Now that you’ve read everyone else’s BEST OF list for last year and have successfully moved on with your life, here is ours.

Mushpost serves as a curator of unique events in Burlington, Vermont and as a common tag for a collective of DJs driven to promote compelling music. They are a part of the High On Beats network and produce a weekly program on SUB.FM. Below are some of the best releases from 2012 selected by Mushpost’s principal members Thelonious X and The Orator. All songs are linked to provide convenient listening and easy purchasing. Support the artists, buy music.

Top 3 Acts Booked by Mushpost in 2012

1. J. Phlip

We had heard that J. Phlip (aka The First Lady of Dirtybird) was a solid DJ. But we did not know to just what extent. The first clue was when her rider requested 2 Technic 1200s AND 2 CDJ-2000s with no mention of a Serato box. The second clue was when she laid waste with an 1.5 hour mix at the club. But it really all came together when she did a 4 hour all-vinyl set at the afterparty, ushering in the dawn and effectively playing both sides of all of her records and most of mine. The versatility, the genre-bending and flawless execution were only out-shined by her impeccable personality and her sincere & ernest love for what she does. The total package made for the greatest DJ set I’ve experienced, let alone booked.

2. Little People / Shigeto

Second place is a tie between 2 very different producers with truly unique live sets. Little People came in support of Emancipator and was the first live act I’ve seen to incorporate an iPad. I’ve always found his brand of downtempo to be particularly compelling and to hear him reproduce it live with all the beautiful tension of human instrumentation gave the music a new depth. Shigeto came with Mux Mool and while the room might have been empty he played his jazzy breakbeat take on instrumental hiphop with insane finesse via his drum set and MPD. I’ve seen my fair share of “live acts” and both these guys are in a realm all their own.

3. Obey City

When Astro Nautico bossman Sam Obey aka Obey City (pronounced “obesity”) came to town we managed to squeeze two sets out of him. First night he demonstrated his thorough knowledge of slow jams and 80s RnB/soul through a some-what impromptu set at our downtempo residency. The next night he gave us an 1.5 hour set with a narrative most DJs can’t even fathom doing, traversing countless genres and dropping a slew of unreleased songs (he is, after all, one of the most important figures behind the scenes in underground bass music). He may be the most humble DJ I’ve met but the depth of his musical knowledge is the stuff legends are made of.

Top 12 EPs/Singles

1. Throwing Snow – Clamor (Snowfall)

2. Werkha — Cube & Puzzle (Cool Kid Music)
3. Disclosure — The Face/The Face Remixes (Greco-Roman)
4. Chairman Kato — Roma (Shades of Grey)
5. Maribou State feat. Pedestrian — Native (Southern Fried Records)
6. Arkist — Two Night Stand (Inhale)
7. Letherette — Featurette (Ninja Tune)
8. Julien Mier — When Will You Wake Up? (King Deluxe)
9. Djrum — Watermark (2nd Drop)
10. Monolithium — Bounce 4 Life (Error Broadcast)
11. Blawan — His He She & She (Hinge Finger)
12. Dawn Day Night — Dawn Day Night (Astrophonica)

HONORABLE MENTION (No Particular Order): Romare — Meditations on Afrocentrism (Black Acre), HYDRABADD — DIΛMOND SPECTRUM (Self-Released), Kelpe — Bags of Time (Svetlana Industries), Machinedrum — SXLND (LuckyMe), George FitzGerald — Needs You (Hypercolour), South London Ordnance — Big Boss Theme (Audio Culture), Om Unit — Aeolian (Civil Music), Pále — Silverstair (Four40), Sepalcure — Eternally Yrs (Hotflush), Fybe:One — Harp Remixes (Shades of Grey), Barker — Like An Animal (Leisure System), Shadow Child — Shadow Child (Dirtybird), Damu — If You’ve Got Nothing To Hide / You’ve Got Nothing To Fear (Damu Records)

Top 12 Albums

1. Lone – Galaxy Garden (R&S Records)

2. Mala — Mala in Cuba (Brownswood Recordings)
3. Benjamin Damage & Doc Daneeka — They!Live (Monkeytown)
4. Bonobo — Black Sands Remixed (Ninja Tune)
5. Prince Fatty Presents: Hollie Cook In Dub (Mr Bongo)
6. Four Tet — Pink (TEXT)
7. LHF — Keepers of the Light (Keysound)
8. Goth-Trad — New Epoch (Deep Medi)
9. Barker & Baumecker — Transsektoral (Ostgut Ton)
10. Michael Kiwanuka — Home Again (Polydor/Interscope)
11. Maga Bo — Quilombo Do Futuro/Remixed (Post World Industries)
12. Dusk + Blackdown — Dasaflex (Keysound)

HONORABLE MENTION (No Particular Order): Flying Lotus — Until the Quiet Comes (Warp Records), ODESZA — Summer’s Gone (Self-Released), Lorn — Ask The Dust (Ninja Tune), Hidden Orchestra — Archipelago (Tru Thoughts), Little People — We Are But Hunks of Wood (Youth & Progress), Calamalka — All The Way Up (Hybridity Music), Blockhead — Interludes After Midnight (Ninja Tune), Pangaea – Release (Hessle), Justin Martin — Ghettos and Gardens/Remixes (Dirtybird)

Top 12 Compilations (No Particular Order)

◉ OnlyVibez 001 - FREE RELEASE
◉ New Jack Techno (Turbo Recordings)
◉ #TOMCREW presents: END TIMES - FREE RELEASE
◉ FABRICLIVE 61 by Pinch
◉ Moda Black
◉ TOGETHER Festival 2012
◉ Atlantics Vol. 2 (Astro Nautico) – FREE RELEASE
◉ Sunrise Blend Vol. 2 (Juicy)
◉ Life Crushed presents: Flavored 3 - FREE RELEASE
◉ BBQ Trax (Dirtybird)
◉ M|O|D III
◉ Brownswood Electric 3

Top 12 Favorite Breakout Artists of 2012

1. South London Ordnance

2. Mak & Pasteman
3. Pedestrian
4. 5kinAndBone5/Matrixxman
5. Kry Wolf
6. Tessela
7. Shadow Child
8. Baauer
9. Bondax
10. Happa
11. Squarehead
12. ∆dmin

Top 12 Artists to Watch Closely in 2013

1. Werkha

2. J. Phlip
3. Cloaka
4. Lakosa
5. Noms
6. Thefft
7. Arnold & C.Z.
8. Alex Coulton
9. Cause & Affect
10. Pascäal
11. Maribou State
12. My Nu Leng

Top 12 Record Labels to Watch Closely in 2013

1. Vresh

2. Lo Note UK
3. Food Music
4. Car Crash Set
5. Activia Benz
6. Well Rounded/Well Rounded Housing Project
7. Black Butter
8. Inhale
9. B.YRSLF Division
10. M|O|D
11. South Fork Sound
12. Sneaker Social Club

Top 12 House Songs of 2012

1. Todd Terje — Inspector Norse (Olsen/Smalltown Supersound)

2. Disclosure — What’s In Your Head (Greco Roman)
3. Nick Monaco & Kill Frenzy — This1 That1 (Moda Black)
4. Julio Bashmore — Au Seve (Boardwalk Records)
5. XXXY — I Know This (Can’t Be Love) (Well Rounded)
6. Poupon & Prince Club – Technique (Snatch! Records)
7. Maxime & Remain – Ghoulish (Throne of Blood)
8. Urulu — 1991 (Exploited Records)
9. Ultraista — Gold Dayz (Maribou State Remix) (Self-Released) - FREE RELEASE
10. Dusky — Flo Jam (Dogmatik)
11. Mosca — Eva Mendes (Hypercolour)
12. UMBA — So Socialize (B.YRSELF Division)

12 Best Mixtapes/EPs/LPs of 2012 (No Particular Order)

◉ Spaceghostpurrp — GXX XX BXXXK EP Vol. 1 (Self-Released) - FREE RELEASE
◉ Captain Murphy — Duality (Self-Released)  - FREE RELEASE
◉ Ras G – AinaT (Self-Released) — FREE RELEASE
◉ Jam City – Classical Curves (Night Slugs)
◉ Azizi Gibson x Jeremiah Jae — Ignorant Prayers (Brainfeeder)
◉ Madlib x Freddie Gibbs — Shame (Stones Throw)
◉ BJ the Chicago Kid — Pineapple Now & Laters (M.A.F.E. Music)
◉ Yuk – Of Wilderness (My Hollow Drum) — FREE RELEASE
◉ Teebs — Cecilia Tapes Collection (My Hollow Drum)
◉ Matthewdavid — Disk II (Leaving Records)
◉ Hit + Run — Roadkill Vol. 1 (Hit + Run)
◉ Boston Bun — Housecall (Ed Banger)

Favorite Songs from 2012 (No Particular Order)

◉ Karriem Riggins — Summer Madness S.A. (Stones Throw)
◉ CHALK 305 — bomba.kairo (Self-Released)
◉ DJ Bake ft DJ Uniique — WNBA (Self-Released)
◉ Neana — Foolish (Self-Released)
◉ Matthewdavid — All Night Long (Leaving Records)
◉ Spaceghostpurrp — Money Power Respect (MXXXX PXXXX RXXXXXX) (Self-Released)
◉ Metro Zu — Cyber Space Pimp Gang (Self-Released) - FREE RELEASE
◉ Denzel Curry — Ending Hour (S.4.M.R. Outro) (Self-Released) - FREE RELEASE
◉ Co.Fee — Aqua Lung (My Hollow Drum) - FREE RELEASE
◉ Cohen Beats — ZAZ (Self-Released) - FREE RELEASE
◉ Insightful — Too Too Many Souls (Soulection)
◉ Keiska — Lil FRRRK (Self-Released) - FREE RELEASE

Favorite Songs During the Year of 2012 (No Particular Order)

◉ Nu Shooz — You Put Me in a Trance (Atlantic Records 1985)
◉ Pleasure — Thoughts of an Old Flame (Fantasy Records 1979)
◉ Jodeci — Freek ‘n You (MK Dub) (ZAC Records 1995)
◉ Cashmere — Percolator (Cajual Records 1997)
◉ Marcellus Pittman — Razz ’09 (Unirhythm 2010)
◉ Outkast — Crumblin ‘Erb (LaFace 1994)
◉ Beach Boys – I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times (GB Interpretation) (Self-Released 2010)
◉ DJ Phlex and PSJ- Radio Intro (Self-Released 2010)
◉ Odd Future All Stars — Up (Odd Future 2011)
◉ Kevin Moore — Speak Your Mind (Chocolate City 1980)
◉ AZ — Gimme Yours (EMI 1995) *honorable mention to Moolha’s version, now virtually impossible to find on the Internet
◉ Linda Scott — I’ve Told Every Little Star (Canadian-American Records 1961)