Hey there were a lot of fantastic albums this year. Like, a lot. Wow. Crazy. Here’s a list of albums that were all once part of the Top 50 but eventually got pushed out due to albums that had a more lasting effect on me. There are 25 of them. There are about 20 more that I could have included in here, but that would have just resulted in a Top 100. I couldn’t do that. Too much work. These are all super good though, so check them out when you can!

The Caretaker – Patience (After Sebald)
Basically field recordings of old records placed under tons of fuzz and reverb, cranked out to sound as sad and dilapidated as possible. Melancholy, eerie, ominous, and beautiful.

Cult of Youth – Love Will Prevail
Totally cool and unique mixture of 80’s goth rock and pirate-sounding folk melodies. Deep vocals, lyrics sound like they’re telling a folk tale

Dean Blunt – The Narcissist II
Sounds like a drug-addled trip in NYC at 3am recorded on a crappy camcorder. Full of crackly, lo-fi RnB mixed with audio samples of the main narrative.

Death Grips – No Love Deep Web
The second, more controversial of Death Grips 2012 releases is darker and barer than the other releases. Still an essential release in the DG catalog.

Brian Eno – Lux
Brian Eno is possibly the master of ambient electronic music. This album is no exception to this title. If you like ambient music, you can’t go wrong here.

James Ferraro – Sushi
Not as geared to mock consumerism as “Far Side Virtual,” this is more of a collection of pretty cool beats from really strange samples. Sounds like pop and commercials of the 90’s wrapped into a druggy burrito.

Four Tet – Pink
Headphone dance music. Doesn’t get super dancey but enough to get your body moving. Gets a bit repetitive but hey, that’s dance music. Great, airy textures.

Groundislava – Feel Me
Sweet beatz with 80’s influences, 8-bit synths, pretty low key and super groovy. Think Shlohmo.

Jam City – Classical Curves
Super odd and unique sounding dance/electronic record that’s really fun and sounds like the cover. Weird textures that grow over time. Definitely check this one out.

Kishi Bashi – 151a
Of Montreal side project, string loops and pizzicato like Owen Pallett and flamboyant vocals like of Montreal. Great gradient of textures.

Lemonade – Diver
Electronic dance/RnB/pop record that is soaked in water-sounding instrumentals, super refreshing and fun

Lotus Plaza – Spooky Action From a Distance
Deerhunter member side-project. Great songwriting, feels like a Deerhunter album without Bradford Cox.

METZ – METZ
Noise rock band with infectious, raucous energy that and shouting, unintelligible vocals. Super fun and destructive.

Miguel – Kaleidoscope Dream
Cloudy, smooth RnB that is set to be a stellar pop album with killer hooks and wonderful vocals.

Moon Duo – Circles
Wooden Shjips side project full of stoned grooves and super psychedelic guitar solos.

Mount Eerie – Clear Moon
Sounds like a spooky Mount Eerie release: bare guitars, floating fuzz, growling distortion and drums underneath.

Ondatropica – Ondatropica
Cumbia supergroup with tons of extremely skilled musicians and a live album feel.

Orcas – Orcas
Ambient/shoegaze kind of album with very relaxing and airy tones.

Parquet Courts – Light Up Gold
Sarcastic/monotone vocals with grooving instrumentals. Super fun and laid back record.

Jessica Pratt – Jessica Pratt
Freak-folk singer-songwriter with a voice like Stevie Nicks. Very pleasant acoustic guitar plucking and vocal harmonies.

Perfume Genius – Put Your Back N 2 It
Super-personal and heavy singer-songwriter on piano dealing with gay identity and drug abuse.

Slug Guts – Playin’ In Time With the Deadbeat
Birthday Party-esque Australian punk rock with snarling vocals and brutal guitars with occasional saxophone.

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – Trouble
Super fun and danceable electronic tunes that garnered many Hot Chip comparisons.

Trust – TRST
Grimy, warehouse rave/freaky orgy material that is dripping with sweat, goo and stuff from glow sticks.

Yeasayer – Fragrant World
Spacey, psychedelic indie electronica that sounds very futuristic. Very distinct sound, super groovy.