Year-End Lists

Notable, searchable lists of the year's best music, movies, and books. End-of-year lists are fingerprints; aggregate statistics are smudges. Therefore, no tallies.

Pretty Much Amazing: 60 Best Albums of 2012

Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel

Pretty Much Amazing: 60 Best Albums of 2012

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

Dennis Cooper: 16 Favorite Poetry Books of 2012

The Malady of the Century

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”)

  1. The Malady of the Century – Jon Leon – Amazon
  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
  16. [tie] mysapce.com – Walter Mackey

Michael Andor Brodeur: 8 Best Poetry Books of 2012

Pink-Thunder

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

  • Pink Thunder – Michael Zapruder – Amazon
  • 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

Frank Ocean - Channel Orange

Frontier Psychiatrist: Top 50 Albums of 2012

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

Michael Robbins: 7 Best Small-Press Poetry Books of 2012

Fragile-Acts

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

  • Fragile Acts – Allan Peterson – Amazon
  • 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

The Collected Writings of Joe Brainard

Frontier Psychiatrist: Top 18 Poetry Books of 2012

  1. The Collected Writings of Joe Brainard – Joe Brainard – Amazon
  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

Coldfront: Top 40 Poetry Books of 2012

Engine-Empire

Coldfront: Top 40 Poetry Books of 2012

  1. Engine Empire: Poems – Cathy Park Hong – Amazon
  2. Useless Landscape, or A Guide for Boys: Poems – D.A. Powell
  3. Snowflake / different streets – Eileen Myles
  4. Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah – Patricia Smith
  5. Our Andromeda – Brenda Shaughnessy
  6. To Keep Love Blurry – Craig Morgan Teicher
  7. Bewilderment: New Poems and Translations – David Ferry
  8. Nice Weather – Frederick Seidel
  9. Further Adventures in Monochrome – John Yau
  10. Your Invitation to a Modest Breakfast – Hannah Gamble
  11. Bright Brave Phenomena – Amanda Nadelberg
  12. me and Nina – Monica A. Hand
  13. Balloon Pop Outlaw Black – Patricia Lockwood
  14. Gravesend – Cole Swensen
  15. Slow Lightning – Eduardo C. Corral
  16. Meme – Susan Wheeler
  17. Partyknife – Dan Magers
  18. A Beautiful Marsupial Afternoon: New (Soma)tics – CAConrad
  19. If I Should Say I Have Hope – Lynn Melnick
  20. Thunderbird – Dorothea Lasky
  21. The Glimmering Room – Cynthia Cruz
  22. ROTC Kills – John Koethe
  23. Grand & Arsenal – Kerri Webster
  24. Sermons and Lectures Both Blank and Relentless – Matt Hart
  25. China Cowboy – Kim Gek Lin Short
  26. Fjords, Vol. 1 – Zachary Schomburg
  27. Vanitas, Rough – Lisa Russ Spaar
  28. Mother Was a Tragic Girl – Sandra Simonds
  29. Exit, Civilian – Idra Novey
  30. The Fact of the Matter – Sally Keith
  31. Madame X – Darcie Dennigan
  32. Victory – Ben Kopel
  33. The Ground – Rowan Ricardo Phillips
  34. Quick Question – John Ashbery
  35. Robinson Alone – Kathleen Rooney
  36. Charms Against Lightning – James Arthur
  37. how to survive a hotel fire – Angela Veronica Wong
  38. The Game of Boxes – Catherine Barnett
  39. Hider Roser – Ben Mirov
  40. I Live in a Hut – S.E. Smith

Publishers Weekly: 5 Best Poetry Books of 2012

Collected-Poems-of-Lucille-Clifton

Publishers Weekly: 5 Best Poetry Books of 2012

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

Jonathan Rosenbaum: Top 10 Films of 2012

The-Turin-Horse

Jonathan Rosenbaum: Top 10 Films of 2012 (as submitted to the Indiewire poll)

  1. The Turin Horse – Béla Tarr
  2. The Forgotten Space – Allan Sekula and Noël Burch
  3. Bernie – Richard Linklater
  4. The Hunter – David Nettheim
  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
  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

David Thomson: 5 Best Movies of 2012

Amour - Michael Haneke

David Thomson: 5 Best Movies of 2012 (as extracted from his review of Amour in The New Republic)

  1. Amour – Michael Haneke

Also Suggested

  • The Loneliest Planet – Julia Loktev
  • Lincoln – Stephen Spielberg
  • Dream of a Life – Carol Morley
  • Oslo, August 31st – Joachim Trier