Originally written by Sean Adams · 3 December 2012
Listing season is in full swing, and later this week, DiS will reveal "Our 100 Favourite Albums of 2012", but before we get down to that, we wanted to share each staff members number one pick with you...
Hopefully this long list of names and releases gives you a clue about the individuals behind the screens at DiS. I've always thought of the site as being an aggregator of individual opinions, rather than some compromised coherent voice with a contrarian tone. It's near impossible to get music fans to agree on very much, which is why we do our album of the year list a little differently to most sites. We don't just tot up the votes and say what the most popular release was, as music to us isn't a popularity contest. Votes quickly become political, rather than personal and I hate the idea of mob rule.
I (DiS' editor) simply ask our staff for their lists, and make notes of what is popular with the regular contributors and then take into account the records that have been loved by the community, and then try to put together a list of albums that will reflect the tastes of the site, and perhaps turn a few people on to a few special records, which didn't quite get the attention they perhaps deserved. It's an imperfect system, but it seems to work. Although this year, as you can see below, there isn't a great deal of agreement in the ranks...
Senior Staff
Sean Adams - Founder/Editor: Chromatics - Kill for Love (Top 40 List here) Cate Blanche - Features Editor: Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel... Andrzej Lukowski - Reviews Editor: Swans - The Seer Dom Gourlay: The Lost Rivers - Sin & Lostness Wendy Roby - Singles Columnist: Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan Robert Leedham - Pop Columnist: Jessie Ware - Devotion Kyle Ellison - Hip-Hop Columnist: Aesop Rock - Skelethon Si Truss - Electronic Music Columnist: LHF - Keepers Of the Light Al Horner - DiS News Digest Columnist: Japandroids - Celebration Rock
Contributors
Kevin Perry: Leonard Cohen - Old Ideas George Bass: LV - Sebenza Marie Wood: Sharon Van Etten - Tramp Dan Lucas: Liars - WIXIW Billy Hamilton: Chromatics - Kill For Love Russell Warfield: How To Dress Well - Total Loss J.R. Moores: Liars - WIXIW Marcus J. Moore: Flying Lotus - Until the Quiet Comes Josh Sunth: Chromatics - Kill For Love Sean Thomas: Aesop Rock - Skelethon Didz Hammond: The Cribs - In The Belly Of The Brazen Bull Krystina Nellis: Frank Ocean - channel ORANGE Aaron Lavery: Field Music - Plumb Alexander Tudor: Swans - The Seer Michael Brown: Deftones - Koi No Yokan James Skinner: Andrew Bird - Break It Yourself Darren Loucaides: Chromatics - Kill for Love Andrew Kennedy: Django Django - Django Django David Pott-Negrine: Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid, M.a.a.d. City David Edwards: Richard Hawley - Standing at the Sky's Edge Jonathan Falcone: And You Will Know Us By The Trail of The Dead - Lost Songs Dan O’Dell: Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory Nick Hagan: Grimes - Visions Noel Gardner: Black Breath - Sentenced To Life Eli Lee: Anais Mitchell - Young Man in America Hayden Wooley: Frank Ocean - Channel Orange Elliot McVeigh: Julia Holter - Ekstasis Andrew Wallace-Chamings: Cat Power - Sun Jazz Monroe: Cloud Nothings - Attack On Memory Suze Olbrich: Chromatics - Kill for Love Marc Burrows: Darren Hayman and the Long Parliament - The Violence Andrew Schagen: Swans - The Seer Finbarr Bermingham: Seamus Fogarty - God Damn You Mountain Bruce Porter: Grizzly Bear - Shields Adam Bychawski: Swans - The Seer Philip Bloomfield: Earth - Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II Dan Cooper-Gavin: Sharon Van Etten - Tramp Robert Cooke: Cloud Nothings - Attack On Memory Christian Cottingham: Efterklang - Piramida Neil Ashman: Passion Pit - Gossamer Amanda Farah: Cat Power - Sun Alex Hegazy: Actress - RIP Paul Stephen Gettings: Grimes - Visions Adam Workman: Killer Mike - RAP Music
What was your album of the year? VOTE NOW IN OUR ANNUAL READERS POLL
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Related: Lost 12 of '12 // DiS albums of the year - compiled