2012 - the year in music - listen to it here

2012 has been a very good year for music. Distribution has never been better, with the swift ease of the Internet whether you want to order physical copies of your favourite albums or just need to download songs or albums to be happy. Social media has further helped struggling (and not so struggling) artists to reach an audience, as the whole structure of the music business is changing. For better or for worse still remains to be seen, but the acquisition of music - physical or digital - has never been smoother.

Kristina Train

This year I have heard a lot of good music, and as usual my two lists differ tremenduosly. My album list is the more "serious" of the two, mostly reserved artists that have been around the block a time or two, concentrating on the album format which despite hasty predictions from many, still is intact. And of course it is. Why shouldn't a songwriter or a band wish to write and record a song cycle? It doesn't have to be conceptual, but the actual album as idea with a start and a finish will most likely never die.

So there you have my album list, filled with "old" people like Bill Fay who has returned from a 41 year long hiatus, Bobby Womack (18 years since his last album of original music), Kevin Rowland who's returned with Dexys (13 years after his last solo album), Beachwood Sparks (11 years), Leonard Cohen (8 years) and Donald Fagen (6 years).

Sirkus Eliassen

The other list is comprised of songs, what used to be called singles, and the average age of the artists here is quite another. The list is mostly reserved hits, but with a few good album tracks thrown in for good measure. As a lover of true pop music, I never tire of listening to new songs from the pop charts, and this year people like Swedish House Mafia and Deadmau5, Icona Pop and The Vaccines, D!3 and Sirkus Eliassen, Petra Marklund and Carly Rae Jepsen have all rocked my world. 

Below you'll be able to hear why and how. Of my 50 favourite songs I have blogged about 36, and I found YouTube entries for the rest apart from three. Simply click on the link to each song, and you'll see a music video or at least hear the song. You can also access 48 of the 50 songs in a WiMP playlist. As for the albums list, you'll find a link to a WiMP playlist featuring one song from each. All 30 of these are of course very good.

Songs

1. Kristina Train – “Dream Of Me” 
2. Sirkus Eliassen – “Æ vil bare dans”
3. Petra Marklund – “Händerna mot himlen”
4. The Vaccines – “Teenage Icon”
5. Bruno Mars – ”Locked Out Of Heaven”
6. D!3 – “Barn til vi dør”
7. Bat For Lashes – “Laura”
8. Icona Pop feat. Charli XCX – ”I Love It”
9. Todd Terje – “Inspector Norse”
10. Lars Vaular & Sondre Lerche – “Øynene lukket”
11. Saint Etienne – "Over The Border"
12. Gotye feat. Kimbra – “Somebody That I Used To Know”
13. Wild Nothing – “Nocturne”
14. Jessie Ware – “Running”
15. Swedish House Mafia feat. John Martin – “Don’t You Worry Child”
16. Elton John vs. Pnau – “Sad”
17. Susanna Hoffs – “Picture Me”
18. Adele – “Skyfall”
19. Carly Rae Jepsen – “Call Me Maybe”
20. The Wallflowers – "Love Is A Country"
21. Pet Shop Boys – ”Leaving”
22. Deadmau5 feat. Chris James – ”The Veldt”
23. Lianne La Havas feat. Willy Mason – “No Room For Doubt”
24. Mumford & Sons – “I Will Wait”
25. Soulsavers – ”Take Me Back Home”
26. Flowers And Sea Creatures – “Head First Then Heart” (Ytre Rymden Dansskola Remix)
27. Laleh – ”Some Die Young”
28. Ødelagte menneska – “Takk for maten”
29. Of Monsters And Men – ”Little Talks”
30. Thåström – “Beväpna dig med vingar”
31. deLillos – ”Tapetser meg i gangen før du går”
32. Narum – “Lyd i et gammalt piano”
33. Madness – “Never Knew Your Name”
34. Alina Devecerski – ”Det e dark nu”
35. Rune Berg, Ronnie MAG Larsen & Alex Rinde – ”Strangers In A New Town”
36. Michael Kiwanuka – “Worry Walks Beside Me”
37. Calexico – “Para”
38. LidoLido feat. Yosef & Timbuktu – “Turn Up The Life”
39. Bruce Springsteen – “We Take Care Of Our Own”
40. Blur – “Under The Westway”
41. Loreen – ”Euphoria”
42. Kathleen Edwards – “Change The Sheets”
43. Alabama Shakes – ”Hold On”
44. Frank Ocean – “Bad Religion”
45. Kråkesølv – “Stødig som en bauta”
46. Admiral P – “Kallenavn”
47. George Michael – “White Light”
48. Childish Gambino – “Heartbeat”
49. Jaa9 & OnklP – “Uten grunn”
50. Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa – “Payphone”

Playlist of the songs in WiMP except Lianne La Havas and Adele

 Album

1. Bill Fay: Life Is People 
2. Dexys: One Day I’m Going To Soar
3. Saint Etienne: Words And Music By Saint Etienne
4. Bob Dylan: Tempest
5. Cody ChestnuTT: Landing On A Hundred
6. Kristina Train: Dark Black
7. Rune Berg: Hølå
8. Tracey Thorn: Tinsel And Lights
9. Narum: Sol og regn og ælt
10. The xx: 2.0
11. Donald Fagen: Sunken Condos
12. Dylan Mondegreen: Dylan Mondegreen
13. Leonard Cohen: Old Ideas
14. Paal Flaata: Wait By The Fire
15. Taylor Swift: Red
16. Michael Kiwanuka: Home Again
17. Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson: Wreck & Ruin
18. Bobby Womack: The Bravest Man In The Universe
19. Wild Nothing: Nocturne
20. Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Psychedelic Pill
21. Kelly Hogan: I Like To Keep Myself In Pain
22. deLillos: Vi er på vei, vi kanke snu
23. Sigur Rós: Valtari
24. Richard Hawley: Standing At The Sky’s Edge
25. Susanna Hoffs: Someday
26. The Avett Brothers: The Carpenter
27. Rumer: Boys Don’t Cry
28. Beachwood Sparks: The Tarnished Gold
29. First Aid Kit: The Lion’s Roar
30. Frank Znort Quartet: Perler fra svin 

Link to WiMP playlist with one song from each album