Year-End Critics' Polls 2012

seventy-five reissues and no room for Robbie Basho's Twilight Peaks, makes me sick

I did like the Antony track but haven't been able to get all the way through yet. I will cue it up again soon!

Pitchfork's Top 50 Albums of 2012

50. Lambchop - Mr. M
49. Crystal Castles - (III)
48. Peaking Lights - Lucifer
47. Pallbearer - Sorrow and Extinction
46. Rustie - Essential Mix
45. El-P - Cancer for Cure
44. Metz - Metz
43. Mac DeMarco - 2
42. Rick Ross - Rich Forever
41. Dum Dum Girls - End of Daze EP
40. DIIV - Oshin
39. Hot Chip - In Our Heads
38. Lotus Plaza - Spooky Action at a Distance
37. Future - Pluto
36. Sharon Van Etten - Tramp
35. TNGHT - TNGHT
34. Chairlift - Something
33. Actress - R.I.P.
32. Action Bronson/Party Supplies - Blue Chips
31. Spiritualized - Sweet Heart Sweet Light
30. The Men - Open Your Heart
29. Cat Power - Sun
28. How to Dress Well - Total Loss
27. John Talabot - ƒIN
26. Julia Holter - Ekstasis
25. Schoolboy Q - Habits & Contradictions
24. Purity Ring - Shrines
23. Miguel - Kaleidoscope Dream
22. Flying Lotus - Until the Quiet Comes
21. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Mature Themes
20. Jessie Ware - Devotion
19. Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory
18. Ty Segall Band/Ty Segall & White Fence - Slaughterhouse/Hair
17. Bat For Lashes - The Haunted Man
16. Burial - Kindred EP
15. Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan
14. Andy Stott - Luxury Problems
13. Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music
12. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!
11. Japandroids - Celebration Rock
10. Grizzly Bear - Shields
9. Death Grips - The Money Store
8. Chromatics - Kill For Love
7. Beach House - Bloom
6. Grimes - Visions
5. Swans - The Seer
4. Tame Impala - Lonerism
3. Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel...
2. Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
1. Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d city

why did i even bother half-hoping that the combined forces of tim and j0rdan could get dawn into that :(

after tirelessly stanning for the entire year i think i can count the number of critics who voted for her on the fingers of both hands :(

and fucking...other artists just sweep up votes like it's nothing

didn't p1p3c0ck used to write for LWE? it's...interesting how much luv they are giving to Pittsburgh Track Authority

Stereogum couldn't find room for Ka's Grief Pedigree in its top 40 rap albums list:

http://stereogum.com/1225002/stereogums-top-40-rap-albums-of-2012-2/top-stories/lead-story/

1. Kendrick
2. Future
3. Action Bronson
4. El-P
5. Killer Mike
6. Roc Marciano
7. Rick Ross
8. Schoolboy Q

i like that action bronson is getting mentioned, blue chips is prob in my top-10 for any genre

i wish boldy's record had gotten at least a lil love but it seems like it didn't have the impact of the 1st one and that one was completely slept on

people are REALLY riding with this action bronson thing

Stereogum couldn't find room for Ka's Grief Pedigree in its top 40 rap albums list:

Or a single woman

Nicki is on there

maybe she's got a boyfriend?

she's got a lot of sons. Not sure about her relationship status

Oh I thought the list was only what was c/ped

One woman isn't any better, any rap list that doesn't include Angel Haze is ridiculous to me

i swear i would never have even heard of Angel Haze if you didn't post here

after tirelessly stanning for the entire year i think i can count the number of critics who voted for her on the fingers of both hands :(

and fucking...other artists just sweep up votes like it's nothing

― lex pretend, Friday, December 21, 2012 12:55 PM (5 hours ago)

Your Dawn Richard is my Niki & The Dove. The difference being that I recognize my favorite thing is sort of a niche release, just like Dawn's ep.

Angel Haze has actually had quite a bit of buzz over here, I mean significantly more than a lot of rappers. She might well be higher profile in Britain than in the US.

what as opposed to new star soccer and craft beers music? come on i thought we were above this shite

Call of Duty and wanking are both enormously popular pastimes! I mean the music is mostly execrable but there's a serious point in there that you overlook the favourite music of yr suburban teenage boy at your peril but at the same time I don't want to live in a world where we can't be cunts when it comes to Zane Lowe.

I like Call of Duty and wanking. ¯\(°_o)/¯

"Angel Haze has actually had quite a bit of buzz over here, I mean significantly more than a lot of rappers. She might well be higher profile in Britain than in the US."

god this makes so much sense

how so?

/what as opposed to new star soccer and craft beers music? come on i thought we were above this shite/

low blow aside, tis the season etc, radio 1's success is based on a very, very tight strategy in terms of who it's aimed at. as cynical as any comment upthread. plus I hardly think you're repping for the zane list, note I didn't comment on the music anyway, just his audience.

What makes Armor On a niche release? It feels p epochal. I have not heard Niki and the Dove tho either...

What makes Armor On a niche release? It feels p epochal. I have not heard Niki and the Dove tho either...

Nothing in particular, other than it being popular music that has obstacles in its path to actually being popular. I mean, who knows why Florence + The Machine made that transition when a whole group of other similar (and better) artists couldn't?

good publicists, good marketing

dawn has a team of 5, she literally can't compete in terms of PR

Or, like, Ellie Goulding—the weakest singer with the weakest material who gets all the buzz her peers don't get. It doesn't make me furious or anything. I just don't get it.

Ah come on, saying x band I dislike is successful cos of "marketing" is straight up indie bullshit.

ellie goulding has a formidable pr team too, yes

xp ok PR and marketing departments have *no* effect on any artist's critical or commercial success, tbh i don't understand why they haven't all been fired to cut costs

How do you deduce that others are affected and not yourself?

did i say that? can you read? why are you talking to me again?

Ah come on, saying x band I dislike is successful cos of "marketing" is straight up indie bullshit.

This situation is best observed on a case-by-case basis.

Let's go back to the early aughts and look at Good Charlotte. I can't explain their sudden rise to prominence through any other means besides killer PR. They came from nowhere, looked like a bunch of other bands and had an indistinguishable sound, but trounced their peers. It's either PR, or it's the fact there's a guy in the band named Benji. People love the name Benji.

Not commenting on personal problems, just remember the whole "it's marketing" defence mechanism from arguing with indie friends about pop, when I was about 15. I guess don't mention rockism again.

Where's Tom Ewing when you need some popism/actual understanding of marketing?

i am fairly sure tom ewing would acknowledge that when you have a canny major label marketing strategy behind one artist, and an amateur self-taught team of 5 behind the other, this will have an effect on how well the music does

Let's go back to the early aughts and look at Good Charlotte. I can't explain their sudden rise to prominence through any other means besides killer PR a bunch of hooky, memorable singles.

I agree with Lex that PR clearly makes a difference to the likelihood an artist will find a large fanbase, but I don't accept Johnny Fever's more ambitious argument that certain acts only succeed because of marketing.

Even with Ellie Goulding there's a reason that Kate Bush ish "doo doo doo dooooo" single is all over the radio.

I can't explain their sudden rise to prominence through any other means besides killer PR a bunch of hooky, memorable singles their residence almost daily on TRL.

Sorry but Good Charlotte were a great singles band, you gots to deal.

I like "The River", but they were already in decline by that point.

I don't accept Johnny Fever's more ambitious argument that certain acts only succeed because of marketing.

yes, i'm not arguing this, it's a pretty old chestnut that is admittedly easier to target if one doesn't want to engage with what i am arguing

it is honestly pretty easy to see when other critics are being affected by PR when everyone begins tweeting about an artist, who has been around for a while beforehand, on THE DAY that you get the first PR mailout w/buzz track etc

and as far as me being affected by PR - sure, there are def certain PRs whose new artists i'll make more of an effort to listen to, whether because i trust that PR's taste or because they're a nice person or whatever

Yeah, okay...maybe I just have an axe to grind with Good Charlotte.

I CAN tell you, though, that when Kings of Leon sprung up from nowhere talking about how they paid their Nashville dues that it was a load of shite. They never played the Nashville circuit and nobody in the music community there had a clue who they were. P.R.

but if they had paid their Nashville dues would it have made them a better band or better looking?

No. I was just pointing out that the PR story that got passed around at the time was a bunch of hooey.

"Lights" is a good song

Somewhat related, but ASFAIK, the disparity in reception of iamamiwhoami's Kin between consumers (its #6 on rateyourmusic) and critics (only the US blog Pretty Much Amazing and Spanish blog Jenesaispop rated it at year end) seems to stem from a marketing strategy that entirely bypassed critical filters. Were there no promos?

Oops, it actually ranked #55 amongst all RYM users in all genres (I forgot my usual filters to tame the metal/prog slant of RYM's demographic). Still, huge disparity with the #640 rank from the acclaimed poll of polls.

yeah you could probably make all sorts of observations about various artists if you just compared Rate Your Music rankings to Acclaimed Music rankings