mercredi 2 Jan 2013, 2h49m

I love the number 31. This is because my favourite NBA basketball player of all time - Reggie Miller - wore it.

I logged onto last.fm just after midnight ticked over from 2012 into 2013 and I opened up all of my charts for the previous 12 months. I want to present them, but I don't want to give you information overload.

Combine these two little snippets of information and it becomes obvious what I must do; present my top 31 most played Albums, Artists and Tracks of 2012.

I may also add some commentary here and there.

Note well that this is not my subjective ranked favourite stuff that was released in 2012, but rather just the raw number of listens (of stuff from all time periods) that I scrobbled.

New releases are tagged with *NEW*.
Bands I saw live (in 2012) are tagged with *SAW*

Albums:
1. Jack White – Blunderbuss (137 plays) - *NEW*
2. The Shins – Port of Morrow (132 plays) - *NEW*
3. Alabama Shakes – Boys & Girls (126 plays) - *NEW*
+ starting off with three new releases, and each of them is a pretty solid album at least.
4. Dan Kelly – Dan Kelly's Dream (101 plays)
+ This came out last year. It is so high because it is good, and it was in Cara's car for most of the year.
4. Bill Simmons – The BS Report 2012 (101 plays)
+ This is an 'album' consisting of all of Bill Simmons podcasts for 2012.
6. Modest Mouse – Good News For People Who Love Bad News (100 plays)
+ The first of the truly classic albums that just got in cause I still love 'em.
7. Regina Spektor – What We Saw From The Cheap Seats (95 plays) - *NEW*
8. Placebo – Without You I'm Nothing (87 plays)
8. Ben Kweller – Go Fly a Kite (87 plays) - *NEW*
10. Jebediah – Slightly Odway (85 plays) - *SAW*
+ I saw Jebediah at the Perth Concert Hall this year, and I just wasn't sure why I don't listen to them more. So I listened to them more.
11. She & Him – Volume One (83 plays)
11. Ben Folds Five – The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind (83 plays) - *NEW* - *SAW*
+ Cara was very excited about BFF reforming. So was I, although perhaps slightly less so. This album is very good though.
13. Regurgitator – Unit (82 plays) - *SAW*
+ I saw the gurge perform tu plang and unit back to back this year. Awesome.
14. The Moldy Peaches – The Moldy Peaches (81 plays)
14. Sparta – Wiretap Scars (81 plays)
+ Someone borrowed this album from me years ago, and I finally got it back.
16. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend (78 plays)
16. The Hives – Lex Hives (78 plays) - *NEW*
18. Cat Power – Sun (76 plays) - *NEW*
+ A couple of good new albums that may have come out too late in the year for me to really appreciate them properly.
19. The Strokes – Is This It (75 plays)
19. Cloud Nothings – Attack On Memory (75 plays) - *NEW*
+ Not bad placing for an 8 track album.
21. The White Stripes – White Blood Cells (73 plays)
21. Ryan Adams – Gold (73 plays) - *SAW*
+ I listened to a LOT of Ryan Adam in preparation for his concert. Which didn't disappoint.
21. Mountain Goats – The Sunset Tree (73 plays)
21. The Mountain Goats – Transcendental Youth (73 plays) - *NEW*
25. Japandroids – Celebration Rock (72 plays) - *NEW*
+ Also pretty good for an 8 track album.
26. The Get Up Kids – Something To Write Home About (71 plays)
27. Divine Fits – A Thing Called Divine Fits (70 plays) - *NEW*
28. Evan Dando – Live At The Brattle Theatre (68 plays) - *SAW*
28. Silversun Pickups – Canervas (68 plays) - *SAW*
+ I had this album in my car forever, but didn't actually rip it to mp3 until this year.
30. Eels – Souljacker (66 plays)
+ Finally bought this old album this year.
30. OK Go – Of the Blue Colour of the Sky (66 plays)

Other notable albums:
34. The Black Keys – El Camino (62 plays) - *NEW*
34. Tenacious D – Rize of the Fenix (62 plays) - *NEW* - *SAW*
40. Ryan Adams – Ashes & Fire (58 plays) - *SAW*
+ This album came out last year, but grew on me this year.
48. Hanni El Khatib – Will The Guns Come Out (54 plays) - *NEW*
+ A young exciting new blues player.
54. The Darkness – Hot Cakes (53 plays) - *NEW*
64. Kimya Dawson – Remember That I Love You (46 plays)
+ I went through a few weeks where I loved this album!
76. that dog. – Retreat From the Sun (40 plays)
81. Cage the Elephant – Thank You Happy Birthday (39 plays)
+ A couple of albums that I really fell in love with this year.
205. Steel Panther – Death To All But Metal (21 plays)

Tracks:
1. Ben Folds Five – Do It Anyway (29 plays) - *NEW* - *SAW*
2. Regina Spektor – All the Rowboats (24 plays) - *NEW*
2. Alabama Shakes – Hold On (24 plays) - *NEW*
4. Cloud Nothings – Stay Useless (23 plays) - *NEW*
5. The Lonely Island – We're Back! (22 plays)
+ This might be my favourite Lonely Island song.
6. Japandroids – The House That Heaven Built (21 plays) - *NEW*
7. The Black Keys – Lonely Boy (20 plays)
7. The Shins – Simple Song (20 plays) - *NEW*
9. The Shins – For a Fool (19 plays) - *NEW*
9. San Cisco – Awkward (19 plays) - *SAW*
9. Islands – Can't Feel My Face (19 plays) - *NEW*
9. The Shins – September (19 plays) - *NEW*
9. The Darkness – Everybody Have a Good Time (19 plays) - *NEW*
14. The Rolling Stones – Gimme Shelter (18 plays)
+ Had a bit of a Rolling Stones resurgence this year.
14. Al Green – Let's Stay Together (18 plays)
+ This was the bridal waltz at my wedding. Really great song.
14. Ben Kweller – Mean to Me (18 plays) - *NEW*
14. Los Campesinos! – Baby I Got The Death Rattle (18 plays) - *SAW*
+ Seeing Los Campesinos! live was a highlight of my year (in a year of highlights).
14. The Shins – Fall of '82 (18 plays) - *NEW*
19. The Rolling Stones – Sympathy for the Devil (17 plays)
19. that dog. – Never Say Never (17 plays)
+ Amazing track from the 90's that I had never heard of before.
19. The Rapture – Echoes (17 plays)
19. The Mountain Goats – Old College Try (17 plays)
19. Cage the Elephant – Aberdeen (17 plays)
19. Cloud Nothings – No Future/No Past (17 plays) - *NEW*
19. Superchunk – This Summer (17 plays) - *NEW*
19. Jens Lekman – The World Moves On (17 plays) - *NEW*
27. Icehouse – Electric Blue (16 plays)
27. The Rolling Stones – Stupid Girl (16 plays)
27. Fred Neil – The Dolphins (16 plays)
27. LCD Soundsystem – Drunk Girls (16 plays)
27. Japandroids – Younger Us (16 plays) - *NEW*
27. Alabama Shakes – Hang Loose (16 plays) - *NEW*
27. Jason Segel & Walter – Man Or Muppet (16 plays) - *NEW*
+ This counts as new in 2012 for Australia, because the movie didn't come out here until 2012, and I saw it on Jan 1st.
27. The Dandy Warhols – SETI vs. the Wow! Signal (16 plays) - *NEW* - *SAW*
27. Beachwood Sparks – The Orange Grass Special (16 plays) - *NEW*
27. The Mountain Goats – Cry for Judas (16 plays) - *NEW*

Artists:
1. Weezer (330 plays)
+ Upon buying Weezer tickets, I played their entire back catalogue over again.
2. The Beatles (281 plays)
+ This band has such quantity and quality of music, that it really is strange that it is not number 1 every year.
3. The Shins (241 plays) - *NEW*
4. The Mountain Goats (218 plays) - *NEW*
5. Regurgitator (192 plays) - *SAW*
6. Jack White (191 plays) - *NEW*
+ I also listened to some of his Cold Mountain Soundtrack stuff in addition to his new album this year.
7. The Hives (189 plays) - *NEW*
8. Ryan Adams (183 plays) - *SAW*
9. The White Stripes (177 plays)
10. Jebediah (165 plays) - *SAW*
11. Regina Spektor (164 plays) - *NEW*
12. Bright Eyes (162 plays)
13. Modest Mouse (159 plays)
14. Ben Kweller (158 plays) - *NEW*
15. Placebo (157 plays)
16. The Flaming Lips (146 plays) - *NEW*
17. Belle and Sebastian (144 plays)
18. The Strokes (143 plays)
19. The Lemonheads (142 plays)
20. The Darkness (141 plays) - *NEW*
20. The Black Keys (141 plays) - *NEW*
22. Ben Folds Five (128 plays) - *NEW*
23. Flight of the Conchords (127 plays) - *SAW*
24. Alabama Shakes (126 plays) - *NEW*
25. Spiderbait (125 plays)
26. Cat Power (124 plays) - *NEW*
26. Los Campesinos! (124 plays) - *SAW*
26. She & Him (124 plays)
29. The Rolling Stones (123 plays)
30. NOFX (121 plays)
+ I did listen to a _lot_ of NOFX this year.
30. Rilo Kiley (121 plays)

Other notable artists:
42. Cloud Nothings (90 plays) - *NEW*
43. Japandroids (87 plays) - *NEW*
59. Divine Fits (70 plays) - *NEW*
109. Destroyer (38 plays)
+ One of my favourite finds of 2012, I need more of their songs.
126. LCD Soundsystem (34 plays)
+ LCD Soundsystem called it quits this year, but I still like 'em.
126. The Highwaymen (34 plays)
+ Some classic country supergroup songs that remind me of growing up with my Dad.
134. Sex Bob-Omb (33 plays)
+ I really wish they would make another EP…

And that is it, stay tuned for my end of year top five lists!