Clearly we love a wide variety of music, from indie rock to folk to country to blues to soul to hip-hop to reggae and beyond. And we love local music. With three St. Louis bands reaching the top 10 -- and two topping the whole list -- we're proud to say that more local artists were played more often on KDHX this year than ever before.
The 2012 list of top spins includes some expected high-rankers and plenty of surprises. Check out how some of your favorites stacked up, and turn yourself onto a few discoveries you may have overlooked in 2012.
Don't miss our list of top local spins and of course the DJ top 10 albums of 2012 lists. And be sure to check out all the KDHX Best of 2012 coverage. There's always more great music to discover.
* Denotes local artist
| Spins | Artist | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 111 | Rough Shop* | Beneath the South Side Bridge | Perdition |
| 98 | Middle Class Fashion* | Girl Talk | Blip Blap! |
| 88 | Heartless Bastards | Arrow | Partisan |
| 86 | Chuck Prophet | Temple Beautiful | Yep Roc |
| 85 | Dr. John | Locked Down | Nonesuch |
| 82 | Dr. Dog | Be the Void | Anti- |
| 79 | Various | Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan | Universal |
| 75 | Alabama Shakes | Boys & Girls | ATO |
| 75 | Jay Farrar, Will Johnson, Anders Parker and Yim Yames | New Multitudes | Rounder |
| 74 | Brothers Lazaroff* | Science Won | Self-released |
| 72 | Lee Fields & the Expressions | Faithful Man | Truth & Soul |
| 68 | Jack White | Blunderbuss | Third Man/Columbia |
| 68 | Carolina Chocolate Drops | Leaving Eden | Nonesuch |
| 66 | Kelly Hogan | I Like to Keep Myself in Pain | Anti- |
| 66 | Allo Darlin' | Europe | Slumberland |
| 66 | First Aid Kit | The Lion's Roar | Wichita |
| 66 | Nick Waterhouse | Time's All Gone | Innovative Leisure |
| 65 | Bruce Springsteen | Wrecking Ball | Columbia |
| 62 | Hospitality | Hospitality | Merge |
| 60 | Karate Bikini* | Sauce of the Apple Horse | Self-released |
| 58 | Nada Surf | The Stars are Indifferent to Astronomy | Barsuk |
| 56 | The dB's | Falling Off the Sky | Bar/None |
| 56 | The Union Electric* | Time Is Gold | Rankoutsider |
| 56 | Craig Finn | Clear Heart Full Eyes | Vagrant |
| 56 | Leonard Cohen | Old Ideas | Columbia |
| 56 | The Little Willies | For the Good Times | Milking Bull |
| 55 | Guided By Voices | Let's Go Eat the Factory | GBV |
| 55 | Tennis | Young & Old | Fat Possum |
| 54 | Lee Ranaldo | Between the Times and the Tides | Matador |
| 54 | Spectator* | In the Brick | Self-released |
| 53 | Andrew Bird | Break it Yourself | Mom & Pop |
| 53 | Kevin Gordon | Gloryland | Self-released |
| 52 | Metric | Synthetica | Mom & Pop |
| 52 | Sugarman 3 | What the World Needs Now | Daptone |
| 51 | Calexico | Algiers | Anti- |
| 50 | Kathleen Edwards | Voyageur | Zoe |
| 50 | Best Coast | The Only Place | Mexican Summer |
| 49 | Imperial Teen | Feel the Sound | Merge |
| 48 | Beach House | Bloom | Sub Pop |
| 48 | The Shins | Port of Morrow | Columbia |
| 46 | David Byrne & St. Vincent | Love This Giant | 4AD |
| 46 | Macka B | Change the World | Chinelo |
| 45 | Santigold | Master of My Make-Believe | Atlantic |
| 45 | Cat Power | Sun | Matador |
| 44 | Ray Wylie Hubbard | The Grifter's Hymnal | Bordello |
| 44 | Bob Dylan | Tempest | Columbia |
| 44 | Patti Smith | Banga | Columbia |
| 44 | The Raveonettes | Observator | Vice |
| 43 | Nas | Life Is Good | Def Jam |
| 43 | Tame Impala | Lonerism | Modular |
| 43 | The Mynabirds | Generals | Saddle Creek |
| 43 | Sharon Van Etten | Tramp | Jagjaguwar |
| 43 | The Magnetic Fields | Love at the Bottom of the Sea | Merge |
| 42 | Aquitaine* | American Pulverizer, Pt. 1 | Self-released |
| 42 | Bonnie Raitt | Slipstream | Redwing |
| 41 | Justin Townes Earle | Nothing's Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now | Bloodshot |
| 41 | Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns | Lucky Devil | Lake |
| 40 | The Great Grandfathers* | Saint Anthony's Fire | Tate Music Group |
| 40 | Aimee Mann | Charmer | SuperEgo |
| 40 | Father John Misty | Fear Fun | Sub Pop |
| 40 | Michael Kiwanuka | Home Again | Interscope |
| 40 | Various | Just Tell Me That You Want Me: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac | Hear Music |
| 39 | Curtis Salgado | Soul Shot | Alligator |
| 39 | Janiva Magness | Stronger For It | Alligator |
| 39 | Gotye | Making Mirrors | Universal Republic |
| 39 | Quantic & Alice Russell With the Combo Barbaro | Look Around the Corner | Tru Thoughts |
| 38 | The Vondrukes* | Runaway, Goodbye Love | Self-released |
| 38 | Hot Chip | In Our Heads | Domino |
| 37 | Grizzly Bear | Shields | Warp |
| 37 | Iris Dement | Sing the Delta | Flariella |
| 37 | Rufus Wainwright | Out of the Game | Decca |
| 36 | Bruiser Queen* | Swears | Self-released |
| 36 | Various* | Tower Groove Records Compilation Vol 1 | Tower Groove |
| 36 | Jump Starts* | What Hides Inside | Loud Label |
| 36 | Fiona Apple | The Idler Wheel Is Wiser... | Columbia |
| 36 | Sleigh Bells | Reign of Terror | Mom + Pop |
| 35 | Polica | Give You the Ghost | Totally Gross National Product |
| 35 | The Ting Tings | Sounds From Nowheresville | Sony |
| 35 | Alberta Cross | Songs of Patience | ATO |
| 35 | Little Barrie | King of the Waves | Tummy Touch |
| 34 | Dirty Projectors | Swing Lo Magellan | Domino |
| 33 | The Nevermores* | Now More Than Ever | TIRC |
| 33 | Guided By Voices | Class Clown Spots a UFO | GVB Inc. |
| 33 | John Hiatt | Mystic Pinball | New West |
| 33 | Killer Mike | R.A.P. Music | Williams Street |
| 33 | Joe Pug | The Great Despiser | Lightning Rod |
| 32 | Bob Reuter's Alley Ghost* | Born There | Big Muddy |
| 32 | Alejandro Escovedo | Big Station | Fantasy |
| 32 | Old Crow Medicine Show | Carry Me Back | ATO |
| 31 | Medical Tourists* | Medical Tourists | Rerun |
| 31 | Kendrick Lamar | Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City | Aftermath |
| 31 | Galactic | Carnivale Electricos | Anti- |
| 30 | Brownout | Oozy | Nat Geo |
| 30 | John K. Samson | Provincial | Anti- |
| 30 | Redd Kross | Researching the Blues | Merge |
| 30 | The Tallest Man on Earth | There's No Leav ing Now | Dead Oceans |
| 30 | Tef Poe* | The War Machine 2 | Footklan |
| 30 | Dinosaur Jr. | I Bet on Sky | Jagjaguwar |
| 30 | Neil Young & Crazy Horse | Americana | Reprise |
| 30 | The Walkmen | Heaven | Fat Possum |
| 30 | Various | Crucial Reggae From Outside Jamaica, Vol. 4 | Skank |
Methodological note: Data is based on spins from January 1, 2012 to December 13, 2012. Only albums or EPs with 30 spins or more were included. Only 2012 releases (not reissues) were included.
