Year-End Critics' Polls 2012

also "i knew you were trouble" is really only the second single to get a major push and it came out after most YE list deadlines

I thought WANEGBT would place in a few lists considering it was released around the third quarter of 2012

"You Belong With Me" was #10 on P&J, again I don't see the new one getting that kind of traction.

also "i knew you were trouble" is really only the second single to get a major push and it came out after most YE list deadlines

It came out before the album as a standalone single

RA didn't feel the need to make token non-dance gestures in their eoy lists this year

They voted for Jeremih and fucking Jai Paul, which is surely this year's most bewildering critical pick.

Like there's the merest whiff of greatness somewhere in 'Jasmine' but unless there's a version out there that doesn't sound like a tossed off demo I don't really get it.

I finally listened to the Andres track last night and it's pretty great, it's nothing revolutionary but I can see perfectly well how those strings would sound amazing at the right point in a set.

been listening to pitchfork track picks and came across lotus plaza's monolith. has indie declined this low or what...

Jai Paul, which is surely this year's most bewildering critical pick.

Yup

I think that record is pretty great actually. Though it's just Jasmine, there isn't really anything else to get excited about.

Going through the tracks I haven't heard on the RA list has been a bit hit and miss so far but that Factory Floor remix is massive.

Agreed

the ra list is very ineffectual as a case for the year in music.

and i don't think it's been a bad year for house/techno of the ra variety.

Like that Barnt track is a bit of serviceable if unexciting dancefloor filler but I'm not sure why anyone would vote it one of the tracks of the year or how it could end up so high in any list.

that track is HUGE. i agree with you, it sounds v unexciting to the laptop listener, but i think it's one of those "symbol" records a bit, plus i reckon at very loud volumes it takes on a new life.

all the big djs apparently played it incessantly all year. i only know this based on being in berlin in the summer. to me it sounds like a m_nus record from a few years back or something.

gah really want to read these spin lists but the website just doesn't work on my firefox. i click next but nothing happens

I was listening to it pretty loudly on decent headphones but it didn't do much for me, maybe it does work in a club setting but it also feels like you could slot it into almost any kind of set which explains why it's so big.

http://www.timeout.com/london/feature/3477/the-20-best-club-songs-of-2012

^^^ Kinda schizophrenic Time Out Clubbing list, chiefly notable because one of these lists has finally acknowledged that 'Oliver Twist' a) exists and b) is one of the best tracks of the year.

otm re: oliver twist

http://www.splicetoday.com/music/the-2012-splice-today-albums-poll

WE IN THIS BREH

It came out before the album as a standalone single

― lex pretend, Wednesday, December 19, 2012 4:21 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark

welllll they released like handful of other songs as well. that's not really my point.

re: oliver twist, i saw it on the guardian top 40 tracks playlist but yeah it hasnt shown up in enough places

Xp you said it came out too late for EOY lists but it obv didn't

http://www.flavorwire.com/357103/stereotyping-you-by-your-favorite-album-of-2012

dozens of swings, a few hits, lots of misses

he said it was "the second single to get a major push and it came out after most YE list deadlines" so obviously he was talking about it going to radio and getting a video

in any event the idea that every critic in the world should've stood up and done their duty the moment TAYSTEP interested the world is lol

don't know how "entered" became "interested" in my brain there ugh

Rhapsody Top 50 Albums (Selection by committee, not really a poll; I had some input for this, though not a lot):

50) Motion Sickness of Time Travel, Motion Sickness of Time Travel
49) Santigold, Master of My Make-Believe
48) Jason Aldean, Night Train
47) Samuel Yirga, Guzo
46) TobyMac, Eye on It
45) Ke$ha, Warrior
44) Spoek Mathambo, Father Creeper
43) Prince Royce, Phase II
42) Henry Threadgill, Tomorrow Sunny / The Revelry, Spp
41) Pink, The Truth About Love
40) Alan Jackson, 30 Miles West
39) Lukid, Lonely at the Top
38) The Very Best, MTMTMK
37) Gary Clark Jr., Blak & Blu
36) Ana Tijoux, La Bala
35) Treponem Pal, Survival Sounds
34) Ellie Goulding, Halcyon
33) Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Psychedelic Pill
32) Dev, The Night the Sun Came Up
31) Laurie Spiegel, The Expanding Universe
30) Nicki Minaj, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded
29) Cloud Nothings, Attack on Memory
28) Grizzly Bear, Shields
27) Elle Varner, Perfectly Imperfect
26) Kellie Pickler, 100 Proof
25) Matthew Dear, Beams
24) METZ, METZ
23) Nas, Life Is Good
22) Alt-J, An Awesome Wave
21) Blackberry Smoke, The Whippoorwill
20) Robert Glasper, Black Radio
19) Dr. John, Locked Down
18) Beach House, Bloom
17) El-P, Cancer 4 Cure
16) Dwight Yoakam, 3 Pears
15) Alabama Shakes, Boys and Girls
14) The Lumineers, The Lumineers
13) John Talabot, Fin
12) Jack White, Blunderbuss
11) Swans, The Seer
10) Baroness, Yellow & Green
9) Killer Mike, R.A.P. Music
8) Grimes, Visions
7) Daphni, Jiaolong
6) Fiona Apple, The Idler Wheel...
5) Daughn Gibson, All Hell
4) Miguel, Kaleidoscope Dream
3) Kendrick Lamar, good kid, m.A.A.d city
2) Japandroids, Celebration Rock
1) Frank Ocean, Channel Orange

Here's that link:

http://www.rhapsody.com/blog/post/top-50-albums-of-2012

Rhapsody Top 50 singles (same deal -- not a poll per se', and I had some minor input.)

http://www.rhapsody.com/blog/post/top-50-singles-of-2012

50) Skrillex, "Bangarang"
49) Scissor Sisters, "Let's Have a Kiki"
48) TobyMac, "Me Without You"
47) Bruce Springsteen, "We Take Care of Our Own"
46) Michel Teló, "Ai Se Eu Te Pego"
45) Justin Bieber, "Boyfriend"
44) King Tuff, "Keep on Movin'"
43) Miranda Lambert, "Fastest Girl in Town"
42) Plan B, "Ill Manors"
41) Alt-J, "Something Good"
40) El-P, "The Full Retard"
39) Eric Church, "Springsteen"
38) Daphni, "Ye Ye"
37) Wisin y Yandel ft. T-Pain & Chris Brown, "Algo Me Gusta De Ti"
36) Meek Mill, "Amen"
35) Elle Varner, "Refill"
34) METZ, "Headache"
33) Swans, "The Seer"
32) M.I.A., "Bad Girls"
31) 2 Chainz, "Birthday Song"
30) Carrie Underwood, "Blown Away"
29) Of Monsters and Men, "Little Talks"
28) fun., "Some Nights"
27) Juicy J, "Bandz a Make Her Dance"
26) Alex Clare, "Too Close"
25) Baroness, "Take My Bones Away"
24) Rush, "Headlong Flight"
23) Rihanna, "Diamonds"
22) Carly Rae Jepsen, "Call Me Maybe"
21) The Lumineers, "Ho Hey"
20) Psy, "Gangnam Style"
19) Phillip Phillips, "Home"
18) Little Big Town, "Pontoon"
17) Grimes, "Genesis"
16) Mumford & Sons, "I Will Wait"
15) Solange, "Losing You"
14) Fiona Apple, "Every Single Night"
13) Nas, "Daughters"
12) Usher, "Climax"
11) Bat for Lashes, "Laura"
10) Kanye West, "Mercy"
9) Gotye, "Somebody That I Used to Know"
8) Taylor Swift, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"
7) Nicki Minaj ft. 2 Chainz, "Beez in the Trap"
6) Dev, "In My Trunk"
5) Kendrick Lamar, "Swimming Pools (Drank)"
4) Miguel, "Adorn"
3) ZZ Top, "I Gotsa Get Paid"
2) Frank Ocean, "Thinkin' Bout You"
1) Alabama Shakes, "Hold On"

fun list, it was a good year for mainstream female vocal pop albums and it's nice to see those Dev and Pink and Ellie Goulding albums all get their due on one list (xp)

Critics need to wait til a song has a video to be alerted to it? Hardly being very on it.

we're talking about a song having significant traction on year-end lists. the only time Swift had a song do well on critics' lists was when it was a huge hit for months and months throughout the year.

yeah wtf are you even talking about

can't believe critics didn't all magically rally behind some album track, why are they so bad at job

HARDLY BEING VERY ON IT

Making a list, checking it twice
Gonna find out if you been naughty or nice

http://fastnbulbous.com/lucky-12/

Rhapsody genre lists here (Indie, Electronic, Latin, Rock, Christian, Pop, Classical, Country, R&B, Jazz, Hip-Hop, World, Metal Albums -- the last of which is my own list; if you poke around on the site you can find singles lists for a few of those genres, too.)

http://www.rhapsody.com/blog/post/rhapsodys-best-of-2012

can't believe critics didn't all magically rally behind some album track, why are they so bad at job

EOY lists always contain several album tracks, and in any case this WASN'T an album track

is that even gonna be the highest ranked TS track on a Swift-friendly place like the ilx poll? why are we talking about this one song like it means anything?

jesus

the point is that on an album like red where most people have a different favorite song, it's usually important if there's a track for people to rally around (i.e. "swimming pools" or maybe even "pyramids"). taylor dropped one big single that most people agree isn't her best work & then a handful of "digital singles" before the album came out. this is a very simple thing.

no, dubswift shall not be denied

lex consistently has the most misguided, fractured views on how the world actually works

not for lack of competition, too!

DIDNT EVERYONE KEEP UP WITH SINGLES JUKEBOX THIS YEAR?!?!?!?! HOW DARE CRITICS DENY INVY DA TRUTH

talking about taylor swift sincerely on the internet = eternal lol

the taylor swift thread has some of the creepiest ILX posts of all time outside of the "i made her my little meatball sub" guy

Could we not do this?

Who wants a fight?

Spin's top 10 music books of 2012: http://www.spin.com/articles/best-music-books-2012?utm_source=spintwitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=spintwitter

cool to see Natalie Hopkinson's Go-Go book on there, haven't read it yet, but i was on a panel w/ her last year where she read excerpts of it and it was fascinating stuff

shame they missed David Byrne's "How Music Works", whether you like Byrne or Talking Heads or not, it's a really pleasurable read.