[Music] What is the Album of the Year? (2012)

[Priestiality]

Fun Razor. Indie hip-hop collaboration featuring Mikal kHill, Jesse Dangerously, Adam WarRock, and Tribe One, rapping on each others beats. No "swag", no "bling", no "hos", no friends.

[Deleted]

Eluveitie - Helvetios
Periphery - This Time It's Personal (Periphery ll)
Elin Kåven - Máizan-Thaw
Björk + Bastards

They're not really new albums but they're like a remaster of older albums
16 Volt - SuperCoolNothing, LetDownCrush, Skin.
Fantastic band but very underrated unfortunately

[flowsharian]

Lindsey Stirling. She needs to mix into a few different genre's and music types, but the idea and sound is just amazing.

[Seasz]

[Deleted]

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!
Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory
Scott Walker - Bisch Bosch
Swans - The Seer
Japandroids - Celebration Rock

[ojg]

Channel Orange - Frank Ocean

Merc out

[Skippy88]

I will just say I think Adele's 21 has to be in the mix as it was the top album seller for both 2012 and 2011 which is impressive.

[Deleted]

powder! go away - we don't know when it has begun, but we know that it will never end

- as a more or less 'postrock-freak', this is just such an outstanding album. 10/10

DIIV - Oshin

- can't get enough it....... addicting, emotional. Love it

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!

- hard to not rate GY!BE at the absolute top-tier of AOTY '13 but it is really g0dtier

Tame Impala - Lonerism

- Who thought they could deliver an album that would reveal the same amount of cosyness as their previous one? fucking aye they actually did

[Zoma]

Billy Talent - Dead Silence

I might be biased though, as it is the only album I've listened to this year.

[Deleted]

I'll probably toss up a more complete list in a bit. Five artists just doesn't do this year any justice.

Looking forward to it.

Also damn, I'd like to thank you for making me addicted to Dark Time Sunshine, this shit is just srsly brilliant. Mind if I add you on last.fm?

[Jimer]

For me it is probably Time I by Wintersun.

[zerocoolhack]

Soundgarden - King Animal and The Smashing Pumpkins- Oceania were the best albums I've listened to this year.

Corrosion of Conformity- Corrosion of Conformity is good but not in the league of the other 2.

[BHD]

I haven't been following music this year much, mostly listening to old hardcore-ish stuff, until I found this one album that just grabbed my attention and completely changed my music preference. My vote goes to Girls & Peace from Girls' Generation.

Quit following the metal part of the industry about a year or so ago, just when I discovered SNSD. While Girls & Peace is a great album, my vote goes to f(x)'s mini-album Electric Shock.

[Badpaladin]

Also damn, I'd like to thank you for making me addicted to Dark Time Sunshine, this shit is just srsly brilliant. Mind if I add you on last.fm?

Yes it is, and add away. That's what social networking is for, right?

Since I can't single out one album, here's my "list" for 2012 (alphabetized because I have free time today, sort of copying longview's format):

Albums of the year
Dark Time Sunshine - ANX
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!
Loma Prieta - I.V.
Swans - The Seer
The Tallest Man on Earth - There's No Leaving Now

EP of the year
Burial - Kindred

Legit but not AOTY-caliber
Andy Stott - Luxury Problems
BADBADNOTGOOD - BBNG2
Cloud Nothings - Attack On Memory
Converge - All We Love We Leave Behind
Downfall of Gaia - Suffocating in the Swarm of Cranes
Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel...
First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar
Ne Obliviscaris - Portal of I
Pallbearer - Sorrow and Extinction
mewithoutYou - Ten Stories

Warrants at least a full listen
Ab Soul - Control System
Alcest - Les Voyages de L'ame
Be'lakor - Of Breath and Bone
Birds in Row - You, Me, & The Violence
Christian Mistress - Posession
Deftones - Koi no Yokan
Flying Lotus - Until the Quiet Comes
Gaza - No Absolutes In Human Suffering
Grizzly Bear - Shields
Hammock - Departure Songs
Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d city
Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music
Neurosis - Honor Found In Decay
Portico Quartet - Portico Quartet
The Mars Volta - Noctourniquet
The Mountain Goats - Transcendental Youth

[Deleted]

For me it's probably Storm Corrosion and the self-titled album with Devin Townsend Project's Epicloud coming second (it's just ... odd compared to the rest of Devin's work), but then again, I'm biased and finicky when it comes to music.
Next year looks promising though, Wilson's new album coming early and Devin probably won't lag behind too much.

[conscript]

Album of the Year: Black Keys-El Camino
EP of the Year: The Neighbourhood-I'm Sorry (and it isn't even close. That EP is insane.)

[Deleted]

Top 10 Albums Of The Year


10. Lushlife - Plateau Vision: Beautiful production with clever lyricism.

9. ScHoolboy Q - Habits & Contradictions: Falters at the halfway point but the 8 or 9 tracks that bookend the album are superb.

8. Aesop Rock - Skelethon: Brilliant wordplay and a vocabulary that vastly exceeds any musician. ZZZ Top would also win my video of the year.

7. Murs & 9th Wonder - The Final Adventure: Production is some of the best from 9th and Murs is on typically good form. Special mention to Funeral For A Killer, SotY for me.

6. REKS - Straight, No Chaser: Brilliant album start to finish. Statik managed to not be too monotonous on the decks and REKS put out some of his best verses to date. Special mention to Parenthood, brilliant sampling and verses.

5. The Man With The Iron Fists OST: Surprisingly good album here. Production is on point - no surprise when dealing with RZA though - but it's the large, varied roster of artists that shine. In particular cuts like White Dress, Black Out and Rivers Of Blood.

4. Game - Jesus Piece: A guilty pleasure that came from the very end of this year. Was not expecting to like this album. Game shows an INCREDIBLE ear for beats and features which is why it's easy to forgive his shortcomings - mainly the incessant name dropping and occasionally corny metaphors.

3. Ab-Soul - Control System: TDE stayed winning with 3 stellar albums this year. If you had been following Ab-Soul for a while then you would perhaps be a bit wary of Control System after a particularly weak album - Longterm Mentality - which had followed a nearly perfect mixtape - Longterm 2. Fortunately Soulo didn't disappoint with an incredible album that hit every note perfectly - it balanced love songs with sex songs with club songs with incredibly dense and intelligent songs. Not many artists can go from talking about the Pineal Gland and 'ancient ways of sumerians' to the 'Double Standards' between men and women in regard to cheating. That's just the tip of the iceberg though...

2. iMAYDAY! - Take Me To Your Leader: An exceptional album start to finish, one skippable track (Dig It Out) stopped this from being my number one, not to say it's bad but I would describe it as good rather than amazing like the rest of the tracks.

1. Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d city: Just incredible start to finish. If you haven't already checked this out... do. Start to finish Kendrick tells a touching story about maturity and paints a dark, gritty picture of life in Compton, CA.



The 3 Biggest Disappointments Of The Year


3. E-40: If you're going to put out 5 albums in a year you really need some form of quality control. Too much filler.

2. Frank Ocean - Channel Orange: Unfortunately my favorite part of the album was the guest verse from Andre. The rest didn't appeal to me in the slightest, good on the guy for garnering that much critical acclaim though.

1. Jay Electronica: Not even a track??? Jay continued to stay off the radar and the only tidbit of information we got regarding his supposedly imminent album release was a tracklisting... back in June.

[Poppincaps]

Top 10 Albums Of The Year


10. Lushlife - Plateau Vision: Beautiful production with clever lyricism.

9. ScHoolboy Q - Habits & Contradictions: Falters at the halfway point but the 8 or 9 tracks that bookend the album are superb.

8. Aesop Rock - Skelethon: Brilliant wordplay and a vocabulary that vastly exceeds any musician. ZZZ Top would also win my video of the year.

7. Murs & 9th Wonder - The Final Adventure: Production is some of the best from 9th and Murs is on typically good form. Special mention to Funeral For A Killer, SotY for me.

6. REKS - Straight, No Chaser: Brilliant album start to finish. Statik managed to not be too monotonous on the decks and REKS put out some of his best verses to date. Special mention to Parenthood, brilliant sampling and verses.

5. The Man With The Iron Fists OST: Surprisingly good album here. Production is on point - no surprise when dealing with RZA though - but it's the large, varied roster of artists that shine. In particular cuts like White Dress, Black Out and Rivers Of Blood.

4. Game - Jesus Piece: A guilty pleasure that came from the very end of this year. Was not expecting to like this album. Game shows an INCREDIBLE ear for beats and features which is why it's easy to forgive his shortcomings - mainly the incessant name dropping and occasionally corny metaphors.

3. Ab-Soul - Control System: TDE stayed winning with 3 stellar albums this year. If you had been following Ab-Soul for a while then you would perhaps be a bit wary of Control System after a particularly weak album - Longterm Mentality - which had followed a nearly perfect mixtape - Longterm 2. Fortunately Soulo didn't disappoint with an incredible album that hit every note perfectly - it balanced love songs with sex songs with club songs with incredibly dense and intelligent songs. Not many artists can go from talking about the Pineal Gland and 'ancient ways of sumerians' to the 'Double Standards' between men and women in regard to cheating. That's just the tip of the iceberg though...

2. iMAYDAY! - Take Me To Your Leader: An exceptional album start to finish, one skippable track (Dig It Out) stopped this from being my number one, not to say it's bad but I would describe it as good rather than amazing like the rest of the tracks.

1. Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d city: Just incredible start to finish. If you haven't already checked this out... do. Start to finish Kendrick tells a touching story about maturity and paints a dark, gritty picture of life in Compton, CA.



The 3 Biggest Disappointments Of The Year


3. E-40: If you're going to put out 5 albums in a year you really need some form of quality control. Too much filler.

2. Frank Ocean - Channel Orange: Unfortunately my favorite part of the album was the guest verse from Andre. The rest didn't appeal to me in the slightest, good on the guy for garnering that much critical acclaim though.

1. Jay Electronica: Not even a track??? Jay continued to stay off the radar and the only tidbit of information we got regarding his supposedly imminent album release was a tracklisting... back in June.

Andre 3000 has been really good lately in the songs he's featured in. Pink Matter and The Real are like some of my favorite songs off of Channel Orange and Take Care because of him.

[Eorayn]

Rhine Gold by Choir of Young Believers
Coexist by The xx
An Awesome Wave by alt-j
Neverending by Turboweekend
Secret Armor by The New Spring
My Head Is An Animal by Of Monsters And Men
Piramida by Efterklang
Rhythm And Repose by Glen Hansard
I Will Follow by Sebastian Lind
Dead Ends by The Rumour Said Fire

Rhine Gold would be the album of the year, in my opinion.

[Deleted]

The End Is Where We Begin - Thousand Foot Krutch