[Carlsan]

NPR's list actually has some of my favorites of the year.
 
Have to wonder about Rolling Stone's list, can't they let some of the old Rock stars finally fade away? I did like the latest Bob Dylan however.
 
My favorites of the year probably  were:
 
Chromatics, Kill For Love
Beach House - Bloom
xx - Coexist
Grimes - visions
Best Coast - Only Place
Swans - The Seer
Walkman  - Heaven
Passion Pit - Gossamer
Andrew Bird - Hands of Glory
Dead Can Dance - Anastasis
Clinic - Free Reign
Frankie Rose - Interstellar
 
also liked Tame Impala, Efterklang, Crystal Castles, Jack White, M Ward, Mathew Dear, Bat For Lashes among others that I can't think of off the top of my head.

 

[Eee Pee]

Quote:

Serious question: does Rolling Stone still exist in print form?

 
Yes, it does.

 

[metalsonata]

Yeah, the new Bob Dylan album was actually pretty good. I enjoyed it quite a lot.

 

[Carlsan]

Pitchfork has some lists up, but not album of the year... yet.
 
Anyway they do have worse album covers of the year. Very much worth looking at..

 
Also, top tracks of the year (no. 100-50 today, 49-1 tomorrow)

 

[metalsonata]

Tiny Mix Tapes and The Quietus have their lists up (well, the first half of it in Tiny Mix Tape's case.) I actually like the lists both of these sites put out quite a lot--they've always very different from everyone else's. I've certainly stumbled across some really cool stuff that I probably wouldn't have found otherwise thanks to their year-end lists.
 
Edit: SPIN's list was interesting. Once you got into the top 20 I think I began to agree more and more with their choices. 

 

[Curly21029]

NPR's list actually has some of my favorites of the year.

Have to wonder about Rolling Stone's list, can't they let some of the old Rock stars finally fade away? I did like the latest Bob Dylan however.

My favorites of the year probably  were:

Chromatics, Kill For Love
Beach House - Bloom
xx - Coexist
Grimes - visions
Best Coast - Only Place
Swans - The Seer
Walkman  - Heaven
Passion Pit - Gossamer
Andrew Bird - Hands of Glory
Dead Can Dance - Anastasis
Clinic - Free Reign
Frankie Rose - Interstellar

also liked Tame Impala, Efterklang, Crystal Castles, Jack White, M Ward, Mathew Dear, Bat For Lashes among others that I can't think of off the top of my head.

You have some real gems buried in there, my friend.

 

[MorbidToaster]

I do think the NPR was the best of the worst. Most lists I find pretty poor this year. Not a single mention of some of the best Electronic releases of the year.

 

[StratocasterMan]

I found the NPR listener list, the Rolling Stone list, and the SPIN list all lacking. However, maybe it's because we are living in the Golden Age of music. I thought 2012 was a very good year for music. Due to computers, technology, streaming, on-line shopping, discussion forums, etc., most of us have access to way more music than has ever been possible. Music is wildly diverse and available to everyone like it has never been. It's easy to create a playlist of only Chicago blues or only bluegrass or only black metal or just electronica or fantastic jazz legends in just a few clicks. A revolution has happened thanks to technology. That revolution is still in place, even for those listening to LPs; because those folks are using the Internet to find and buy their LPs. They're using the Internet to find the best turntables and the best headphones. They're using discussion forums like this one to share their thoughts about music.
 
What has happened is that access to extremely diverse music has made it almost impossible for the list-makers to reach a useful verdict. In the old days, a magazine like Rolling Stone could make a list of something like 50 albums that were easily available at most record shops to most people. The choices were fairly limited. Those days are over.
 
These days it's all-you-can-eat-music-all-the-time, which is a glorious and fantastic thing, but it makes year-end list creation inherently difficult!

 

[Curly21029]

Quote:

...The Quietus...

 
YES!!!  Now THIS is a year-end list I can dig!  I'm divided between agreement and disagreement, but that's what ART should do to an audience.  Heck, this one even has a few thrown in that I haven't even checked out yet!
 
I'll admit that my tastes have moved toward a more "catchy/bright" sound than a big chunk of what's listed here, (at least for now...) but three-or-so years ago this would've very much paralleled my list.
 
THANK YOU for posting this, metalsonata!  I think I'll be making return visits to The Quietus in the near future.
 
(...got any more?)
 
 
Quote:

I thought 2012 was a very good year for music. Due to computers, technology, streaming, on-line shopping, discussion forums, etc., most of us have access to way more music than has ever been possible.

 
This is why I'm wholly confused when the downers cry "music sucks now!"  There are always new (ad)ventures to be experienced and they're almost all -- quite literally -- at your fingertips.  Kill your radio and use the available resources. (blogs are my jam, man)

 

[metalsonata]

Other than Tiny Mix Tapes and The Quietus, the only other music review site that consistently shocks me when it comes to their end of the year lists is cokemachineglow. They haven't posted their list yet, but they're in the midst of posting their end of the year awards, so I imagine their list isn't too far off. Oh yeah, and if you check out NPR's 'Viking's Choice' there's usually some great stuff on there, particularly if you like metal. That list hasn't been posted yet either, however.
 
Quote:

 
YES!!!  Now THIS is a year-end list I can dig!  I'm divided between agreement and disagreement, but that's what ART should do to an audience.  Heck, this one even has a few thrown in that I haven't even checked out yet!
 
I'll admit that my tastes have moved toward a more "catchy/bright" sound than a big chunk of what's listed here, (at least for now...) but three-or-so years ago this would've very much paralleled my list.
 
THANK YOU for posting this, metalsonata!  I think I'll be making return visits to The Quietus in the near future.
 
(...got any more?)
 

 

[MorbidToaster]

Swans at #1 and Burial. Yup. Best list so far.

I should write my own list...

 

[Oteil]

Some of my favorite albums of the year......
 
Donald Fagen - Sunken Condos
Glenn Hansard - Rhythm and Repose
Jimmy Herring - Subject to Change Without Notice
Return to Forever - The Mothership Returns
Brad Mehldau - Ode and Where Do You Start
Marconi Union - Different Colours
Bela Fleck & the Marcus Roberts Trio - Across the Imaginary Divide
Hans Zimmer - The Dark Knight Rises
Punch Brothers - Who's Feeling Young Now?
Chris Robinson Brotherhood - Big Moon Ritual
Robert Glasper Experiment - Black Radio
Branford Marsalis Quartet - Four Mfs Playin' Tunes
Katatonia - Dead End Kings
Flying Colors - Flying Colors
Rush - Clockwork Angels
Tedeschi Trucks Band -Everybody's Talkin'
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
Pat Metheny Band - Unity
Matthew Perryman - Land of the Living
Christian Scott - Christian Atunde Adjuah
 
but probably my favorite release of the year was Snarky Puppy -  Ground Up

 

[Eee Pee]

This thread has panned out nicely.  Thanks for the other lists.
 
Who is bored enough to compile a list that has all the common albums between the lists that are linked here into a list?  

 

[metalsonata]

I dunno that I'm bored enough to do that, but I am probably OCD enough to do that...
 
Quote:

This thread has panned out nicely.  Thanks for the other lists.
 
Who is bored enough to compile a list that has all the common albums between the lists that are linked here into a list?  

 

[Eee Pee]

Number 50 to 1 : http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/9015-the-top-100-tracks-of-2012/6/
 
Sorry, those are tracks not albums.