The best (and worst) music of 2012
Frank Ocean approached consensus in a fractious year for music
Fri Dec 21 2012
Frank Ocean at ATP Photograph: Loren Wohl
Your Time Out New York music crew is a diverse lot and always has been. Still, 2012 was the first year in recent memory in which not one single rock, pop, hip-hop, R&B or jazz album rallied a serious consensus among Team Music's constituents. Frank Ocean got two nods, including a number-one berth, for an album so strong we actually reviewed it twice; fun. snagged a spot on two lists, as well. Otherwise, you got a bit of everything, from sultry English electro to retro-metal from the Northwest, and onward to punk-infused magnetic-tape torture. We invite you to explore and debate our picks, and to listen up via Spotify playlists on each critic's page.
RECOMMENDED: Best of the year 2012
The best (and worst) music of 2012: Sophie Harris' picks
Frank Ocean made a major-label debut as mature and thoughtful as it is experimental and poetic
The best (and worst) music of 2012: Hank Shteamer's picks
Christian Mistress dropped the heaviest dispatch yet of the overcrowded retro-metal boom
The best (and worst) music of 2012: Steve Smith's picks
Jason Lescalleet packaged a squelchy magnum opus in a punk-rock riddle with a Depeche Mode punch line
The best (and worst) cabaret of 2012
Protean peacock Taylor Mac topped our tally of New York cabaret's finest hours
Best concert photos of 2012
Check out our top live pics, including Beach House, Aretha Franklin, the Jacksons, Zola Jesus and Divine Fits.
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