The new video off Bend Beyond - the #13 album on our Best Albums of 2012 list - looks exactly like what we’d expect from Woods. It’s got faded colors, lens flares and an overall kaleidoscopic look, which perfectly suits the pleasant vibe of the record. It’s got that same visual vibe as Beck’s Loser video that makes you want to sit around, hang out, and do nothing but listen to music. Enjoy.

Welcome to the fifth consecutive Best Albums of the Year countdown here at Hidden Track. Hopefully, you know by now that we pride ourselves on covering music that spans any genre, any age, any geography, and any instrumental makeup. To us, good music is good music. Period.

So, you can rest assured of the one thing that will always make our list a cut above the rest: we consider everything. Our submissions include all styles of music from bluegrass to jazz, jam to indie, electronica to rap, as well as everything in between. At the end of the day, we’re a diverse open-minded music blog. Our writers work here because they have great taste in music, and thus they are encouraged simply to write about what catches their interest. We have no motives, no editorial biases, and no strings attached. We hope that comes across in our picks.

We’ve hit the mid-point of our week-long countdown of the 25 best albums of 2012, let’s check out numbers 15 through 11…

15) Norah Jones – Little Broken Hearts

Key Tracks: Take It Back, Happy Pills, Miriam

Sounds Like: A modern day film noir soundtrack, Norah Jones’ heart breaking

The Skinny: Forget what you think you know about Norah Jones. Little Broken Hearts isn’t one for the suburban Starbucks soccer moms. Teaming with IT-producer Danger Mouse, and armed with a stack of deeply personal songs about a recent break up with her longtime boyfriend, Jones walked away with an sparse, dark and moody album that is full of devastating heart break. As the old expression goes “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” These are songs that cut deep, Jones pulls no punches wondering on She’s 22 “She 22 and she’s loving you, and you’ll never know how it makes me blue/Does she make you happy?”, while on Little Broken Hearts, proclaiming “Little broken hearts of the night/Slowly picking up their knives/On the way to the fight/Tonight they want revenge.”

- Jeffrey Greenblatt

• Previously On HT: #25 – #21, #20 – #16
• Spotify Playlist: Hidden Track’s 25 Best Albums Of 2012

14) Maps & Atlases – Beware & Be Grateful

READ ON

While they call Brooklyn home, Woods have always conjured up the vibe of the West Coast with their heady brand of acid-drenched, lo-fi psych-rock. In fact, the band has hosted their own music festival, featuring a slew of like-minded acts, amongst the old-growth trees at the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur, California for the last few years. Next Tuesday, Woods will release their latest and arguably their most accessible studio effort, Bend Beyond via their Woodsist label. Late last week, the band dropped the sepia-tinged travelogue video for the record’s lead single and their ode to the Golden State…

Woods – Cali In A Cup

Woods will hold down the opening slot for The Walkmen for a handful of dates, before kicking off their own headlining tour on October 2 at The Garrison in Toronto, Canada, and wraps roughly a month later with a tour-closing hometown gig at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on November 3.

Leading the charge of the new wave of lo-fi, psychedelic-folk bands is the Bushwick, NY-based act Woods. The band, who’s Woodist label has been cultivating a scene of like minded acts by putting out albums from the likes of Real Estate, The Fresh & Onlys, MV & EE and WAVVES, released their latest full length album At Echo Lake earlier this year.

Let’s check out the video for Death Rattles…

Woods – Death Rattles