Year-End Critics' Polls 2012

As usual, it begins Thanksgiving week. The first one I've seen is the Rough Trade shop. Not technically a critic's poll, but like some of the better on-line retailers like Aquarius and Boomkat, they have a staff who writes blurbs and votes. Bloggers and freelance/single/married/swingin' critics welcome to submit here too!

Rough Trade Shops Albums of the Year
http://www.roughtrade.com/site/content.lasso?page=AOY_2012_page1.html

01 Grimes - Visions
02 John Talabot - Fin
03 Toy - Toy
04 Allo Darlin - Europe
05 Goat - World Music
06 Damien Jurado - Maraqopa
07 Alt J - An Awesome Wave
08 Django Django - Django Django
09 Alabama Shakes - Boys & Girls
10 Frank Ocean - Channel Orange

I'd put money on Frank Ocean getting #1 in Pazz & Jop and several other places. It gives off AOTY vibes.

unless you listen to it

I knew you'd respond. That was my Lex batsignal.

Haha.

Yeah, Channel Orange is going to be #1 on a lot of lists.

Looks like Ocean is a good bet, and/or Kendrick Lamar. Swans, Grizzly Bear, Beach House, Death Grips, Tame Impala, Jack White and uh, apparently Fiona Apple.

I think the best part are seeing the lists for the first time from publications that focus on certain genres that I follow. Nowadays, the overall Pazz & Jop type of superpolls are predictable enough based on all the rating score aggragators like Metacritic, Any Decent Music, Best Ever Albums and Album of the Year.

I'm looking forward to lists from Rock-A-Rolla, Decibel, The Soda Shop, Heavy Planet, Captain Beyond Zen, Doomantia, The Obelisk, The Quietus, The Wire and Terrorizer.

"uh apparently" fiona apple made the best album by far of that lot

by far

Naw.

The ILM poll is always interesting too!

I like Fiona Apple but after several listens the album did nothing for me, and I chalked it up as not one of her best and forgot about it. I'm just surprised to see her name after not hearing much about her since the album's June release. Will definitely give it some more listens.

I would love for The Idler Wheel to blow me away completely, and in snatches it does, but it could never take the place of When The Pawn in my heart.

never much cared for Fiona's voice to begin with and it makes my skin crawl on the new one

if i was ranking fiona's albums i'd put the idler wheel behind the flawless when the pawn, but they're so different that it doesn't feel like a strict either/or assessment is adequate

"hot knife" blows me away, like, completely

Hot knife is amazing. The album isnt quite as consistant as when the pawn, but it's pretty high my list this year. Very different, in my mind to her other stuff, but that just might be from where I'm coming from no w as a listener.

"Hot Knife" is def. part of the "snatches". As it stands the album is in my top 20.

I've taken to The Idler Wheel faster than to any other Apple record.

just this morning "Jonathan" impressed me all over again

gross dude

lol

Frank Ocean is my current prediction to win P&J.

will there be a P&J?

channel orange is my favourite album of the year, without a doubt.

Alfred asked what I was going to ask. (And if there is one, will people vote?)

The game is afoot!

Decibel’s Top 40 Albums Of 2012

40 Gojira – L’Enfant Sauvage
39 Meshuggah – Koloss
38 Agalloch – Faustian Echoes EP
37 The Shrine – Primitive Blast
36 Incantation – Vanquish In Vengeance
35 Samothrace – Reverence To Stone
34 Devin Townsend Project – Epicloud
33 Panopticon – Kentucky
32 Saint Vitus – LILLIE: F-65
31 Mutilation Rites – Empyrean
30 Author & Punisher – Urus Americanus
29 A Life Once Lost – Ecstatic Trance
28 Asphyx – Deathhammer
27 Farsot – Insects
26 Gaza – No Absolute For Human Suffering
25 Inverloch – Dark/Subside
24 Swans – The Seer
23 Horrendous – The Chills
22 Killing Joke – MMXII
21 Early Graves – Red Horse
20 Liberteer – Better To Die On Your Feet Than Live On Your Knees
19 High On Fire – De Vermis Mysteriis
18 Napalm Death – Utiltarian
17 Torche – Harmonicraft
16 Grave – Endless Procession Of Souls
15 Satan’s Wrath – Galloping Blasphemy
14 Testament – Dark Roots Of Earth
13 Cattle Decapitation – Monolith Of Inhumanity
12 Blut Aus Nord – 777: Cosmosophy
11 Municipal Waste – The Fatal Feast
10 Pig Destroyer – Book Burner
09 Paradise Lost – Tragic Idol
08 Royal Thunder – CVI
07 Enslaved – Riitiir
06 Neurosis – Honor Found In Decay
05 Pallbearer – Sorrow and Extinction
04 Witchcraft – Legend
03 Evoken – Altra Mors
02 Baroness – Yellow & Green
01 Converge – All We Love We Leave Behind

Decibel is always full of surprises. While Dawnbringer's Nucleus was #4 in 2010, the new one didn't even make the list. Gojira is a little low! I'm glad to see Baroness up there after the beatdowns it's received, but it's even higher than I'd expect! Pleasantly surprised to see Witchcraft and Royal Thunder up high, but then where are Graveyard and Christian Mistress? Neurosis are cool of course, but their labelmates/buds Ufomammut kick the shit out of that album. Similarly, I'd take the Conan album over Pallbearer's, which I like, but would rate it down closer to the Saint Vitus.

Pleasantly surprised to see Witchcraft and Royal Thunder up high, but then where are Graveyard and Christian Mistress?

Especially since the latter two are approximately 100x better than the ones Decibel liked.

yep. It looks like maybe 2 of their top 40 would be in mine, but then again I haven't heard about 1/3 of these.

The yep was for 誤訳侮辱 seconding fastnbulbous. I'm in total agreement on those two.

My annotation of the Decibel list:

40 Gojira – L’Enfant Sauvage (should have been way higher, but I'm biased)
39 Meshuggah – Koloss (didn't like)
38 Agalloch – Faustian Echoes EP (didn't hear)
37 The Shrine – Primitive Blast (didn't like)
36 Incantation – Vanquish In Vengeance (haven't heard yet but I like the band a bunch)
35 Samothrace – Reverence To Stone (who?)
34 Devin Townsend Project – Epicloud (pfft)
33 Panopticon – Kentucky (who?)
32 Saint Vitus – LILLIE: F-65 (should have been higher)
31 Mutilation Rites – Empyrean (who?)
30 Author & Punisher – Urus Americanus (didn't hear)
29 A Life Once Lost – Ecstatic Trance (didn't hear, but I like the band, but I also like Emmure)
28 Asphyx – Deathhammer (meh)
27 Farsot – Insects (who?)
26 Gaza – No Absolute For Human Suffering (didn't hear)
25 Inverloch – Dark/Subside (who?)
24 Swans – The Seer (didn't like)
23 Horrendous – The Chills (who?)
22 Killing Joke – MMXII (meh)
21 Early Graves – Red Horse (didn't hear)
20 Liberteer – Better To Die On Your Feet Than Live On Your Knees (weird isn't the same thing as good)
19 High On Fire – De Vermis Mysteriis (sure, OK - not as good as the last one)
18 Napalm Death – Utiltarian (awesome; should have been top 5)
17 Torche – Harmonicraft (this is a Foo Fighters album and has no business in a metal poll)
16 Grave – Endless Procession Of Souls (yay, love Grave)
15 Satan’s Wrath – Galloping Blasphemy (didn't hear)
14 Testament – Dark Roots Of Earth (didn't hear - who did?)
13 Cattle Decapitation – Monolith Of Inhumanity (didn't hear but they've always bored me)
12 Blut Aus Nord – 777: Cosmosophy (didn't hear)
11 Municipal Waste – The Fatal Feast (didn't hear)
10 Pig Destroyer – Book Burner (OK but they've still never topped Terrifyer and never will)
09 Paradise Lost – Tragic Idol (didn't hear)
08 Royal Thunder – CVI (pfft)
07 Enslaved – Riitiir (yawn)
06 Neurosis – Honor Found In Decay (yawn)
05 Pallbearer – Sorrow and Extinction (yawn)
04 Witchcraft – Legend (their weakest album - wtf?)
03 Evoken – Altra Mors (who?)
02 Baroness – Yellow & Green (awesome record, should have been #1)
01 Converge – All We Love We Leave Behind (a very good Converge album, consequently deserving of #10 at best)

Samothrace are worth hearing. Given how well Baroness and Torche did, I wonder if the staff heard and considered other non-extreme metal along the lines of Wo Fat and At Devil Dirt. I like the High On Fire, but I rate Castle, Witch Mountain, Owl, Venomous Maximus, The Sword, Alunah, Black Moth, Kadavar and Heat over it.

i'm always surprised by how early these start coming out, kind of a bummer tbh

Need to get them out of the way before the Big One.

i'm always surprised by how early these start coming out, kind of a bummer tbh

yeah feels p shitty

how many lists are gonna have farrah abraham on it

Didn't wind up putting her on my year-end list for The Wire, but felt bad about the oversight.

ILM list will.

Flopson OTM

I only really care about The Wire list because I get clued into stuff I might wanna investigate that I wasn't already aware of

All other lists - including those I vote as part of - are more a "what do other ppl care about" exercise that's only occasionally startling

I fuck with the Fiona, which is the only album on my list that has any hope of going near #1

Oh my god, Fiona is gonna make The Wire list isn't she. The geezers who normally would vote for Robert Wyatt or Scott Walker are gonna vote for her aren't they. I wonder if the same will happen if Taylor Swift makes an art rock album a decade from now?

I thought Swift recorded one already...?

I usually listen to at least 600-800 new releases a year, yet all the year-end lists together still prompt me to check out at least another hundred albums I missed, and I usually find at least a dozen or so I like enough to make my top 100. So when anyone says none of the lists are useful, it sounds kind of unnecessarily . . . smug might be too harsh. Overconfident that you've heard everything that you'd like?

The geezers who normally would vote for Robert Wyatt or Scott Walker are gonna vote for Scott Walker imo.

i think the word is 'knowing', fastnbulbous. or 'complacent'.

fiona apple won't make the wire list

The only album I didn't hear on the Decibel list was Horrendous. I'm shocked Dawnbringer, Graveyard, and Christian Mistress didn't make it. As much as I like Witchcraft, it shouldn't be that high and is nowhere near the best album of its kind in 2012. Also, Profound Lore really got the cold shoulder for some reason...the label had an outstanding year in my opinion.

Also, Profound Lore really got the cold shoulder for some reason...the label had an outstanding year in my opinion.

I'm avoiding scrolling over the list, but this really does seem like a big oversight. Profound Lore really had a fantastic year. Just scrolling through their 2012 releases and I'm seeing tons of fantastic stuff - Pallbearer, Bosse-de-Nage, Indesinence, Yakuza, Dysrhythmia, Witch Mountain, Evoken, Aldebaran...

that's two in decibel's top ten...?

Well, like I said, I'm avoiding spoilers on that list, so I was just going on what Adrien said.

"Usefulness" is a relative concept. Xpost

Like, for instance, I'm not a fan of metal really. I don't have anything against it but. So the Decibel list isn't significant for me, though I'm not dismissing it... Does that make sense? I understand why it matters to other people.

xp I'm curious, what besides Graveyard do you consider of Witchcraft's kind that's better? Or do we have to wait for your list? ;)

clemenza you have drawn an important link between terje & hot butter imo

lol yes

Thanks--the sore back and failing eyesight are a small price to pay for such important flashes of insight.

it's also got a similar nordic chug to tommy seebach's bubble sex

Here's mine:

http://2012yearinmusic.blogspot.com/

http://salsa.blog.lemonde.fr/2013/01/02/musique-latine-les-meilleurs-albums-de-2012/#xtor=RSS-32280322

French site lists fave Latin salsa, latin-jazz, and timba

website that sells cds and employs some critics; with their 2012 best salsa music list:

http://www.descarga.com/cgi-bin/db/best_of_2012

My favourite 100 albums of 2012.

Brainwashed.com
Top 100 albums, top singles/EPs, reissues, Lifetime achievement, Worst albums, etc.

(with comments from myself & others therein)

http://brainwashed.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9534:2012-readers-poll-the-results&catid=80:annual-readers-polls&Itemid=97

brainwashed readers have better taste than their obnoxious writers, apparently

bleep and phonica, streamable. sweet.

https://bleep.com/stream/100+tracks+2012
www.phonicarecords.com/top-records/51/all/40

edit: http://www.phonicarecords.com/top-records/51/all

The excellent Russian site Afisha has a bunch of year end polls and lists for anyone wanting to know what the fashionable kids of Moscow are listening to (it's Frank Ocean).

Channel Orange was album of the year and Ivan Dorn's Stytsamen was single of the year. Main album list is here:

http://www.afisha.ru/article/best2012_albums/

Electronic, metal, jazz, world and classical are here:

http://www.afisha.ru/article/best2012_outer_limits/

Will check! Here's my Nashville Scene ballot (posted as "Rank, Strangers! Part UN: The Reckoning, and a copious cornycopia of comments ("Pt. Dude: The Telling"), with country skewing toward indie folk-rock and "Americana" this year (some scorched earth surveys as well, like Todd Snider's Agnostic Hymns and Stoner Fables)=--all in bite-sized chunks; big bites, so eat like you mean it. http://thefreelancementalists.blogspot.com

Pazz & Jop comments, prob titled "I Only Come Here For The Music" (thanks, Don Williams) will be posted there next week.

Freaky Trigger Top 41 Tracks:

1. Carly Rae Jepsen – Call Me Maybe
2. Todd Terje – Inspector Norse
3. Taylor Swift - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
4. Underworld ft Dustbin Crew – And I Will Kiss/Caliban’s Dream
5. Rudimental – Feel The Love
6. Psy – Gangnam Style
7. Little Mix – Wings
8. Chairlift – I Belong In Your Arms
=9. Nicki Minaj - Starships
=9. Usher - Climax
11. Solange - Losing You
12. Plan B - ill Manors
13. Jessie Ware - Wildest Moments
14. Santigold - Disparate Youth
15. Cher Lloyd - Want U Back
16. Jessie Ware - 110%
=17. Nicki Minaj ft 2 Chainz - Beez In The Trap
=17. Icona Pop - I Love It
19. Kylie - Timebomb
20. Taylor Swift - I Knew You Were Trouble
21. Cassie - King of Hearts
22. D’Banj - Oliver Twist
23. Miguel - Do You..
24. Orange Caramel - Lipstick
25. T-Ara - Lovey-Dovey
26. Fuse ODG ft. Tiffany - Azonto
27. Saint Etienne - Popular
28. Royal-T ft. Ruby Lee Ryder - You’re Saved
29. Miguel - Adorn
30. Marina & The Diamonds - Primadonna
31. Dawn Richard - Pretty Wicked Things
32. Grimes - Genesis
=33. Dev - Take Her From You
=33. Alunageorge - You Know You Like It
34. Blur - Under The Westway
35. Frank Ocean - Thinkin Bout You
36. Le1f - Wut
37. Tame Impala - Elephant
38. Taylor Swift - Begin Again
=40. Nicki Minaj - Stupid Hoe
=40. Angel Haze - New York

Festive Fifty 2012 - (previously John Peel's Festive Fifty) as voted for by listeners of Dandelion Radio:

1 Savages - Husband
2 The Chasms - Death's Pony
3 Allo Darlin' - Capricornia
4 Godspeed You! Black Emperor - We Drift Like Worried Fire
5 The Lovely Eggs - Allergie
6 The Membranes - If You Enter The Arena, You Got To Be Prepared To Deal With The Lions
7 Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Mladic
8 Tender Trap - MBV
9 Vert:x - Full Fathom Five
10 Allo Darlin' - Tallula
11 Django Django - Defaut
12 Pussy Riot - Putin Has Pissed Himself
13 The Lovely Eggs - Food
14 The Wedding Present - End Credits
15 The Chasms - Der Eingriff Schulze
16 Red Cosmos - I Am The Local DJ
17 Shrag - Devastating Bones
18 Atoms For Peace - Default
19 Hammock - Ten Thousand Years Won't Save Your Life
20 Alisia Casper - Unfire
21 Big Joan - Beautiful Idea
22 Blue Giant Zeta Puppies - The Wild Ride of Ichabod Crane
23 Christ - Zeroth Law
24 Flies On You - Shipmanesque
25 Human Don't Be Angry - Monologue: River
26 The Dead Kennedys - California Uber Alles (12-inch Plastic Toys remix)
27 Lord Numb - Zombie
28 Veronica Falls - My Heart Beats
29 3rd International - Chug This
30 Deep Time - Clouds
31 Future of the Left - Robocop 4 (**** Off Robocop)
32 Grimes - Oblivion
33 Japandroids - The House That Heaven Built
34 Lulubelle III - Frankie
35 M.J.Hibbett & The Validators - A Little Bit
36 Public Image Ltd - Lollipop Opera
37 Tame Impala - Elephant
38 The Horn The Hunt - Gold
39 The Magnetic Fields - Andrew In Drag
40 Yva Las Vegass - Crack Whore
41 The Phantom Light - The Greater Picture
42 Alt-J - Fitzpleasure
43 Cate Le Bon - Puts Me To Work
44 Goat - Goathead
45 Martha - 1978, Smiling Politely
46 Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Walk Like A Giant
47 Standard Fare - Older Women
48 Forkeyes - Fell Off The Penalty Spotty Spot
49 Thee Oh Sees - Lupine Dominus
50 Guided By Voices - Class Clown Spots A UFO

the membranes? crikey

Xgau: Neil Young 's Americana.

Slicing Up Eyeballs Readers Poll

10. VCMG, Ssss
09. Public Image Ltd., This is PiL
08. Killing Joke, MMXII
07. Dinosaur Jr, I Bet On Sky
06. Ultravox, Brilliant
05. The Fixx, Beautiful Friction
04. Pet Shop Boys, Elysium
03. Swans, The Seer
02. Dead Can Dance, Anastasis
01. Bob Mould, Silver Age

Hmm, I wonder what age the readers of Slicing Up Eyeballs are.

Cumulatively?

Slicing Up Eyeballs needs to hear the Lee Ranaldo solo record which is really excellent.

Ha, I wanna see their top 50. It's weird enough listening to The Fixx in 2013, but I learned there were also new albums by Men Without Hats and Saga! Anyone remember "On The Loose"?

Those Ultravox and Killing Joke albums are both pretty good.

The KJ made a decent showing in overall polls. I listened to Ultravox once yesterday, need to hear again. I didn't like the PiL or Dead Can Dance much.

Levene/Wobble album was slept on

The Men Without Hats album is one decent song played over and over and over and over again

Is that song Safety Dance?

no

Top 10 today in Metal Poll 2012 - The Countdown

Anyone remember "On The Loose"?

Of course! Part of that whole Canadian wave that was huge on rock radio in the early '80s (at least in western NY, where I was a young teen). Loverboy, Triumph, Saga, Red Rider, Aldo Nova -- and Rush towering over all of them.

My ILX albums ballot--which, beyond the quality control of Pazz and Nash Scene Top Tens, now incl Tempest (like most of the music, less of the words, though he does still know how to strike a effective pose, and main thing is: he's really into pre-emptive strikes vs. Time and Ol' Lady-with-a-rolling-pin Muse' also a flesh 'n' blood ol' lady, sounds like). Death Grips, Rufus Wainwright, The xx all offer albums that are only about half good, but their goodies can satisfy in ways that notning else quite did in '12, which is the main criterion for Top Tens as well, so why not in a Top However Many This Is:
Best Coast - The Only Place
Bob Dylan - Tempest
Cat Power - Sun
Corin Tucker Band - Kill My Blues
Craig Finn - Clear Heart Full Eyes
Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan
Death Grips - The Money Store
Death Grips - No Love Deep Web
Dwight Yoakam - 3 Pears
Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel...
Giant Giant Sand - Tucson
Justin Townes Earle - Nothing's Going To Change The Way You Feel About Me Now
Kelly Hogan - I Like to Keep Myself in Pain
Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Americana
Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Psychedelic Pill
Neneh Cherry & The Thing - The Cherry Thing
The Mountain Goats - Transcendental Youth
The xx - Coexist
Rufus Wainwright - Out Of The Game
Santigold - Master Of My Make Believe

cool to see someone else w/ the Yoakam and Wainwright on their list!

Not that others don't have soft spots, but nothing that makes them any of them less than keepers

clemenza: I love your top 10, only one I didn't quite get is number 2. It seems to me like you're praising the music and saying you don't really care about the lyrics. Why not list the Jamie XX and Gil Scott Heron version instead?

Mimaroglu Music Sales / Keith Fullerton Whitman's (pre?)list of music concrete, modular synth, drone, noise, academic experimentalism and all points between and beyond can be found here - http://www.mimaroglumusicsales.com/best.php?year=2012 - in their words "far from "definitive" ; here's a simple, running tally of the titles that have been "rating" thusfar in 2012"

(So far, I've found a handful of things that seem, from the excerpts on the site, to be rather outstanding)

http://www.villagevoice.com/pazznjop/albums/2012/

Pazz & Jop thread, aka when is the official deadline for this thing?

http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/from-eric-church-to-jamey-johnson-2012-found-country-music-in-a-holding-pattern-and-searching-for-role-models/Content?oid=3230383

Just came across this one:
http://louderthanwar.com/albums-of-the-year-2012-part-4-49-1/

I actually found more interesting choices in the 99-50 page, especially a bunch of punk I haven't heard by Bite Back, Argy Bargy, White Lung and New War.

http://louderthanwar.com/albums-of-the-year-2012-part-three-99-50/

Don't forget Louder Than War numbers 200 - 101:

http://louderthanwar.com/albums-of-the-year-2012-part-one-200-150/

http://louderthanwar.com/albums-of-the-year-2012-part-two-149-100/

Massive celebrations round Damon Albarn's house for reaching that coveted 197 spot.

Moka: thanks. I love the music on "Take Care," also the lyrics. They just happened to remind me, because of Rihanna's ordeals, of Faking It and that age-old debate about what makes something authentic. When she sings that line about being hurt, it may or may not resonate more because of biography, depending upon how important that is to you--and I was trying to contrast that with Drake, who may or may not be at the opposite end of the spectrum, depending etc. Maybe I garbled the point. I also missed (pointed out on the P&J thread) that that line goes back to an old Bobby Bland song. (I actually have the song on a greatest hits, but was never a big fan.) Ultimately, though, I do always place music ahead of lyrics.

Jon Pareles's Top 10 w his comments, nice reading:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/arts/music/jon-pareless-top-10-albums-of-2012.html?src=un&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fjson8.nytimes.com%2Fpages%2Farts%2Fmusic%2Findex.jsonp

Nate Chinen's Top 10---Truesdale's Newly Discovered Works of Gil Evans mostly sounded really good at Newport---not that this is all jazz:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/arts/music/nate-chinens-top-10-albums-of-2012.html?_r=1&

Not jazz but oo-wee mama, oo-oo-wee:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/arts/music/jon-caramanicas-top-10-albums-of-2012.html

clem: "Take Care" didn't make my ballot because I included it last year but otherwise I agree: one of her (and his) few convincing performances.

Sorry for spamming but any interested parties have ~8 hours to submit a ballot in that prince among critics' polls: the ILM end-of-year poll!

http://bnreview.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Rock-Roll/The-Dean-s-List-2012/ba-p/9707

And of course his address to the troops, from an "outlier" now (welcome)
http://bnreview.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Rock-Roll/May-the-Consensus-Have-Consequences/ba-p/9709

lol @ him referring to "Dre's evolved jeep-beats" on the Kendrick album

Pink's The Truth About Love was on 10 Pazz & Jop ballots, which seems to have been driven primarily by Christgau's enthusiasm. her (far better) previous album Funhouse only got 1 vote in 2008 (wasn't me, which i regret -- at the time it was #14 on my list).

i'd like to see a lot more of Ka's Grief Pedigree on these lists

― alpine static, Wednesday, December 5, 2012 8:02 PM (8 months ago)

^^ was correct