2012 was a pretty great year for pop music, at least in terms of singles if not for entire albums. It was a year that saw a resurgence of male-led pop music (Bright Light Bright Light, Alex Clare), some strong sophomore efforts (Ellie Goulding, Sam Sparro, Adam Lambert, Bruno Mars), and some outstanding live shows in support of great new music (Dragonette, Beats Antique, The Ting Tings).
This year's best-of list includes several acts local to San Francisco, as I've had more opportunities to catch local bands than in prior years. The list includes quite a bit of music not available on Rdio; they are, of course, all worth checking out.
Tracks not available on Rdio:
- Clean Bandit – "UK Shanty" – listen – Buy on Amazon
- Disclosure & Sam Smith – "Latch" – listen – Buy on Amazon
- Foxes – "Youth" – listen
- Holy Ghost! – "It Gets Dark" – listen – Buy on Amazon
- Jessie Ware – "Wildest Moments" – video – Buy on Amazon
- Lindsey Stirling – "Elements" – video – Buy on iTunes
- Midi Matilda – "Day Dreams" – listen – Buy on BandCamp
- Noisettes – "Winner" – video
- Paradis – "Hémisphère" – listen – Buy on Beatport
- Rowsy Bosch feat. Jeb Havens – "We Are" – listen – Buy on Amazon
- Röyksopp feat. Susanne Sundfør – "Running to the Sea" – watch live performance – Buy on Röyksopp's site
Check out the rest in the embedded player:
