Top Albums of 2012 (picked by labels, artists, & blogs)

[xuclarockerx]

Paste Magazine Top 50
http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/l...-2012.html?p=5

Here's the top 10, don't feel like writing out the rest.

10. First Aid Kit – The Lion’s Roar
9. Beach House – Bloom
8. Japandroids – Celebration Rock
7. Dirty Projectors – Swing Lo Magellan
6. Alabama Shakes – Boys & Girls
5. Sharon Van Etten – Tramp
4. Fiona Apple – The Idler Wheel Is Wiser than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More than Ropes Will Ever Do
3. Titus Andronicus – Local Business
2. Father John Misty – Fear Fun
1. Frank Ocean – Channel Orange

these lists are so predictable

[mmsk123]

NME:

1. Tame Impala - Lonerism
2. Grimes - Visions
3. Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
4. Crystal Castles - III
5. Alt-J - An Awesome Wave
6. The Maccabees - Given To The Wild
7. Pond - Beard Wives Denim
8. The Cribs -In The Belly Of The Brazen Bull
9. Jake Bugg - Jake Bugg
10. Jack White - Blunderbuss
11. Django Django - Django Django
12. David Byrne & St Vincent - Love This Giant
13. DIIV - Oshin
14. The XX - Coexist
15. Sharon Van Etten - Tramp
16. Melody's Echo Chamber - Melody's Echo Chamber
17. Grizzly Bear - Shields
18. Tribes - Baby
19. Toy - Toy
20. Howler - America Give Up
21. Cat Power - Sun
22. Beach House - Bloom
23. Richard Hawley - Standing At The Sky's Edge
24. Merchandise - Children Of Desire
25. Ariel Pink - Mature Themes
26. Spector - Enjoy It While It Lasts
27. Jessie Ware - Devotion
28. Spiritualized - Sweet Heart, Sweet Light
29. Mac DeMarco - 2
30. Breton - Other People's Problems
31. Kanye West - Cruel Summer
32. Graham Coxon - A+E
33. Hot Chip - In Our Heads
34. Bat For Lashes - The Haunted Man
35. Metz - Metz
36. The Vaccines - Come Of Age
37. Enter Shikari - A Flash Flood Of Colour
38. TEED - Trouble
39. Liars - WIXIW
40. Polica - Give You The Ghost
41. Ty Segall - Twins
42. Paul Weller - Sonik Kicks
43. Ratking - Wiki93
44. Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid, MAAd City
45. Lana Del Rey - Born To Die
46. Bobby Womack - The Bravest Man In The Universe
47. John Talabot - Fin The
48. 2 Bears - Be Strong
49. Flying Lotus - Until The Quiet Comes
50. Purity Ring - Shrines

[IceyHotshot]

I disagree. While it's true that numbered lists are rather arbitrary and don't really mean much in the scheme of things, I always discover three of four albums I missed during the year by looking them over. If there is a lot of overlap between what I enjoyed and what is on a given list, I'll do a bit of research on some of the albums I haven't heard of; it's lead to a lot of great discoveries.

My main gripe is it's not even December. I already love the.new Scott Walker and the Colin Stetson/Mats Gustaffson albums, for example

[getbetter]

I hope you guys complain yourselfs into comas.If you realize your a more active music listener by even being on a message board you should have a way better taste than and less predict opinon.

[bballarl]

After seeing it on so many of those KCRW top ten lists, I just listened to the Father John Misty album all the way through for the first time. I don't think I've heard a more relentlessly mediocre album all year.

I don't know, the Wild Nothing, Grimes, DIIV and Purity Ring albums define mediocrity.

[tigermilkboy]

I have to answer this for my buddy who is starting to compile his 2012 review radio show. To be honest not finding it easy at this stage.

Darren Hayman And The Long Parliament -'The Violence' has been a recent favorite. Leonard Cohen's 'Old Ideas' has been consistently played and Graham Coxon's 'A+E'. Nothing has really stood out and grabbed me this year.

[bmack86]

I don't know, the Wild Nothing, Grimes, DIIV and Purity Ring albums define mediocrity.

I was actually quite a fan of the Purity Ring album. Not anything mindblowing, but catchy fun stuff.

[suprefan]

these lists are so predictable

So whats your list, if you feel the need to say all of the major music sites, blogs etc are going to release ''predicatable'' lists?

Anyone who has Scott Walker on a list already, unless they ditched their family this past weekend and did nothing but listen to the album, is a premature twat. It's going to take until at least mid-December for Bish Bosch to full reveal itself. For me anyway.

And the good folks over at KCRW continue to prove they have the most boring taste in music imaginable. I mean, that Poolside album is nice and sunny and fun and all, but top 10? Come on.

If it was kroq instead of kcrw, it would probably be the same, except instead of Poolside, it would be Mumford and Sons.

[FEELS]

Yeah, I don't get how Oshin is so hyped. Shit is boring. Zzzzz

[icedKeg]

After seeing it on so many of those KCRW top ten lists, I just listened to the Father John Misty album all the way through for the first time. I don't think I've heard a more relentlessly mediocre album all year.

It's an album that makes a bigger impact after repeat listens. I felt it was mediocre at first too. After seeing the band perform live, it all sorta clicked for me. I love the lyrics. And they (J. Tillman especially) are very entertaining live.

[sonofhal]

Yeah, I don't get how Oshin is so hyped. Shit is boring. Zzzzz

To be fair, I'm mainly a fan of this album due to how good it all sounds live. Would have loved Albini to have worked his raw magic on it.

[TomAz]

Can one of you geniuses explain to me why the Ty Segall Band album isn't on any of these lists?

[IlliniQ]

I have to answer this for my buddy who is starting to compile his 2012 review radio show. To be honest not finding it easy at this stage.

Darren Hayman And The Long Parliament -'The Violence' has been a recent favorite. Leonard Cohen's 'Old Ideas' has been consistently played and Graham Coxon's 'A+E'. Nothing has really stood out and grabbed me this year.

That's because its been a very unspectacular year from an album perspective. Not a bad year overall lots of fun tracks from a wide variety of artists but next to no great albums. So I expect wider than usual variation on this years list as they all decide which of these years mediocre titles they must choose from to fill their best of slots...add to that the fact that two of the years genuinely best albums...Swans The Seer and Death Grips The Money Store...are so out there that a lot of these publications actually risk losing readership by promoting them...its going to be a confusing year in the best of department compared to the last three where Animal Collective Kanye and PJ Harvey were runaway choices.

For my money The Seer stands head and shoulders over everything else this year but also really enjoyed Liars latest, Allo Darlings Europe, The Money Store, Shields, Redd Kross Researching the Blues, Menomena, First Aid Kit, Dr. John, El-p, Anais 's Mitchell's Young Man In America, Japandroids, The Men, Django Django, Cat Power, GY!BE, and guilty pleasure time Gotyes Making Mirrors, which was way more eclectic than I Anticipated.

They liked it I didn't...new Dylan, new Jack White, Alt-j, Sharon. Van etan, Fiona's Apple, Julia Holter

[IlliniQ]

Can one of you geniuses explain to me why the Ty Segall Band album isn't on any of these lists?

Most of these early lists are from the UK, and there's been a huge role reversal between UK and rest of music world. Where English artists used to be constantly going for the cutting edge...England now trends towards classic rock and Brit pop preservation, so their rags tend to favor those types of artist over Hip Hop, Electronic, and American lo- fi punk/garage rock.

Case in point - Mojo last year had Florence And The Machines Ceremonials at #1 in 2011

[SoulDischarge]

I thought this was one of the most fertile years for good releases in a long time, even if there were a ton of disappointments from a lot of my standbys.

[Spooks]

Craig Finn's Top 10 Albums of 2012: (in no particular order)

Father John Misty - Fear Fun
DIIV - Oshin
Bill Fay - Life Is People
Japandroids - Celebration Rock
El P - Cancer 4 Cure
Bob Dylan - Tempest
Rodriguez - Searching for Sugarman Soundtrack
Lower Dens - Nootropics
Tame Impala - Lonerism
The Weeknd - Trilogy


Q Magazine - Top 50 Albums of 2012

The 2 Bears - Be Strong
Alabama Shakes - Boys & Girls
Alt-J - An Awesome Wave
Paul Banks - Banks
Bat For Lashes - The Haunted Man
Beach House - Bloom
Jake Bugg - Jake Bugg
David Byrne & St. Vincent - Love This Giant
Cat Power - Sun
Leonard Cohen - Old Ideas
Daphni - Jiaolong
Lana Del Rey - Born To Die
Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan
Django Django - Django Django
Bob Dylan - Tempest
EL-P - Cancer4Cure
Field Music - Plumb
Go-Kart Mozart - On The Hot Dog Streets
Grimes - Visions
Grizzly Bear - Shields
Ren Harvieu - Through The Night
Richard Hawley - Standing At The Sky's Edge
Here We Go Magic - A Different Ship
Hot Chip - In Our Heads
Elton John Vs. Pnau - Good Morning To The Night
Josephine - Portrait
The Killers - Battle Born
Kindness - World, You Need A Change of Mind
Mark Lanegan Band - Blues Funeral
The Maccabees - Given to the Wild
Mala in Cuba - Mala in Cuba
Mumford & Sons - Babel
Muse - The 2nd Law
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
Orbital - Wonky
Peaking Lights - Lucifer
Plan B - Ill Manors
Emeli Sande - Our Version of Events
Saint Etienne - Words And Music By Saint Etienne
School Of Seven Bells - Ghostory
Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball
Tame Impala - Lonerism
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs - Trouble
The Vaccines - Come Of Age
Sharon Van Etten - Tramp
The Walkmen - Heaven
Jessie Ware - Devotion
Paul Weller - Sonik Kicks
Jack White - Blunderbuss
Bobby Womack - The Bravest Man In The Universe

[Alchemy]

I think The Weeknd's Trilogy is more of a re-release than a release.

[TallGuyCM]

Yeah, definitely 2011. And I *suppose* if we lived in a non-internet world, Gotye's album could be considered 2012 since it didn't get a US release until this year, but most everyone who has heard that album heard it last year.

[SoulDischarge]

People who choose El-P's Cancer4Cure over Killer Mike's R.A.P. Music are wrong about everything forever. And I say this as an El-P fanboy.

[getbetter]

People who choose El-P's Cancer4Cure over Killer Mike's R.A.P. Music are wrong about everything forever. And I say this as an El-P fanboy.

I'll agree with that but there isn't even a list with Killer Mike on it posted in this thread....or mention til now.

[Alchemy]

Not completely.

That Pitchfork review is rough. It's almost like if alt-j were a person, she would've ripped into its body to show how the bones are poorly arranged and how the blood is of bad color. I wouldn't call them such a messy 4.8 as this reviewer did, but I probably would call them a lesser Wild Beasts. Hmm... I'm not repelled by it.

[Alchemy]

[Spooks]

Animal Collective's top 10 things of 2012

* Micachu & The Shapes - Never (and live shows)
* Various Artists - Personal Space: Electronic Soul 1974-1984
* Todd Terje - "Inspector Norse" video
* Louie Season 3
* Actress - R.I.P.
* Georgia Anne Muldrow - Seeds
* Black Dice - Mr. Impossible
* Dinner at Gu's Bistro in Atlanta, GA
* Dinner at Selamat Makan in Utrecht, NL
* Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy

TOP 10 of 2012 by AMANDA PALMER

1. Regina Spektor - What We Saw From The Cheap Seats (key track "Oh Marcello") -
The Spektor is back. This record made me so so happy, Regina's sounding more like Regina to me.
2. Ben Folds Five - The Sound of the Life of the Mind (key tracks "Erase me", "Draw A Crowd")
Ben Folds spills his heart out, random pieces falling on the piano at 183787 miles per hour. He's deep here. Plus he's funny as FUCK.
3. Fiona Apple- "Every Single Night" -
WEIRDEST EAR-WORM OF THE YEAR, this song.
4. David Byrne's book "How Music Works"
David tells you how it is. This is a smart, smart man. Listen.
5. "Call Me Maybe"
I can't help it. The first time I heard it, I went back and listened to it 12 more times the same day. Crack song.
6. The Extra Action Marching Band
I love these guys and ran into them by accident in Berlin, 5 hours later they were gigging in my gallery's parking lot. Gotta love it. Pretty naked too, which is awesome.
7. Richard Thompson in Edinburgh: key songs "Beeswing", "52 Vincent Black Lightening"
I'd never seen him live, and within a few songs, I became a devotee. After seeing them live, I played these two songs over and over and over again all summer. They calmed me. And both make me cry if I'm even remotely on the edge.
8. Heather Christian and the Carbonauts
Best new act out of NYC - caught in Boston.
9. Jherek Bischoff - Composed
I'm biased because he's also my bass player, but this album is just a fucking winner all around...Jherek is the new voice of arrangement and orchestra. Singers & guests on the album include David Byrne, Mirah Zeitlyn, Caetano Veloso, SoKo, Nels Cline and Greg Saunier.
10. Leonard Cohen - Old Ideas
Bought it for a road trip along with 4-5 other new CDs that came out early in the year. Hated everything else. Loved this. Classic Leonard, back to basics - talking the pained perfect poems in that perfect voice. It's a truth record.

[LickTheLizzard]

It's an album that makes a bigger impact after repeat listens. I felt it was mediocre at first too. After seeing the band perform live, it all sorta clicked for me. I love the lyrics. And they (J. Tillman especially) are very entertaining live.

My thoughts exactly. The album did nothing for me until I saw them live, by chance, at the capitol hill block party in Seattle. I've seen them 2 more times since then and have learned to love the album. The live show is so much fun and really brings the songs to life.

[getbetter]

Im really happy to see Jherek Bischoff on a list. I got a friend in Seattle to go see his Orchestra performance this saturday.

[bmack86]

I just want to head butt Amanda Palmer repeatedly. But that Waterloo list has a ton of stuff I need to check out.

[TomAz]

I don't see what's wrong with Regina Spektor, Ben Folds, Fiona Apple, David Byrne, Richard Thompson, and Leonard Cohen.

[PJandBompton]

shame to see everything surrounding the Frank Ocean album take over the actual music. Miguel put out the best R&B album this year, not Frank Ocean.

[bmack86]

I don't see what's wrong with Regina Spektor, Ben Folds, Fiona Apple, David Byrne, Richard Thompson, and Leonard Cohen.

Well, I dislike both Regina Spektor and Ben Folds, but whenever I see her name I just want to dropkick her. She annoys the shit outta me.

And no, Miguel's album was not better than Frank Ocean's.

[Miroir Noir]

Richard Thompson had an album out this year?