Once again, dear listeners, it’s time to take a look back at our most played albums of the year. Every record on this list is here based on the number of spins received in 2012 on CJSR. Some of the albums arrived at the station in late 2011, but received the bulk of their play this year.
This year, surprisingly, our own FunDrive compilation made the top spot, but if we’re giving a crown to anyone, it’s certainly Mitchmatic. It’s ProbablyRaining was easily our favourite release of the year, with the album finding a home on nearly every DJ’s playlist, even earning Mitchmatic wider recognition outside of CJSR, from greater Edmonton audiences and NPR in the United States! Well earned, Mitch. Well earned.
Please enjoy our list of our favourites from 2012. Bolded artists are local. Scroll down to see our genre charts!
TOP 100 Albums of 2012
| Artist | Album | Label | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Various | 88 ½ Ways to Love Life and Be Happy | CJSR |
| 2 | Mitchmatic | It’s Probably Raining | Old Ugly |
| 3 | Mac DeMarco | Rock and Roll Night Club EP | Captured Tracks |
| 4 | Cadence Weapon | Hope In Dirt City | Upper Class |
| 5 | Japandroids | Celebration Rock | Polyvinyl |
| 6 | Politic Live | Ellipsis | Music For Mavericks |
| 7 | Renny Wilson | Sugarglider | Old Ugly |
| 8 | Shout Out Out Out Out | Spanish Moss and Total Loss | Nrmls Wlcm |
| 9 | The Ketamines | Spaced Out | Mammoth Cave |
| 10 | The Famines | The Complete Collected Singles 2008-2011 | Mammoth Cave |
| 11 | B.A. Johnston | Hi Dudes! | Mammoth Cave |
| 12 | White Lung | Sorry | Deranged |
| 13 | Travis Bretzer | Making Love | Old Ugly |
| 14 | Mac DeMarco | 2 | Captured Tracks |
| 15 | KRANG | Choke Hits | Totally Disconnected |
| 16 | Michael Rault | Whirlpool EP | Pirate’s Blend |
| 17 | Grimes | Visions | Arbutus / 4AD |
| 18 | The Give ‘Em Hell Boys | Barn Burner | Self-Released |
| 19 | Brazilian Money | Doug Nasty | Gipper Tore |
| 20 | Purity Ring | Shrines | Last Gang |
| 21 | Cold Warps | Endless BummerEP | Noyes |
| 22 | Antibalas | Antibalas | Daptone |
| 23 | Pizzarhea! | Laser Bacon Eye Surgery | Suspicious Pig |
| 24 | Scenic Route to Alaska | All These Years | Self-Released |
| 25 | Field & Stream | Field & Stream | Self-Released |
| 26 | Eamon McGrath | Young Canadians | White Whale |
| 27 | The Chantrelles | “Ain’t Nobody Home” b/w “Ooh Wee” | Self-Released |
| 28 | Dub Vulture | Brother, Can You Spare A Gun? | Self-Released |
| 29 | Apollo Ghosts | Landmark | You’ve Changed |
| 30 | Chilly Gonzales | Solo Piano II | Arts & Crafts |
| 31 | Touch & The Dirty Sample | The Fly | Neferiu |
| 32 | Various | RDP 2012 | Ramshackle Day Parade |
| 33 | Petunia & the Vipers | Petunia & the Vipers | Self-Released |
| 34 | Sean Nicholas Savage | Flamingo | Arbutus |
| 35 | Cold Specks | I Predict a Graceful Expulsion | Arts & Crafts |
| 36 | Cygnets | Dark Days | Self-Released |
| 37 | Ghibli | Rare Pleasures | Old Ugly |
| 38 | Collage Party | Selected Works | Self-Released |
| 39 | Islands | A Sleep & A Forgetting | Anti- |
| 40 | The Lions | The Lions | Stones Throw |
| 41 | Black Mastiff | Pyramids | Self-Released |
| 42 | Hot Panda | Go Outside | Mint |
| 43 | John K. Samson | Provincial | Anti- |
| 44 | TOPS | Tender Opposites | Arbutus |
| 45 | Tyler Butler | Violence | Cabin Songs |
| 46 | Makeout Videotape/Collage Party | Split | Gipper Tore |
| 47 | Cygnets | Prophets EP | Self-Released |
| 48 | Fire Next Time | Hungry River Hymns | Self-Released |
| 49 | Nü Sensae | Sundowning | Suicide Squeeze |
| 50 | Bry Webb | Provider | Idée Fixe |
| 51 | Neil Young & Crazy Horse | Americana | Reprise |
| 52 | Parlovr | Kook Soul | Dine Alone |
| 53 | Michael Occhipinti & Shine On | The Universe of John Lennon | True North |
| 54 | Falklands | Cold Favour | Clamour |
| 55 | Jessica Jalbert | Brother Loyola | Old Ugly |
| 56 | Colleen Brown | Dirt | Self-Released |
| 57 | Doug Organ Trio | Doug Organ Trio | Edmontone |
| 58 | Peace | The World Is Too Much With Us | Suicide Squeeze |
| 59 | Deerhoof | Breakup Song | Polyvinyl |
| 60 | Brasstronaut | Mean Sun | Unfamiliar |
| 61 | Cold Warps | Slimer 7″ | Fundog |
| 62 | Various | Bloodstains Across the Prairies | Mammoth Cave |
| 63 | Kathleen Edwards | Voyageur | Maple Music |
| 64 | Picture the Ocean | Picture the Ocean | Self-Released |
| 65 | Plants & Animals | The End of That | Secret City |
| 66 | Nick Everett | Rocky Top | Self-Released |
| 67 | Bahamas | Barchords | Brushfire |
| 68 | Cookie Duster | When Flying Was Easy | MapleMusic / Draper St. |
| 69 | Souljazz Orchestra | Solidarity | Strut |
| 70 | Del Barber | Headwaters | Six Shooter |
| 71 | Baroness | Yellow & Green | Relapse |
| 72M | Zebra PulseM | EndingsM | Ramshackle Day ParadeM |
| 73 | The City Streets | Sawdust & Rum | Clamour |
| 74 | Beach Velvet | Beach Velvet | Silver Ground |
| 75 | Shad | Melancholy and the Infinite Shadness | Self-Released |
| 76 | METZ | METZ | Sub Pop |
| 77 | Matthew A. Wilkinson | Post-Namers | Self-Released |
| 78 | Shuffle Demons | Clusterfunk | True North |
| 79 | Jim Cuming & the Rising of the Moon | Jim Cuming & the Rising of the Moon | Self-Released |
| 80 | Görgön Hörde | Year of the Görgön | Self-Released |
| 81 | The Men | Open Your Heart | Sacred Bones |
| 82 | Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti | Mature Themes | 4AD |
| 83 | Ty Segall & White Fence | Hair | Drag City |
| 84 | Elizabeth Shepherd | Rewind | Pinwheel |
| 85 | Graham Guest | Relief | Self-Released |
| 86 | Various | Busy Doing Nothing! | Mint |
| 87 | Cousins | The Palm at the End of the Mind | Saved By Vinyl |
| 88 | Eight and a Half | Eight and a Half | Arts & Crafts |
| 89 | Best Coast | The Only Place | Mexican Summer |
| 90 | Patrick Watson | Adventures In Your Own Backyard | Secret City |
| 91 | Sonny and the Sunsets | Longtime Companion | Polyvinyl |
| 92 | Elfin Saddle | Devastates | Constellation |
| 93 | Debo Band | Debo Band | Next Ambiance / Sub Pop |
| 94 | Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings | Soul Time! | Daptone |
| 95 | Rose Cousins | We Have Made a Spark | Self-Released |
| 96 | Alice Kos | You Missed It All | Self-Released |
| 97 | The Just Barelys | Mad Bits | Dead Bum |
| 98 | Hank & Lily | Crank City | Self-Released |
| 99 | Jesse & the Dandelions | Time and Space and Everything In Between | Esper |
| 100 | Diamond Rugs | Diamond Rugs | Partisan |
And here’s a closer look at our genre charts!
LOUD (Metal & Punk)
| 1 | White Lung | Sorry | Deranged |
| 2 | Baroness | Yellow & Green | Relapse |
| 3 | Propagandhi | Failed States | Epitaph |
| 4 | Netherward | Bloodmeal | Self-Released |
| 5 | Cancer Bats | Dead Set On Living | Distort |
| 6 | High On Fire | De Vermis Mysteriis | eOne |
| 7 | Marry Me Murder | Victimology | Self-Released |
| 8 | Striker | Armed To the Teeth | Napalm |
| 9 | Mares of Thrace | The Pilgrimage | Sonic Unyon |
| 10 | Woods of Ypres | Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light | Earache |
| 11 | Negation | The Awakening | Self-Released |
| 12 | Ékorchés, Les | Frères de Sang | Indica |
| 13 | Pith | Fore | Diminished Fifth |
| 14 | Sleep | Dopesmoker [reissue] | Southern Lord |
| 15 | Thoroughbred Racing Pigeon | Continue Anyways | Self-Released |
| 16 | Wretched | Son of Perdition | Victory |
| 17 | Negation | Revelations | Self-Released |
| 18 | The Great Sabatini | Matterhorn | No List |
| 19 | 3 Inches of Blood | Long Live Heavy Metal | Century |
| 20 | Weapon | Embers and Revelations | Relapse |
|
Electronic / RPM |
|||
| 1 | Shout Out Out Out Out | Spanish Moss and Total Loss | Nrmls Wlcm |
| 2 | Grimes | Visions | Arbutus / 4AD |
| 3 | Purity Ring | Shrines | Last Gang |
| 4 | Ghibli | Rare Pleasures | Old Ugly |
| 5 | Humans | Traps | Hybridity |
| 6 | Government Tribunal | We Are the Government Tribunal [single] | File Xader Rex |
| 7 | Rae Spoon | I Can’t Keep All of Our Secrets | Saved By Vinyl |
| 8 | Spell | Lull | Self-Released |
| 9 | Matthew Dear | Beams | Ghostly International |
| 10 | The Orb with Lee “Scratch” Perry | The Orbserver in the Star House | Cooking Vinyl |
| 11 | VCMG | Sss | Mute |
| 12 | A Tribe Called Red | A Tribe Called Red | Self-Released |
| 13 | Dan Deacon | America | Domino |
| 14 | GreyScreen | Thrillogy | Self-Released |
| 15 | Trust | TRST | Arts & Crafts |
| 16 | Hiawatha | Language | Last Gang |
| 17 | Synthosaurus | Intergalactic Hyper Friendship Squad | Beautiful Unicorn |
| 18 | Stephen Hummel | Meld | Self-Released |
| 19 | Happy Trendy | Die Young | Orchid Tapes |
| 20 | Tycho | Dives | Ghostly International |
|
Hip-Hop / Rap
|
|||
| 1 | Mitchmatic | It’s Probably Raining | Old Ugly |
| 2 | Cadence Weapon | Hope in Dirt City | Upper Class |
| 3 | Politic Live | Ellipsis | Music For Mavericks |
| 4 | Touch & The Dirty Sample | The Fly | Neferiu |
| 5 | Shad | Melancholy and the Infinite Shadness | Self-Released |
| 6 | Quakers | Quakers | Stones Throw |
| 7 | Plex | Demons | Urbnet |
| 8 | Evil Ebenezer | Penguin EP | Camobear |
| 9 | Oddisee | People Hear What They See | Mello Music |
| 10 | Nas | Life Is Good | Def Jam |
| 11 | Gab’n | Sanwidge | Self-Released |
| 12 | Kid Koala | 12 Bit Blues | Ninja Tune |
| 13 | Moka Only | Airport 6 | Urbnet |
| 14 | Muneshine | There Is Only Today | Droppin’ Science |
| 15 | Snak the Ripper | White Dynamite | Camobear |
| 16 | Flying Lotus | Until The Quiet Comes | Warp |
| 17 | deStar | Reconstructed Memories | Neferiu |
| 18 | The Lytics | They Told Me | Camobear |
| 19 | Oddisee | Rock Creek Park | Mello Music |
| 20 | Wordburglar | 3rdburglar | Urbnet |
|
Soul / Funk / R&B
|
|||
| 1 | The Chantrelles | “Ain’t Nobody Home” b/w “Ooh Wee” | Self-Released |
| 2 | Sharon Jones & the Dap-King | Soul Time! | Daptone |
| 3 | Calibro 35 | Any Resemblance to Real Persons Or Actual Facts Is Purely Coincidental |
Nublu |
| 4 | Lee Fields & the Expressions | Faithful Man | Truth & Soul |
| 5 | Brownout | Oozy | Nat Geo |
|
Jazz
|
|||
| 1 | Chilly Gonzales | Solo Piano II | Arts & Crafts |
| 2 | Michael Occhipinti & Shine On | The Universe of John Lennon | True North |
| 3 | Doug Organ Trio | Doug Organ Trio | Edmontone |
| 4 | Shuffle Demons | Clusterfunk | True North |
| 5 | Elizabeth Shepherd | Rewind | Pinwheel |
| 6 | Peter Appleyard | Sophisticated Ladies | Linus |
| 7 | Roberto Lopez Afro-Colombian Jazz Project | Azul | Curura |
| 8 | Susie Arioli | All The Way | Spectra |
| 9 | Mike Essoudry’s Mash Potato Mashers | Hooray | Self-Released |
| 10 | Belle Plaine | Notes from a Waitress | 13th Ave |
| 11 | Brandi Disterheft | Gratitude | Justin Time |
| 12 | Jon McCaslin | Sunalta | Cellar Live |
| 13 | Don Cherry | Organic Music Society [reissue] | Caprice |
| 14 | Paul Rushka Quintet | As It Happens | Pagetown |
| 15 | Cory Weeds | Up A Step | Cellar Live |
| 16 | Craig Pedersen Quartet | Days Like Today | Self-Released |
| 17 | Keith Price Trio/Quintet | Gaia/Goya | Self-Released |
| 18 | Dr. Michael White | Adventures in New Orleans Jazz Part 2 | Basin Street |
| 19 | Ratchet Orchestra | Hemlock | Drip Audio |
| 20 | Joel Miller | Swim | Origin |
|
World
|
|||
| 1 | Antibalas | Antibalas | Daptone |
| 2 | Dub Vulture | Brother, Can You Spare A Gun? | Self-Released |
| 3 | The Lions | The Lions | Stones Throw |
| 4 | The Souljazz Orchestra | Solidarity | Strut |
| 5 | Debo Band | Debo Band | Next Ambiance / Sub Pop |
| 6 | Battle of Santiago | Full Colour | Self-Released |
| 7 | KonKoma | KonKoma | Soundway |
| 8 | Roberto Lopez Afro-Colombian Jazz Project | Azul | Curura |
| 9 | The Bombay Royale | You Me Bullets Love | Hope Street |
| 10 | Various | Future Sounds of Buenos Aires | Waxploitation |
| 11 | Amadou & Mariam | Folila | Because |
| 12 | Jimmy Cliff | Rebirth | Sunpower |
| 13 | The Archives | The Archives | ESL |
| 14 | The Inversions | “I Can’t Stand These Lonely Nights” b/w “Rub The “Lamp |
Daptone |
| 15 | Ondatropica | Ondatropica | Soundway |
| 16 | Battle of Santiago | Followed By Thousands | Made With Pencil Crayons |
| 17 | Lijadu Sisters | Sunshine | Knitting Factory |
| 18 | Rocky Mountain Rebel Music | Vic Sound System | Self-Released |
| 19 | Gordon Grdina’s HARAM | Her Eyes Illuminate | Songlines |
| 20 | Novalima | Karimba | ESL |
|
Folk / Roots / Blues
|
|||
| 1 | The Give ‘Em Hell Boys | Barn Burner | Self-Released |
| 2 | Petunia & the Vipers | Petunia & the Vipers | Self-Released |
| 3 | Tyler Butler | Violence | Cabin Songs |
| 4 | Bry Webb | Provider | Idee Fixe |
| 5 | Nick Everett | Rocky Top | Self-Released |
| 6 | Del Barber | Headwaters | Six Shooter |
| 7 | Jim Cuming & the Rising of the Moon | Jim Cuming & the Rising of the Moon | Self-Released |
| 8 | Graham Guest | Relief | Self-Released |
| 9 | Patrick Watson | Adventures In Your Own Backyard | Secret City |
| 10 | Sonny and the Sunsets | Longtime Companion | Polyvinyl |
| 11 | Rose Cousins | We Have Made a Spark | Self-Released |
| 12 | Corb Lund | Cabin Fever | New West |
| 13 | Ben Olson | With Nothing Framed | Manatees and Jack-O-Lanterns |
| 14 | Robin Hood Ensemble | New Day Dawning | Self-Released |
| 15 | Leonard Cohen | Old Ideas | Columbia |
| 16 | The AwesomeHots | Wayfaring Stranger [single] | Self-Released |
| 17 | Owls By Nature | Everything Is Hunted | Self-Released |
| 18 | Woody Guthrie | Woody At 100 | Smithsonian-Folkways |
| 19 | Zachary Lucky | Saskatchewan | Self-Released |
| 20 | Brenna Lowrie | The Body Electric | Esper |
| Experimental / Avant-Garde / Classical / Spoken Word / Comedy | |||
| 1 | Pizzarhea! | Laser Bacon Eye Surgery | Suspicious Pig |
| 2 | Various | RDP 2012 | Ramshackle Day Parade |
| 3 | Zebra Pulse | Endings | Ramsachkle Day Parade |
| 4 | Matthew A. Wilkinson | Post-Namers | Self-Released |
| 5 | Various | PiXXX 3 | Unit Structure Sound Recordings |
| 6 | Pigeon Breeders | Luminous Debris | Ramshackle Day Parade |
| 7 | Pigeon Breeders | Nocturnal Reveries | Ramshackle Day Parade |
| 8 | Godspeed You! Black Emperor | ‘Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend! | Constellation |
| 9 | Matthew A. Wilkinson | sSs | Self-Released |
| 10 | PROJECT Trio | When Will Then Be Now | Self-Released |
| 11 | Jon Mick | Beardmilk | Old Ugly |
| 12 | 86 Sound Laboratories | Sounds for Wax Museum | Energetic Action Recordings |
| 13 | Johannes Welsch | Sound Creation | Deep Listening |
| 14 | Hannibal Buress | Animal Furnace | Comedy Central |
| 15 | Janel & Anthony | Where Is Home | Cuneiform |
| 16 | NON / Boyd Rice | Back to Mono | Mute |
| 17 | Johannes Welsch | Schitzophonia | Sonic Flame |
| 18 | Stewart Goodyear | Beethoven: The Middle Sonatas | Marquis |
| 19 | Hilary Hahn & Hauschka | Silfra | Deutche Grammophon |
| 20 | Fortner Anderson | Solitary Pleasures | &records |