (Blackball)
12. The Babies - Our House on the Hill (Woodsist)
13. Cloud Nothings – Attack on Memory (Carpark)
14. Santigold – Master of My Make Believe (Atlantic)
15. Sugar – Copper Blue reissue (Merge)
16. Dead Ending – S/T EP (Alternative Tentacles)
17. Golden Void – S/T (Thrill Jockey)
18. Imperial Teen – Feel the Sound (Merge)
19. Divine Fits – A thing called… (Merge)
20. Alice Bag – Violence Girl (Weirdo)

1. Liechtenstein - Fast Forward (Fraction)
2. La Sera - Sees The Light (Hardly Art)
3. Orca Team - Restraint (Happy Happy Birthday To Me)
4. Grass Widow - Internal Logic (HLR)
5. Allo Darlin' - Europe (Slumberland)
6. Evans The Death - S/T (Slumberland)
7. Seapony - Falling (Hardly Art)
8. Eternal Summers - Correct Behavior (Kanine)
9. Wild Nothing - Nocturne (Captured Tracks)
10. Deep Time - S/T (Hardly Art)
11. Strawberry Whiplash - Hits In The Car (Matinée)
12. DIIV - Oshin (Captured Tracks)
13. Dum Dum Girls - End of Daze (Sub Pop)
14. Hospitality - S/T (Merge)
15. The Babies - Our House on the Hill (Woodsist)
16. The Garlands - S/T (Shelflife)
17. Tender Trap - Ten Songs About Girls (Fortuna Pop)
18. The Sea and Cake - Runner (Thrill Jockey)
19. Sweater Girls - Sweater Girls Were Here (Happy Happy Birthday To Me)
20. Tamaryn - Tender New Signs (Mexican Summer)
21. Tunabunny - Genius Fatigue (Happy Happy Birthday To Me)
22. So Many Wizards - Warm Nothing (Jaxart)
23. The Pheromoans - Does This Guy Stack Up? (Upset The Rhythm)
24. Butter The Children - S/T (S/R)
25. Black Tambourine - OneTwoThreeFour (Slumberland)
26. Frankie Rose - Interstellar (Slumberland)
27. Hollows - Vulture (Trouble In Mind)
28. Craft Spells - Gallery (Captured Tracks)
29. Sea Pinks - Freak Waves (CF)
30. Magic Bullets - Much Ado About (Monamie)
31. School Of Seven Bells - Ghostory (Full Time Hobby)
32. Eux Autres - Sun Is Sunk (Bons Mots)
33. Violens - True (Slumberland)
34. Echo Lake - Wild Peace (Slumberland)
35. Royal Baths - Better Luck Next Life (Kanine)
36. Radar Eyes - S/T (HoZac)
37. Terry Malts - Killing Time (Slumberland)
38. Lust For Youth - Growing Seeds (Sacred Bones)
39. The Walkmen - Heaven (Fat Possum)
40. Heavenly Beat - Talent (Captured Tracks)

• Annette Peacock - I'm the One (Light in the Attic)
• Can - Lost Tapes Box Set (Mute)
• Carter Tutti Void - Transverse (Mute)
• Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan (Domino)
• Fire! with Oren Ambarchi - In the Mouth a Hand (Rune Grammofon)
• Josh Berman & His Gang - There Now (Delmark)
• Kourosh Yaghmaei - Back from the Brink (Now Again)
• Lee Hazlewood - The LHI Years (Light in the Attic)
• Melody's Echo Chamber - S/T (Fat Possum)
• Micachu and the Shapes - Never (Rough Trade)

• The Thing That Ate Larry Livermore (Adeline)
• Toys That Kill - Fambly 42 (Recess)
• Classics of Love - S/T (Asian Man)
• Bob Mould - Silver Age (Merge)
• Neon Piss - S/T (Deranged)
• Infinite Void - S/T (Posion City)
• Terry Malts - Killing Time (Slumberland)
• Born Petrified - Townes Said (PB&J)
• Guantanamo Baywatch - Chest Crawl (Burger)
• Coup - Sorry To Bother You (Anti-)
• Typical Cats - 3 (Galapagos4)
• Jimmy Cliff - Rebirth (Universal)
• JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound - Want More (Bloodshot)

Shows That Knocked My Socks Off

• 1-2-3-4 Go!'s Go! Go! showcase - New Parish
• Bouncing Souls - Slims
• Aquabats - Slims
• Phenomenauts and Pansy Divison - 924 Gilman
• La Plebe - Bottom of the Hill
• Tornado Rider - Rickshaw Stop

• A-1 - The Thurl Tape (s/r)
• Aesop Rock - Skelethon (Rhymesayers)
• Aisha Fukushima - RAPtivism (s/r)
• DaVinci - The MOEna Lisa (SWTBRDS)
• E-40 - The Block Brochure (Heavy on the Grind)
• 40Love - Dreams Don't Sleep (s/r)
• Gift of Gab - The Next Logical Progression (Quannum)
• Iamsu! - KILT (s/r)
• JB Nimble & Poe - Candlespit Collective Presents JB & Poe in…The Park (Ear Peace)
• Kero One - Color Theory (Plug Label)
• Le Vice - Neverland (s/r)
• The Coup - Sorry to Bother You (Anti-)

20 Favorite Hip Hop Releases

• Action Bronson / Party Supplies - Blue Chips (Fool's Gold)
• Add-2 - Save.Our.Souls (s/r)
• Aesop Rock - Skelethon (Rhymesayers)
• Ana Tijoux - La Bala (Oveja Negra)
• Apollo Brown & O.C. - Trophies (Mello Music Group)
• Big K.R.I.T. - Live from the Underground (Def Jam)
• Brother Ali - Mourning in America and Dreaming in Colour (Rhymesayers)
• Dark Time Sunshine - ANX (Fake Four Inc)
• El-P - Cancer 4 Cure (Fat Possum)
• Homeboy Sandman - First of a Living Breed (Stones Throw)
• Kendrick Lamar - good kid M.A.A.D. city (Aftermath)
• Killer Mike - R.A.P. Musik (Williams Street)
• Lushlife - Plateau Vision (Western Vinyl)
• Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - The Hei$t (s/r)
• Marcus D - Melancholy Hopeful (s/r)
• Nas - Life is Good (Def Jam)
• Oddisee - People Hear What They See (Mello Music Group)
• Sene - Brooklyknight (Plug Research)
• Skyzoo - A Dream Deferred (Duck Down)
• Quakers - S/T (Stones Throw)

20 Favorite Outside of Hip Hop (OOHH) Albums

• Actress - R.I.P. (Honest Jon's)
• Asbjørn - Sunken Ships (s/r)
• B.Lewis - A Lion's Aperture (s/r)
• Breakbot - By Your Side (Ed Banger)
• The Chromatics - Kill For Love (Italians Do It Better)
• Debo Band - S/T (Next Ambiance)
• Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan (Domino)
• Flying Lotus - Until the Quiet Comes (Warp)
• Four Tet - Pink (Hostess)
• Frank Ocean - Channel Orange (Island Def Jam)
• Jessie Ware - Devotion (Island)
• John Talabot - Fin (Permanent Vacation)
• Lee Fields & the Expressions - Faithful Man (Truth & Soul)
• Lone - Galaxy Garden (R&S)
• Miguel - Kaleidoscope Dream (RCA)
• Quantic & Alice Russell with The Combo Barbaro - Look Around the Corner (Tru Thoughts)
• Robert Glasper Experiment - Black Radio (Blue Note)
• Snarky Puppy - Ground Up (s/r)
• Tame Impala - Lonerism (Modular)
• Thriftworks - Rainmaker (s/r)

1. Lisa Leblanc - S/T (Bonsound)
2. Francis Bebey - African Electronic Music 1975-82 (Born Bad)
3. V/A - Dare to Care Records Compilation de Noel 2012 (Dare to Care)
4. Moon Hooch - S/T (S/R)
5. Menace Ruine - Alight in Ashes (Profound Lore)
6. Moonchild - Templars: In Sacred Blood (Tzadik)
7. Black Humor - Love God, Love One Another (Superior Viaduct)
8. Damien Robitaille - Omnipresent (Audiogram)
9. Patrick Watson - Adventures in Your Own Backyard (Domino)
10. Sinead O'Connor - How About I Be Me and You Be You (One Little Indian)

Top Shows of 2012

• Voivod and Neurosis - Fox Theater, November 17
• Afghan Whigs - Fillmore, November 8
• Patrick Watson - Great American Music Hall, June 10
• Red Baraat - Slim's, July 6
• Thingamajigs - Mills College Concert Hall, October 13

• Jozef Van Wissem & Jim Jarmusch - Concerning The Entrance Into Eternity (Important)
• Shintaro Sakamoto - How To Live With A Phanthom (Other Music)
• CAN - The Lost Tapes (Mute)
• Action Bronson - Blue Chips (Fool's Gold Records)
• Bat for Lashes - The Haunted Man (Parlophone)
• John Zorn - The Gnostic Preludes (Tzadik)
• Dum Dum Girls - End of Daze (Sub Pop)
• Frank Ocean - channel ORANGE (Island Def Jam)
• Expo 70 - Soft Wave Continuum (Sonic Meditations)
• Troy Ave. - Bricks In My Backpack 3: The Harry Powder Trilogy (S/R)
• Sympathy Nervous - Plastic Love (Minimal Wave)
• Sun Araw - Formatting Formants: Live from Adelaide 2012    (Sun Ark Records)
• Frankie Rose - Interstellar (Slumberland Records)
• Hundred Waters - S/T (Elestial Sound)
• The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico 45th Anniversary [Super Deluxe Box Set] (Polydor)
• Peaking Lights - Lucifer (Mexican Summer)
• Guided by Voices - The Bears For Lunch (GBV, Inc)
• Joey Bada$$ - 1999 (Cinematic / Creative Control)
• Philip Sanderson - Hollow Gravity (Puer Gravy)
• Tame Impala - Lonerism (Modular Recordings)
• WYLD WYZRDZ - Acceptance (Inner Islands)
• Trouble Books - Concatenating Fields (Bark and Hiss)

• Aggi Doom - Bring Me the Head (Soft Power)
• Cozy - Cola Shock Kids (Hozac)
• English Singles - Disaster (Squirmy)
• Fidlar - No Waves (Mom + Pop)
• King Tuff - Wild Desire (Suicide Squeeze)
• Lamps - All Seeing Eye (Sweet Rot)
• Lures - New Boy (Salvaged)
• Protomartyr - Colpi Proibiti (X!)
• Spray Paint - Spock Fingers (S-S)

Favorite LPs of 2012

• Bits of Shit - Cut Sleeves (Homeless)
• Hank Wood & the Hammerheads - Go Home (Toxic State)
• Spacin' - Deep Thuds (Richie)
• Terry Malts - Killing Time (Slumberland)
• Tyvek - On Triple Beams (In the Red)

• The Apollas - Absolutely Right! (Kent)
• Caroline and The Treats - Saturday Night, Rock & Roll (House of Rock)
• The 50 Kaitenz - Rock 'n' Roll Love Letter (Sony)
• Fay Hallam & The Bongolian - Lost In Sound (Blow Up)
• Eddie Holland - It Moves Me: The Complete Recordings 1958-1964 (Ace)
• The Jetz - The Anthology 1977-79 (Queen Mum)
• Carol King - The Legendary Demos (Rockingale)
• J.D. McPherson - Signs & Signifiers (Rounder)
• The Primitives - Echoes And Rhymes (Elefant)
• Redd Kross - Researching The Blues (Merge)
• The Selectrics - S/T (Selectrics)
• Andy Shernoff - Don't Fade Away (Yazoo Squelch Audio Society)
• Takeshi Terauchi - Nippon Guitars (Big Beat)
• V/A - King New Breed R&B Volume 2 (Kent)

Best Single of 2012

• The Strypes - Young Gifted & Blue (Heavy Soul)

1. Shearwater - Animal Joy (Sub Pop)
2. Murder By Death - Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon (Bloodshot)
3. Emel Mathlouthi - Kelmti Horra (World Village)
4. Metric - Synthetica (Mom & Pop)
5. Alt-J - An Awesome Wave (Infectious)
6. Audra Mae and the Almighty Sound - S/T (Side One Dummy)
7. Ana Tijoux - La Bala (Nacional)
8. Bat for Lashes - The Haunted Man (Capitol)
9. The Bombay Royale - You Me Bullets Love (Hope Street)
10. Mexican Institute of Sound - Politico (Nacional)

1. Mexican Institute of Sound – Politico (Nacional)
2. The Coup - Sorry to Bother You (Anti)
3. Janka Nabay & The Bubu Gang - En Yay Sah (Luaka Bop)
4. Ali Fuat Aydin and Cenk Güray - Bir (Felmay)
5. Magnetic Fields - Love at the Bottom of the Sea (Merge)
6. Moon Hooch - The Moon Hooch Album (Crowd Control)
7. Deerhoof – Breakup Song (Polyvinyl)
8. Markus Mehr – On (Hidden Shoal)
9. William Britelle – Loving the Chambered Nautilus (New Amsterdam)
10. Endah Laras and Dedek Gamelan Orchestra – S/T (Felmay)
11. J.D. McPherson – Signs & Signifiers (Rounder)
12. Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music (Williams Street)
13. Ethel - Heavy (Innova)
14. Alexander Tucker – Third Mouth  (Thrill Jockey) 
15. Taraf de Haïdouks and Kocani Orkestar - Band of Gypsies 2 (Crammed Discs)
16. Mati Zundel – Amazonico Gravitante (Waxploitation)
17. Joe Locke/Geoffrey Keezer Group – Signing (Motema)
18. Novalima – Karimba (ESL)
19. Squarepusher – Ufabulam (Warp)
20. Kayhan Kalhor – I Will Not Stand Alone (World Village)

1. Kelly Hogan - “Golden” - I Like To Keep Myself In Pain (Anti)
2. Mexican Institute of Sound - “Tipo Raro” - Politico (Nacional)
3. Vandella - “Leaves” - S/T (S/R)
4. Lia Rose - “Weeping Willow” - S/T (S/R)
5. B Stars - “Honky Tonkin Rhythm” - West Coast Special (Rustbelt)
6. Corb Lund - “Priceless Antique Pistol Shoots Startled Owner” - Cabin Fever (New West)
7. Lindi Ortega - “Use Me” - Cigarettes And Truckstops (Last Gang)
8. Lumpkins - “Song For The Leshan Grand Buddha” - Another Wasted Day (Shiitake Mushroom)
9. Audra Mae - “Smokin’ The Boys” - S/T (Side One Dummy)
10. Gary Clark Jr. - “Bright Lights” - Bright Lights (Warner)
11. Jimmy Cliff - “Reggae Music” - Rebirth (Universal)
12. The Creak - “Beaten” - Here's To Feeling Good All The Time (S/R)
13. Beautiful Sunsets - “Dirty Old Town” - Coalminers And Moonshiners (Global Seepej)
14. Hanni El Khatib - “Heartbreak Hotel” - Will The Guns Come Out (Innovative Leisure)
15. Matt And Kim - “Now” - Lighning (Fader)
16. Muddy Udders - “Born Leader Boogie” - Bloody Murders (Ionik)   
17. Orb and Lee Scratch Perry - “Golden Clouds” - The Observer (Cooking Vinyl)
18. Old Crow Medicine Show - “Bootlegger’s Boy” - Carry Me Back (ATO)
19. Gangstagrass - “Put Your Hands Up High” - S/T (S/R)
20. Sycamore Slough String Band - “Jackaroe” - First Rehearsals (Perfectable)
21. Imperial Rooster - “Pig Fork” - Good Old Poor Crazy Dead -(S/R)
22. Sonny and the Sunsets - “My Mind Is Messed Up” - Longtime Companion (Polyvinyl)
23. Coal Porters - “Gospel Shores” - Find The One (Prima)
24. Eastbound Jesus - “Don’t Use It Much” - Holy Smokes (S/R)
25. Bob Dylan - “Narrow Way” - Tempest (Columbia)
26. Woods - “Cali In A Cup” - Bend Beyond (Woodsist)
27. Little Feat - “Just A Fever” - Rooster Rag (Rounder)
28. Reverend Payton's Big Damn Band - “Broke Down Everywhere” - Between The Ditches (Side One Dummy)
29. Langhorne Slim and the Law - “Someday” - The Way We Move (Ramseur)
30. Dr. John - “Locked Down” - Locked Down (Nonesuch)
31. Steep Canyon Rangers - “Knob Creek” - Nobody Knows You (Rounder)
32. Ray Wylie Hubbard - “Train Yard” - Grifter’s Hymnal (Bordello)
33. John and Tom - “Lonesome Yodel Blues #2” - Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar (Third Man)
34. Cuff The Duke  - “Time Is Right” - Morning Comes (Paper Bag)
35. Mazzy Star - “Lay Myself Down” - Common Burn (Rhymes Of An Hour)
36. Moot Davis - “How Long” - Man About Town (Highway Kind)
37. Gravel Spreaders - “Kicked My Heart In The Nuts” - Metal Hee-Haw (S/R)
38. James Luther Dickinson - “Truck Drivin’ Man” - I'm Just Dead I'm Not Gone (Merless)
39. Carolina Chocolate Drops - “Ruby Are You Mad At Your Man -” Leaving Eden (Nonesuch)
40. Neung Phak - “Khmer 28” - 2 (Abduction)

Best Compilations

• Café Con Musica - (Nacional)
• Italia 4 - (Felmay)

Best Re-Issues

• Be Good Tanyas - A Collection of Rarities and Previously Unreleased Material - (Nettwerk)
• Country Joe Mc Donald - Time Flies By - (Rag Baby)
• Rodriguez - Searching For Sugar Man - (Light in the Attic)

Specials thanks to those who appeared live on the Meaty Paws show in 2012

Vandella (simply amazing)
The Creak (found in Golden Gate Park)
Old Belle (also found in Golden Gate Park)

• Woods - "Impossible Sky" Beyond Bend (Woodsist)
• Cate Le Bon - "Falcon Eyed" Cyrk (Control Group)
• Diamond Rugs - "Gimme a Beer" (S/T) (Partisan)
• Grass Widow - "Spock On Muni" Internal Logic (HLR)
• Lower Dens - "Brains" Nootropics (Ribbon)
• Kishi Bashi -"It All Began With a Burst" 151A (Joyful Noise)
• Chromatics - "Kill For Love" Kill For Love (Italians Do It Better)
• Major Powers and the Low Fi Symphony - "Ode to Russia" We Became Monsters (Amazing Pony)
• Real Estate - "It's Real" Days (Domino)
• Chairlift - "I Belong in Your Arms" Something (Kanine)
• King Tuff - "Bad Thing" S/T (Subpop)
• Sharon Van Etten - "Serpents" Tramp (Jagjaguwar)
• Ty Segall - "Love Fuzz" Twins (Drag City)
• Bobby Womack - "Jubilee (Don't Let Nobody Turn You Around) The Bravest Man in the Universe (XL)
• Tame Impala - "That's All For Everyone" Just Tell Me You Want Me - A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac (Star Con)
• Lee Fields and The Expressions - "Your the Kind of Girl" Faithful Man (Truth and Soul)
• Howler - "Beach Sluts" America Give Up (Rough Trade)
• The Allah-Las - "Tell Me (What's On Your Mind)" S/T (Innovative Leisure)
• JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound - "I am Trying to Break Your Heart" Want More (Bloodshot)
• Mac Demarco - "Ode To Viceroy" 2 (Captured Tracks)

• Howler - America Give Up (Rough Trade)
• Hospitality - S/T (Merge)
• King Tuff - S/T (Sub Pop)
• Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan (Domino)
• Guantanamo Baywatch - Chest Crawl (Dirtnap)

Top 15 Songs

• King Tuff - "Bad Thing" - S/T (Sub Pop)
• Howler - "This One's Different" - America Give Up (Rough Trade)
• Hospitality - "All Day Today" - S/T (Merge)
• Twin Steps - "Junkie Song" - Serial Parade (Cola Bruin)
• Dirty Projectors - "About To Die" - Swing Lo Magellan (Domino)
• Ariel Pink - "Only In My Dreams" - Mature Themes (4AD)
• The Babies - "Mess Me Around" - Our House On The Hill (Woodsist)
• Jaill - "Waste A Lot Of Things" - Traps (Sub Pop)
• Seapony - "Tell Me So" - Falling (Hardly Art)
• Soft Pack - "Tallboy" - Strapped (Mexican Summer)
• Gap Dream - "58th St. Fingers" - S/T (Burger)
• Tiger High - "Hot Black Honda" - Myth Is This (Trashy Creatures)
• Tropical Punk - "Dream Darlin" - Ends of The World (Denim)
• Nick Waterhouse - "Raina" - Time's All Gone (Innovative Leisure)
• Guantanamo Baywatch - "We Came With Dottie" - Chest Crawl (Dirtnap)

• Audacity - "Pink Confusion Formula" from Mellow Cruisers (Burger)
• Bombay Royale - "Monkey Fight Snake" from You Me Bullets Love (Hope Street)
• Jimmy Cliff - "Outsider" from "Rebirth" (Universal)
• Bob Dylan - "Tin Angel" from "Tempest" (Columbia)
• Ecid - "Werewolf Hologram" from Werewolf Hologram (Fill in the Breaks)
• Heartless Bastards - "Low Low Low" from Arrow (Partisan)
• Liminanas - "Salvation" from Crystal Anis (Hozac)
• Mind Spiders - "On the Radio" from Meltdown (Dirtnap)
• Perfume Genius - "Dark Parts" from Put Your Back N 2 It (Matador)
• Pizazz - "Crafty Maneuvers" from Get Out of My House!!! (Burger)
• Redd Kross - "Stay Away From Downtown" from Researching the Blues (Merge)
• School of Seven Bells - "The Night" from Ghostory (Vagrant)

Favorite Album of 2012

• Cate Le Bon - Cyrk (Control Group)

• Van Halen - A Different Kind Of Truth (Interscope)
• Rush - Clockwork Angels (Roadrunner)
• Tame Impala - Lonerism (Modular)
• Donnie & Joe Emerson - Dreamin' Wild (Light In The Attic)
• Dirty Ghosts - Metal Moon (Last Gang)
• En - Already Gone (Students Of Decay)
• Sam Flax - Age Waves (Burger)
• Suzanne Ciani - Lixiviation (B-Music)
• Broncho - Can't Get Past The Lips (Guestroom)
• Francis Bebey - African Electronic Music 1975-1982 (Born Bad )

• Lana Del Rey - Born To Die (S/R)
• Diego Garcia - Laura (Nacional)
• The Helio Sequence - Negotiations (Sub Pop)
• Korallreven - An Album By Korallreven (Acephale)
• The Mallard - Yes On Blood (Castle Face)
• JD McPherson - Signs & Signifiers (Rounder)
• Nada Surf - The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy (Barsuk)
• The People's Temple - More For The Masses (Hozac)
• Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra - Reel To Reel (Ubiquity)
• Slug Guts - Playin' In Time With The Deadbeat (Sacred Bones)
• Tennis - Young & Old (Fat Possum)
• The Walkmen - Heaven (Fat Possum)
• Wild Nothing - Nocturne (Captured Tracks)
• Yppah - Eighty One (Ninja Tune)

• Alt-J - An Awesome Wave (Infectious Music)
• Theo Bleckmann - Hello Earth! (The Music Of Kate Bush) (Winter & Winter)
• Bowerbirds - The Clearing (Dead Oceans)
• Brooklyn Rider - Seven Steps (S/R)
• Carolina Chocolate Drops - Leaving Eden (Nonesuch)
• Mary Chapin Carpenter - Ashes And Roses (Zoe)
• Chairlift - Something (Columbia)
• Neneh Cherry and The Thing - The Cherry Thing (Smalltown Supersound)
• Clocked Out and Topology - From Small Things Grow (S/R)
• Kelan Philip Cohran And The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble - S/T (Honest Jon's)
• Ravi Coltrane - Spirit Fiction (Blue Note)
• The Coup - Sorry To Bother You (Anti-)
• The dB's - Falling Off The Sky (Bar/None)
• Debo Band - Debo Band (Next Ambiance/Sub Pop)
• Iris Dement - Sing The Delta (Flariella)
• Exitmusic - Passage (Secretly Canadian)
• Michael Harrison & Maya Beiser - Time Loops (Cantaloupe)
• Billy Hart Quartet - All Our Reasons (ECM)
• Julia Holter - Ekstasis (RVNG Int'l)
• Charlie Hunter and Scott Amendola - Not Getting Behind Is The New Getting Ahead  (S/R)
• Icebreaker; BJ Cole - Apollo (Cantaloupe)
• Vijay Iyer Trio - Accelerando (ACT)
• Japandroids - Celebration Rock (Polyvinyl)
• Kishi Bashi - 151a (Joyful Noise)
• Luce Trio - Pieces Vol. 1 (Musæum Clausum)
• Miguel - Kaleidoscope Dream (RCA)
• Anais Mitchell - Young Man In America (Wilderland)
• Frank Ocean - Channel ORANGE (Def Jam)
• Sinead O'Connor - How About I Be Me (And You Be You)? (One Little Indian)
• Pallbearer – Sorrow and Extinction (Profound Lore)
• Acid Pauli - Mst (Clown And Sunset)
• Jenny Scheinman - Mischief & Mayhem (S/R)
• Sigur Rós - Valtari (XL)
• So Percussion; Grey McMurray - Where (We) Live (Cantaloupe)
• Ebo Taylor - Appia Kwa Bridge (Strut)
• Ryan Teague - Field Drawings (Village Green)
• THEESatisfaction - Awe Natural (Sub  Pop)
• Ryan Truesdell - Centennial: Newly Discovered Works of Gil Evans (artistShare)
• Matt Ulery - By A Little Light (Greenleaf)
• Sharon Van Etten - Tramp (Jagjaguwar)

Top 12 Films for 2012

• Michael Haneke's AMOUR
• Nicholas Jarecki's ARBITRAGE
• Benh Zeitlin's BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
• Jennifer Lynch's CHAINED
• Craig Zobel's COMPLIANCE
• David Cronenberg's COSMOPOLIS
• Terence Davies' THE DEEP BLUE SEA
• Leos Carax' HOLY MOTORS
• Ang Lee's THE LIFE OF PI
• Colin Trevorrow's SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED
• Ron Fricke & Mark Magidson's SAMSARA
• Malik Bendjelloul's SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN

• Sensations' Fix - Music Is Painting in the Air (RVNG International)
• Grimes - Visions (4AD)
• John Maus - A Collection of Rarities and Previously Unreleased Material (Ribbon)
• Sylvain Chaveau and Stephen Matthieu - Palimpsest (Schwebung)
• Julia Holter - Ekstasis (RVNG International)
• Burial - Kindred EP (Hyperdub)
• Panabrite - Soft Terminal (Digitalis)
• Jefre Cantu-Ledesma - Faceless Kiss/Blut Mond (Emerald Cocoon)
• Tim Hecker and Daniel Lopatin - Instrumental Tourist (Software)
• Ricardo Villalobos - Dependent and Happy (Perlon)

• Courtney & the Crushers “In My Bed” – S/T (Self Released)
• Fidlar - Don’t Try EP (Mom + Pop)
• Growlers – Beach Goth (Burger Records)
• Guantanamo Baywatch – Chest Crawl (Burger Records)
• Hunx - “private room”- Hairdresser Blues (Hardly Art)
• King Tuff – S/T (Sub Pop)
• Peach Kelli Pop – “dreamphone” – S/T (Burger Records)
• Terry Malts – Killing Time (Slumberland)
• Weiner Dog Comp - V/A (Burger/Wiener Records)

Best Video of 2012

• Burger TV!!!! (Burger Records)

Best Live Shows of 2012

• Younger Lovers, Wet Spots – 1234 Go!, 12/5/12
• King Tuff, Terry Malts – New Parish, 12/1/12
• Nobunny, Shannon & the Clams - New Parish, 10/26/12 (Total Trash Halloween Bash)
• Okmoniks, Yolks – Knockout, 8/2/12
• Talk Is Poison – 1234 Go!, 7/5/12
• Guantanamo Baywatch, Courtney & the Crushers – White Horse, 6/14/12
• The Go! Go! showcase presented by 1234 Go! Records – New Parish, 5/24-6/1/12

• Listen Whitey! Sounds of Black Power 1967-74 –V/A (Light in the Attic)
• The Coup - Sorry to Bother You (Anti-)
• Krzysztof Penderecki/Jonny Greenwood  - Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima, etc. (Nonesuch)
• Swans – Seer (Young Gods)
• Sleepy Sun – Spine Hits (The End)
• Father John Misty – Fear Fun (Sub Pop)
• Ty Segall - Twins (Drag City)
• Ty Segall & White Fence /Hair (Drag City)
• Thee Oh Sees - Putrifiers II EP (In The Red)
• Coal Porters - Find the One (Prima)
• Los Straitjackets  - Jet Set (Yep Roc)
• Mark Lanegan Band – Blues Funeral (4AD)
• Amadou & Mariam  - Folila (Nonesuch)
• Dr. John - Locked Down (Nonesuch)
• Menahan Street Band – Crossing (Daptone)
• On With the Show - The Johnny Otis Story Volume 2: 1957-1974 (Ace)
• Magnetic Fields  - Love at the Bottom of the Sea (Merge)
• Lee Fields & the Expressions  - Faithful Man (Truth & Soul)
• Jim White - Where It Hits You (Yep Roc)
• Dan Melchior – Backward Path (Northern-Spy Records)
• Howlin’ Rain – The Russian Wilds (Columbia/ DMZ)
• Todd Snider - Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables (Aimless)
• Leonard Cohen – Old Ideas (Columbia)
• The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Meat and Bone (Mom and Pop)
• Chuck Prophet - Temple Beautiful (Yep Roc)

Best Shows of 2012

• Dick Dale at the Uptown, Oakland
• Tenacious D at the Fox, Oakland
• Willie Nelson at the Fox, Oakland
• George Clinton at the Regency Ballroom, SF
• The Magnetic Fields at the Fox, Oakland
• Dan Hicks at Davies Symphony Hall, SF
• Sleep/Oxbow at the Fox, Oakland
• Quintron and Miss Pussycat at New Parish, Oakland
• Dumpstafunk at New Parish, Oakland
• Mount Carmel at One Eyed Jacks, New Orleans
• Treme Brass Band at Louis Armstrong Park, New Orleans
• Washboard Chaz at the Spotted Cat, New Orleans
• Bonerama at the Blue Nile, New Orleans
• Foreverland at New Parish, Oakland
• Jason Brock at Martuni’s, SF

• Art Elliot - Earth Abides
• Father You See Queen - 47 (Flingco Sound Systems)
• Foxygen - Take the Kids Off Broadway (Jagjaguar)
• Keith Jarrett & Charlie Haden – Jasmine (ECM)
• Neil Jendon - Corporate Laughter (Crippled Intellect)
• Amanda Palmer & Grand Theft Orchestra – Theatre is Evil (8 Ft.)
• Steely Dan – Gaucho (MCA)
• Sult - Bark (Conrad Sound)
• Swans - The Seer (Young God)
• Taming Power - Selected Works (Early Morning)
• U.S. Girls – GEM (FatCat)
• Yek Koo - Love Song for the Dead C

• Santigold featuring Karen O.-GO!- "Master Of My Make" - Believe (Atlantic)
• Richard Hawley - "She Brings The Sunlight" - Standing At The Skyís Edge (Parlophone)
• Tame Impala - "Be Above It" - Lonerism (Modular)
• Redd Kross - "Stay Away From Downtown"- Researching The Blues (Merge)
• Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra - "Melody Dean" - Theater Is Evil (8 ft.)
• Imperial Teen - "Runaway"- Feel The Sound (Merge)
• Jack White - "I'm Shakin" - Blunderbuss (Third Man)
• Mark Lanegan Band - "Ode To Sad Disco" - Blues Funeral (Sub Pop)
• Father John Misty - "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings" - Fear Fun (Sub Pop)
• Cloud Nothings - "Stay Useless" - Attack On Memory (ADA/ Carpark)
• The Electric Mess - "I Thought About You" - Standing at the Edge of the World (S/R)
• Divine Fits - "Would That Not Be Nice" - A Thing Called Divine Fits (Merge)
• Parquet Courts - "Stoned and Starving" - Light Up Gold (What's Your Rupture?)
• The Coup - "The Guillotine" - Sorry To Bother You... (Anti-)
• Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra - "Institutionalized" - A Tribute To Repo Man (American Laundromat)
• Killer Mike - "Anywhere But Here" - R.A.P. Music (Williams Street)
• Marina and the Diamonds - "How To Be A Heartbreaker" - Electra Heart (Atlantic)
• Foxy Shazam - "Holy Touch" - The Church Of Rock N Roll (Capitol/ I.R.S)
• Muse - "Survival" - The 2nd Law (Helium-3/Warner Brothers)
• Ty Segall Band - "The Tongue" - Slaughterhouse (In The Red)
• Grace Potter & The Nocturnals - "Stars" - The Lion The Beast The Beat (Hollywood)
• Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - "Mature Themes" - Mature Themes (4AD)
• Marianne Faithfull - "Angel" - Just Tell Me That You Want Me (Hear)
• The Walkmen - "Heartbreaker" - Heaven (Fat Possum)
• U.S. Girls - "Down In The Boondocks" - Gem (Fat Cat)

Best Ofs are a tricky lot, as they are like ideas, coming and going, fulfilling but never quite lasting. So, I offer to you, dearest listener, an extremely whittled down version of the albums that I discovered and rescued last year, discarded, unwanted, and stranded in thrift stores (with the exception of Golden Retriever, my one 2012 release endorsement to you) that I offer to you as a lasting legacy of petroleum gone good (mileage may vary).

• Phil Harris - "Some Little Bug Is Gonna Find You" - Southern Comfort (Mega)
• Audience - "The House on the Hill" - The House on the Hill (Elektra)
• Richard Linhas - "Rhizosphere" - Rhizosphere (Aural Experience)
• Darrell De Vore - "?" - Gravikords, Whirlies and Pyrophones (Ellipsis)
• Various Artists - "Side 1" - Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle (Scholastic)
• Christine Price - "Momotaro" - Japanese Folk and Fairy Tales (CMS)
• Narrators - "Side 2" - Crystal Odyssey (CBS)
• Golden Retriever - "Serene Velocity" - Occupies With The Unspoken (Thrill Jockey)
• Henry Mancini - "Charlie's Angel's" - Mancini's Angels (RCA)
• Johnny Western - "Cowpoke" - Have Gun, Will Travel (Columbia)
• The Couriers - "There's No One" - S/T (Hymntone)
• The Lamplighters - "Salty Dog" - Gabe's Dirty Blues (Gabe's)
• Rosemary Clooney - "Why Don't Ya Haul Off and Kiss Me" - Rosie's Greatest Hits (Columbia)
• Harry Nilsson - "Joy" - Son of Schmilsson (Victor)
• Wendy Carlos - "1. Allegro" - Switched On Brandenbergs (CBS)
• Ween - "Stroker Ace" - White Pepper (Elektra)
• Mel Torme - "Superstition" - Live at the Maisonette (Atlantic)
• Box of Chocolates - "Good Side" - Fearful Symmetry (High Beem)
• Prefab Sprout - "Faron" - Two Wheels Good (Epic)
• Comateens - "Cinnamon" - Pictures on a String (Mercury)
• Sparks - "Wonder Girl" - Collection (Rhino)
• Nina Hagen Band - "White Punks on Dope" - Nina Hagen Band (CBS)
• Jamie Linders - "The Great Pretender" - Menopause the Musical (S/R)
• Bugs and Yosemite Sam - "Heartbreak Hotel" - Bugs and Friends Sing Elvis (WB)
• Andre Previn - "Toccata in D Minor" - Rollerball (UA)
• Narrator - "Side 2" - Hear How to Handle Your Boat (Hear Now)
• Don Buchla - "Thunder and Lightening" - Gravikords, Whirlies and Pyrophones (Ellipsis Arts)
• Narrator - "Side 1" - Crystal Odyssey (CBS)
• Narrator - "Side A" - Exploring the New World (Standard School Broadcast)
• Golden Retriever - "Serene Velocity" - Occupies With The Unspoken (Thrill Jockey)
• George Benson - "Come Together" - Shape of Things to Come (A&M)
• Ray Charles - "Sinner's Prayer" - Hallelujah (Atlantic Recording Corp)
• Ike and Tina Turner - "Find a Substitute" - It's Gonna Work Out Fine (Sue)
• Chambers Brothers - "To Love Somebody" - Love, Peace and Happiness (Columbia)
• Janice Joplin - "Work Me, Lord" - Kozmic Blues (CBS)
• Henry Mancini - "What's Happening!!! Theme" - Mancini's Angels (RCA)
• Jimmy Cliff - "Look at the Mountain" - Follow My Mind (Reprise)
• Poogy Tales - "Track 5, Side 2" - S/T (Hed-Arzi)
• Norman Connors - "Jump Street" - Slewfoot (Buddah)
• Yellow - "The Race" - Flag (Polygram)
• Spike Jones - "Frantic Freeway" - Spiked (BMG)
• Frankie Goes to Hollywood - "Scrapped and Trapped" - S/T (ZTT)

• Jimmy Cliff - "Guns of Brixton" - Rebirth  (Universal)
• Menahan Street Band - "Lights Out" - The Crossing (Daptone)
• Lupe Fiasco - "B*tch Bad" - Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1 (Atlantic)
• Dark Time Sunshine - "Never Cry Wolf ft Reva Devito" - ANX (Fake Four, inc)
• Frank Ocean - "Bad Religion" - Channel Orange (Def Jam)
• Mexican Institute of Sound - "Tipo Raro" - Politico (Nacional)
• Kanwar - "Son of a Sardar" - Mystics Martyrs & Maharajas (Nachural Music)
• The Bombay Royale - "Monkey Fight Snake" - You Me Bullets Love (HopeStreet Recordings)
• Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars - "Kali" - Radio Salone (Cumbancha)
• The Coup - "The Guillotine" - Sorry to Bother You  (Anti-)
• Poolside - "Harvest Moon" - Pacific Standard Time  (s/r)
• JD McPherson - "North Side Gal" - Signs & Signifiers (HiStyle Enterprises)
• Tame Impala - "Mind Mischief" - Lonerism (Modular)
• Souljazz Orchestra - "Conquering Lion" - Solidarity (Strut)
• Ebo Taylor - "Kruman Dey" - Appia Kwa Bridge (Strut)
• Brother Ali - "Letter To My Countrymen feat. Dr. Cornel West" - Mourning in America And Dreaming In Color (Rhymesayers)
• Ondatropica - "Punkero Sonidero" - Ondatropica (Soundway)
• Mokoomba - "Njoka" - Rising Tide (Zig Zag World)
• TigerStyle, Ms Rajni - "Ik Banere" - Ik Banere (AK Music Publishing)
• Shawn Lee - "Tiger Style" - Synthesizers in Space (ESL Music)