1. Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Fantasy
2. Sleigh Bells, Treats
3. Big Boi, Sir Lucious Leftfoot and the Son of Chico Dusty
4. Yelawolf, Trunk Muzik (mixtape)
5. Erykah Badu, New Amerykah pt. 2
6. Hundred In The Hands, s/t
7. Johnny Cash, American VI
8. R. Kelly, Love Letter
9. Free Energy, Stuck On Nothing
10. Best Coast, Crazy For You
11. Nicki Minaj, Barbie In Wonderland (mixtape)
12. Mumford & Sons, Sigh No More
13. Cloud Cult, Light Chasers
14. Eminem, Recovery
15. Girls, Broken Dreams Club EP
16. Tokyo Police Club, Champ
17. Gil Scot-Heron, I’m New Here
18. King Fantastic, Finger Snaps and Gun Claps
19. Curren$y, Pilot Talk
20. Spoek Mathambo, Mshini Wam
21. The Roots, How I Got Over
22. Audio Bullys, Higher Than The Eiffel
23. Joel Ortiz, Farewell Summer EP
24. Statik Selektah, 100 Proof: The Hangover
25. Die Antwoord, $O$
26. Miguel Atwood x Orchestra, Suite For Ma Dukes
27. The Audible Doctor, Crackers EP
Best Twit-game:
@Dam-Funk
Best Album Covers:
Erykah Badu, New Amerykah pt. 2
Grinderman, Grinderman 2
Die Antwoord, $O$
Worst Album Covers:
Diddy, Last Train To Paris
Linkin Park, Thousand Suns
GLC, Love, Life & Loyalty
Biggest Surprise:
R. Kelly’s, Love Letter
Biggest Disappointments:
1. Nicki Minaj, Pink Friday (Her Barbie In Wonderland mixtape is better)
2. Black Milk, Album of the Year (an album that’s not as good as last year’s Tronic and bares the title AOY)
3. Murs x 9th Wonder, Fornever (9th Wonder creates fantastic album-scapes and these two made a classic underground hip-hop record years ago… the magic is nowhere to be found on this one)
4. Sage Francis, Li(f)e (the rest of the album doesn’t achieve the same combination of sincerity, depth and heart-stirring production as the lead single “Best of Times” would suggest)
Best Music Video:
1. Kanye West, “Power” (leave it to Kanye to take epic to an EPIC level)
2. Duck Sauce, “Barbara Streisand” (if only for sheer amount of cameo appearances… but infectiously fun)
3. Black Keys, “Tighten Up” (cutest… video… ever)
4. Yelawolf, “I Wish (remix)” (a no-nonsense, cold-as-steel music video for an equally bad-ass track)
5. King Fantastic, “Why? Where? What?” (a wonderful juxtaposition of southern-California lavishness (mansion on the Hollywood hills and a porn star) with grimey gangsta raps)
Why? Where? What? from King Fantastic on Vimeo.
6. The Like, “June Gloom”
7. New Politics, “Yeah Yeah Yeah”
8. Interpol, “Lights”
Interpol – Lights from Mmmatze on Vimeo.
9. Dancing Pigeons, “Ritalin”
Dancing Pigeons - Ritalin from Blink on Vimeo.
10. School of Seven Bells, “I L U”
School of Seven Bells - I L U - Official Video from Vagrant Records on Vimeo.
11. Soul Khan, “Fahrenheit”
Fahrenheit (Soul Khan) from Nicolas Heller on Vimeo.
12. El-P, “Time Won’t Tell”
13. Muja Messiah, “Gary Coleman”
The Official "Gary Coleman" by Muja Messiah Directed by Hi Def Photo Prod. by Benzilla from Didier Mbilizi on Vimeo.
14. Kil Ripkin, “Not You”
Best Music-Related Video:
1. Southside Cypher
2. Absolut presents “NY-Z”
3. Die Antwoord promo video
4. Ruby Kato Attwood, “Sparrow” from the Four In The Wild project
ASTW Presents: Four In The Wild Ruby Kato Attwood Sparrow from A Story Told Well on Vimeo.
5. New York Minute Mini-Series promo
Best Live Show:
1. Yelawolf at Soundset (still spits every verse, every syllable perfectly clear with a staccato flow while getting mobbed by women)
2. Hypnotic Brass Ensemble at First Ave for the Soundset Afterparty (plane arrived 30 min before the show)
3. Kid Koala at The Cedar (4 turntables, all vinyl is more amazing than it sounds when done live)
4. The xx at Varsity (the perfect venue for some shoe-gaze/make-out music)
5. Any Out of the Box Tuesday at the Nomad (local celebrities and 300+ guests/week agree)
Best Comeback:
1. Kanye West (not a better ‘F-you’ than putting out the year’s best album and selling nearly 500k first week)
2. Eminem (while Relapse sounded like he was still recovering, Recovery finds Em back on his MC throne)
3. R. Kelly (who would’ve thought that a child-molester could make the best love album of the year?)
4. Gil Scott-Heron (after struggling with drugs and imprisoned, a long-time fan reaches out and helps him create a decidingly modern album that still retains Gil Scott-Heron’s vintage style)
Best New Band:
Sleigh Bells (single-handedly created their own genre and do it well)
Hundred in the Hands (runner-up)
Best New Artist:
Nicki Minaj (the most talented MC and marketable artist since... ever)
Yelawolf (runner-up) (one foot in the country, street-cred, killer flow and the ladies love him)
Best New MC:
1. Nicki Minaj
2. Yelawolf
3. Nitti Scott
Tragedies:
1. Eyedea’s early passing
2. Chris Smith’s dismissal
3. Lookbook break-up
4. Missing the Yelawolf show at First Ave
5. Missing the Sleigh Bells show at the Triple Rock
6. 4Loko gets pulled off the shelves
Best Packaging:
1. Rhymesayers for Jake One x Freeway’s Stimulus Package
2. Gangrene, Gutter Water (sawblade) 12”
3. Kanye West, Beautiful Dark Fantasy (Deluxe)
Best Diss Track:
Nicki Minaj x Eminem, “Roman’s Revenge” in regards to Lil Kim
Best Freebie:
Yelawolf, Trunk Muzik (one of the best hip-hop albums of the year... for free!)
Girl Talk, All Day (with over 400 documented samples in one mix)
Gorillaz, The Fall (recorded while on tour, produced entirely on an iPad)
Joel Ortiz, Farewell Summer EP
Audible Doctor, Crackers EP
Tracks of the Year:
1. DJ Khaled and friends, “All I Do Is Win”
2. Jay-Z, “Empire State of Mind”
3. Cee-Lo, “Fuck You”
4. Kanye West, “Power”
5. Sage Francis, “Best of Times”
6. King Fantastic, “Why? Where? What?”
7. Atmosphere, “The Number None”
Coolest Artist Meeting:
Yelawolf for his last-minute BBY campus visit
Rob Swift for signing my Super Duck Breaks record as he was leaving Soundset
Best Private Performance:
Little Big Town on the roof of the EMI building
Best Meet n Greet:
Zakk Wylde of Black Label Society (stories of debauchery for days)
Best New Minneapolis Venue:
Honey Lounge in Nordeast
Best DJ Experience:
DJ’ing for the legendary Keith Murray at the Nomad
Worst DJ Experience:
The Dog House (and probably anywhere else in Chaska/Downtown Carver where ignorant people with no tact reside)
