From the album's title, The Next Day, to the (mostly) straight-forward nature of the 14 tracks that compose it, David Bowie's new album declares itself a reboot. The songs shine with ferocious life, even if they follow a simpler structure than one would expect from Bowie. Guitars by Earl Slick and Gerry Leonard strum out catchy hooks and veer off into brief solos that never overtake but merely punctuate the main attraction: the sound of Bowie's voice. Even the quieter songs on The Next Day have power and drive and truly show a man revitalized, indulging in his craft.

MIA for ten years, Bowie was written off by many as having gone underground and into quiet retirement to raise a daughter with his supermodel wife, Iman, in New York City. Meanwhile, vital peers and former collaborators like Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, and Iggy Pop kept churning out work and evolving, but where was the beloved chameleon of rock? Of course, Bowie could not stand by and not take part.

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Photo by Smallz & Raskind

Heavy bass, ear-shredding distortion, booty beats, syrupy synths, and prime rhymes.

Even though the 305 is a sunny city, it's definitely got a weird, dark, and dirty side. So while this year's top local releases were often sexed-up and fun-obsessed, they were also experimental, X-rated, drugged-out, deeply gritty, and unrepentantly strange.

No doubt, an appropriately unpredictable soundtrack for these subtropical shores, lousy with clubs, coke, crime, punks, metalheads, party kids, art junkies, and a million other contradictions.

Here are Miami's best albums, EPs, and singles of 2012.

See also:
-EDM's Ten Best Tracks and Albums of 2012
-Worst Songs of 2012: Lil Wayne to LMFAO

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Via facebook.com/VelvetElvisMusic

Who is Velvet Elvis? Local DJ-production duo Michael Briscoe and John Scott.

Their deep immersive techno sets have garnered a loyal cult following on the Miami afterhours scene. But no doubt, homeboys are about to blow up and reach a much wider international audience when their new EP drops on Kenneth James Gibson's Adjunct Audio label today.

"Velvet Elvis was developed at an afterhours, where we wanted to create this synergized experience between ourselves, as musical curators, and our patrons in the audience," Briscoe tells Crossfade.

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​To close out the year, Crossfade is picking its favorite albums by 305 artists. Check out the full list of Miami's Best Albums of 2011.

O'Grime
O'Grime EP
(Self-Released)

Over the summer, swag tag-team O'Grime -- Nikolais Javan and L.Rey Reyes -- spit, giggled, and screamed onto the 305's street-level rap scene with a self-titled EP stacked with tracks all about "gettin' gwap and eating tacos."

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​To close out the year, Crossfade is picking its favorite albums by 305 artists. Check out the full list of Miami's Best Albums of 2011.

Rachel Goodrich
Rachel Goodrich
(Yellow Bear Records)

Loving Rachel Goodrich hasn't always been easy.

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​To close out the year, Crossfade is picking its favorite albums by 305 artists. Check out the full list of Miami's Best Albums of 2011.

Pitbull
Planet Pit
(Sony)

If you grew up in Miami, it's absolutely impossible not to like Pitbull.

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​To close out the year, Crossfade is picking its favorite albums by 305 artists. Check out the full list of Miami's Best Albums of 2011.

Betty Wright
With The Roots
The Movie
(Ms. B Records/S-Curve Records)

Betty Wright's status as the queen of Miami soul has never been in question.
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​To close out the year, Crossfade is picking its favorite albums by 305 artists. Check out the full list of Miami's Best Albums of 2011.

Danny Daze
Your Everything/Fall Away From Love EP
(Hot Creations)

Despite the 305 being a transatlantic house and techno mecca during WMC, we hadn't really spawned any major local stars on that scene. Until March 2011, when a demo by local wunderkind Danny Daze (AKA Daniel Gomez) made it into the bags of the right DJs and earned instant, massive acclaim.

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To close out the year, Crossfade is picking its favorite albums by 305 artists. Check out the full list of Miami's Best Albums of 2011.

Mr. Pauer
Soundtrack
(Fabrika Music)

After tirelessly toiling away for nearly two decades, Venezuelan-born DJ, producer, and all-around contributor to Latin culture, Toto Gonzalez, broke out in a big way this year.

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