TOP 30

  1. METRIC*   Synthetica (Mom + Pop)
  2. COLD SPECKS*   I Predict A Graceful Expulsion (Arts & Crafts)
  3. CADENCE WEAPON*   Hope In Dirt City (Upper Class)
  4. HOT CHIP   In Our Heads (Domino)
  5. HEY OCEAN!*   Is (Nettwerk)
  6. BADBADNOTGOOD*   BBNG2 (Self-Released)
  7. JAPANDROIDS*   Celebration Rock (Polyvinyl)
  8. WINTERSLEEP*   Hello Hum (Capitol)
  9. THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH   There's No Leaving Now (Dead Oceans)
  10. GUIDED BY VOICES   Class Clown Spots A UFO (Guided By Voices, Inc. (GBV))
  11. BEACH HOUSE   Bloom (Sub Pop)
  12. PARLOVR*   Kook Soul (Dine Alone)
  13. THESE UNITED STATES   These United States (United Interests)
  14. BEACHWOOD SPARKS   The Tarnished Gold (Sub Pop)
  15. EDWARD SHARPE AND THE MAGNETIC ZEROS   Here (Vagrant)
  16. ANDRE WILLIAMS & THE SADIES*   Night and Day (Outside)
  17. BRASSTRONAUT*   Mean Sun (Unfamiliar)
  18. ZULU WINTER   Language (Arts & Crafts)
  19. DON CHERRY   Organic Music Society (Caprice)
  20. VARIOUS*   Cassettestival Sampler 2 (Self-Released)
  21. MAXIME ROBIN*   DIY Swag (Self-Released)
  22. ELIZABETH SHEPHERD*   Rewind (Pinwheel)
  23. LEARNING*   Live in a Living Room (Self-Released)
  24. PAPER LIONS*   At Long Creek (Self-Released)
  25. GRACE POTTER & THE NOCTURNALS   The Lion The Beast The Beat (Hollywood)
  26. JIMMY FALLON   Blow Your Pants Off (Warner (WEA))
  27. THE MYNABIRDS   Generals (Saddle Creek)
  28. JAILL   Traps (Sub Pop)
  29. MONOPHONICS   In Your Brain (Ubiquity)
  30. COOKIE DUSTER*   When Flying Was Easy (Draper St.)

Electronic

  1. HOT CHIP   In Our Heads (Domino)
  2. MAXIME ROBIN*   DIY Swag (Self-Released)
  3. SQUAREPUSHER   Ufabulum (Warp)
  4. HUMANS*   Traps (Hybridity)
  5. MAQLU*   Futureghosts (Self-Released)
  6. A TRIBE CALLED RED*   A Tribe Called Red (Self-Released)
  7. SONNYMOON   Sonnymoon (Plug Research)
  8. HUMAN WOMAN   Human Woman (HFN)
  9. BATTLES   Dross Glop (Warp)
  10. NIKI & THE DOVE   Instinct (Sub Pop)

Hip Hop

  1. CADENCE WEAPON*   Hope In Dirt City (Upper Class)
  2. MAXIME ROBIN*   DIY Swag (Self-Released)
  3. LEE REED*   Emergency Broadcast (Self-Released)
  4. WORDBURGLAR*   3rdburglar (Hand Solo)
  5. THEESATISFACTION   awE naturalE (Sub Pop)
  6. I SELF DEVINE   The Sound of Low Class Amerika (Rhymesayers)
  7. MANTRAKID*   Dragon Lullabies (Neferiu)
  8. CITYREAL AND WES MACKEY*   Good Morning Blues (Self-Released)
  9. EL-P   Cancer 4 Cure (C4C) (Fat Possum)
  10. DESTAR*   Reconstructed Memories (Neferiu)

International

  1. VARIOUS   Bardic Divas: Women's Voice In Central Asia (Smithsonian Folkways)
  2. THE BATTLE OF SANTIAGO*   Full Colour (Made With Pencil Crayons)
  3. KRONOS QUARTET, ALIM FARGANA QUASIMOV AND HOMAYOUN SAKHI   Music of Central Asia Vol. 8: Rainbow (Smithsonian Folkways)
  4. VARIOUS   Future Sounds of Buenos Aires (ZZK)
  5. LIJADU SISTERS   Sunshine (Knitting Factory)
  6. KONKOMA   Konkoma (Soundway)
  7. SIERRA LEONE'S REFUGEE ALL STARS   Radio Salone (Cumbancha)
  8. LE SUPER BORGOU DE PARAKOU   The Bariba Sound (Analog Africa)
  9. CURUMIN   Arrocha (Six Degrees)
  10. AFROLICIOUS   Pleasuretime (ESL/Eighteenth Street Lounge)

Jazz & Experimental

  1. BADBADNOTGOOD*   BBNG2 (Self-Released)
  2. DON CHERRY   Organic Music Society (Caprice)
  3. ELIZABETH SHEPHERD*   Rewind (Pinwheel)
  4. WADADA LEO SMITH   Ten Freedom Summers (Cuneiform)
  5. HARRIS EISENSTADT*   Canada Day III (Songlines)
  6. THE BATTLE OF SANTIAGO*   Full Colour (Made With Pencil Crayons)
  7. POSITIVE CATASTROPHE   Dibrujo, Dibrujo, Dibrujo? (Cuneiform)
  8. FRANCOIS HOULE 5+1*   Genera (Songlines)
  9. BILL EVANS TRIO   Moon Beams (reissue) (Riverside)
  10. STARRING   ABCDEFG-HIJKLMNOP-QRSTUV-WXYZ (Northern Spy)

Loud

  1. WHITE LUNG*   Sorry (Deranged)
  2. COLD WARPS*   Cold Warps/Endless Bummer (Noyes)
  3. THE WHITE WIRES*   The White Wires III (Dirtnap)
  4. HEAVY CREAM   Super Treatment (Infinity Cat)
  5. COUSINS*   The Palm At The End Of The Mind (Saved By Vinyl)
  6. ROYAL THUNDER   CVI (Relapse)
  7. CANCER BATS*   Dead Set On Living (Distort)
  8. K-HOLES   Dismania (Hardly Art)
  9. TY SEGALL BAND   Slaughterhouse (In The Red)
  10. MARES OF THRACE*   The Pilgrimage (Sonic Unyon)

Folks/Roots/Blues

  1. THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH   There's No Leaving Now (Dead Oceans)
  2. THESE UNITED STATES   These United States (United Interests)
  3. ANDRE WILLIAMS & THE SADIES*   Night and Day (Outside)
  4. PAPER LIONS*   At Long Creek (Self-Released)
  5. THE 24TH STREET WAILERS*   Unshakeable (Self-Released)
  6. JULIA STONE   By The Horns (Nettwerk)
  7. SARA WATKINS   Sun Midnight Sun (Nonesuch)
  8. NEIL YOUNG*   Americana (Warner (WEA))
  9. NO SINNER*   Boo Hoo Hoo (First Love)
  10. SHANNON STEPHENS   Pull It Together (Asthmatic Kitty)