Solange and her Sapeur co-stars in the video for "Losing You." hide caption
Lists : Best Music Of 2012 Our picks for the best music of 2012.
best music of 2012
Lists
Ellie Goulding Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Killer Mike performing at Moogfest in October. Adam Kissick for NPR hide caption
"ILLuminate (featuring Kendrick Lamar)"
M.I.A. rocks out in 2012. hide caption
Stasia Irons of THEESatisfaction performs at KEXP's All Songs Considered party at The Vera Project on August 20, 2012. Dave Lichterman/KEXP hide caption
Mokoomba, a rising young band of Tonga musicians from Zimbabwe Courtesy of the artist hide caption
INTERACTIVE: BOB BOILEN'S WRISTBANDS 2012 - Wristbands, ticket stubs and badges from a few of the hundreds of shows Bob Boilen saw in 2012. Lauren Rock/NPR hide caption
The Stray Birds released one of the finest debuts of the year. Courtesy of the artist hide caption
In 2012, the British MC Chunky (left) began working as a producer and made one of our favorite tracks of the year. square eyes/Flickr hide caption
The Vijay Iyer Trio is Marcus Gilmore (left, drums), Iyer (center, piano) and Stephan Crump (right, bass). Jimmy Katz/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
'Little Pocket Size Demons' by Vijay Iyer Trio
Pianist Jeremy Denk, whose album of Ligeti and Beethoven landed on our Top 10 Classical of 2012. Michael Wilson/courtesy of the artist hide caption
Holly Herndon. Suzy Poling/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Asphyx. Dario Dumancic/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Xenia Rubinos is one of our favorite artists of 2012. Courtesy of the artist hide caption
NPR listeners picked Mumford And Sons' Babel as their favorite record for 2012. Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Robin Thicke performs in Feburary. His song, "Another Life" leaked on the Internet this summer, but didn't land on the charts. Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images hide caption
Britain's Alt-J was this year's Mercury Prize winner, for the band's debut album An Awesome Wave. The group is also Bob Boilen's pick for Album Of The Year. Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Miguel's killer 2012 began with the release of three free Art Dealer Chic mixtapes. His second full-length album, Kaleidoscope Dream, followed in September. Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Cat Power (Chan Marshall) put out the best record of her career in 2012, with the triumphant Sun. Austin Conroy hide caption
Japandroids' music celebrates the joy of a life lived loudly. Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Few artists were played as much on public radio this year as the Mercury Prize winners in Alt-J. Jory Cordy hide caption