Edit: Split into two parts to load easier: Here are the next 25.

When listening to music is part of your career, the creative shifts in the field become less seismic, and if you’re doing your job right you begin to see the tide that’s guiding the sea changes. So for awhile, we struggled with how many songs to include in this list. 100 might give a broader picture, but 50 presents us with a challenge. It forces us to whittle it down, to purge nostalgia, to make every song say something special about the year it came from, and to leave a special record. Here’s the songs we’ll pull up on our computers at work next year when we want to remember 2012. Here they are, in no particular order…

Twigs – “Ache”

Var – “Brodermordet”

Grimes – “Genesis”

Killer Mike – “Don’t Die”

Doldrums feat. Guy Dallas – “She Is the Wave”

Converge – “Trespass”

Kanye West feat. Big Sean, 2 Chainz, Pusha T and Big Sean – “Mercy”

AlunaGeorge – “Your Drums, Your Love”

Fiona Apple – “Every Single Night”

Diiv – “How Long Have You Known (Moons 美愛Version)”

Burial – “Kindred”

Jamie Lidell – “What A Shame”

Solange – “Losing You”

Holy Other – “Held” (Tim Hecker remix)

Joey Bada$$ – “Survival Tactics”

Twin Shadow – “Beg For The Night”

The Antlers – “Drift Dive”

Elite Gymnastics – “Andreja 4-Ever”

SpaceGhostPurrp – “Black Swamp” (instrumental)

Nas – “Daughters”

Merchandise – “In Nightmare Room”

Tame Impala – “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards”

Jai Paul – “Jasmine (demo)”

Grizzly Bear – “Sleeping Ute”

How To Dress Well – “& It Was U”

View Part 2