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Long-running Brit weekly mag NME has just published its 50 Best Albums of 2012, and as Stereogum points out, the list is a mixed bag of good, bad, and predictable. The top five spots went to Tame Impala at number one, with Grimes, Frank Ocean, Crystal Castles, and Alt-J following closely behind. Australian psych outfit Tame Impala will be kicking off their 2013 tour with the first US stop at New York’s Terminal 5 in February, celebrating the release of new album, Lonerism. Lana Del Rey’s Born to Die made the cut at number 45, but Fiona Apple’s The Idler Wheel… is mysterious missing. We’re also lamenting the lack of Swans on this list, but we have Pitchfork TV’s 27-minute, behind-the-scenes doc to tide us over for now. Who else deserves a spot? Head past the break to see the countdown in full, and chime in, below.

50 Purity Ring – Shrines
49 Flying Lotus – Until The Quiet Comes
48 The 2 Bears – Be Strong
47 John Talabot – fIN
46 Bobby Womack – The Bravest Man In The Universe
45 Lana Del Rey – Born To Die
44 Kendrick Lamar – Good Kid, mAAd City
43 Ratking – Wiki93
42 Paul Weller – Sonik Kicks
41 Ty Segall – Twins
40 Polica – Give You The Ghost
39 Liars – WIXIW
38 TEED – Trouble
37 Enter Shikari – A Flash Flood Of Colour
36 The Vaccines – Come Of Age
35 Metz – Metz
34 Bat For Lashes – The Haunted Man
33 Hot Chip – In Our Heads
32 Graham Coxon – A+E
31 G.O.O.D. Music – Cruel Summer
30 Breton – Other People’s Problems
29 Mac DeMarco – 2
28 Spiritualized – Sweet Heart, Sweet Light
27 Jessie Ware – Devotion
26 Spector – Enjoy It While It Lasts
25 Ariel Pink – Mature Themes
24 Merchandise – Children Of Desire
23 Richard Hawley – Standing At The Sky’s Edge
22 Beach House – Bloom
21 Cat Power – Sun
20 Howler – America Give Up
19 Toy – Toy
18 Tribes – Baby
17 Grizzly Bear – Shields
16 Melody’s Echo Chamber – Melody’s Echo Chamber
15 Sharon Van Etten – Tramp
14 The xx – Coexist
13 DIIV – Oshin
12 David Byrne & St. Vincent – Love This Giant
11 Django Django – Django Django
10 Jack White – Blunderbuss
09 Jake Bugg – Jake Bugg
08 The Cribs – In The Belly Of The Brazen Bull
07 Pond – Beard Wives Denim
06 The Maccabees – Given To The Wild
05 Alt-J – An Awesome Wave
04 Crystal Castles – (iii)
03 Frank Ocean – Channel Orange
02 Grimes – Visions
01 Tame Impala – Lonerism