2012 has been such a wonderful year for music. Here is my list of the top 50 songs of the year. I attempted to cast a wide net with my selections, although disappointment is always expected from these lists. I also limited selections to one per artist or else the list would be saturated with Fiona Apple and Hot Chip. Rather than bore with fifty extraneous blobs of trivia dumps, I chose to provide background via the majestic Japanese poetry of haiku. Please excuse my egregious lack of oversight with respect to haiku’s qualities and apologizes in advance if I stumble on a syllable here or there. Lastly, if you don’t like Carly Rae Jepsen, you might as well want to close out of this tab right now.

50. Dirty Projectors – Gun Has No Trigger

Girls harmonizing / David Longstreth’s soulful voice / Naïve melody

49. Twin Shadow – Five Seconds

More 80s synthpop / Caucasians dancing poorly / Pissed off Chris Richards

48. ASAP Rocky – Goldie

Harlem’s next-big-thing / “Extraordinary swag” / Luxury hip-hop

47. Nicki Minaj – Starships

RedOne europop / Technicolor rump-shaking / Clone of “Firework”

46. Cadence Weapon – Conditioning

Canadian rap / Life is hard in Edmonton / Booming production

45. Tomas Barfod feat. Nina Kinert – November Skies

Summertime rhythms / “November” a misnomer / Explore warm climates

44. Escort – All Through The Night

Return of disco / Sassy DFA basslines / Muppets can move too

43. Lower Dens – Brains

Stumbling krautrock / Jana Hunter’s mumbling meep / Stay weird Baltimore

42. Nas – Daughters

Single fatherhood / The teen who wrote Illmatic / Now sweating sexting

41. Future Of The Left – I Am The Least Of Your Problems

Menacing Welsh punk / Don’t fuck with Andy Falco / You will get called out

40. Magic Wands – Kaleidoscope Hearts

Psychedelic pop / Self-titled “lovewave” genre / For fans of The Kills

39. Meek Mill feat. Drake and Jeremih – Amen

Drake’s verse a winner / But Mill’s the bigger sinner / God forgives, they don’t

38. Haim – Forever

Three sisters make tunes / Unremembered nostalgia / Puke-inducing cute

37. Ceremony – Hysteria

Hardcore band cleans up / Receives more publicity / Eat it, elitists

36. Best Coast – The Only Place

Hey did you hear that / Bethany Cosentino / Likes California?

35. Schoolboy Q feat. ASAP Rocky – Hands On The Wheel

Lissie’s Cudi track / Revised into stoner jam / Women, weed and brews

34. Bruce Springsteen – We Take Care Of Our Own

Occupy Springsteen / Barrack’s Re-Election Theme / Kiss my ass Ayn Rand

33. Yeasayer – Henrietta

Progressive psych-pop / Remember MGMT? / What happened to them?

32. The 2 Bears – Be Strong

Two British DJs / “Music has imprisoned me” / Add this to your mix

31. The Men – Open Your Heart

Dirty, vintage punk / Like a jump-kick to the chest / But in a good way

30. The Tallest Man On Earth – 1904

Yes, he sounds like Bob / But Dylan has no equal / Worthwhile attempt though

29. Liars – No.1 Against The Rush

Bubbling synth pulse / The King of Limbs 2.0 / This band is so weird

28. Usher – Climax

Restrained R&B / Usher croons about cumming / Diplo production

27. Cloud Nothings – Wasted Days

Nine minutes of rock / Dylan Baldi’s screeching yawp / Thanks, Steve Albini

26. Fun. – Some Nights

Soaring pop anthem / I’m so sick of “We Are Young” / Why the period?

25. Burial – Loner

Riding the night bus / Music from Twenty Fifteen / Future sex love sounds

24. Django Django – Default

Young Scots spark fire / Stealing Franz Ferdinand’s shtick / African dance-punk

23. Diplo feat. Nicky Da B – Express Yourself

Ass, ass everywhere! / Diplo’s take on N.O. bounce / How low can you go?

22. Purity Ring – Fineshrine

Shape-shifting vocals / Romantic slice of dream pop / Destructive lyrics

21. Killer Mike – Reagan

Trolling G.O.P. / Rap game illuminati / “I’m glad Reagan dead.”

20. Death Grips – Hacker

Noise-rap rioters / Civil disobedience / XTRMNTR

19. The Shins – Simple Song

Catchy, jangle pop / Broken Bells were really lame / Natalie Portman

18. Tanlines – All Of Me

Beach-bound indie pop / Brooklyn tours Ibiza / “Do what you don’t do”

17. Frank Ocean – Pyramids

R&B’s new star / Ten-minute electrofunk / Don’t care who he fucks

16. Blood Diamonds feat. Grimes – Phone Sex

Vengaboys redux / “Ultimate pop fantasy” / Grimes could use a tan

15. Sleigh Bells – Comeback Kid

Fashionable noise / Bludgeoning guitar attack / Old people hate this

14. Sharon Van Etten – Serpents

Falling in love hurts / SVE can’t get a break / “Everything changes”

13. Kanye West feat. Big Sean, Pusha T and 2 Chainz – Mercy

GOOD Music throws down / Unstoppable posse cut / You’re up, Young Money

12. Spiritualized – Hey Jane

Lengthy soul rocker / J. Spaceman’s back in control / Aural decadence

11. Gorillaz feat. Andre 3000 and James Murphy – DoYaThing

Converse’s money / Three geniuses laboring / Everybody wins

10. Hot Chip – Night & Day

Quirky nu-disco / London’s reigning dance wizards / Brits shouldn’t fake-rap

09. Diiv – Doused

Fluid guitar work / The Cure meets Joy Division / Post-punk vibrations

08. Jack White – Love Interruption

Even without Meg / Our generation’s rock star / Still can’t shake the blues

07. Beach House – Myth

Baltimore’s finest / Atmospheric stargazing / Gossamer dreamscapes

06. Drake feat. Lil Wayne – The Motto

“You only live once” / Rap existentialism / Make poor life choices

05. Chromatics – Kill For Love

Ryan Gosling’s Drive / Shimmering synthesizers / Instagram filter

04. Grimes – Oblivion

Lisping falsetto / Elfish aestheticism / Advanced bedroom pop

03. Carly Rae Jepsen – Call Me Maybe

Haters, embrace it / Obnoxiously endearing / Shy girls need dates too

02. Fiona Apple – Hot Knife

Intense emotions / Fluttering a capella / Madness yields brilliance

01. Japandroids – The House That Heaven Built

Manic garage rock / Don’t worry about dying / Embrace the zeitgeist