Year-End Lists

Pretty Much Amazing: 60 Best Albums of 2012

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

1. The Idler Wheel…
   Fiona Apple
2. Channel Orange
   Frank Ocean
3. good kid, m.A.A.d city
   Kendrick Lamar
4. Lonerism
   Tame Impala
5. Celebration Rock
   Japandroids
6. Shields
   Grizzly Bear
7. Kill for Love
   Chromatics
8. Visions
   Grimes
9. Shrines
   Purity Ring
10. America
    Dan Deacon
11. Heaven
    Walkmen
12. Until the Quiet Comes
    Flying Lotus
13. Blunderbuss
    Jack White
14. Devotion
    Jessie Ware
15. Bloom
    Beach House
16. R.A.P. Music
    Killer Mike
17. Nootropics
    Lower Dens
18. Sweet Heart, Sweet Light
    Spiritualized
19. Swing Lo Magellan
    Dirty Projectors
20. Cancer 4 Cure
    El-P
21. ‘Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!
    Godspeed You! Black Emperor
22. Confess
    Twin Shadow
23. The Money Store
    Death Grips
24. Tramp
    Sharon Van Etten
25. Coexist
    The xx
26. Awe Naturale
    THEESatisfaction
27. Open Your Heart
    The Men
28. Love this Giant
    David Byrne & St. Vincent
29. Fear Fun
    Father John Misty
30. The Haunted Man
    Bat for Lashes
31. Kaleidoscope Dream
    Miguel
32. Tempest
    Bob Dylan
33. Attack on Memory
    Cloud Nothings
34. Spooky Action at a Distance
    Lotus Plaza
35. Oshin
    DIIV
36. Boys & Girls
    Alabama Shakes
37. Instinct
    Niki & The Dove
38. A Thing Called Divine Fits
    Divine Fits
39. Centipede Hz
    Animal Collective
40. The Feeling
    Naomi Punk
41. Be the Void
    Dr. Dog
42. Slaughterhouse
    Ty Segall Band
43. Habits & Contradictions
    Schoolboy Q
44. Total Loss
    How to Dress Well
45. Lucifer
    Peaking Lights
46. Port of Morrow
    The Shins
47. An Awesome Wave
    alt-J
48. Something
    Chairlift
49. Wixiw
    Liars
50. fIN
    John Talabot
51. Sun
    Cat Power
52. The Seer
    Swans
53. Give You the Ghost
    Poliça
54. kin
    iamamiwhoami
55. Metz
    Metz
56. Zammuto
    Zammuto
57. In Our Heads
    Hot Chip
58. Control System
    Ab-Soul
59. Strange Weekend
    Porcelain Raft
60. Put Your Back N 2 It
    Perfume Genius

Dennis Cooper: 16 Favorite Poetry Books of 2012 (as numbered on Cooper’s site, but note that he precedes the list with “in no order”)

[see also 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015]

1. The Malady of the Century
   Jon Leon
2. Victory
   Ben Kopel
3. Percussion Grenade
   Joyelle McSweeney
4. The Collected Writings of Joe Brainard
   Joe Brainard
5. Hider Roser
   Ben Mirov
6. Baby Babe
   Ana Carrete
7. Foamghast
   Paul Cunningham
8. The Invention of Glass
   Emmanuel Hocquard (translated by Cole Swenson and Rod Smith)
9. I am My Own Betrayal
   Guillaume Morissette
10. Meat Heart
    Melissa Broder
11. Mercury
    Ariana Reines
12. Crunk Juice
    Steve Roggenbuck
13. Snowflake / different streets
    Eileen Myles
14. Trill
    Justin Carter
15. Stealing Things
    Keegan Crawford
15. mysapce.com
    Walter Mackey

Michael Andor Brodeur: 8 Best Poetry Books of 2012, as published by The Boston Globe

• Pink Thunder
  Michael Zapruder
• Mayakovsky’s Revolver
  Matthew Dickman
• Thunderbird
  Dorothea Lasky
• Quick Question
  John Ashbery
• Alien vs. Predator
  Michael Robbins
• As Long as Trees Last
  Hoa Nguyen
• Music for Porn
  Rob Halpern
• Place
  Jorie Graham

Frontier Psychiatrist: Top 50 Albums of 2012

1. Channel Orange
   Frank Ocean
2. The Idler Wheel…
   Fiona Apple
3. good kid, m.A.A.d city
   Kendrick Lamar
4. Slaughterhouse
   Ty Segall Band
4. Twins
   Ty Segall
5. Attack on Memory
   Cloud Nothings
6. Shields
   Grizzly Bear
7. Tramp
   Sharon Van Etten
8. Until the Quiet Comes
   Flying Lotus
9. Lonerism
   Tame Impala
10. Swing Lo Magellan
    Dirty Projectors
11. Hands of Glory
    Andrew Bird
11. Break It Yourself
    Andrew Bird
12. Centipede Hz
    Animal Collective
13. R.A.P. Music
    Killer Mike
14. Open Your Heart
    The Men
15. Wixiw
    Liars
16. Sweet Heart, Sweet Light
    Spiritualized
17. ‘Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!
    Godspeed You! Black Emperor
18. The Seer
    Swans
19. Habits & Contradictions
    Schoolboy Q
20. Confess
    Twin Shadow
21. Blue Chips
    Action Bronson & Party Supplies
22. Who’s Feeling Young Now?
    Punch Brothers
23. Celebration Rock
    Japandroids
24. Nootropics
    Lower Dens
25. Visions
    Grimes
26. Born to Die
    Lana Del Rey
27. America
    Dan Deacon
28. Young Man in America
    Anaïs Mitchell
29. Kill for Love
    Chromatics
30. Devotion
    Jessie Ware
31. Shut Down the Streets
    A.C. Newman
32. Silver & Gold
    Sufjan Stevens
33. Jazz Mind
    Ed Schrader’s Music Beat
34. De Vermis Mysteriis
    High on Fire
35. bell hooks
    BBU
36. Local Business
    Titus Andronicus
37. Shake My Head
    Spider Bags
38. On The Impossible Past
    The Menzingers
39. Django Django
    Django Django
40. Kaleidoscope Dream
    Miguel
41. Coexist
    The xx
42. Locked Down
    Dr. John
43. Shrines
    Purity Ring
44. Happy to You
    Miike Snow
45. All Hell
    Daughn Gibson
46. Cancer 4 Cure
    El-P
47. Mature Themes
    Ariel Pink
48. Putrifiers II
    Thee Oh Sees
49. Luxury Problems
    Andy Stott
50. Middle America
    Netherfriends

Michael Robbins: 7 Best Small-Press Poetry Books of 2012, as published by The Chicago Tribune

[see also 2018 • 2017 • 2016]

• Fragile Acts
  Allan Peterson
• Thunderbird
  Dorothea Lasky
• I Am Your Slave Now Do What I Say
  Anthony Madrid
• Snowflake / different streets
  Eileen Myles
• Balloon Pop Outlaw Black
  Patricia Lockwood
• Meat Heart
  Melissa Broder
• Madame X
  Darcie Dennigan

Frontier Psychiatrist: Top 18 Poetry Books of 2012

1. The Collected Writings of Joe Brainard
   Joe Brainard
2. A Beautiful Marsupial Afternoon

   New (Soma)tics
   CAConrad
3. Bean Spasms
   Ted Berrigan & Ron Padgett
4. Enduring Freedom
   Laura Mullen
5. Snowflake / different streets
   Eileen Myles
6. Flowering Mall
   Brandon Brown
7. how to survive a hotel fire
   Angela Veronica Wong
8. The Emily Dicknson Reader

   An English-to-English Translation of Emily Dickinson’s Complete Poems
   Paul Legault
9. Partyknife
   Dan Magers
10. Sonics in Warholia
    Megan Volpert

Honorable Mentions

• Victory
  Ben Kopel
• A Real Time of It
  Sally Delehant
• cloudfang :

  cakedirt
  Daniela Olszewska
• As Long as Trees Last
  Hoa Nguyen
• The Invention of Glass
  Emmanuel Hocquard (translated by Cole Swenson and Rod Smith)
• Hider Roser
  Ben Mirov
• Desiring Map
  Megan Kaminski
• Vital Pursuits
  Evan Glasson

Publishers Weekly: 5 Best Poetry Books of 2012

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2011]

1. The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton 1965-2010
   Lucille Clifton
2. Slow Lightning
   Eduardo C. Corral
3. Place
   Jorie Graham
4. Useless Landscape, or A Guide for Boys
   D.A. Powell
5. Animal Eye
   Paisley Rekdal

Matthew Taylor: Top 5 Films of 2012, as submitted to the Sight & Sound Poll

• No
  Pablo Larraín
• Tabu
  Miguel Gomes
• Cosmopolis
  David Cronenberg
• The Hunt
  Thomas Vinterberg
• Nostalgia for the Light
  Patricio Guzmán

This list contributes to:

• Sight & Sound Poll: Top 11 Films of 2012

Jonathan Rosenbaum: Top 10 Films of 2012, as submitted to the IndieWire Poll

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

1. The Turin Horse
   Béla Tarr & Agnes Hranitzky
2. The Forgotten Space
   Allan Sekula and Noël Burch
3. Bernie
   Richard Linklater
4. The Hunter
   Rafi Pitts
5. The Kid with a Bike
   Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
6. Unforgivable
   André Téchiné
7. Holy Motors
   Leos Carax
8. Moonrise Kingdom
   Wes Anderson
9. The Deep Blue Sea
   Terence Davies
10. Gerhard Richter Painting
    Corinna Belz

As Submitted to the Village Voice Poll

1. The Turin Horse
   Béla Tarr & Agnes Hranitzky
2. Bernie
   Richard Linklater
3. The Forgotten Space
   Allan Sekula and Noël Burch
4. The Kid with a Bike
   Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
5. Far from Afghanistan
   John Gianvito, Travis Wilkerson, Jon Jost, Minda Martin, and Soon-Mi Yoo
6. Holy Motors
   Leos Carax
7. Unforgivable
   André Téchiné
8. Moonrise Kingdom
   Wes Anderson
9. Keyhole
   Guy Maddin
10. The Deep Blue Sea
    Terence Davies

As Submitted to the Sight & Sound Poll

• Far from Afghanistan
  John Gianvito, Travis Wilkerson, Jon Jost, Minda Martin, and Soon-Mi Yoo
• Jerry & Me
  Mehrnaz Saeed-Vafa
• Margaret
  Kenneth Lonergan
• The Last Time I Saw Macao
  João Pedro Rodrigues and João Rui Guerra da Mata
• Tectonics
  Peter Bo Rappmund

This list contributes to:

• Sight & Sound Poll: Top 11 Films of 2012

Jasper Sharp: Top 5 Films of 2012, as submitted to the Sight & Sound Poll

• The Echo of Astro Boy's Footsteps
  Masanori Tominaga
• Sightseers
  Ben Wheatley
• Berberian Sound Studio
  Peter Strickland
• The Woman in Black
  James Watkins
• Generator
  Takashi Makino

This list contributes to:

• Sight & Sound Poll: Top 11 Films of 2012