Happy New Year 2012 Playlist Mix – The Walkmen, Camera Obscura, Scattered Trees, The Hush Now, FM Belfast, The Dodos

Photo: Reuters

For many people, 2012 arrives with much uncertainty. But one thing we can pretty much always look forward to is music. There will be great music that gets a lot of buzz, and other terrific music that, for the most part, flies under the radar. There will be the predictable hype of new albums by some over-rated artists, and the surprise singles and albums from new artists.

We have dozens and dozens of DIY, unsigned bands already in the pipeline to profile in 2012, loads of other bands that broke out in 2011 that we will be watching throughout the year, and of course an ever-growing folder of new 2012 singles to sort through and feature in various playlists and mixes, band profiles and new releases. Simultaneously, at least through February, we will also be highlighting the Best Songs of 2011, Best Albums of 2011 and the Best Bands of 2011.

Plans are already in the works for major music festivals, such as South By Southwest (SXSW) and Coachella. Bands are announcing major tours to all corners of the globe, while others are heading back to the studio. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be publishing polls that we really hope to get thousands of people to participate in so that we can get the best possible gauge among a large sampling of the best of 2011:  best new songs, best cover songs, best albums, best breakout bands, best debut albums, as well as, of course, the on-going month-by-month review of the Best Songs of 2011.

In fact, production of Vol. VI, highlighting the best songs of June 2011, is already underway.  But first, we have to start off the new year with a playlist mix of New Year-related (some loosely so) songs.  At least half of the songs below are from 2011; do you know which ones?