A very transitional year for me in music. Mainly, I have become primarily a Spotify listener and am cutting back on my CD purchases pretty heavily. I listen to more music than ever, but most albums I want to hear, I hear on Spotify. I will still always want some things on some tactile format, but I suspect it will become less and less and less as time passes. We shall see.

Beyond that, I have to say this wasn't the best year in music. Some gems, but not as many as there were during the heyday of Indie. One thing Spotify does is push me toward music I wouldn't otherwise pay for or listen to. This means I probably listen to more oldies and Classic Rock than I organically would. This shames me. Even so, I will give you links to playlists of the stuff I actually listened to most in the year. One is the music that was actually new in 2012; the other is stuff that simply spent the most time in my ears this year. Beyond that, I can only share a list of my top 10 albums. Again, not the greatest year for albums in my opinion, but there was just enough to keep me interested.

As for if/how I will keep up on music writing - I consider ALL writing here TBD, so let's leave it TBD for now. Happy listening:

Top 25 New Songs Of 2012:

Top 50 Songs I Actually Listened To Most In 2012:

Top 10 Albums Of 2012:
1. Animal Collective - Centipede Hz: Not sure why the kiddies turned against them on this one. I think it is excellent. Not gratuitously odd or anything. It isn't pop or anything, but I don't see it as incongruous. I think it is excellent. Pitchfork didn't even honorably mention it. Nasty girls.
2. Hot Chip - In Our Heads: They don't really make much bad. No super duper single here, but end to end good if you don't mind 80s dance derivative.
3. Clinic - Free Reign: They get weirder with time I think and it works. This is kinda a downer for them, but that is probably why I like it.
4. George Harrison - Early Takes Volume I: Feel bad including this since it isn't really new music. Far from it, these are mostly songs I already love just done in early arrangements. GH RIP.
5. Metric - Synthetica: I like them in general. They make albums that remind of stuff like mid-period Cars albums. There is something really retro about how they make these albums. They are very much like new wave stuff in that many new wave bands weren't TRYING to be different; they wanted to get over. Maybe you had to be there.
6. PiL - This Is PiL: I love PiL and always will. Many of their late albums are crud, but they deserve my attention whenever they put something out. Is this as good as their greatest stuff? No. Is it good? I think so. Will non-fans like it? Not sure.
7. Andrew Bird - Break It Yourself: More of same. His same is pretty good though.
8. Beach House - Bloom: This is probably better than I am ranking it, but it is not something I go out of my way for all that often. So somnambulant. Really good, but sleeeeeeeepy.
9. Swans - The Seer: A rough listen, but it is quality. Haven't made it through the whole thing end to end since I got it. Good in small doses.
10. Chad Van Gaalen - Green Corridor Series #02: Even his castaways are excellent.

Honorable Mention: Dwight Yoakam, Beak, Actress, Eugene McGuinness, Killing Joke, Bob Dylan, Why?, Woods, Moon Duo, First Aid Kit, Holly Golightly