Hopefully you've had the chance to peruse The Top 20 Albums Of 2012, and now here are the 30 best tunes of the year. You might agree with some, disagree with others or even find some great songs you've yet to hear. If this isn't enough top music for you then have a look at what our Scottish correspondent has chosen too! Happy listening!
30) The Ice Choir - I Want You Now And Always
IN BRIEF: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart man tackles 80s synth-pop with a great chorus.
The Ice Choir's website
Buy the track
29) Cassolette - Stay Heavy
IN BRIEF: Wonderfully irresistible and melodic, lo-fi indiepop.
Cassolette's website
Buy the single
28) Trailer Trash Tracys - You Wish You Were Red
IN BRIEF: Dark dreampop meets Twin Peaks and creeps up on the nation's consciousness.
Trailer Trash Tracys' website
Buy the single
27) Kodaline - Lose Your Mind
IN BRIEF: A lump of modern psychedelia from potential next big things.
Kodaline's website
Buy the track
26) Shonen Knife - Pop Tune
IN BRIEF: Superb powerpop from the ever youthful Japanese legends.
Shonen Knife's website
Buy the track
25) Tender Trap - Train From King's Cross Station
IN BRIEF: Vintage indiepop highlight from a splendid album.
Tender Trap's website
Buy the track
24) Hospitality - Betty Wang
IN BRIEF: Super-addictive jangly guitar goodness.
Hospitality's website
Buy the single
23) Shonen Knife - Move On
IN BRIEF: Sentimental, melody-soaked loveliness. Impossible to hate.
Shonen Knife's website
Buy the track
22) Spiritualized - Little Girl
IN BRIEF: Gospel-infused brilliance and one of J. Spaceman's most accessible tunes to date.
Spiritualized's website
Buy the single
21) jj - Beautiful Life
IN BRIEF: Balearic sounds meet dreampop with highly unique results.
jj's website
Buy the track
20) The See See - Gold And Honey
IN BRIEF: Sunkissed, Byrds-influenced psych-folk.
The See See's website
Buy the single
19) Yeti Lane - Warning Sensations
IN BRIEF: Psych masterpiece that channels Grandaddy's 'The Sophtware Slump'.
Yeti Lane's website
Buy the single
18) Island Twins - Lying In State
IN BRIEF: Noisy, lo-fi indiepop at its best.
Island Twins' website
17) Perfume Genius - Take me Home
IN BRIEF: Mike Hadreas reinvents the piano ballad with added emotion.
Perfume Genius' website
Buy the track
16) Future Islands - Cotton Flower
IN BRIEF: Post-punk weirdness from one of the most underrated bands around.
Future Islands' website
Buy the single
15) Allo Darlin' - Northern Lights
IN BRIEF: Jangly indiepop from ever-improving London-based Aussie songwriter and co.
Allo Darlin''s website
Buy the single
14) Tennis - It All Feels The Same
IN BRIEF: What second album syndrome? More perfect pop with beautiful vocals.
Tennis' website
Buy the track
13) Moon Duo - Sleepwalker
IN BRIEF: Psychedelic drone-rock wizardry from Wooden Shjips side-project.
Moon Duo's website
Buy the single
12) The Raveonettes - Downtown
IN BRIEF: 60s girl groups collide with punk on this fuzz-coated peach.
The Raveonettes' website
Buy the track
11) Two Wounded Birds - To be Young
IN BRIEF: Surfy, indie perfection. Why call it quits guys? You were great.
Two Wounded Birds' website
Buy the track
10) Line & Circle - Roman Ruins
IN BRIEF: A great find, 80s indie gets an anthemic makeover, like The Gaslight Anthem covering The Cure.
Line & Circle's website
Buy the single
9) Beach House - Myth
IN BRIEF: Perfect dreampop done like no one else with spellbinding vocals.
Beach House's website
Buy the single
8) Crocodiles - Endless Flowers
IN BRIEF: San Diego band stake their claim to the be crowned current fuzz-rock kings.
Crocodiles' website
Buy the single
7) Ren Harvieu - Open Up You Arms
IN BRIEF: Sweeping, orchestral pop that should have ruled the airwaves in 2012.
Ren Harvieu's website
Buy the single
6) Yeti Lane - Analog Wheel
IN BRIEF: Krautrock, psychedelia, shoegaze and space-rock swirl together brilliantly.
Yeti Lane's website
Buy the track
5) Tennis - My Better Self
IN BRIEF: Album highlight from a band who never put a foot wrong. Gorgeous pop.
Tennis' website
Buy the single
4) Spiritualized - So Long You Pretty Thing
IN BRIEF: No one does grand better than these guys. The biggest and best chorus of the year.
Spiritualized's website
Buy the track
3) Chains Of Love - In Between
IN BRIEF: The Ronettes go 60s garage. Musical heaven ensues.
Chains Of Love's website
Buy the single
2) Allo Darlin' - Capricornia
IN BRIEF: Indiepop song of the year in an amazing year for indiepop.
Allo Darlin''s website
Buy the single
OBLIGATORY RECORD OF THE YEAR
Spiritualized - Hey Jane
Our original review is included below, but NPR summed this song up perfectly in their own tracks of the year list with this quote: "Only Jason Pierce can turn a Lou Reed-y rocker about a "troubled" love into a musical car crash halfway through before soaring way above the heavens on a Krautrock cloud."
Review from February 27th:
"It's been a long time coming but Jason Pierce has announced that the new Spiritualized album 'Sweet Heart, Sweet Light' will be out on April 16th. Was he throwing us a massive curveball by saying it would be a pop album? An initial glance at 9 minute long first single 'Hey Jane', which starts of as a fairy familiar Spiritualized-do-garage tune would suggest otherwise. But, blimey, this is a grower. Flipping itself on it's head halfway through, it builds and builds, powered by the repetitive bass and motorik beat, into a crescendo of horns, choir and melody, and then you realise he wasn't lying. J. Spaceman does pop in a suitably hymnal fashion. 'Hey Jane' is Spiritualized in a nutshell, combining all the phases of their career, at first purely very good, but ultimately as addictive as the demons that appear in their songs. Single of the year so far."
Spiritualized's website
Buy the single
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