Music

PhantEye's Best of 2012 Music Picks

• by Melissa Bobbitt
• Dec 3, 2012

The prophesied end times sure made for some great music in 2012. Bands we never thought would get back together finally put out new material (No Doubt, Soundgarden). The international community breathed a Psy of relief as "Gangnam Style" became the first single from an Asian artist to dominate the American charts. Feminism caused a Pussy Riot in Russia. And us consumers were absolutely blessed with the most Fun. the radio's had in years. Here are our favorites of the year. Tell us yours in the comments!

BEST ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Fun. - Some Nights Unadulterated anthems of Generation Y. The best album of 2012, period.

BEST EP OF THE YEAR: Kate Nash - Death Proof The cheeky songstress brings back riot grrl on this smashing little gift

BEST REISSUE: Rage Against the Machine - S/T Still just as fierce and poignant as it was 20 years ago, now with bonus demos

MORE ADDICTIVE THAN CRACK! (aka best song of the year): Fun. - Carry On Nate Ruess and Co. penned a perfectly hopeful fist-pumper for these hopeless times

MORE ANNOYING THAN CARROT TOP (aka worst song of the year): Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me Maybe Hey, I just heard of you, and this is crazy, but you're annoying as fuck. Disappear, maybe?

BEST SURPRISINGLY GOOD ALBUM: Deerhoof - Breakup Song Let's face it: Deerhoof are WEIRD. But this one's their most accessible and enjoyable yet.

BEST ALBUM NO ONE HEARD: Abandoned Pools - Sublime Currency This lovely, heartfelt comeback album by former Eel Tommy Walter weaves electronics and acoustics sublimely

CRITICS’ FAVORITE ALBUM TO JACK OFF TO: Tame Impala - Lonerism I wish I could snark on them ("Lame" Impala, anyone?), but honestly, this swirling trip of an album was too good

BEST REASON TO RAID YOUR PARENTS’ CD COLLECTION: Beach Boys - That's Why God Made the Radio Hawthorne's finest release their first original album in 20 years and blow away most of the muck that's on the radio today

BEST REASON TO RAID YOUR YOUNGER SIBLING’S CD COLLECTION, THEN DESTROY IT: Christina Aguilera - Lotus This turd of a record should have the diva crawling back into a fetal position

BEST MUSIC VIDEO: Benjamin Gibbard - Teardrop Windows The Death Cab for Cutie front man posing as a badass results in unintentional warm fuzzies

BEST LYRICS: "The rib is the shell and the heart is the yolk/And i just made a meal for us both to choke on (Fiona Apple - Every Single Night) Welcome back, you wascally siren, you!

BEST (CHEEKY) LYRICS: Snoop Dogg's (Lion's?) remake of his Drop It Like It's Hot for Hot Pockets Because nothing's as gangsta as a microwavable snack

THE "DON’T TELL MY COOL HIPSTER FRIENDS I LIKE THIS ALBUM" AWARD: Deadmau5 - >Album Title Goes Here< Double dose of the embarrassment thanks to Gerard Way popping up on "Professional Griefers."

THE "DON’T TELL MY COOL HIPSTER FRIENDS I LIKE THIS SONG" AWARD: Mumford & Sons - I Will Wait Cos nothing is more shameful in hipsterdom than digging a band of hipsters who sold out, aye?

BEST LIVE ACT: Grouplove It's like they took everyone to their best friend's house for a slumber party pillow fight!

BEST EMERGING BAND: Lord Huron Bucolic, dreamy folk from the urban enclave of Silver Lake

BEST EMERGING ARTIST: Miguel This R&B sensation melds old-school jamming with neo-soul that'll appeal to practically everyone

BEST COMEBACK: Fiona Apple Because we all needed that extra dose of crazy infused into our lives

LEAST WELCOMED COMEBACK: Chris Brown There's nothing funny about a woman beater being hailed for his mediocre music. Added sadness that Rihanna got sucked back into a friendship with him.

THE "OMG I WANNA HAVE YOUR BABIES" AWARD (MALE): Nate Ruess of Fun. From his song narratives, he sounds like he'd be a fun date

THE "OMG I WANNA ADOPT A BABY WITH YOU" AWARD (FEMALE): Nicole Fiorentino of Smashing Pumpkins I'd cross an Oceania to hang out with her!

THE "HUH, ACTORS CAN SING" AWARD: Anne Hathaway The people will be singing along with Catwoman in next month's "Les Miserables"

THE "OH, WAIT, I TAKE THAT BACK. ACTORS CAN’T SING" AWARD: Ty Burrell Love you, Phil Dunphy, but that ad in which you sing off-key doesn't do much for the cause

MUSIC-RELATED AWESOMENESS I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 2013: Green Day touring after Billie Joe Armstrong gets sober, the fully reunited Queens of the Stone Age with Dave Grohl on drums

- Melissa Bobbitt