This has been a phenomenal year for music. Veterans Neil Young and Crazy Horse released not one but two ambitious and ingenious albums. New artists such as Kishi Bashi and Alt-J appeared with exciting and unusual records. Plenty of other surprises popped up along the way: Cat Power returned from a six-year hiatus with the best album she's ever made. Ty Segall, already a prolific artist, released three stellar garage-rock records in 2012 (three!), while the first-ever studio album from Macklemore, a rapper with little name recognition outside his native Seattle, made his debut at No. 1 on iTunes and No. 2 on Billboard. Meanwhile, R&B artists Miguel and Frank Ocean both released records that were unconventional but wildly popular. That's just some of the wonderful, unpredictable and endlessly fascinating music of 2012. On this edition of All Songs Considered, hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton chat with NPR Music critic Ann Powers and editor Stephen Thompson about the music that mattered most to them in 2012, including their: Favorite Discoveries: Kishi Bashi The Do Lianne La Havas Kacey Musgraves Biggest Surprises: Neil Young The Sea And Cake Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Cloud Nothings Favorite Albums: Cat Power's Sun Alt-J's An Awesome Wave Frank Ocean's Channel Orange Japandroids' Celebration Rock Favorite Songs: Dirty Projectors: "Offspring Are Blank" Best Coast: "The Only Place" Miguel: "Adorn" Ty Segall: "Thank God For Sinners" Tell us what you think. Vote now for your favorite albums of 2012.
NPR listeners picked Mumford And Sons' Babel as their favorite record for 2012.
Courtesy of the artist
We're a big family at NPR, with amazing member stations and listeners tuning in or clicking from all over the world. Last week, when All Songs Considered posted its annual poll inviting people to pick their favorite albums of 2012, thousands of votes poured in from those listeners with sometimes surprising results. Babel, by Mumford & Sons, is the listener pick for the 2012 album of the year. It didn't come out until this fall, but managed to climb quickly as the favorite, at least among those who voted in our year-end poll. It's followed closely by Of Monsters And Men, Alabama Shakes, Jack White and Grizzly Bear in the top five. As you work your way through the rest of the most popular records you'll probably see a lot that you love, and you'll also likely find some that leave you scratching your head. That's the beauty of what happens when you have a large and wonderfully diverse group of voters with a broad range of tastes. On this week's All Songs Considered we countdown through the top 25 most popular records from our listener poll.
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