Best Songs I've Heard This Year...So Far

At the end of the year, I usually do a best of and I don't see why this year would be any different.

I really want to write something tonight but I don't want to do my usual whining about my life and blah blah blah.

Bear in mind, these are from albums I bought this year. I still don't own Surfer Blood's new one or Yeezus. But I expect I will like something off of those. These are in no particular order...

1) Father John Misty- Nancy From Now On

This was the first album I fell in love with this year. It was the only thing from the 2012 best of lists that sounded like it might be good, so I tried it out. I'll probably present this in my perfect album series at some point since I love every track. It will be hard to pick just one for the end of the year. This song got stuck in my head quite a bit.

2) Phosphorescent- A Charm/A Blade

This album is a lot more subdued than his last one. I like this track because it builds like a lot of my favorites do. I am a sucker for a horn section I guess. Unless something changes, this will be the track on my best of.

3) Foals- My Number

Seeing these guys live was a pretty basic deal. They did their songs and did them well. Not a lot of showmanship but you can tell their stuff is well crafted. Just a catchy little song. About half of this album is just stellar.

4) Girl Talk- Jump On Stage

The guy behind Girl Talk (I forget his name, Greg something?) just knows how to hit my sweet spot, musically. This mashups are so much fun and they change so quickly that, even if you hate a choice he has made, you only have to listen to it for a minute at most. Again, hard to pluck out just one song.

5) Frightened Rabbit- Holy

Another really solid album I got this year filled with good songs. It is funny, I was listening to this the other day before I went to Kinko's to print some resumes. The lead singer has a thick, Scottish brogue. With the tune still in my head, I went in and the woman at the counter was Scottish. I so wanted to ask her if she knew this band but she was pushing retirement age and I figured that was a long shot. Anyway, good stuff.

6) Telekinesis- Ever True

Not sure when I turned the corner on resisting synth-pop to embracing it but this song is the direct opposite of something I would have liked five years ago. This album is uniformly excellent and I have been loving it. This was one of the few songs they didn't play live when I saw them with friends this year.

I also bought new albums by The Strokes and Generationals but neither of them have floated my boat so far. I have seen bands I liked live, like Shadowpaint and Palace, but they have a low web presence, to date. Anyway, expect this list doubled by the end of the year.