Matt Garman writesCHIRP Radio Best of 2012 (Matt Garman)

Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its members’ top albums of 2012. Our next list is from DJ Matt Garman.

2012 saw a few amazing albums and a few good, solid full-lengths. Rather than rank my Top 10, I'm listing them in alphabetical order. Truth be told, I heard more than 10 standouts, and if you want to know what else I liked, visit my DJ bio page for a link to my mailing list.

• Andrew Bird - Break It Yourself / Hands of Glory EP (Mom + Pop)
  BUY: Reckless / Permanent / Insound / iTunes / eMusic
  I can't believe I had to move to Chicago to really start listening to this guy. He's got the goods, people. A pop savant, multi-instrumentalist/whistler/violinist, old-timey gentleman who writes songs I wish I could sneak into his dreams and steal.
• Jherek Bischoff - Composed (Brassland)
  BUY: Reckless / Permanent / Insound / iTunes / eMusic
  Beautiful, carefully crafted orchestral pop. I can't believe he recorded this mostly one track at a time, on a laptop, at times traveling to the musicians themselves to capture performances in living rooms and studios.
• Divine Fits - A Thing Called Divine Fits (Merge)
  BUY: Reckless / Permanent / Insound / iTunes / eMusic
  I have a serious Britt Daniel/Spoon fixation, and his new egalitarian project with Dan Boeckner and Sam Brown is sublime. Much like Spoon, this album is lean, precise, and tough.
• Future of the Left - The Plot Against Common Sense (Xtra Mile)
  BUY: Reckless / Permanent / Insound / iTunes / eMusic
  I also have an Andy Falkous fixation. The 3rd full-length from this Welsh post-punk band is snarly and clever, brutal and withering. Featuring 2/3 of mclusky, and you can tell, because it is awesome.
• The Intelligence - Everybody's Got It Easy But Me (In The Red)
  BUY: Reckless / Permanent / Insound / iTunes / eMusic
  A terrific collection of fun, oddball tracks that entertain and confound, from acoustic strummers with woodwinds to squonky repetitive atonal crunch 'n' synths.
• Japandroids - Celebration Rock (Polyvinyl)
  BUY: Reckless / Permanent / Insound / iTunes / eMusic
  Springsteen-esque. Replacements-esque. Canadian. Just 2 dudes. Fantastic.
• Michael Kiwanuka - Home Again (Interscope)
  BUY: Reckless / Permanent / Insound / iTunes / eMusic
  Thoroughly retro folk-rock from this North London singer-songwriter whose family emigrated from Uganda. Breezy, soulful, authentic.
• Menomena - Moms (Barsuk)
  BUY: Reckless / Permanent / Insound / iTunes / eMusic
  I've been a fan of Menomena since before you, unless you're from Portland in 2001. On their latest LP the trio is now a duo, and they maintain their quirky pop aesthetic while introducing some seriously heavy lyrics.
• Monophonics - In Your Brain (Ubiquity)
  BUY: Reckless / Permanent / Insound / iTunes / eMusic
  San Francisco-based psychedelic soul. Sure is funky. Can't get enough of dude's voice, not to mention those grooves.
• Frank Ocean - Channel Orange (Def Jam)
  BUY: Reckless / Permanent / Insound / iTunes / eMusic
  Okay I lied. This may be my favorite album of the year. Soul music from a kid who clearly grew up on Stevie Wonder and D'Angelo, this shit is smooth, deep and affecting. Can't stop spinning it. Tyler the who?