YEAR-END MUSIC MANIAC MADNESS CAN U FEEL IT? Side effects include feeling nostalgic for songs that came out 10 months, making excuses for why the Sleigh Bells album “isn’t as bad as you remember,” and pledging to yourself that 2013 will be better because that’s when “chillwop fuzzwave will FINALLY break out.”
It’s also time for best-of album lists. We’ll have ours out soon (HINT: it’s probably going to be everything by The Darkness), but we were curious to see which artists have been dominating other “album of the year” rankings. Below you’ll find 15 major music publications and what they deemed to be THE musical document of 2012.
BBC: good kid, m.A.A.d. city by Kendrick Lamar (Via)
Decibel: All We Love We Leave Behind by Converge (Via)
Fact: good kid, m.A.A.d. city by Kendrick Lamar (Via)
FILTER: Lonerism by Tame Impala (Via)
Mojo: Blunderbuss by Jack White (Via)
New York: good kid, m.A.A.d. city by Kendrick Lamar (Via)
NME: Lonerism by Tame Impala (Via)
Paste: channel ORANGE by Frank Ocean (Via)
Pop Matters: channel ORANGE by Frank Ocean (Via)
Rolling Stone: Wrecking Ball by Bruce Springsteen (Via)
Spin: channel ORANGE by Frank Ocean (Via)
Spinner: The Idler Wheel… by Fiona Apple (Via)
Stereogum: The Idler Wheel… by Fiona Apple (Via)
Time: The Idler Wheel… by Fiona Apple (Via)
Uncut: Old Ideas by Leonard Cohen (Via)
Based on the rankings of these 15 publications, it’s a three horse race: Kendrick Lamar, Frank Ocean, and Fiona Apple, all of which appear in our top-10 (which we’ll publish very soon). Lonerism isn’t far behind, but it doesn’t have an annoyingly stylized name like good kid, m.A.A.d., The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do, or channel ORANGE. Trend of the year.
Let’s just ignore Rolling Stone‘s pick, yes?
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Just see a Sleigh Bells show; any deficiencies you might see in the album will be vanquished by their live show.
Kick ass live show, really liked the first album. Second was a bit of a disappointment.
Nobody nominated Death Grips? What a bunch of wussies
They’re all afraid of that dick.
Lonerism is a current fave.
LOL, Rolling Stone’s lists are comical.
Also, it’s convenient that Frank Ocean, Kendrick Lamar, and Fiona Apple are in a horse race like this, as that exact order is my albums of the year top 3.
They make for a damn fine trio.
Whatever the case may be, I think that we can all agree that Frank Ocean’s “Forrest Gump” is definitively the best song ever written from the perspective of Jenny Curran about Forrest Gump. At least of 2012.
Will Lt. Dan finally get his due in 2013? ONLY TIME WILL TELL.
I really enjoyed Apple’s new album but I’m pulling for Kendrick on this one. His album was a revelation. I need to make myself listen to all of Channel orange tho.
Channel Orange dropped right after I left the country (and internet access) for a few weeks, and I still haven’t given it a fair listen. That apparently needs to change.
At least with rap it’s clear for me. Kendrick FTW with little else worthy of argument.
Kendrick and Killer Mike for me, all the way.
Mike was the “little else”, I just couldn’t think of a good Taqu’il reference.
No one liked Wu-Block?