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Written by PLAYBACK:stl Staff Monday, 02 January 2012 20:17

Let's face it: We here at PLAYBACK:stl live for music. Nothing excites us more than a new release, whether by one of our favorite artists or one we've yet to discover. Here, find a quick best-of list of a few of our critics.

Laura Hamlett

1. Duran Duran | All You Need Is Now (Tapemodern)

2. Matt Nathanson | Modern Love (Vanguard)

3. Panic! at the Disco | Vices & Virtues (Decaydance/Fueled by Rayman)

4. Matthew Good | Lights of Endangered Species (Universal)

5. Blue October | Any Man in America (Up/Down)

6. Black Lab | Unplugged (Black Lab World)

7. MuteMath | Odd Soul (Warner Bros.)

8. Kevin Devine | Between the Concrete and Clouds (Razor & Tie)

9. David Newton & Thee Mighty Angels | Paint the Town EP (self-released)

10. The Kills | Blood Pressures (Domino)

 

Justin Curia

1. Yuck | Yuck (Fat Possum)

2. Obits | Moody, Standard and Poor (Sub Pop)

3. Curren$y | Weekend at Burnie’s (Warner Bros.)

4. Wild Flag | Wild Flag (Merge)

5. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks | Mirror Traffic (Matador)

6. Moon Duo | Mazes (Sacred Bones)

7. TV on the Radio | Nine Types of Light (Interscope)

8. The Cool Kids | When Fish Ride Bicycles (Green Label Sound)

9. White Fence | Is Growing Faith (Woodsist)

10. Washed Out | Within and Without (Sub Pop)

 

Mike Rengel

1. R.E.M. | Collapse into Now (Warner Bros.)

2. Paul Simon | So Beautiful or So What (Hear Music)

3. Adele | 21 (XL/Columbia)

4. Destroyer | Kaputt (Merge)

5. The War on Drugs | Slave Ambient (Secretly Canadian)

6. Bon Iver | Bon Iver (Jagjaguwar)

7. Lykke Li | Wounded Rhymes (Atlantic/LL)

8. Cut Copy | Zonoscope (Modular)

9. The Antlers | Burst Apart (Frenchkiss)

10. Drake | Take Care (Young Money/Cash Money)

 

Teresa Montgomery

1. Joshua Fletcher | His & Hers EP (Great Southern Recordings)

2. Laura Jansen | Bells (Decca)

3. Blitzen Trapper | American Goldwing (Sub Pop)

4. Stephen Kellogg and The Sixers | Gift Horse (Vanguard)

5. Andy Grammer | Andy Grammer (S-Curve)

6. The Damnwells | No One Listens to the Band Anymore (PledgeMusic)

7. Elizabeth and the Catapult | The Other Side of Zero (Verve Forecast)

8. G. Love | Fixin’ to Die (Brushfire)

9. Smoking Popes | This Is Only a Test (Asian Man)

10. Pernikoff Brothers | On My Way (self-released)

 

Mike Koehler

1. Frank Turner | England Keep My Bones (Epitaph)

2. Yuck | Yuck (Fat Possum)

3. Frankie & the Heartstrings | Hunger (Columbia)

4. Anna Calvi | Anna Calvi (Domino)

5. The Vaccines | What Did You Expect from the Vaccines (Columbia)

6. The War on Drugs | Slave Ambient (Secretly Canadian)

7. PJ Harvey | Let England Shake (Island)

8. White Denim | D (Downtown)

9. The Joy Formidable | The Big Roar (Atlantic/Canvasback)

10. Dawes | Nothing Is Wrong (ATO)

 

Alex Schreiber

1. Architecture in Helsinki | Moment Bends (Downtown)

2. Wild Flag | Wild Flag (Merge)

3. M83 | Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming (Mute)

4. St. Vincent | Strange Mercy (4AD)

5. Ryan Adams | Ashes & Fire (PAX-AM/Capitol)

6. Lykke Li | Wounded Rhymes (Atlantic/LL)

7. Yuck | Yuck (Fat Possum)

8. The Black Keys | El Camino (Nonesuch)

9. Smith Westerns | Dye It Blonde (Fat Possum)

10. Foster the People | Torches (Columbia)

 

Jennifer Manjarez

1. Arctic Monkeys | Suck It and See (Domino)

2. Coldplay | Mylo Xyloto (Capitol)

3. Adele | 21 (Columbia)

4. Cake | Showroom of Compassion (Upbeat)

5. Cascada | Original Me (Universal U.K.)

6. Various Artists | Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 (original motion picture soundtrack) (Atlantic)

7. Kasabian | Velociraptor (RED)

8. Benny Benassi | Electroman (Ultra)

9. The Streets | Computers and Blues (Warner Bros. U.K.)

10. Foster the People | Torches (Columbia)

 

Tony Van Zeyl

1. Wilco | Whole Love (dBpm/Anti-)

2. Fleet Foxes | Helplessness Blues (Sub Pop)

3. Bon Iver | Bon Iver (Jagjaguwar)

4. The Beastie Boys | Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2 (Capitol)

5. Cut/Copy | Zonoscope (Modular)

6. The Black Keys | El Camino (Nonesuch)

7. The Washover Fans | This Habit Suits You (CDBY)

8. My Morning Jacket | Circuital (ATO/RED)

9. The Barr Brothers | The Barr Brothers (Secret City)

10. The Head and the Heart | The Head and the Heart (Sub Pop)

 

Ashley White

1. Adele | 21 (Columbia)

2. Beyonce | 4 (Sony)

3. Rihanna | Talk that Talk (Def Jam)

4. Drake | Take Care (Cash Money)

5. The Weeknd | House of Balloons (XO)

6. Kanye West and Jay-Z | Watch the Throne (Def Jam)

7. Joss Stone | LP1 (Stone’d/Surfdog)

8. Chris Brown | F.A.M.E. (Jive)

9. Jessie J | Who You Are (Universal Music Group)

10. Musiq Souclhild | Musiqinthemagiq (Atlantic)

 

Pete Timmermann

1. Eleanor Friedberger | Last Summer (Merge)

2. Jonny Greenwood/CAN | Norwegian Wood (original soundtrack recording) (Nonesuch)

3. Tom Waits | Bad as Me (Anti-)

4. Various artists | Life Is Dance: Plugged-in Sounds of Wonder at the Pakistani Picture House (B-Music)

5. Panda Bear | Tomboy (Paw Tracks)