McSquawk's Top 25 songs of 2012

It's the end of another year and that means it's time to bring you the list of my favorite songs of 2012! I spent much of this year catching up on music I had from last year that I hadn't listened to, so I didn't get to listen to as much of this year's new music as I would have liked. However, many of my favorite artists released new albums this year, so this year's list features a lot of new stuff from old favorites, as well as some new artists and a few surprises. I played the top 20 on my show last Sunday, which can be listened to here, but I wanted to expand this list to my top 25 since there was a lot of great stuff that just missed making the top 20.

#25: Cloud Nothings - "Stay Useless"

 
#24: Foals - "Inhaler"


#23: David Byrne & St. Vincent - "Weekend in the Dust"

#22: Silversun Pickups - "Mean Spirits"

#21: Animal Collective - "Applesauce"

#20: DIIV - "Past Lives"

#19: Eternal Summers - "You Kill"

#18: Jonquil - "Mexico"

#17: Yppah - "Never Mess With Sunday"

#16: Mark Foster + A-Trak + Kimbra - "Warrior"

#15: Pinback - "His Phase"

#14: Sun Airway - "Close"

 
#13: Coheed & Cambria - "Key Entity Extraction I: Domino the Destitute"

#12: Reptar - "Please Don't Kill Me"

#11: Beach Fossils - "Shallow"


#10: Twin Shadow - "Beg For the Night"

#9: Husky - "History's Door"


#8: Dirty Ghosts - "Shout It In"

#7: Minus the Bear - "Zeros"

#6: Savoir Adore - "Dreamers"

 
#5: Orbital feat. Zola Jesus - "New France"

 
#4: Pepe Deluxe - "A Night and A Day"


#3: Tanlines - "All of Me"

#2: Kitten - "G#"

#1: Wild Nothing - "Nocturne"


And there you have it. Also, click here for 2011's list.

Fall 2012, Show #10: Thanksgiving Break, Part II

Show date: 11/25/12

Hour 1:

Tanlines / "Real Life" / Mixed Emotions
The Very Best / "Moto" (feat. Mo Laudi) / MTMTMK
Delorean / "Simple Graces" / Subiza
El Perro Del Mar / "Hold Off the Dawn" / Pale Fire
Phantogram / "Bloody Palms" / Eyelid Movies
Audiafauna / "Roots" / Grow Down 
The Bamboos / "On the Sly" / 4
Savoir Adore / "Sparrow" / Our Nature 
Radio Citizen / "The Hop" / Berlin Serengeti
Rubblebucket / "Oooh Wa" / Oversaturated
Kaddisfly / "Osmosis in C" / Buy Our Intention; We'll Buy You a Unicorn
Circa Survive / "Bird Sounds" / Violent Waves
Damiera / "Slow By Still" / Damiera
Coheed and Cambria / "Goodnight, Fair Lady" / The Afterman: Ascension
Boris / "Flare" / New Album 

Hour 2:

The Casket Lottery / "The Door" / Real Fear
Flogging Molly / "What's Left of the Flag" / Drunken Lullabies
Dowsing / "Gengar! Gengar! Gengar!" / It's Still Pretty Terrible
The Foreign Resort / "Lost My Way" / Offshore
We Need Surgery / "Stranger" / Advance Copy 
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart / "The Tenure Itch" / The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Pretty & Nice / "Hyena" / Us You All We
They Might Be Giants / "Canajoharie" / Join Us
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti / "Only in My Dreams" / Mature Themes
Wild Nothing / "Take Me In" / Golden Haze EP
Foals / "Inhaler" / Inhaler (single)
Kitten / "Cut It Out" / Cut It Out EP
The Submarines / "Submarine Symphonika" / Honeysuckle Weeks
Broken Bells / "Mongel Heart" / Broken Bells

Hour 3:

Fountains of Wayne / "Radio Bar" / Sky Full of Holes
Cheers Elephant / "Party On Darwin" / Like Wind Blows Fire
Smile Smile / "When We Make Love" / Marry a Stranger
Belle & Sebastian / "I Didn't See It Coming" / Write About Love
Ben Folds Five / "The Sound of the Life of the Mind" / The Sound of the Life of the Mind
The Brunettes / "Small Town Crew" / Structure and Cosmetics
Husky / "Forever So" / Forever So
Frank Turner / "My Kingdom For a Horse" / Sleep is For the Week
He's My Brother She's My Sister / "Slow It Down" / Nobody Dances in This Town
Dispatch / "Lightning" / Who Are We Living For?
The Sanderlings / "Love & Cannibalism in the Time of Robots" / Awesome Opossum
The Shins / "Girl Inform Me" / Oh Inverted World
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists / "Bottled in Cork" / Hearts of Oak
Jets Overhead / "Boredom and Joy" / Boredom and Joy
Pinback / "Proceed to Memory" / Information Retrieved 

Fall 2012, Show #9: Thanksgiving Break, Part I

Show date: 11/18/12

Hour 1:

Wild Nothing / "Counting Days" / Nocturne
Leaving Rouge / "In Your Twilight" / White Houses EP 
Twin Sister / "Lady Daydream" / Color Your Life
Deep Sea Arcade / "Girls" / Outlands 
Real Estate / "It's Real" / Days
El Perro Del Mar / "Walk On By" / Pale Fire
Toro Y Moi / "Still Sound" / Underneath the Pine 
Yeasayer / "No Bones" / Fragrant World 
Purity Ring / "Ungirthed" / Shrines
Savoir Adore / "Regalia" / Our Nature
D. Gookin / "Stealing Sun Chips" / Spiral Style
Twin Shadow / "When The Movie's Over" / Confess
Teeel / "Crystal Lake" / University Heights
Tanlines / "Rain Delay" / Mixed Emotions

Hour 2: 


Kitten / "Kill the Light" / Sunday School
A.C. Newman / "There's Money in New Wave" / Shut Down the Streets
Rogue Wave / "Good Morning (The Future)" / Permalight
The Sanderlings / "Juffo Mumbins" / Awesome Opossum
The Submarines / "Shoelaces" / Love Notes/Letter Bombs
Animal Collective / "Applesauce" / Centipede Hz 
The Birthday Party / "Junkyard" / Live 81-82
Annuals / "Sweet Sister" / Sweet Sister
He's My Brother She's My Sister / "Let It Live Free" / Nobody Dances in This Town
Enter the Haggis / "Follow" / Whitelake
Husky / "History's Door" / Forever So
Blitzen Trapper / "Laughing Lover" / Destroyer of the Void
Frank Turner / "Romantic Fatigue" / Sleep is For the Week
State Radio / "Take Cover" / Rabbit Inn Rebellion 



Hour 3: 

Darlingside / "In the Morning" / EP 1 
Calexico / "Para" / Algiers 
Adrian Roye & the Exiles / "Telephones and Traffic Lights" / Telephones and Traffic Lights 
Smile Smile / "Permanent Bliss" / Marry a Stranger
Lapko / "Summer Nights" / A New Bohemia
Bloc Party / "Truth" / Four
Sleeper Agent / "Shuga Cane" / Celebrasion
Pretty & Nice / "Capsules" / Us You All We
Cloud Nothings / "Stay Useless" / Attack on Memory
The Vaccines / "Teenage Icon" / Live 81-82
Foals / "Inhaler" / Inhaler (single)
Circa Survive / "Blood From a Stone" / Violent Waves
The Casket Lottery / "Pamina" / Real Fear
TKTTSM / "Eyeyeye" / TKTTSM 
The Gaslight Anthem / "The Boxer" / American Slang 

Fall 2012, Show #8: Synth Rock

Show date: 11/11/12

Hour 1:

The Casket Lottery / "The Moon and the Tide" / Real Fear
Dowsing / "What Did You Ever Do?" / It's Still Pretty Terrible
Circa Survive / "Phantasmagoria" / Violent Waves
Coheed and Cambria / "The Afterman" / The Afterman: Ascension
Ringo Deathstarr / "Fifteen" / Mauve
pacificUV / "Chemical" / E.P.
Ultraista / "Gold Dayzz" / Ultraista
Teeel / "Crystal Lake" / University Heights
We Need Surgery / "Simon Says" / Advance Copy
Jets Overhead / "Boredom and Joy" / Boredom and Joy
The World Palindrome / "We've Got It (All Worked Out)" / Particularly Hello
State Radio / "Desert Queen" / Rabbit Inn Rebellion
The Sanderlings / "I Want You" / Awesome Opossum
Smile Smile / "Broken Buildings" / Marry a Stranger
Manicanparty / "Bow Through My Heart" / Bow Through My Heart (single) 
Blackbird Blackbird / "Happy With You" / Boracay Planet

Hour 2:

The Campaign for Real-Time / "The Game" / The Campaign for Real-Time EP
HEALTH / "Die Slow" (Tobacco Remix) / ::DISCO2
The Firebird Band / "Obsessive Compulsive" / The City at Night
Shy Child / "Angel of Mercy" / Noise Won't Stop
Does It Offend You, Yeah? / "We Are Rockstars" / You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into
Klaxons / "Atlantis to Interzone" / Myths of the Near Future 
Idiots / "Send My Senses" / Spring Is Here
Enon / "Disposable Parts" / High Society
Professor Murder / "Free Stress Test" / Professor Murder Rides The Subway
Quitzow / "The Cut" / Juice Water
Ming & Ping / "A.I." / mingping.com
Action Action / "Drug Like" / Don't Cut Your Fabric to This Year's Fashion
M83 / "Steve McQueen" / Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
Neoismo / "No More" / Atmosfera Nel Cubo 
 

Fall 2012, Show #7: Psychedelic Dance

Show date: 11/4/12

Hour 1:

State Radio / "Big Man" / Rabbit Inn Rebellion
Coheed and Cambria / "Key Entity Extraction III: Vic the Butcher" / The Afterman: Ascension
TKTTSM / "Porcupine" / TKTTSM 
Pinback / "His Phase" / Information Retrieved
Talk Normal / "Bad Date" / Sunshine
Bogan Via / "Copy and Paste" / Wait Up 
Smile Smile / "Permanent Bliss" / Marry a Stranger
Benjamin Gibbard / "Duncan, Where Have You Gone? / Former Lives
Night Moves / "Headlights" / Colored Emotions 
The Cyrillic Typewriter / "Visions of Daniel" / French Door
State Radio / "The Bridge is Burning" / Rabbit Inn Rebellion
Hammock / "Ten Thousand Years Won't Save Your Life" / Departure Songs
Paul Banks / "The Base" / Banks
Ultraista / "Our Song" / Ultraista   

Hour 2:

Delorean / "Stay Close" / Subiza
WIN WIN / "Releaserpm" (feat Lizzie Bougatsos) / WIN WIN
Blood Diamonds / "Heart" / Heart (single)
Caribou / "Odessa" / Swim
Restless People / "Days of Our Lives" / Restless People
ceo / "Come With Me" / White Magic
Jack Penate / "Tonight's Today" / Everything is New
Gavin Russom / "Night Sky" / Night Sky
Juff Shroom / "Fuji" / Spacescapes
The Knife / "Like a Pen" / Silent Shout
Bjork / "Triumph of a Heart" / Medulla
Gang Gang Dance / "Mindkilla" / Eye Contact
 

Fall 2012, Show #6: Creepy Songs

Show date: 10/28/12

LISTEN HERE!

Hour 1:

Ultraista / "Bad Insect" / Ultraista
Sun Airway / "Close" / Soft Fall
Jason Lytle / "Hangtown" / Dept. of Disappearance
Benjamin Gibbard / "Teardrop Windows" / Former Lives
Calexico / "Epic" / Algiers
A.C. Newman / "You Could Get Lost Out Here" / Shut Down the Streets
Smile Smile / "This Is For Real" / Marry a Stranger
State Radio / "Adelaide" / Rabbit Inn Rebellion
Efterklang / "Apples" / Piramida
Harlan / "Daffodil" / Night Loop
Hello Shark / "Brooklyn Mountains" / HS
Pinback / "Proceed to Memory" / Information Retrieved
Coheed and Cambria / "Key Entity Extraction IV: Evagria the Faithful" / The Afterman: Ascension
TKTTSM / "Plastic Fantastic" / TKTTSM

Hour 2:

Coheed and Cambria / "Second Stage Turbine Blade" / Second Stage Turbine Blade
Fever Ray / "If I Had a Heart" / Fever Ray
Radiohead / "Idioteque" / OK Computer 
Drk Sum / "Invincible"

Crimson Death / "SubMerge" / The Crystalline Imprint
Final Moon / "Reload (Out of Control Mix)"

A Sunny Day in Glasgow / "Violet Mary Haunts Me OR Loss of Forgetfulness on Renfrew Street" / Autumn, Again
Forging Another Empty Life / "Abstract, Insentient, Profiles" / Ad Vertigo
A Whisper in the Noise / "Hell's Half Acre" / As the Bluebird Sings
Stolen Babies / "Lifeless" / There Be Squabbles Ahead
Garmarna / "Vedergällningen" / Vedergällningen
 

Fall 2012, Show #5: Goth & Industrial

Hour 1:

Smile Smile / "Fatal Flaw" / Marry a Stranger
A.C. Newman / "I'm Not Talking" / Shut Down the Streets
The Mountain Goats / "Harlem Roulette" / Transcendental Youth
Hammock / "(Tonight) We Burn Like Stars That Never Die" / Departure Songs
The Raveonettes / "Curse the Night" / Observator
Tamaryn / "While You're Sleeping, I'm Dreaming" / Tender New Signs
Wild Nothing / "This Chain Won't Break" / Nocturne 
Caspian / "Halls of the Summer" / Waking Season
Coheed and Cambria / "Mothers of Men" / The Afterman: Ascension
El Ten Eleven / "No One Died This Time!" / Transitions
Alt-J / "Breezeblocks" / An Awesome Wave
Freelance Whales / "Winter Seeds" / Diluvia

Hour 2:

Collide / "Monochrome" / Chasing the Ghost
Factory of Dreams / "Back to Sleep" / Melotronical
Abney Park / "The Wrong Side" / The Death of Tragedy
Covenant / "Lightbringer" / Modern Ruin
Gary Numan / "The Fall" / Dead Son Rising
Waiting In Vain / "Awake Again" / Awake Again EP
Dope Stars Inc. / "Riding UFOs" / Ultrawired
Grigori 3 / "The System" / Exile
Lust Murder Box / "Viole(n)t Blue Morning" / Lust Murder Box
The Nine / "Haunted" / Native Anger
Ink Dot Boy / "Unite" / Beautiful Murder
Doug Powell / "Believe" / The Apprentice's Sorcerer
[ cell 7 ] / "Shell" / RE:COGNITION

 

Fall 2012, Show #4: Progressive Rock

Show date: 10/14/12

Hour 1:

Coheed and Cambria / "Goodnight, Fair Lady" / The Afterman: Ascension
Jason Collett / "Pacific Blue" / Reckon
A.C. Newman / "Encyclopedia of Classic Takedowns" / Shut Down the Streets
El Ten Eleven / "Thanks Bill" / Transitions
Animal Collective / "Monkey Riches" / Centipede Hz
Caspian / "Halls of the Summer" / Waking Season
Wild Nothing / "Midnight Song" / Nocturne
Freelance Whales / "Spitting Image" / Diluvia
California Wives / "Marianne" / Art History
Sun Airway / "Black Noise" / Soft Fall
The Luyas / "Talking Mountains" / Animator
Woods / "Bend Beyond" / Bend Beyond
Joshua Radin / "Underwater" / Underwater
The Mountain Goats / "Amy aka Spent Gladiator 1" / Transcendental Youth

Hour 2:

The Mars Volta / "Cut That City" / Tremulant EP
Pure Reason Revolution / "Nimos & Tambos" / Dark Third
Lesser Key / "Folding Stairs" / Parallels
Neoismo / "Sulla Spiaggia" / Atmosfera Nel Cubo
3 / "Anyone Human" / Revisions
Catacombe / "Anna-Liisa" / Kinetic
The Gathering / "Shortest Day" / Home
Katatonia / "Onward Into Battle" / Night is the New Day
The Omega Experiment / "Karma" / Karma EP
Coheed and Cambria / "Key Entity Extraction I: Domino the Destitute" / The Afterman: Ascension

Fall 2012, Show #3: Shoegaze Rock

Show date: 10/7/12

Hour 1:

Sun Airway / "Close" / Soft Fall
iamamiwhoami / "Goods" / Kin
The Luyas / "Fifty/Fifty" / Animator
Wild Nothing / "Disappear Always" / Nocturne
Rubblebucket / "Pain From Love" / Oversaturated 
Stars / "The North" / The North
Woods / "Cali in a Cup" / Bend Beyond
Tilly and the Wall / "All Kinds of Guns" / Heavy Mood
California Wives / "Purple" / Art History
The Cast of Cheers / "Family" / Family
Minus the Bear / "Lies and Eyes" / Infinity Overhead
Circa Survive / "Sharp Practice" / Violent Waves
The Union Electric / "Saint Francis of Illinois" / Time Is Gold


Hour 2:

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart / "Twins" / Higher Than the Stars EP
Nothing / "Downward Years to Come" / Downward Years to Come
Ringo Deathstarr / "Imagine Hearts" / Colour Trip
Weekend / "Hazel" / Red
Gliss / "Morning Light" / Devotion Implosion
Annabel / "The Forgetting of Names and Faces" / Here We Are Tomorrow
Letting Up Despite Great Faults / "Teenage Tide" / Paper Crush
Film School / "Heart Full of Pentagons" / Fission
Asobi Seksu / "New Years" / Citrus
Beach Fossils / "Shallow" / Shallow 7"
Sandra Black / "Pushin' It" / Sandra Black
Dorian Gray / "Falls to My Sleeve" / Listen With Mother
Regina / "Jos Et Sa Joita" / Soita Mulle
Odio Paris / "Cuando Nadie Pone un Disco" / Odio Paris
The Depreciation Guild / "Butterfly Kisses" / In Her Gentle Jaws

Fall 2012, Show #2: Dreamtronica

Show date: 9/30/12

Hour 1:

Local H / "Cold Manor" / Hallelujah! I'm a Bum
Bloc Party / "We're Not Good People" / Four
Cuckoo Chaos / "Super Skeleton" / Super Skeleton/Shanghaied
The Raveonettes / "She Owns the Streets" / Observator
Wild Nothing / "Counting Days" / Nocturne
Rubblebucket / "The Flower Man" / Oversaturated  
Django Django / "Default" / Django Django
The xx / "Reunion" / Coexist
Kitten / "Christina" / Cut It Out/Sugar
Smile Smile / "Marry a Stranger" / Marry a Stranger
Darlingside / "Still" / Pilot Machines
Minus the Bear / "Toska" / Infinity Overhead
Stars / "Backlines" / The North
Yeasayer / "Fingers Never Bleed" / Fragrant World

Hour 2:
 
Washed Out / "Amor Fati" / Within and Without
Memory Tapes / "Wait in the Dark" / Player Piano
Tycho / "Hours" / Dive
Elite Gymnastics / "Is This On Me?" / Real Friends EP
Phantogram / "Turn It Off" / Eyelid Movies
Hard Mix / "Now Her" / Defaults
Active Child / "When Your Love is Safe" / Curtis Lane
M83 / "Teen Angst" / Before the Dawn Heals Us
The New Division / "Starfield" / The Rookie
Nyiko Beguin / "Blankets & Sheets" / Colchester
Keep Shelly In Athens / Solar Bears -"Cub" (Keep Shelly In Athens Remix) / Campus Martius E.P.
Miracle Fortress / "Raw Spectacle" / Was I The Wave?
School of Seven Bells / "Bye Bye Bye" / Disconnect From Desire