The Best of 2012 in Music: Albums, Songs, Shows, Lists, Discussions, Fun!

[IWasBored]

I think the odds of Call Me Maybe making the list were 1:1.

Don't you remember their best songs of the 2000s list? Crazy In Love, My Love and Ignition (Remix) were all way up there.

Re: the shitty hip-hop on P4k's list, I can't decide if Bandz A Make Her Dance or Beez in the Trap is worse. I'm going with the latter because Lil Wayne's verse in Bands is one of the funniest/most awful things I've ever heard and when I hear that song for the 4th time on our local rap station every day, I usually wait for that part before I turn it.

Waaz ya rreeaaalll naayyymee
Aannnd not ya strippah naaayymeee

I could write a whole post about all the shitty hip-hop I've heard on the radio this year between Frank Ocean, Kendrick Lamar, Miguel and random Cruel Summer tracks, but I'll save you guys the trouble. Suffice it to say that "She got a big booty/So I call her Big Booty" is an actual line in a song now.

i'm really glad i don't listen to the radio. i'm pretty happy thinking that the "good" hip-hop is the worst hip-hop out there.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

i thought goofy, sugary-ness was why hey ya was revered in the first place.

Sure. That's part of it. Did I say that it wasn't?

I was just tossing it on to LM's list of big, dump pop songs (a la Call Me Maybe) that made pitchfork's list.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

The bigger curiosity for me is why they keep tossing Nicki Minaj on their lists? I've really grown to hate that woman's music and stage persona. She's fucking exhausting.

 

[IWasBored]

You did, I thought you were implying that p4k and the like also think it's something else, though.

It's a great song, and the only time I will ever say that about outkast.

 

[cobl04]

Re: the shitty hip-hop on P4k's list, I can't decide if Bandz A Make Her Dance or Beez in the Trap is worse. I'm going with the latter because Lil Wayne's verse in Bands is one of the funniest/most awful things I've ever heard and when I hear that song for the 4th time on our local rap station every day, I usually wait for that part before I turn it.

Waaz ya rreeaaalll naayyymee
Aannnd not ya strippah naaayymeee

I could write a whole post about all the shitty hip-hop I've heard on the radio this year between Frank Ocean, Kendrick Lamar, Miguel and random Cruel Summer tracks, but I'll save you guys the trouble. Suffice it to say that "She got a big booty/So I call her Big Booty" is an actual line in a song now.

There is some truly horrible shit out there. I cannot stand that superficial form of southern hip-hop that's popped up recently (Waka Fucka Flame) and I cannot even remotely understand why critics who hold themselves up to standards get behind it. Starting to seem like any 16-year-old with access to half-decent recording equipment, a synthesiser and a blog can get a solid review.

I have to admit this little bit from Mercy

Drop it to the floor make that ass shake
Make the ground move that's an ass-quake
Build a house up on that ass that's an ass-state
Roll my weed on it that's an ass-tray

Makes me smile every fucking time. I guess heavy Kanye and Hit-Boy around makes it forgivable for me.

Along with Since U Been Gone (in the top 20, if I remember correctly) and Umbrella and Toxic. Songs by Annie and Kylie Minogue. And they put fucking (You Can't Mistake My) Biology on there, too. The beautiful bastards. Maybe their finest moment.

Shit, something like Hey Ya is as much of a goofy, sugary confection as some of those we've listed and it's revered. And rightfully so. Song kicks ass.

I'm not surprised Crazy in Love, Ignition Remix and Umbrella were on there. They're all songs by artists who've enjoyed a lot of love from critics and the public alike. I'm being all snobby again.... but artists like Carly Rae, Britney, Katy Perry, etc, I file away into a category of lightweight mainstream manufactured pop radio. I was surprised Since U Been Gone made that list. Call Me Maybe, Toxic, Since U Been Gone, Firework, these are all songs that I casually enjoy hearing on the radio or in a shop or something every few weeks, but I'd never ever so much as illegally download them to put on my iPod, whereas tracks like Crazy in Love, Hey Ya, Ignition Remix I actually buy. But this is all getting a bit snobby so I better stop before GAF and 212 combine to have my account shut down

 

[cobl04]

The bigger curiosity for me is why they keep tossing Nicki Minaj on their lists? I've really grown to hate that woman's music and stage persona. She's fucking exhausting.

I love her verse on Monster and I thought Superbass was pretty rad. But everything else has made me hate her too. Beez in the Trap is seriously one of the worst tracks I've heard this year. It's an insult to the other songs on the list that have had even five minutes of thought put into them.

 

[IWasBored]

hey ya and umbrella are the only songs there that i know, other than ted leo's version of since u been gone. like i said before, hey ya is great. umbrella still ranks as one of my top however many most hated songs in the world (and i wanted to cause some harm to the kid in the t station in boston last month who was doing a shitty acoustic cover of it, fortunatly for him he was on the opposite platform and my train showed up not too far into the song). but i have no idea who any of those other songs are. probably because i don't watch glee anymore.

 

[cobl04]

That's like Laz saying he's never heard an LMFAO song. Those two songs were very hard to avoid when they came out.

 

[IWasBored]

those are the guys with the stupid glasses and big hair that did that absolutely fucking horrid shots song with the dude that just yells "YEAAAAAAAAHHHCRUNNKKLOLZ!!!!!!!!" all the time, right?

 

[cobl04]

Yep.

Though I am unashamedly a fan of Party Rock Anthem.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

I kinda like "Sexy and I Know It". It's so stupid that it makes me laugh. Kind of like "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred does.

Also, I don't mind "Call Me Maybe", and "Crazy in Love" and "Hey Ya!" are great songs.

 

[lazarus]

That's like Laz saying he's never heard an LMFAO song. Those two songs were very hard to avoid when they came out.

I'm not sure that I have.

I never listen to the radio or see TV commercials.

 

[No spoken words]

I'm not sure that I have.

I never listen to the radio or see TV commercials.

I wouldn't know it if I had. No idea who they are.

 

[lazarus]

I saw them perform with Madonna at the Super Bowl a couple years ago.


Does that count?

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

At least you know who they are then. To not know who they are means you must live in the wildernes in some sort of religious compound without electricty or running water. In NSW's case I am assuming he lives in a giant douche-bunker underground constructed out of solid gold.

 

[No spoken words]

At least you know who they are then. To not know who they are means you must live in the wildernes in some sort of religious compound without electricty or running water. In NSW's case I am assuming he lives in a giant douche-bunker underground constructed out of solid gold.

Douche bunker!

 

[Danny Boy]

Building one's douche bunker out of solid gold is practical because you don't have to worry about corrosion from ground water.

 

[u2popmofo]

Douchebag Doomsday Preppers

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

Building one's douche bunker out of solid gold is practical because you don't have to worry about corrosion from ground water.

Exactly!

 

[HeartlandGirl]

I have to admit this little bit from Mercy

Drop it to the floor make that ass shake
Make the ground move that's an ass-quake
Build a house up on that ass that's an ass-state
Roll my weed on it that's an ass-tray

Those lines. That song. Mercy brought me back to hip hop this year. The entire Cruel Summer album will easily make my top 3 of 2012.

And I will defend Ignition (Remix) for eternity. That's R. Kelly at his finest--actually singing*, lots of fun, just inappropriate enough, not as ridiculous as something like Feelin on Yo Booty or Real Talk or overly sentimental like I Believe I Can Fly. It's a balanced piece of music with mass appeal from him.

*Not that Kells ever doesn't sing; just contrasting that with all the autotune crap out there.

 

[joyfulgirl]

I'm not sure that I have.

I never listen to the radio or see TV commercials.

I wouldn't know it if I had. No idea who they are.

If only I had an axe.

 

[u2popmofo]

So you don't have to click through all the pictures and blurbs, here's Pitchfork's track list:

1. Grimes, "Oblivion"
2. Frank Ocean, "Pyramids"
3. Usher, "Climax"
4. Kendrick Lamar, "Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe"
5. Japandroids, "The House That Heaven Built"
6. Bat For Lashes, "Laura"
7. Tame Impala, "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards"
8. Beach House, "Myth"
9. Fiona Apple, "Werewolf"
10. Jai Paul, "Jasmine"
11. Frank Ocean, "Thinking Bout You"
12. Miguel, "Adorn"
13. Chromatics, "Kill for Love"
14. M.I.A., "Bad Girls"
15. Andy Stott, "Numb"
16. Solange, "Losing You"
17. Chairlift, "I Belong in Your Arms"
18. Nicki Minaj, "Beez in the Trap" [ft. 2 Chainz]
19. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, "Only in My Dreams"
20. Kendrick Lamar, "Swimming Pools (Drank)"
21. Jessie Ware, "Wildest Moments"
22. Death Grips, "I've Seen Footage"
23. Dirty Projectors, "Dance for You"
24. Chief Keef, "I Don't Like"[ft. Lil Reese]
25. Grimes, "Genesis"
26. TNGHT, "Higher Ground"
27. Grizzly Bear, "Yet Again"
28. Cat Power, "Nothin But Time"
29. Carly Rae Jepsen, "Call Me Maybe"
30. Kanye West, "Mercy" [ft. Big Sean, Pusha T, and 2 Chainz]
31. Frank Ocean, "Bad Religion"
32. Sky Ferreira, "Everything Is Embarrassing"
33. Danny Brown, "Grown Up"
34. Cloud Nothings, "Stay Useless"
35. Fiona Apple, "Every Single Night"
36. Todd Terje, "Inspector Norse"
37. Killer Mike, "Reagan"
38. Hot Chip, "Flutes"
39. Schoolboy Q, "Hands on the Wheel" [ft. A$AP Rocky]
40. The Men, "Open Your Heart"
41. El-P, "The Full Retard"
42. Gunplay, "Jump Out"
43. Dum Dum Girls, "Lord Knows"
44. AlunaGeorge, "You Know You Like It"
45. Spiritualized, "Hey Jane"
46. Ty Segall Band, "I Bought My Eyes"
47. Grizzly Bear, "Sleeping Ute"
48. Burial/Four Tet, "Nova"
49. Future, "Turn on the Lights"
50. Icona Pop, "I Love It"
51. Kendrick Lamar, "Backstreet Freestyle"
52. Sharon Van Etten, "Serpents"
53. Rhye, "The Fall"
54. Savages, "Husbands"
55. Miguel, "Do You..."
56. Peaking Lights, "Beautiful Son"
57. Killer Mike, "Big Beast" [ft. Bun B, T.I., and Trouble]
58. Purity Ring, "Fineshrine"
59. Mac DeMarco, "Ode to Viceroy"
60. Anna Meredith, "Nautilus"
61. Jessie Ware, "110%"
62. Philip Glass, "73-78 (Beck Remix)"
63. Passion Pit, "Constant Conversations"
64. Julia Holter, "In the Same Room"
65. Metz, "Wet Blanket"
66. Rick Ross, "Stay Schemin'" [ft. Drake and French Montana]
67. DIIV, "How Long Have You Known"
68. TNGHT, "Goooo"
69. Le1f, "Wut"
70. Four Tet, "Pyramids"
71. Thee Oh Sees, "Lupine Dominus"
72. John Talabot, "Destiny" [ft. Pional]
73. Juicy J, "Bands A Make Her Dance (Remix)" [ft. Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz]
74. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, "Baby"
75. Angel Haze, "Werkin' Girls"
76. Blawan, "Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage"
77. The xx, "Angels"
78. King Tuff, "Bad Thing"
79. Rich Kidz, "My Life" [ft. Waka Flocka Flame]
80. Baauer, "Harlem Shake"
81. Liars, "No 1 Against the Rush"
82. Schoolboy Q, "There He Go"
83. How to Dress Well, "Cold Nites"
84. Lower Dens, "Brains"
85. Major Lazer, "Get Free"
86. Chief Keef, "Love Sosa"
87. Lotus Plaza, "Monoliths"
88. A$AP Rocky, "Goldie"
89. Jeremih, "773 Love"
90. Daphni, "Yes I Know"
91. Antony & the Johnsons, "Cut the World"
92. King Louie, "Val Venis"
93. Cassie, "King of Hearts (Richard X Remix Edit)"
94. Saint Etienne, "Tonight"
95. R. Kelly, "Share My Love"
96. Merchandise, "Time"
97. Twin Shadow, "Golden Light"
98. Odd Future, "Oldie"
99. Blur, "Under the Westway"
100. Swearin', "Just"

 

[joyfulgirl]

They put the right Fiona Apple song in the top 10.

If you haven't heard it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fby632bPn0E

 

[LemonMelon]

I don't think Werewolf is Anything We Want.

 

[cobl04]

Those lines. That song. Mercy brought me back to hip hop this year. The entire Cruel Summer album will easily make my top 3 of 2012.

And I will defend Ignition (Remix) for eternity. That's R. Kelly at his finest--actually singing*, lots of fun, just inappropriate enough, not as ridiculous as something like Feelin on Yo Booty or Real Talk or overly sentimental like I Believe I Can Fly. It's a balanced piece of music with mass appeal from him.

*Not that Kells ever doesn't sing; just contrasting that with all the autotune crap out there.

can't wait to see your list

Oh, and Ignition Remix is one of the best songs ever. There was a period around that time where I listened to nothing but it and Roses. Then Call On Me came out.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

I don't think Werewolf is Anything We Want.

This.

Anything We Want is the best track on that album.

 

[lazarus]

My favorite as well, edging out Every Single Night and Hot Knife.



Also, who doesn't like Ignition (remix)?? That's fucked up.

 

[LemonMelon]

I sure as fuck like it. I can't imagine anyone feeling differently, but I am kind of a sociopath sometimes.

 

[iron yuppie]

I'm not denying it is a good song, but I have also never heard anyone explain why it has such a privileged status in the R&B canon.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

"Ignition (Remix)" is the only song I like by R. Kelly. It is indeed insanely catchy.