Probably the thing that stood out to me when looking back at the first half of the year is that I didn’t have a ton of albums to choose from. These are the 10 albums I’ve purchased this year so far, but now I have the added advantage of being able to listen to an album before I buy it. For me, Van Halen’s first album with David Lee Roth in 28 years still stands out as my favorite. It’s not a perfect record, but it’s a lot of fun and I listened to it a lot. But Mark Lanegan’s Blues Funeral is a close second and in the long run, will probably have more lasting impact on me; it’s just a terrific, moody collection. An underlying theme of several of the rest of the albums on my list is fun: The GBV, Torche, Japandroids and Cloud Nothing albums are all a blast to crank up. High on Fire continues to make heavier than heavy records, and Band of Skulls was a new discovery for me that was interesting. Rounding out my list are the new releases from Rush and Metric, both of which I’ve enjoyed in the last week or so but will need repeated listens. On a whim (and thanks to good word of mouth and a low price on Amazon), I picked up the new Smashing Pumpkins album Oceania, and on first listen, it sounds pretty good. My far from complete list of most anticipated releases for the second half includes the new albums from longtime favorite acts such as Soundgarden, Mission of Burma, Bob Mould and The Tragically Hip. I promise I’ll also get music from acts that are less than 20 years old. (Jay)

Jay’s Favorites of 2012:

1) Van Halen, A Different Kind of Truth
2) Mark Lanegan Band, Blues Funeral
3) Guided By Voices , Let’s Go Eat the Factory
4) Torche, Harmonicraft
5) Cloud Nothings, Attack on Memory
6) Japandroids, Celebration Rock
7) High on Fire, De Vermis Mysteriis
8) Band of Skulls, Sweet Sour
9) Rush, Clockwork Angels
10) Metric, Synthetica

Big Money’s Top 10 of 2012 So Far

1) John Mayer, Born And Raised

2) Fiona Apple, The Idler Wheel…

3) R. Kelly, Write Me Back

4) The Shins, Port Of Morrow

5) Jamie Woon, Mirrorwriting

6) Childish Gambino, Royalty (mixtape)

7) The Robert Glasper Experiment, Black Radio

8) Gotye, Making Mirrors

9) Jack White, Blunderbuss

10) Alabama Shakes, Boys And Girls

Jesse’s Top 12 of 2012 (so far)

1) Black Taxi, We Don’t Know Any Better

2) Killing Joke, MMXII

3) Prong, Carved Into Stone

4) Maximo Park, The National Health

5) Men Without Hats, Love In The Age Of Fear

6) Fear Factory, The Industrialist

7) Old Man Gloom, NO

8) Marriages, Kitsune

9) Julien-K, We’re Here With You

10) Knives Out, Black Mass Hysteria

11) Gojira, L’Enfant Sauvage

12) Reverend And The Makers, @reverend_makers

Bridget’s Not-Exactly-In-Order Best Of 2012

Usher, Looking 4 Myself
Cheryl Cole, A Million Lights
Jack White, Blunderbuss
B.o.B. , Strange Clouds
Santigold, Master of My Make-Believe
Nicki Minaj, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded
The Shins, Port of Morrow
Miike Snow, Happy To You
Motion City Soundtrack, Go
Monica, New Life

Nick’s Top Ten

1) Big Wreck, Albatross

2) Accept, Stalingrad

3) Avatar, Black Waltz

4) Overkill, The Electric Age

5) The Walkmen, Heaven

6) Japandroids, Celebration Rock

7) Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Here

8) Torche, Harmonicraft

9) Of Monsters & Men, My Head Is An Animal

10) Christian Mistress, Possession

The IrishJava Nine Best Of 2012 (So Far…)

Dr. John, Locked Down
The Explorer’s Club, Grand Hotel
Bruce Springsteen, Wrecking Ball
Justin Townes Earle, Nothing’s Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now
Robert Glasper Experiment, Black Radio
Kathleen Edwards, Voyageur
Ryan Shaw, Real Love
The Beach Boys, That’s Why God Made The Radio
Japandroids, Celebration Rock

Tom’s Top Ten

JD McPherson, Signs and Signifiers
Bruce Springsteen, Wrecking Ball
Alabama Shakes, Boys & Girls
Jack White, Blunderbuss
The White Buffalo, Once Upon a Time in the West
Van Halen, A Different Kind of Truth
Dr. John, Locked Down
The Lumineers
Rhett Miller, The Dreamer

Stephen’s Lucky Eight!

Japandroids,  Celebration Rock
Of Monsters and Men, My Head is an Animal
Sleigh Bells, Reign of Terror
Gotye, Making Mirrors
Lana Del Rey, Born to Die
Fiona Apple , The Idler Wheel…
Metric, Synthetica
Shonen Knife, Pop Tune