Kate

Reno, NV

Alt-J's An Awesome Wave. I love how the tempo and mood change with every track as they flow into one another. It is a fresh new sound that I really appreciated.

Thrift Shop by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. If that song doesn't make you dance, then not much will.

Shovels and rope!! The thought of the two of them traveling around the country in their Winnebago playing music and being madly in love with each other makes me so happy. Her voice is amazing and it's just a solid country-tinged, bluegrass love fest. Lay Low is a great sad love song that beautifully captures the pain of long distance love.

Japandroids! Not as much rock and roll this year, definitely more pop. But Japandroids knocked my socks off. I just love their anthem rock quality. As NPR music's Stephen Thompson says, 'Celebration Rock' is an extremely accurate name for this album.

I absolutely fell in love with the song I Love it by Icona Pop, and then it became the theme song to Jersey Shore's 'Snooki and Jwoww' spin off and it just ruined it for me. I didn't really have any disappointments beyond that. 2012 was a great year for music.

One of the best things about moving to Reno is that concerts hardly ever sell out. I decided to buy a ticket to see Wilco about an hour before the show in the spring. They opened with my favorite song of theirs, One Sunday Morning, and it was just perfect. Tears were shed.

Also, I saw THEEsatisfaction at a small venue in Sacramento. There may have been 20 people in the crowd so we got to meet them afterwards. They were so humble and really great live. QueenS is another great dance song of 2012.

More blues and more electronic beats. Not in the same song, however.

I hate fun. I love The Format, but I can't get behind fun. Nate Ruess' voice always had that whiney quality, but for some reason when you mix it with poppy beats instead of an acoustic guitar it's just unbearable.