Year-End Critics' Polls 2012

okay I really, really liked the VCMG album but top five of 2012 seems silly, like they meant to put Wonky there as a surprise comeback album and then had a massive brain fart

i've been picking through this list a bit this morning, the alex tucker record seems kind of cool.

I want to see a dancehall heavy list (as I lost touch with that genre but remain curious). Maybe I should just go the ilx dancehall thread, or elsewhere.

That's a lot of damn music I haven't heard, close to 60% of that list. After binging on over 100 albums this past week, including epic length stuff like Wadada Leo Smith's 4 disc set Ten Freedom Summers, my head's gonna explode. Gonna try to pick carefully the ones I really need to hear. Funny how highly rated the Scott Walker and Laurel Halo albums are, as they are undeniably uncomfortable, sometimes excruciating listens. I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling silly subjecting myself to them more than a couple times, to make sure I'm not missing out. There's definitely interesting stuff going on that can be oddly compelling as it is torturous, which is why I still rate 'em. But there's no way albums are topping my list that I would not look forward to listening to again more than once or twice.

Glad to see Ufomammut and Motorpsycho in there!

I'm not won over by the Scott Walker yet, but maybe I need to listen some more (or maybe not!).

Funny how highly rated the Scott Walker and Laurel Halo albums are, as they are undeniably uncomfortable, sometimes excruciating listens.

it's Farrah Abraham i feel sorry for

Has anybody put the Fela Kuti re ish on any of these lists?

maybe I didn't stick with it long enough but I thought Laurel Halo was just boring

I did enjoy the Turbonegro comeback with the new singer too. I love the band, but the album didn't rank that high as they've had so many better ones. Still cool to see them mentioned.

Have tried a few times but couldn't get past about track 3 of the Laurel Halo album. Shame as it has one of my favourite sleeves of 2012.

you could've skipped forward ya kno

xxp:

As someone who's spent 20 years searching for bands with the Cocteau Twins aesthetic, I can pretty safely say there aren't more than a handful that come close, and Beach House is rather far from the mark. As others above mention, Beach House is way closer to the Stevie Nicks/Fleetwood aesthetic.

On the other hand, there's never been a year without a new Slowdive apeing band. Its an easier formula - you don't need a fluidly jazzy vocalist, for one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0JsPf8xK5k

As someone who's spent 20 years searching for bands with the Cocteau Twins aesthetic, I can pretty safely say there aren't more than a handful that come close

Empress Of isn't identical, but she's in the handful who comes close imo.

11. Kassem Mosse & Mix Mup - MM/KM

Really wanted to listen to this properly but this is just vinyl only which has all sold out amirite? All the youtubes I've checked have been good though.

45. Vindicatrix – Mengamuk

I couldn't really recommend this to anyone else with an easy conscience, but this is one of my secret faves on the Quietus list. Scott Walker-esque avant-crooning over some shabby old electronic soundscape on Mordant Music's label.

xp JF:
There are others, but Liz Frasier is rather weird as rock vocalists go. Wouldn't be surprised if she was a huge Ella Fitzgerald fan. On the other hand there's a lot of bands that have the instrumental side of CT down and stick some nondescript high-school choral singer on top.

Nice to see the Quietus repping for Land Observations - Roman Roads IV-XI. It's not amazing and #13 EOY is a bit ridiculous but as pastoral Krautrock revivalism goes it was one of the best this year.

irl lol at this writeup

9. Anaal Nathrakh – Vanitas

"Anaal Nathrakh!!! Anaal Nathrakh!!! Anaal Nathrakh!!! Anaal Nathrakh!!! Anaal Nathrakh!!! Anaal Nathrakh!!! RIP MY FUCKING HEAD OFF AND USE IT AS A FUCKING KICK BALL, THEN STICK IT IN A FUCKING CANNON AND SHOOT IT INTO FUCKING OUTER FUCKING SPACE!!! Anaal Nathrakh!!! Anaal Nathrakh!!! Anaal Nathrakh!!! Anaal Nathrakh!!! Anaal Nathrakh!!! Anaal Nathrakh!!! MY HEAD WILL HIT AN ASTEROID AND REDIRECT IT TO THE EARTH!!!! RRRRRRRRRRRRR AAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MY FACE AND BRAINS AND FUCKING HAIR WILL MOLD AND MELT INTO THE FUCKING ASTEROID THAT IS NOW SPEEDING TOWARDS THE FUCKING MISERABLE PLANET FAIL FUCKING EARTH AND RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anaal Nathrakh!!!Anaal Nathrakh!!! Anaal Nathrakh!!! Anaal Nathrakh!!! Anaal Nathrakh!!! Anaal Nathrakh!!! SEND THIS FUCKING CD TO ME WITH A WARHEAD ATTACHED TO IT!!! FUCKING DIE!!! Anaal Nathrakh!!! FUCKING RULES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous Anaal Nathrakh fan ordering Vanitas over the internet

Sort of surprisingly dull: http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-best-music-of-2012,89711/

evan r. can't un-dull their music coverage all by himself

do any of those records mean anything to any of them? or anyone?

kyle ryan i think managed to vote folie a deux into av club's 2009 top 20 and hoo boy those comments were fun

x-post --They have Frank Ocean and the Swans and Leonard Cohen just like a bunch of polls, what more do you want said about those efforts?

well, i was just thinking, that seems like the defect in their list that shows up elsewhere. appreciation without mattering. which is not to say that none of those records matter, or could. but no one seems to have tried showing that they have a stake in any of it.

... I have no idea what you mean by that.

yeah, nobody has made any kind of case that the Frank Ocean album means something to them or matters in some larger sense.

Being on a list means the record mattered to a lot of people!

yes, to the listmakers? or blurb-writers? that's the thing that seems to have gone missing.

'but to', i meant to type.

I still don't understand what you are looking for

i don't think the biggest problem with the EOY list blurbs is a lack of passion (or hyperbole)

i mean this morning we were making fun of a list where the blurbs for albums outside the top 40 talked about the record "owning the year" or being "the best record of 2012"

Exactly. The often hysterical praise and context-setting in blurbs is what needs oversight.

I mean, if someone is out there writing "this album pulled my back from committing murder/suicide" blurbs about that Chairlift album, there are deeper issues beyond whether the album is any good or not that I'd be loathe to actually engage

xpost to some dude - that just means that the writers (or editors) are bad, or they have a distorted sense of how things matter in general versus how they matter to them. but what i'm talking about is not passion or hyperbole. the listmakers themselves are absent from the writing they do about the music that they say matters (or imply matters by putting it on year-end lists). they don't seem to be concerned to make the personal connection. (and by extension, they seem to have trouble finding anything larger than a personal connection to hang the meaningfulness of their chosen records on - for lack of good narratives at the moment, coherence of listening audiences, etc.)

But explaining why the album matters IS a personal connection.

I still have no idea what you are looking for when you use the word "meaningfulness" and I feel like you are simultaneously criticizing these lists for only going for a personal connection and not bothering to make a personal connection.

in summation: what happened, I am confused

alfred, i certainly wouldn't want to deny that it could be. but doesn't that depend to some extent on how the explanation is given, and on how it's written?

dan, i think that as presented the onion list is a good example of what one sees in many year-end lists. there are very few personal connections actually manifested in the writing accompanying the lists because the writers/editors allow the impersonality of the format to exclude those connections. so the end results come to seem universally samey and vaguely like empty exercises.

the year end blurb game is what it is -- those of us who have to write some of them try our best but "sum it up in 50 words or less" is not really conducive to establishing a personal connection

sure, and i don't want to fault you for it. i'm just thinking about what makes these lists dissatisfying - what makes people hunt for a sign (weird albums, unpopular choices, inclusions that don't fit into the overall scheme) that a list isn't just pro forma.

Isn't a sharp blurb promotion enough?

I think "personal connection" is the wrong tack in any event - IMO what is most often missing from poor year end blurbs is a sense of what the writer thinks "the best X thing" actually looks like - the why and how of the music's greatness from their perspective. I think that's still doable in 50 word blurbs, you just can't go into much detail is all.

Nice to see the Quietus repping for Land Observations - Roman Roads IV-XI. It's not amazing and #13 EOY is a bit ridiculous but as pastoral Krautrock revivalism goes it was one of the best this year.

― a Christmas .gif for you from (seandalai), Tuesday, December 11, 2012 3:17 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This is lovely! Thanking u.

i think what is most often missing from year end blurbs is music reviewed in the style of adorno, or in any case someone from the frankfurt school. why don't critics explain exactly why and how an album is participating in the capitalist hegemony, reinforcing the superstructure, or stymying the dialectical resolution? the best album of the year should either be the one album valiantly (and only temporarily) resisting co-option, or the album most shamelessly implicated in the hierarchy of taste + class.

otm

you miss k-punk too huh mordy

I think that's still doable in 50 word blurbs, you just can't go into much detail is all.

depends on the album really

Popdust

100. TWIN SHADOW, “FIVE SECONDS”
99. DAVID GUETTA FEAT. SIA, “TITANIUM”
98. NELLY FURATDO, “PARKING LOT”
97. SOLANGE, “LOSING YOU”
96. BAAUER, “HARLEM SHAKE”
95. GRIMES, “OBLIVION”
94. R. KELLY, “SHARE MY LOVE”
93. MIRANDA LAMBERT, “OVER YOU”
92. CONOR MAYNARD, “CAN’T SAY NO”
91. JASON MRAZ, “I WON’T GIVE UP"
90. CHIEF KEEF FEAT. KANYE WEST, PUSHA T, BIG SEAN, JADAKISS, “DON’T LIKE.1″
89. LEE HI, “1 2 3 4″
88. NAS, “DAUGHTERS”
87. OLLY MURS, “HEART SKIPS A BEAT”
86. ERIC CHURCH, “SPRINGSTEEN”
85. M.I.A., “BAD GIRLS”
84. MUMFORD AND SONS, “I WILL WAIT”
83. CA$H OUT, “CASHIN’ OUT”
82. RIHANNA, “DIAMONDS”
81. RITA ORA, “HOW WE DO (PARTY)"
80. WOLFGANG GARTNER, “FLEXX”
79. THE BAND PERRY, “BETTER DIG TWO”
78. CHAIRLIFT, “I BELONG IN YOUR ARMS”
77. RICK ROSS FEAT. DRAKE & FRENCH MONTANA, “STAY SCHEMIN”
76. HALEY REINHART, “FREE”
75. PASSION PIT, “CONSTANT CONVERSATIONS”
74. TAYLOR SWIFT FEAT. THE CIVIL WARS, “SAFE AND SOUND”
73. CHRISTINA AGUILERA, “RED HOT KINDA LOVE”
72. USHER, “DIVE”
71. BEST COAST, “DREAMING MY LIFE AWAY"
70. NICKI MINAJ, “STUPID HOE”
69. PINK, “BLOW ME (ONE LAST KISS)”
68. OWL CITY & CARLY RAE JEPSEN, “GOOD TIME”
67. SCHOOLBOY Q, “THERE HE GO”
66. LEMONADE, “NEPTUNE”
65. ADAM LAMBERT, “KICKIN IN”
64. HUNTER HAYES, “WANTED”
63. RIHANNA FEAT. CHRIS BROWN, “NOBODY’S BUSINESS”
62. SLEIGH BELLS, “COMEBACK KID”
61. AZEALIA BANKS, “JUMANJI"
60. BIG BANG, “BAD BOY”
59. JAPANDROIDS, “THE HOUSE THAT HEAVEN BUILT”
58. THE WANTED, “I FOUND YOU”
57. JUSTIN BIEBER, “THOUGHT OF YOU”
56. KANYE WEST FT. BIG SEAN & JAY-Z, “CLIQUE”
55. ZEDD FEAT. MATTHEW KOMA, “SPECTRUM”
54. ONE DIRECTION, “ONE THING”
53. MUSE, “MADNESS”
52. JAY-Z FEAT. B.I.C., “GLORY”
51. TANLINES, “ALL OF ME”
50. TAYLOR SWIFT, “I KNEW YOU WERE TROUBLE”
49. CARRIE UNDERWOOD, “BLOWN AWAY”
48. RICK ROSS, “HOLD ME BACK”
47. THE-DREAM FEAT. PUSHA T, “DOPE BITCH”
46. JOEY BADA$$, “WORLD DOMINATION”
45. JUSTIN BIEBER FEAT. DRAKE, “RIGHT HERE”
44. ELLIE GOULDING, “LIGHTS”
43. MIGUEL, “PUSSY IS MINE”
42. FLORENCE & THE MACHINE, “SPECTRUM (SAY MY NAME) (CALVIN HARRIS REMIX)”
41. G-DRAGON, “CRAYON”
40. LOVERANCE FEAT. 50 CENT, T.I. & YOUNG JEEZY, “UP!”
39. PINK, “THE TRUTH ABOUT LOVE”
38. JAKE OWEN, “ALONE WITH YOU”
37. KE$HA, “DIE YOUNG”
36. 2 CHAINZ FEAT. DRAKE, “NO LIE”
35. ONE DIRECTION, “I WOULD”
34. ALEX CLARE, “TOO CLOSE”
33. THE WANTED, “GLAD YOU CAME”
32. DEMI LOVATO, “GIVE YOUR HEART A BREAK”
31. CHARLI XCX, “YOU’RE THE ONE”
30. BRUNO MARS, “LOCKED OUT OF HEAVEN”
29. NICKI MINAJ, “BEEZ IN THE TRAP”
28. FIONA APPLE, “EVERY SINGLE NIGHT”
27. TYGA, “RACK CITY”
26. FUN., “SOME NIGHTS”
25. CHER LLOYD, “WANT U BACK”
24. SKY FERREIRA, “EVERYTHING IS EMBARRASSING”
23. FRANK OCEAN, “PYRAMIDS”
22. ICONA POP, “I LOVE IT”
21. KENDRICK LAMAR, “THE RECIPE”
20. FRENCH MONTANA FEAT. DRAKE, RICK ROSS & LIL WAYNE, “POP THAT”
19. LITTLE BIG TOWN, “PONTOON”
18. TAYLOR SWIFT, “WE ARE NEVER EVER GETTING BACK TOGETHER”
17. THE LUMINEERS, “HO HEY”
16. CARLY RAE JEPSEN, “THIS KISS”
15. MEEK MILL FEAT. DRAKE, “AMEN”
14. MIGUEL, “ADORN”
13. RIHANNA, “WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN”
12. NICKI MINAJ, “STARSHIPS”
11. PSY, “GANGNAM STYLE”
10. CALVIN HARRIS, "FEELS SO CLOSE"
9. BRIDGIT MENDLER, “READY OR NOT”
8. FRANK OCEAN, “THINKING ‘BOUT YOU”
7. TAYLOR SWIFT, “STATE OF GRACE”
6. JUSTIN BIEBER, “BOYFRIEND”
5. FUN. FEAT JANELLE MONAE, “WE ARE YOUNG”
4. KANYE WEST FT. BIG SEAN, PUSHA T & 2 CHAINZ, “MERCY”
3. ONE DIRECTION, “WHAT MAKES YOU BEAUTIFUL”
2. USHER, “CLIMAX”
1. CARLY RAE JEPSEN, “CALL ME MAYBE”

some pretty hilarious picks in there but it's still nice to see a fairly considered list of chart singles

that list is basically x_x -> -_- -> ^_^ in an unending loop