Year-End Lists

Spin: 50 Best Albums of 2012

[see also 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2011]

1. Channel Orange
   Frank Ocean
2. good kid, m.A.A.d city
   Kendrick Lamar
3. Celebration Rock
   Japandroids
4. Teklife Vol. 1: Welcome to the Chi
   DJ Rashad
5. Kaleidoscope Dream
   Miguel
6. The Haunted Man
   Bat for Lashes
7. The Seer
   Swans
8. R.A.P. Music
   Killer Mike
9. Twins
   Ty Segall
10. Master of My Make-Believe
    Santigold
11. Pluto
    Future
12. No Love Deep Web
    Death Grips
13. Attack on Memory
    Cloud Nothings
14. ‘Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!
    Godspeed You! Black Emperor
15. Yellow & Green
    Baroness
16. The Idler Wheel…
    Fiona Apple
17. Shields
    Grizzly Bear
18. King Tuff
    King Tuff
19. Da Mind of Traxman
    Traxman
20. Sorrow and Extinction
    Pallbearer
21. Jiaolong
    Daphni
22. Harmonicraft
    Torche
23. Swing Lo Magellan
    Dirty Projectors
24. Sun
    Cat Power
25. Blue Chips
    Action Bronson
26. Lonerism
    Tame Impala
27. Reign of Terror
    Sleigh Bells
28. Devotion
    Jessie Ware
29. I Bet on Sky
    Dinosaur Jr.
30. Interstellar
    Frankie Rose
31. Coexist
    The xx
32. World Music
    Goat
33. Putrifiers II
    Thee Oh Sees
34. Mala in Cuba
    Mala
35. Blunderbuss
    Jack White
36. >>
    Beak
37. Write Me Back
    R. Kelly
38. Red
    Taylor Swift
39. Reloaded
    Roc Marciano
40. Centipede Hz
    Animal Collective
41. Shrines
    Purity Ring
42. Six Cups of Rebel
    Lindstrøm
43. Voyageur
    Kathleen Edwards
44. Koi No Yokan
    Deftones
45. Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded
    Nicki Minaj
46. Father Creeper
    Spoek Mathambo
47. Synthetica
    Metric
48. The Only Place
    Best Coast
49. Nehru Jackets
    Heems
50. Some Nights
    fun.

Gorilla vs. Bear: 50 Best Albums of 2012

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2011]

1. Visions
   Grimes
2. Kill for Love
   Chromatics
3. good kid, m.A.A.d city
   Kendrick Lamar
4. Kindred
   Burial
5. Devotion
   Jessie Ware
6. Habits & Contradictions
   Schoolboy Q
7. Bloom
   Beach House
8. Tender Opposites
   Tops
9. Kaleidoscope Dream
   Miguel
10. Something
    Chairlift
11. R.A.P. Music
    Killer Mike
12. Shields
    Grizzly Bear
13. Quarantine
    Laurel Halo
14. Held
    Holy Other
15. Black is Beautiful
    Dean Blunt & Inga Copeland
16. Channel Orange
    Frank Ocean
17. Jessica Pratt
    Jessica Pratt
18. Interstellar
    Frankie Rose
19. Themes For An Imaginary Film
    Symmetry
20. Luxury Problems
    Andy Stott
21. Running From the Sun
    Chromatics
22. Half Way Home
    Angel Olsen
23. Instrumentals II
    Clams Casino
24. Don’t Break My Love / The Prism
    Nicolas Jaar
25. Kingdoms
    Fort Romeau
26. Armor On
    Dawn Richard
27. Tender New Signs
    Tamaryn
28. Music for the Quiet Hour
    Shackleton
29. Foreign Body
    Mirroring
30. Until the Quiet Comes
    Flying Lotus
31. Phedré
    Phedré
32. Changes
    LOL Boys
33. Reloaded
    Roc Marciano
34. Fight Bite
    Fight Bite
35. Age Waves
    Sam Flax
36. End of Daze
    Dum Dum Girls
37. Nootropics
    Lower Dens
38. Maleza
    Las Malas Amistades
39. The Garden of Joy and the Well of Loneliness
    Lace Curtains
40. Last Words + Collected
    Ryan Hemsworth
41. Other Worlds
    Taken By Trees
42. Mature Themes
    Ariel Pink
43. End of Earth
    Antwon
44. Sleep Games
    Pye Corner Audio
45. History
    Molly Nilsson
46. Lucifer
    Peaking Lights
47. The Money Store
    Death Grips
48. Pure Bathing Culture
    Pure Bathing Culture
49. Awe Naturale
    THEESatisfaction
50. Motor City
    Sand Circles

Kathryn Schulz: Top 10 Books of 2012, as published by New York Magazine

1. Dear Life
   Alice Munro
2. Behind the Beautiful Forevers

   Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity
   Katherine Boo
3. Why Does the World Exist? An Existential Detective Story
   Jim Holt
4. Zona

   A Book About a Film About a Journey to a Room
   Geoff Dyer
5. Telegraph Avenue
   Michael Chabon
6. Mortality
   Christopher Hitchens
7. Object Lessons

   The Paris Review Presents the Art of the Short Story
   Lorin Stein, Sadie Stein
8. When I Was a Child, I Read Books

   Essays
   Marilynne Robinson
9. Into the Silence

   The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest
   Wade Davis
10. House of Stone

    A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East
    Anthony Shadid

The New York Times: 10 Best Books of 2012

[see also The 10 Best Books of 2022 • 100 Notable Books of 2022 • The 10 Best Books of 2021 • 100 Notable Books of 2021 • The 10 Best Books of 2020 • 100 Notable Books of 2020 • 100 Notable Books of 2019 • The 10 Best Books of 2019 • 10 Best Books of 2018 • 100 Notable Books of 2018 • 100 Notable Books of 2017 • 10 Best Books of 2017 • 10 Best Books of 2016 • 10 Best Books of 2015 • The 10 Best Books of 2014 • The 10 Best Books of 2013 • 100 Notable Books of 2012 • 100 Notable Books of 2011 • Ten Best Books of 2011]

Fiction

• Bring Up the Bodies
  Hilary Mantel
• Building Stories
  Chris Ware
• A Hologram for the King
  Dave Eggers
• NW
  Zadie Smith
• The Yellow Birds
  Kevin Powers

Nonfiction

• Behind the Beautiful Forevers

  Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity
  Katherine Boo
• Far From the Tree

  Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity
  Andrew Solomon
• The Passage of Power

  The Years of Lyndon Johnson
  Robert A. Caro
• The Patriarch

  The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy
  David Nasaw
• Why Does the World Exist? An Existential Detective Story
  Jim Holt

David Edelstein: Top Ten Movies of 2012, as published by New York Magazine

[see also 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2011]

1. Zero Dark Thirty
   Kathryn Bigelow
2. Lincoln
   Steven Spielberg
3. Amour
   Michael Haneke
4. The Gatekeepers
   Dror Moreh
5. The Deep Blue Sea
   Terence Davies
6. Life of Pi
   Ang Lee
7. How to Survive a Plague: The Inside Story of How Citizens and Science Tamed AIDS
   David France
7. Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry
   Alison Klayman
8. Pitch Perfect
   Jason Moore
9. Oslo, August 31st
   Joachim Trier
10. Friends With Kids
    Jennifer Westfeldt

Best Film of 2005 (First Viewed in 2012)

• Margaret
  Kenneth Lonergan

I Love You, Too, Damn It

• Holy Motors
  Leos Carax
• Flight
  Robert Zemeckis
• Starlet
  Sean Baker
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower
  Stephen Chbosky
• Detropia
  Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady
• Monsieur Lazhar
  Philippe Falardeua
• Killer Joe
  William Friedkin
• Skyfall
  Sam Mendes
• Silver Linings Playbook
  David O. Russell
• Take This Waltz
  Sarah Polley
• Return
  Liza Johnson
• Beasts of the Southern Wild
  Benh Zeitlin

The Fly: Top 50 Albums of 2012

[see also 2011]

1. Tramp
   Sharon Van Etten
2. Visions
   Grimes
3. Channel Orange
   Frank Ocean
4. Sun
   Cat Power
5. Devotion
   Jessie Ware
6. Django Django
   Django Django
7. Plumb
   Field Music
8. World, You Need a Change of Mind
   Kindness
9. Given to the Wild
   The Maccabees
10. Lonerism
    Tame Impala
11. Born to Die
    Lana Del Rey
12. An Awesome Wave
    alt-J
13. Shields
    Grizzly Bear
14. Mature Themes
    Ariel Pink
15. Shrines
    Purity Ring
16. Come of Age
    The Vaccines
17. Coexist
    The xx
18. Beard, Wives, Denim
    Pond
19. Oshin
    Diiv
20. King Tuff
    King Tuff
21. In the Belly of the Brazen Bull
    The Cribs
22. Swing Lo Magellan
    Dirty Projectors
23. Confess
    Twin Shadow
24. All Hell
    Daughn Gibson
25. Melody’s Echo Chamber
    Melody’s Echo Chamber
26. The Haunted Man
    Bat for Lashes
27. Something
    Chairlift
28. TOY
    TOY
29. Give You the Ghost
    Poliça
30. A+E
    Graham Coxon
31. A Different Ship
    Here We Go Magic
32. Bloom
    Beach House
33. Centipede Hz
    Animal Collective
34. Love this Giant
    David Byrne & St. Vincent
35. America Give Up
    Howler
36. Wixiw
    Liars
37. Rispah
    The Invisible
38. The Only Place
    Best Coast
39. Radlands
    Mystery Jets
40. Allah-Las
    Allah-Lahs
41. Beacon
    Two Door Cinema Club
42. 119
    Trash Talk
43. Tough Love
    Pulled Apart By Horses
44. Into The Diamond Sun
    Stealing Sheep
45. Have Some Faith in Magic
    Errors
46. Good Don’t Sleep
    Egyptian Hip Hop
47. 2:54
    2:54
48. Spooky Action at a Distance
    Lotus Plaza
49. Like I Used To
    Lucy Rose
50. Ester
    Trailer Trash Tracy’s

Uncut Magazine: 75 Best Albums of 2012

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013]

1. Old Ideas
   Leonard Cohen
2. Tempest
   Bob Dylan
3. Blunderbuss
   Jack White
4. Locked Down
   Dr. John
5. Channel Orange
   Frank Ocean
6. Life is People
   Bill Fay
7. Hair
   Ty Segall & White Fence
8. Shields
   Grizzly Bear
9. Psychedelic Pill
   Neil Young & Crazy Horse
10. Wrecking Ball
    Bruce Springsteen
11. Lonerism
    Tame Impala
12. On The Hot Dog Streets
    Go-Kart Mozart
13. One Day I’m Going to Soar
    Dexys
14. Mid Air
    Paul Buchanan
15. Plumb
    Field Music
16. Slaughterhouse
    Ty Segall Band
17. Visions
    Grimes
18. Tramp
    Sharon Van Etten
19. The Cherry Thing
    Neneh Cherry & the Thing
20. Coexist
    The xx
21. Tarnished Gold
    Beachwood Sparks
22. Blues Funeral
    Mark Lanegan Band
23. Ekstasis
    Julia Holter
24. Allah-Las
    Allah-Lahs
25. Banga
    Patti Smith
26. A+E
    Graham Coxon
27. Boys & Girls
    Alabama Shakes
28. Sonik Kicks
    Paul Weller
29. Big Moon Ritual
    The Chris Robinson Brotherhood
30. Election Special
    Ry Cooder
31. In Our Heads
    Hot Chip
32. Standing at the Sky’s Edge
    Richard Hawley
33. Never
    Micachu & The Shapes
34. The Bravest Man in the Universe
    Bobby Womack
35. Ascent
    Six Organs of Admittance
36. Among the Leaves
    Sun Kil Moon
37. Heat Lightning Rumbles In The Distance
    Patterson Hood
38. Electric Cables
    Lightships
39. Toward the Low Sun
    Dirty Three
40. The Lion’s Roar
    First Aid Kit
41. Until the Quiet Comes
    Flying Lotus
42. Swing Lo Magellan
    Dirty Projectors
43. Americana
    Neil Young & Crazy Horse
44. Icon Give Thank
    Sun Araw & M Geddes Gengras meet the Congos
45. Celebration Rock
    Japandroids
46. Sun
    Cat Power
47. Young Man in America
    Anaïs Mitchell
48. The Russian Wilds
    Howlin Rain
49. Dr. Dee
    Damon Albarn
50. Silencio
    Laetitia Sadier
51. Born to Die
    Lana Del Rey
52. Cyrk
    Cate Le Bon
53. This is PiL
    PiL
54. The Echo Show
    Yeti Lane
55. Be Strong
    The 2 Bears
56. Beard, Wives, Denim
    Pond
57. Love this Giant
    David Byrne & St. Vincent
58. Sunken Condos
    Donald Fagen
59. Fear Fun
    Father John Misty
60. Crystal Anis
    The Liminanas
61. Putrifiers II
    Thee Oh Sees
62. When I’m President
    Ian Hunter & The Rant Band
63. Algiers
    Calexico
64. Wonky
    Orbital
65. One Second of Love
    Nite Jewel
66. World Music
    Goat
67. Urban Turban: The Singhles Club
    Cornershop
68. Bend Beyond
    Woods
69. Twins
    Ty Segall
70. Simone Felice
    Simone Felice
71. Between the Times and the Tides
    Lee Ranaldo
72. Out of The Game
    Rufus Wainwright
73. Meat + Bone
    The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
74. The Haunted Man
    Bat for Lashes
75. Transverse
    Carter Tutti Void

Sonic Magazine: 25 Best Albums of 2012

[see also 2011]

1. good kid, m.A.A.d city
   Kendrick Lamar
2. Channel Orange
   Frank Ocean
3. World, You Need a Change of Mind
   Kindness
4. The Lion’s Roar
   First Aid Kit
5. ‘Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!
   Godspeed You! Black Emperor
6. Visions
   Grimes
7. Sing the Delta
   Iris DeMent
8. The Bravest Man in the Universe
   Bobby Womack
9. Ceremony
   Anna von Hausswolff
10. In Our Heads
    Hot Chip
11. Sun
    Cat Power
12. Tarnished Gold
    Beachwood Sparks
13. Total Loss
    How to Dress Well
14. Beväpna dig med vingar
    Thåström
15. The Cherry Thing
    Neneh Cherry & the Thing
16. Psychedelic Pill
    Neil Young & Crazy Horse
17. Until the Quiet Comes
    Flying Lotus
18. Life is People
    Bill Fay
19. Coexist
    The xx
20. A Tender Trap
    Joel Alme
21. Tempest
    Bob Dylan
22. The Haunted Man
    Bat for Lashes
23. Luxury Problems
    Andy Stott
24. Life Is Good
    Nas
25. Locked Down
    Dr. John

Paste Magazine: 50 Best Albums of 2012

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2011]

1. Channel Orange
   Frank Ocean
2. Fear Fun
   Father John Misty
3. Local Business
   Titus Andronicus
4. The Idler Wheel…
   Fiona Apple
5. Tramp
   Sharon Van Etten
6. Boys & Girls
   Alabama Shakes
7. Swing Lo Magellan
   Dirty Projectors
8. Celebration Rock
   Japandroids
9. Bloom
   Beach House
10. The Lion’s Roar
    First Aid Kit
11. Open Your Heart
    The Men
12. Cancer 4 Cure
    El-P
13. Port of Morrow
    The Shins
14. Heaven
    Walkmen
15. Blunderbuss
    Jack White
16. Lonerism
    Tame Impala
17. Break It Yourself
    Andrew Bird
18. good kid, m.A.A.d city
    Kendrick Lamar
19. Out of The Game
    Rufus Wainwright
20. Transcendental Youth
    The Mountain Goats
21. The Lumineers
    The Lumineers
22. Hospitality
    Hospitality
23. I Know What Love Isn’t
    Jens Lekman
24. Nothing's Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now
    Justin Townes Earle
25. Shields
    Grizzly Bear
26. Tempest
    Bob Dylan
27. Provincial
    John K. Samson
28. A Thing Called Divine Fits
    Divine Fits
29. R.A.P. Music
    Killer Mike
30. Love this Giant
    David Byrne & St. Vincent
31. The Carpenter
    Avett Brothers
32. Bend Beyond
    Woods
33. America Give Up
    Howler
34. Attack on Memory
    Cloud Nothings
35. King Tuff
    King Tuff
36. Sun
    Cat Power
37. O’ Be Joyful
    Shovels and Rope
38. Locked Down
    Dr. John
39. Old Ideas
    Leonard Cohen
40. Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables
    Todd Snider
41. My Head is an Animal
    Of Monsters And Men
42. Thankful ‘N’ Thoughtful
    Bettye LaVette
43. The North
    Stars
44. ‘Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!
    Godspeed You! Black Emperor
45. Who’s Feeling Young Now?
    Punch Brothers
46. Maraqopa
    Damien Jurado
47. Yellow & Green
    Baroness
48. Lonesome Dreams
    Lord Huron
49. I Like to Keep Myself in Pain
    Kelly Hogan
50. Visions
    Grimes

John Waters: 10 Best Films of 2012, as published by Artforum

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2011]

1. The Deep Blue Sea
   Terence Davies
2. Paradise: Faith
   Ulrich Seidl
3. Paradise: Love
   Ulrich Seidl
4. Amour
   Michael Haneke
5. Killer Joe
   William Friedkin
6. Beasts of the Southern Wild
   Benh Zeitlin
7. Compliance
   Craig Zobel
8. Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present
   Matthew Akers
9. Beloved
   Christophe Honoré
10. The Imposter
    Bart Layton