Critics' Top Albums of 2012 Lists

[cdmc]

Time Magazine:
http://entertainment.time.com/2012/1...ums/slide/all/

10. Killer Mike, R.A.P. Music
9. Azealia Banks, 1991 EP
8. The Mountain Goats, Transcendental Youth
7. Various Artists, Listen, Whitey! The Sounds of Black Power 1967–74
6. Swans, The Seer
5. Getatchew Mekuria & the Ex & Friends, Y’Anbessaw Tezeta
4. Dirty Projectors, Swing Lo Magellan
3. Frank Ocean, Channel Orange
2. Kendrick Lamar, good kid, m.A.A.d city
1. 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

[dyedred19]

Fiona and Frank are near the top of almost every list that I've seen. Wonderful.

[Aurelius]

That Kendrick Lamar album is so overrated. Sure, it's good, but all this praise is a little too much.

[cdmc]

That Kendrick Lamar album is so overrated. Sure, it's good, but all this praise is a little too much.

Agreed.

But at least he had the common sense to exclude this track from the album:





I love GaGa but this is just

[Aurelius]

I broke off Chemical Brothers to listen to that .

The track is on the album though, just not with Gaga. But in either version, it's rather mediocre?

[affy18]

Fiona truly deserves all this praise.

The Idler Wheel is her masterpiece.

[Submerge]

Thoughts on Stereogum's Top 50 Albums of 2012?

50. Flying Lotus – Until The Quiet Comes (Warp)
49. Parquet Courts – Light Up Gold (Dull Tools)
48. The Shins – Port Of Morrow (Columbia/Aural Apothecary)
47. Rick Ross – Rich Forever (Maybach Music)
46. Matthew E. White – Big Inner (Spacebomb/Hometapes)
45. The Evens – The Odds (Dischord)
44. Bat For Lashes – The Haunted Man (Capitol)
43. Action Bronson & Party Supplies – Blue Chips (self-released)
42. Sharon Van Etten – Tramp (Jagjaguwar)
41. Sun Kil Moon – Among The Leaves (Caldo Verde)
40. Converge – All We Love We Leave Behind (Epitaph)
39. Jessica Pratt – Jessica Pratt (Birth Records)
38. Mount Eerie – Ocean Roar (P.W. Elverum And Sun)
37. Joey Bada$$ – 1999 (self-released)
36. Chris Cohen – Overgrown Path (Captured Tracks)
35. Swearin’ – Swearin’ (Salinas)
34. Future – Pluto (Epic/A1/Free Bandz)
33. How To Dress Well – Total Loss (Acéphale)
32. Ty Segall – Twins (Drag City)
31. ScHoolboy Q – Habits & Contradictions (Top Dawg Entertainment)
30. Torche – Harmonicraft (Volcom)
29. Purity Ring – Shrines (4AD/Last Gang)
28. Cat Power – Sun (Matador)
27. Beach House – Bloom (Sub Pop)
26. Grimes – Visions (4AD/Arbutus)
25. Nude Beach – II (Other Music Recording Company)
24. Sleigh Bells – Reign Of Terror (Mom + Pop)
23. Killer Mike – R.A.P. Music (Williams Street)
22. DIIV – Oshin (Captured Tracks)
21. Screaming Females – Ugly (Don Giovanni)
20. Spiritualized – Sweet Heart Sweet Light (Fat Possum)
19. Taylor Swift – Red (Big Machine)
18. Baroness – Yellow & Green (Relapse)
17. The Men – Open Your Heart (Sacred Bones)
16. Grizzly Bear – Shields (Warp)
15. El-P – Cancer For Cure (Fat Possum)
14. Chromatics – Kill For Love (Italians Do It Better)
13. Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend! (Constellation)
12. Miguel – Kaleidoscope Dream (RCA)
11. Tame Impala – Lonerism (Modular)
10. Dirty Projectors – Swing Lo Magellan (Domino)
09. Chairlift – Something (Columbia)
08. The Walkmen – Heaven (Fat Possum)
07. Japandroids – Celebration Rock (Polyvinyl)
06. Cloud Nothings – Attack On Memory (Carpark)
05. Jessie Ware – Devotion (PMR)
04. Swans – The Seer (Young God)
03. Kendrick Lamar – good kid, m.A.A.d. City (TDE/Interscope)
02. Frank Ocean – Channel Orange (Def Jam)
01. Fiona Apple – The Idler Wheel… (Epic)

http://stereogum.com/1210661/stereog...es/listomania/

[haqyunus]

NPR's

Ab-Soul, Control System
Alabama Shakes, Boys And Girls
Alisa Weilerstein, Cello Concertos (Elgar & Carter)
Alt-J, An Awesome Wave
Andy Stott, Luxury Problems
Astro, Astro
Berlin Philharmonic, St. Matthew Passion
Meek Mill, Dreamchasers 2
Bobby Womack, The Bravest Man In The Universe
Bomba Estereo, Elegancia Tropical
Brooklyn Rider, Seven Steps
Cafe Tacvba, El Objeto Antes Llmado Disco
Carla Morrison, Dejenme Llorar
Cat Power, Sun
Cody ChesnuTT, Landing On A Hundred
Dan Deacon, America
Death Grips, No Love Deep Web
Debo Band, Debo Band
Dirty Projectors, Swing Lo Magellan
Dwight Yoakam, 3 Pears
Exitmusic, Passage
Fiona Apple, The Idler Wheel
Flying Lotus, Until The Quiet Comes
Frank Ocean, channel Orange
fun., Some Nights
Homeboy Sandman, First Of A Living Breed
Iris DeMent, Sing The Delta
Janka Nabay, En Yay Sah
Japandroids, Celebration Rock
Karriem Riggins, Alone Together
Kendrick Lamar, good kid, M.A.A.D. city
Killer Mike, R.A.P. Music
Leila Josefowicz, Violin Concerto (Salonen)
Leonard Cohen, Old Ideas
Matt Ulery, By A Little Light
Miguel, Kaleidoscope Dream
Neneh Cherry and The Thing, The Cherry Thing
Now, Now, Threads
Pallbearer, Sorrow And Extinction
Patrick Watson, Adventures In Your Own Backyard
Pink, The Truth About Love
Regina Spektor, What We Saw From The Cheap Seats
San Francisco Symphony/Michael Tilson Thomas, Harmonielehre/Short Ride in a Fast Machine (Adams)
Sharon Van Etten, Tramp
Swans, The Seer
The 2 Bears, Be Strong
The Very Best, MTMTMK
Ty Segall, Twins
Vijay Iyer Trio, Accelerando
Wadada Leo Smith, Ten Freedom Summers

http://www.npr.org/blogs/bestmusic20...-complete-list

[dyedred19]

Rolling Stone gives their top spot to the guy in my signature. I love the album, though I'm not sure it's THAT good.

Their top 10:
1. Bruce Springsteen
2. Frank Ocean
3. Jack White
4. Bob Dylan
5. Fiona Apple
6. Kendrick Lamar
7. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
8. Green Day
9. Japandroids
10. Neil Young and Crazy Horse

[Andersson H.]

Agreed.

But at least he had the common sense to exclude this track from the album:







I love GaGa but this is just

He kept the track.. just not w those shitty Gaga vocals on it.

[Donezo]

Rolling Stone gives their top spot to the guy in my signature. I love the album, though I'm not sure it's THAT good.

Their top 10:
1. Bruce Springsteen
2. Frank Ocean
3. Jack White
4. Bob Dylan
5. Fiona Apple
6. Kendrick Lamar
7. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
8. Green Day
9. Japandroids
10. Neil Young and Crazy Horse

It wouldn't be Rolling Stone without giving top album list spots to people two+ decades removed from being relevant.

[dyedred19]

You should see the rest of the list.

For every nice inclusion, there's Dave Matthews Band or fucking John Mayer in the top 20.

[cdmc]

Loving the mentions for Swans, DIIV, Godspeed and Cat Power!

[Donezo]

You should see the rest of the list.

For every nice inclusion, there's Dave Matthews Band or fucking John Mayer in the top 20.

I was excited about Icona Pop making the list, only to find it ranked behind "Gangnam Style." Seriously?

[veritas]

I need more mentions of Miguel. Just discovered Kaleidoscope Dream this week and...yeah.

[jjj]

Vulture's addendum to its T10 Albums -

The Good: Most Enduring Pop Phenomenon
Carly Rae Jepsen, “Call Me Maybe” You know the words. Your mother knows the words. Colin Powell knows the words. It was the Little Canadian Song That Could.
& Most Deserving Pop Blockbuster
Taylor Swift The eternally surprised, ex-boyfriend-shaming superstar is still a gifted songwriter, and Red features some of her best kiss-offs ever. (Jake Gyllenhaal might disagree.)

The Bad: Least Enduring Pop Phenomenon
Lana Del Rey January’s most controversial pop starlet was old news by February—unless you count her SNL performance, which will be remembered for years for its badness.
& Least Deserving Pop Blockbuster
Mumford & Sons The old-timey bands at Frontierland have been doing this for decades. Give Country Bear Jamboree a Grammy! — Amanda Dobbins

[Brazilianmovies]

PINK
THE TRUTH ABOUT LOVE

Ke$ha's the It Girl, Taylor Swift is valedictorian and Rihanna rules pop's freak-dancing prom. But nobody does genre-defying Top 40 arena music with more soul than 33-year-old Alecia Moore. Pink's as well-rounded as showbiz pros get, adept at rock and R&B, serious relationship stuff and mindless partying, dumb jokes and genuine heartache. She can work with every hit-making Svengali in West Hollywood — from Max Martin to Greg Kurstin to Nate Ruess of fun. — and still sound like nobody else. The Truth About Love is a big party, with A-list guests (Eminem!) and a sound that sashays from T. Rex-style glam to Caribbean dance beats to that old neon New Wave sparkle. But don't worry about getting lost; the hostess knows your name, and she's gonna pull you in the corner at some point and make you feel right at home. —Ann Powers

NPR better stan!

[jjj]

Rolling Stone's Best Songs: 1. Hold On/Alabama Shakes
2. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together/Taylor Swift
3. Take a Walk/Passion Pit
4. Thinkin Bout You/Frank Ocean
5. Ramada Inn/Young and Crazy Horse

[dyedred19]

I like Hold On, but that seems like a bit much.

[lazarus]

It wouldn't be Rolling Stone without giving top album list spots to people two+ decades removed from being relevant.

Dylan hasn't been relevant in 20 years?

News to me.

His late 90's resurgence resulted in three straight albums that were universally acclaimed.