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These are my wonderful discoveries of 2012. Some are new to the industry, some are old, some are forgotten - the main fact here is I found them... this year; and I think they are AWESOME! So take a dip check em out.

Organized simply A-Z, general categories!

New year, new list. Here goes - just like the old ones, A-Z, basic sorting and links links links.
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Previous Years: 2011
Following Years: 2013
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Artists/Singer-Songwriters
Anaïs Mitchell
Alex Turner
Big L
Big Pun
Cut Chemist
Fiona Apple
Hopsin
Jack White
Jon Allen
Lianne La Havas
Lotte Mullan
Luke Sital-Singh
Mick Flannery
Pete Rock & CL Smooth
Prince Paul
Pye Corner Audio
Rae Morris
Sam Brookes
Sean Rowe
Speech Debelle
Tech N9ne
Tori Amos
Tyler, the Creator

Bands
Alt-J
Crystal Castles
…

Forest Families - The Knife
Primary - The Cure
Miles Away - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Sometimes - My Bloody Valentine
Here - Pavement
Held - Smog
Salad Days - Oneida
Whistle for Will - Hot Chip

Listen on 8tracks

(not in particular order)

1. Where Is My Mind - Pixies
2. Black - Pearl Jam
3. El Scorcho - Weezer
4. Not Too Amused - Sebadoh
5. Sometimes - My Bloody Valentine
6. Dirt - Alice In Chains
7. Creep - Radiohead
8. McFearless - Kings Of Leon
9.Vindicated - Dashboard Confessional
10.I Wanna Be Adored - The Stone Roses

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_h-GYLICBSp0/SOAc4oaBheI/AAAAAAAAAb0/puzs2ZiGW4k/s400/Radio_Head_-_Ok_Computer_-_front-734594.jpg
1 Radiohead - OK Computer
(1997)
Using the textured soundscapes of The Bends as a launching pad, Radiohead delivered another startlingly accomplished set of modern guitar rock with OK Computer. The anthemic guitar heroics present on Pablo Honey and even The Bends are nowhere to be heard here. Radiohead have stripped away many of the obvious elements of guitar rock, creating music that is subtle and textured yet still has the feeling of rock & roll. Even at its most adventurous -- such as the complex, multi-segmented "Paranoid Android" -- the band is tight, melodic, and muscular, and Thom Yorke's voice effortlessly shifts from a sweet falsetto to vicious snarls. It's a thoroughly astonishing demonstration of musical virtuosity and becomes even more impressive with repeated listens, which reveal subtleties like electronica rhythms, eerie keyboards, odd time signatures, and complex syncopations. …

The first phrase that Kevin Shields sings in this song is almost a command to you as well as a statement.

This is a love song, predominantly made up of distortion. That may come across a contradiction, but it shouldn't. The sentiment is there, in fact it is reinforced by the guitars. Shields delivery can be defined as apathetic but it really isn't. For most people what he is conveying is difficult to say.

That's why this song is so wonderful, it encapsulates that tension that love creates within our selves. We strive to be clear and concise but it so often comes across as distorted and messy. This seems to happen when the feelings are at the strongest.

Sometimes

This is my list of my favorite 35 albums I've listened to, or been largely exposed to, since I started college. I limited each spot to a unique artist, so while there are some artists that would have potentially taken up several spots, I wanted this list to represent more artistic diversity than just specifically the albums themselves.


35. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot 2002
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/47/WilcoYankeeHotelFoxtrot.jpg

While I'm not the biggest Wilco fan, this is my favorite album of theirs as their songwriting seems more mature and slightly darker than on Summerteeth. Wilco certainly doesn't lack in melodic hooks and excellent instrumentation.
Favorite Track: I Am Trying to Break Your Heart

34. The Strange Boys - The Strange Boys and Girls Club 2009
http://www.kspc.org/blog/pix/2009/strangeboys.jpg

The Strange Boys don't really try to break new ground or blow you away with their technical prowess, but they do represent the power of a few chords and an electric guitar. …

1. What's your favorite song by 14 (Weezer)?
Undone - The Sweater Song. Rivers' bowl haircut in the video was hilarious:
http://i43.tinypic.com/2ebspde.jpg
Even the glasses weren't doing him any favors ahahaha

2. How did you get into 20 (Snow Patrol)?
The beginning of Spitting Games played in the closing credits for some shitty MTV reality show, I couldn't get the tune out of my head until I found out the name of the band + song

3. Who is your favorite member in 8 (The Dandy Warhols)?
http://i44.tinypic.com/358ublt.jpg
Courtney Taylor-Taylor!

4. What's your favorite lyric bit by 29 (The Flaming Lips)?
I know a girl who thinks of ghosts
She'll make ya breakfast
She'll make ya toast
But she don't use butter
And she don't use cheese
She don't use jelly
Or any of these
She uses vaseline
Song: She Don't Use Jelly
5. Have you ever seen 22 (The Smashing Pumpkins) live?
Nope aaaannndd Billy Corgan is kinda dead to me now

…