No Ripcord's Top 50 Albums of 2012

No Ripcord's Top 50 Albums of 2012

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49.

October 9, 2012
Critic Score
85
20 reviews

AWLWLB is the sound of a legendary band coming to full terms with who they are, giving them the power to take everything that’s made them distinct and pushing those qualities as far as they can go in one unified statement.

48.

June 12, 2012
Critic Score
78
34 reviews
The contemporary beats and intermitted uses of techno make this album youthful. For instance, Stupid has a stoic loop that runs through Womack's raspy cries and a sophisticated piano melody. It's a really beautiful blend of new and old.

47.

Punks on Mars - Bad Expectations
October 30, 2012
Critic Score
65
4 reviews

46.

June 5, 2012
Critic Score
78
29 reviews
It is the album that all of her non-musical endeavors suggested she would make from the beginning.

45.

September 4, 2012
Critic Score
74
43 reviews

As it stands, it’s a portrait of growing up that is wonderfully vivid but a tad unfulfilling, a collection of tracks boasting some remarkable tunes and a complex theme, and an album that is bound to satisfy both hardcore and casual fans.

44.

February 14, 2012
Critic Score
82
24 reviews

The record makes for wonderful background listening but also has a good handful of tracks that would tear up a dancefloor in the hands of the right DJ.

43.

September 4, 2012
Critic Score
76
24 reviews

What’s astonishing about Breakup Song is how it maintains an intuitive notion of coherence, even with its handling of contradictions. All the while making it look easy. 

42.

February 21, 2012
Critic Score
80
31 reviews

Put Your Back N 2 It is essentially a conversation between a man and his piano, and letting us intrude into his deeply personal thoughts is his cunning way of seeking validation.

41.

September 4, 2012
Critic Score
79
43 reviews

Sun is undoubtedly Marshall’s boldest and most diverse effort to date, and it is all the better for it. 

40.

June 11, 2012
Critic Score
75
41 reviews

39.

May 14, 2012
Critic Score
75
22 reviews

38.

September 11, 2012
Critic Score
76
39 reviews

These are, quite simply, great songs. They are fun, they are emotional, and no two sound alike. 

37.

July 24, 2012
Critic Score
78
35 reviews

Purity Ring has crafted an album in Shrines that stands head and shoulders above the works of their peers.

36.

May 22, 2012
Critic Score
81
35 reviews
For all the missteps along the way, El-P arrives somewhere quite poignant, and although he may not have paved his own way there, his route is quite impressive, and there is no wasted beat and no unseen seriousness and intensity.

35.

October 15, 2012
Critic Score
77
44 reviews

There’s an undeniable beauty running throughout the album, but there is also such a comfortable departure from the form of the first two records that it might be too easy for Khan.

34.

September 4, 2012
Critic Score
79
15 reviews

It’s an album that revels in interpretation and grows larger and nearly overpowering in its ability to draw the listener into its dense layers of distortion, cascading dissonance, and fleeting moments of stunning clarity.

33.

March 8, 2012
Critic Score
81
24 reviews

Ekstasis abounds with originality and depth; soars and sinks; expands and implodes; evolves and dissipates; crackles and breaks all within one cohesive sound.

31.

October 9, 2012
Critic Score
79
22 reviews

This is METZ suggesting, insisting and demanding to be heard. Theirs is the voice of freedom and expression and we should all listen very carefully to what that means. 

30.

PS I Love You - Death Dreams
May 8, 2012
Critic Score
78
14 reviews

Death Deams almost faultlessly conveys the volatility and incomprehensibility of their particular genius. 

29.

August 28, 2012
Critic Score
81
34 reviews

As enjoyable as the first half of America is, the sprawling suite on the flip-side is a truly inspired effort from Deacon -- probably his most adventurous and involving piece to date.

27.

July 10, 2012
Critic Score
76
33 reviews

The heavy wear upon new wave revivalism in the past few years has really limited the scope of this album as per its originality. 

26.

February 12, 2012
Critic Score
85
18 reviews

The grid of his computer screen is less rigid, and consequently, there is less access into the song's core because there are multiple cores, each a little world onto itself, a degree zero, an island.

25.

April 24, 2012
Critic Score
82
41 reviews

There is not quite enough confidence, not quite enough honesty to elevate Blunderbuss to the record Jack White wants it to be.

24.

March 6, 2012
Critic Score
82
25 reviews

The Men’s Open Your Heart has the good sense to utilize its influences as a means to go forward, cultivating an eclectic albeit consistent brand of independent rock n’ roll music.

23.

May 15, 2012
Critic Score
77
40 reviews

Bloom, unfortunately, becomes less interesting with the more attention you pay to it, largely because there is not much to set it apart from its predecessors.

22.

April 24, 2012
Critic Score
81
20 reviews

21.

May 22, 2012
Critic Score
81
19 reviews

Elverum’s utilization of metallic and avant-garde elements into what might otherwise be considered a folk album demonstrates a songwriter unlimited by genre and also turned on by creative possibility.

19.

September 11, 2012
Critic Score
78
46 reviews

Overall, it’s a successful return, and a record that demonstrates the success of their debut wasn’t a fluke and that The xx truly are masters of musical alchemy.

17.

January 30, 2012
Critic Score
81
26 reviews

The melodies are catch and pleasing, full of sharply written, witty lyricism. Not a thing about it is forced. It’s a classic slow grower, immediately pleasing but not striking.

15.

February 21, 2012
Critic Score
80
41 reviews

Visions is beautifully conceived and executed, musically, lyrically and thematically.

14.

January 24, 2012
Critic Score
78
30 reviews

Most of Attack on Memory has an abrasive, shrewd backbone, but it’s those moments where Baldi hones his sweet touch where the album finds a satisfying balance of surprise and comfort.

13.

June 5, 2012
Critic Score
82
35 reviews

Celebration Rock’s high-tempo riff rock concerns itself with energy and embraces our serendipitous run-ins with those good times worth remembering.

11.

July 10, 2012
Critic Score
80
44 reviews

Whereas once, Longstreth was a composer, on Swing Lo Magellan he tries his hand at being a songwriter. And it’s the most refreshing move of his career.

10.

September 18, 2012
Critic Score
79
38 reviews

The hard work they put into Shields deserves recognition, even if it occasionally strikes as too labored and considered.

9.

October 16, 2012
Critic Score
83
33 reviews
It's all powerful stuff and it can only be GY!BE.

8.

October 2, 2012
Critic Score
83
34 reviews

7.

June 26, 2012
Critic Score
80
19 reviews

Songs reverberate out of relentless feedback, their forms never hold any oppressive distinction and what is truly liberating is that you get to experience a band that has experimented on record.

6.

July 10, 2012
Critic Score
91
42 reviews

With a few notable exceptions, Channel ORANGE is solid rather than spellbinding

5.

June 19, 2012
Critic Score
87
33 reviews

The sparse, even unprompted production only makes it richer, resulting in a fascinating unanimity of piano and voice that turns more involving with every clink, clatter, and clap.

4.

August 28, 2012
Critic Score
86
34 reviews

The Seer is 30 years’ worth of effort, a unique and exciting height earned after decades of creation, experimentation and unconventional musical disassembly. 

3.

April 21, 2012
Critic Score
83
26 reviews

The Money Store might be the very definition of acquired taste, and will most likely alienate the vast majority who attempt to give it a spin, but it's undeniably an extraordinary record.

2.

October 5, 2012
Critic Score
86
35 reviews

This album is incredibly intriguing and was executed beautifully. 

1.

October 22, 2012
Critic Score
90
32 reviews

good kid, m.A.A.d city is a cocksure record, but that confidence isn’t misplaced.

Original Source: http://www.noripcord.com/features/top-50-albums-2012-part-one
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