2012 Top Ten Lists - Music

With eMusic, Spotify, & Noisetrade, finding good music this year was not difficult.  Narrowing it down to a top 10 list...just a bit tougher.  But alas, here it is:

10.  All Sons & Daughters, Season One
Great vocals, musicality and lyrics.  I did this song at NC a couple of weeks ago.

9.  Vespers, The Fourth Wall
We saw this band at Otherlands this year.  Great music.  They're really young, which you can kind of tell when they're on stage, but it also makes it even more amazing considering the talent they all have.  Watch this and you'll see what I mean.

\


8.  Derek Webb, Ctrl
I don't know if Webb will release an album I don't like.  His new one is great, but what is even greater is the acoustic version, which I got for FREE on Noisetrade.  It's still there, so do yourself a favor and download it.





7.  Rend Collective Experiment, Homemade Worship by Handmade People
So glad I discovered these guys.  Check out their story here.




6.  The Lighthouse and the Whaler, The Lighthouse and the Whaler
One of my best Noisetrade finds.  I don't know if I would have ever heard of them if I hadn't found them there.  This is one of those albums where just about every song is either a 4 or 5-star on iTunes.

5.  Trinity Grace, We Sing As One
This is the newest album from Trinity Grace Church in NYC.  The song "We Sing As One" is one of my favorite songs of the year.




4.  The Head and the Heart, The Head and the Heart
I was in line at Starbucks one day and saw their album next to the cash register.  It compared them to The Lumineers and Mumford & Sons (see below for both), so I knew I needed to check them out.  Great band.




3.  Eric Whitacre, Water Night
I'm sure that most of you are familiar with the majority of these artists, but perhaps composer/conducter Eric Whitacre is new to you.  I love choral music, especially like this.  Whitacre became famous through his virtual conducting.  This video features the beautiful Water Night.




2.  Mumford & Sons, Babel
I was looking forward to this sophomore release for awhile, and I was not disappointed!




1.  The Lumineers, The Lumineers
I assumed that Mumford & Sons would take the top spot this year, but then I discovered these guys.  I think I first saw them on Letterman or Jimmy Fallon.  I was hooked immediately.  Again, I love every song on this album.