My Top 20 Albums of 2012 (and Favorite Songs Playlist)

I listened to almost 50 new albums in 2012.  Here are the 20 I liked best, along with a Spotify playlist I made of my favorite songs this year:

1. Gentleman Jesse – Leaving Atlanta
2. The Soft Pack – Strapped
3. The Helio Sequence – Negotiations
4. Nada Surf – The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy
5. Diamond Rugs – Diamond Rugs
6. Ben Folds Five – The Sound of the Life of the Mind
7. Japandroids – Celebration Rock
8. Patterson Hood – Heat Lightning Rumbles in the Distance
9. Lucero – Women and Work
10. Jens Lekman – I Know What Love Isn’t
11. The Shins – Port of Morrow
12. Jack White – Blunderbuss
13. The Avett Brothers – The Carpenter
14. Jim Noir – Jimmy’s Show
15. Brendan Benson – What Kind of World
16. Toadies – Play Rock Music
17. Ben Kweller – Go Fly a Kite
18. Divine Fits – A Thing Called Divine Fits
19. Sun Kil Moon – Among the Leaves
20. Guided by Voices – The Bears For Lunch

A Spotify playlist of my favorite 2012 songs (taken from the above listed albums, as well as several others).