| Rank | Artist | Recording | Label | |
| 1 | TEGAN AND SARA | Heartthrob | Warner Brothers | |
| 2 | RA RA RIOT | Beta Love | Barsuk | |
| 3 | YO LA TENGO | Fade | Matador | |
| 4 | JOY FORMIDABLE | Wolf’s Law | Canvasback-Atlantic | |
| 5 | LOCAL NATIVES | Hummingbird | Frenchkiss | |
| 6 | PHOENIX | “Entertainment” [Single] | Glassnote | |
| 7 | CHRISTOPHER OWENS | Lysandre | Fat Possum | |
| 8 | KENDRICK LAMAR | Good Kid, M.A.A.d City | Top Dawg-Interscope | |
| 9 | FREE ENERGY | Love Sign | Self-Released | |
| 10 | BEN FOLDS FIVE | The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind | Sony | |
| 11 | MUMFORD AND SONS | Babel | Glassnote | |
| 12 | ALT-J | An Awesome Wave | Canvasback | |
| 13 | TORO Y MOI | Anything In Return | Carpark | |
| 14 | DEAD PREZ | Information Age | Krian | |
| 15 | SHINY TOY GUNS | III | 10th Street | |
| 16 | DUCKTAILS | The Flower Lane | Domino | |
| 17 | MY BLOODY VALENTINE | MBV | Self-Released | |
| 18 | ANIMAL COLLECTIVE | Centipede Hz | Domino | |
| 19 | BAT FOR LASHES | The Haunted Man | EMI | |
| 20 | DIRTY PROJECTORS | About To Die | Domino | |
| 21 | BEN HARPER AND CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE | Get Up! | Concord-Stax | |
| 22 | DJANGO DJANGO | Django Django | Ribbon | |
| 23 | PASSION PIT | Gossamer | Columbia | |
| 24 | COLD WAR KIDS | “Miracle Mile” [Single] | Downtown | |
| 25 | GRIZZLY BEAR | Shields | Warp | |
| 26 | THE XX | Coexist | XL | |
| 27 | A$AP ROCKY | LongLiveA$AP | RCA | |
| 28 | TY SEGALL | Twins | Drag City | |
| 29 | BLACK KEYS | El Camino | Nonesuch | |
| 30 | TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB | Beacon | Glassnote |
