For the past few weeks, every music website under the sun has dutiful churned out their "Best Songs of 2012" lists, but who has time to read them all? Besides, many publications' staffs suffer from that dreaded hive mind and a specific focus. So we decided to go all slapdash Nate Silver and combined 23 other publications' lists into one giant meta list.
We used the following publications: American Songwriter (AS), Beats Per Minute (BPM), BET, Complex (CX), Consequence of Sound (CoS), Fact Magazine (F), The Guardian (G), Gorilla vs Bear (GvB), Little White Earbuds (LWE), The Line of Best Fit (LBF) NME, NPR, No Ripcord (NR), Paste (P), Pitchfork (P4K), Pretty Much Amazing (PMA), Popdust (PD), Pop Matters (PM), Resident Advisor (RA), Rolling Stone (RS), Spin (SP), Spinner (SN), and XLR8R (X8).
We gave each #1 song 10 points, each #2 song 9.9 points and so forth all the way down. To ensure that every song got at least one point, the last 10 songs on 100-place lists each got 1 points. We also used one unranked list (NPR) and one partially unranked list (PMA). All unranked songs got one point each.
So, without further ado, here are the results. Spoiler alert: R&B is back in a big way.
100. Kendrick Lamar - "Sing About Me / I'm Thirsty" (BPM #4, PMA #5)
99. Passion Pit - "Take A Walk" (RS #3, P $42, PM #64)
98. John Talabot - "Destiny" (X8 #10, P4K #72, LBF #46, NPR *, PMA *)
97 (tie). Kendrick Lamar - "Cartoon and Cereal" (CX #2, Fact #4)
97 (tie). Joy Orbison - "Ellipses" (LWE #3, RA #3)
95 (tie). Rick Ross - "Hold Me Back" (BET # 24, CX #32, PD #58)
95 (tie). Nicki Minaj - "Starships" (PD #12, BET #29, PM #68)
93. Rhye -"The Fall" (PMA #20, LBF #30, P4K #53)
92. Kanye West, Pusha T, and Ghostface Killah - "New God Flow" (BET #26, CS #34, GvB #42)
91. Lower Dens - "Brains" (NR #27, GvB #41, P #48, P4K #84)
90. Lotus Plaza - "Monoliths" (BPM #31, CoS #34, P #47, P4K #87)
89. Santigold - "Disparate Youth" (PMA #24, CX #33, SP #33)
88. Sleigh Bells - "Comeback Kid" (SP #9, P #24, PD #62, BPM #9)
87 (tie). Killer Mike - "Reagan" (NR #19, PM #37, P4K #37 PMA *)
87 (tie). Jack White - "Love Interruption" (SP #27, PM #26, CoS #30,
87 (tie). Future - "Turn on the Lights" (CX #14, F #20 P4K #49)
84. Bookworms - "African Rhythm" (LWE #7, F #25, RA #49)
83. Tame Impala - "Elephant" (NME #10, P #21, BPM #55, NPR *)
82. Charli XCX - "You're The One" (PMA #13, PM #28, PD #31
81. Beach House - "Wild" (LBF #26, SP #15, GVB #30)
80. Tanline - "All of Me" (P #37, RS #43, CoS #47, PD #50, NPR *)
79 (tie). Rihanna - "Where Have You Been?" (PD #13, G #20, SP #33)
79 (tie). fun. - "Some Nights" (RS #11, PD #26, PM #29)
77. 2 Chainz - "No Lie" (BET #11, CX #17,PD #36)
76. Twin Shadow - "Five Seconds" (CoS #16, P #17, CX #37, PD #100)
75 (tie). Joy Orbison & Boddika - "Swims" (X8 #4, F #24, RA #28)
75 (tie). Death Grips - "Hacker" (BPM #17, NR #24, GvB #25, PMA *)
73. Rick Ross - "Stay Schemin'" (CX #8, BET #9, P4k #66, PD #74)
72. The Lumineers - "Hey Ho" (P #8, PD #17, RS #26)
71. Lana Del Rey - "Ride" (CX #8, GvB #15, NR #36, PMA *)
70. Mumford & Sons - "I Will Wait" (SP #7, RS #13, AS#43, PD #84,)
69 (tie). Zebra Katz - "Ima Read" (F #6, G #9, NME #45, GvB #85)
69 (tie). The XX - "Angels" (NR #14, CX #26, CoS #38, P4K #77, NPR *)
69 (tie). El-P - "The Full Retard" (BPM #10, CoS #31, P4K #41, PM #73, PMA *)
66. French Montana - "Pop That" (BET #3, PD #20, CX #22 , NPR *)
65. Head High - "Rave (Dirt Mix)" - (LWE #5, RA #16, X8 #20)
64. Leonard Cohen - "Going Home" (AS #4, SR #11, RS #20)
63. Mac Demarco - "Ode to Victory" (BPM #22, CX #22, NR #32, P4K #59)
62. First Aid Kit - "Emmylou" (P #3, RS#10, GvB #27, PMA*)
61. Kendrick Lamar - "Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe" (P4K #4, SP #23, PM #54, BPM #57, PMA *)
60. DIIV - "How Long Have You Known?" - (SP#5, LBF #20, BPM #29, P4K #67)
59. Blur - "Under The Westway" - (NME #3, G #10, PM #16, P4K #9_)
58. Killer Mike - "Big Beast" (PM #12, CoS #18, P #31, P4K #57)
57. Cat Power - "Nothin' But TIme" (P #19, P4K #28, PM #33, AS #34)
56 (tie). The Men - "Open Your Heart" (P #16, BPM #20, NR #37, P4K #40)
56 (tie). A$AP Rocky - "Fuckin' Problem" (CX #21, SP#25, BET #30, SR #34)
54. Savages - "Husbands" (G #8, NME #11, SP #39, P4K #57)
53. Burial - "Kindred" (RA #8, LWE #9, CoS #36, BPM #53)
52. Andres - "New 4 U" (F #1, RA #1, LWE #1)
51. Chromatics - "Back From The Grave" (GvB #9, PMA #16, X8 #21, F #57)
50. Sharon Von Etten - "Serpents" (AS #10, LBF #16, CoS #29, P4K #52, PMA *)
49 (tie). Objekt - "Cactus" (RA #11, LWE #13, F #27, BPM #44)
49 (tie). Chromatics - "Kill For Love" (P4K #13, CoS#19, PM #25, P #38)
47. Psy - "Gangham Style" (SP #8, PD #11, RS #25, NME #50)
46. Andy Stott - "Numb" (BPM #3, P4k #15, X8 #35, GVB #37)
45. The Magnetic Fields - "Andrew in Drag" (BPM #8, AS #21, NR #23, P #40, PMA *)
44. Jessie Ware - "110%" (G #4, NR #17, GvB #19, P4K #61, F #100, PMA *)
43. Juicy J - "Bandz A Make Her Dance" (CX #6, BET #13, SP #30, F #56, P4K #73)
42. Sky Ferreira - "Everything is Embarrassing" (G #19, PD #24, Sp #31, P4K #32, F #63, PMA *)
41. Schoolboy Q ft. A$AP Rocky - "Hands on the Wheel" -(CX #12, GvB #21, P4K #39, BET #43, F #48, PMA *)
40. Major Lazer - "Get Free" (CX #10, G #11, NME #48, P4K #85, PMA *)
39. Jessie Ware - "Running (Disclosure Remix)" - (F #6, SP #14, X8 #18, RA #20, PMA *)
38. Blawan - "Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage?" - (RA #4, X8 #6, LWE #21, F #38, P4K #76)
37. A$AP Rocky - "Goldie" (PMA #14, RS #27, CX #30, BPM #41, BET #45, P4K #88)
36. Chief Keef - "I Don't Like" (BET #5, CX #7, P4K #24, CoS #37, F #76, PD #90)
35. Danny Brown - "Grown Up" (CX #13, SN #29, GvB #29, P4K #33, RS #41, PMA *)
34. Grizzly Bear - "Yet Again" (P #11, NR #12, P4K #27, RS #29, SN #46)
33. Icona Pop - "I Love It" (LBF #1, PMA #17, PD #22, RS #35, P4K #50, NPR *)
32. Jack White - "Sixteen Saltines" (RS #8, NME #9, SP #21, P #36, AS #42, NPR *)
31. Chairlift - "I Belong In Your Arms" - (P4K #17, PMA #23, PM #24, SP #28, GvB #45, PD #78, NPR *)
30. Grimes - "Genesis" (CoS #4, NME #16, F #23, P4K #25, PM #38, NPR *)
29. Father John Misty - "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings" - (NR #9, P #10, PM #18, SN #26, SP #36, NPR*)
28. Tame Impala - "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards" (PMA #6, P4K #7, GvB #24, NR #40, NME #40, CoS #47)
27. Kanye West Ft. Jay-Z & Big Sean - "Clique" (BET #7, SN #18, CX #15, NME #15, P #49, PD #56)
26. Purity Ring - "Fineshrine" (BPM #23, NR #28, CoS #32, P #35, GvB #36, LBF #41, P4K #58)
25. Plan B - "Ill Manors" - (G #3, PM #5, NME #5, SP #16, NR #21)
24. M.I.A. - "Bad Girls" - (NME #2, P4K #14, LBF #40, F #43, CoS #50, PD #85, NPR *, PMA *)
23. Spiritualized - "Hey Jane" (PMA #10, BPM #21, CoS #22, SN #24, NR #25, P4K #45, NPR *)
22. TNGHT - "Higher Ground" (BPM #15, G #16, RA #18, NME #22, P4K #26, F #44, PMA*)
21. Frank Ocean - "Bad Religion" (SP #3, PMA #4, NR #11, P4K #31, BET #36, BPM #39)
20 (tie). Todd Terje - "Inspector Norse" (RA #2, X8 #2,LWE #2, CoS #21, P4k #36, BPM #64, NPR *)
20 (tie). AlunaGeorge - "Your Drums, Your Love" (NR #3, LBF #4, BPM #6, G #12, GvB #20, F #72)
18. Nicki Minaj - "Beez in the Trap" (CX #9, BET #14, P4K #18, SN #19, PD #29, SP #29, PMA*)
17. Bat for Lashes - "Laura" (SP #5, P4K #6, NR #7, NME #8, PMA #15, PM #47, NPR*)
16. Beach House - "Myth" (PMA #3, PM #7, P4K #8, BPM #14, CX #19, CoS #26)
15. Alabama Shakes - "Hold On" (RS #1, P #9, SN #6, AS #17, PM #19, PMA #21)
14. Taylor Swift - "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" (RS #2, LBF #5, G #5, PM #11, PD #18, NME #24, CoS #40,
13. Kendrick Lamar - "Swimming Pools (Drank)" (NR #4, SP #4, CoS #7, GvB #8, P4K #20, BET #21, RS #34, PMA*)
12. Jessie Ware - "Wildest Moments" (LBF #2, PM #10, P4K #21, PMA #22, NME #23, BPM #32, GVB #61)
11. Jai Paul - "Jasmine (Demo)" (G #6, P4K #10, PMA #18, RA #19, F #26, NME #34, SN #39, Cx #49, BPM #80, NPR*)
10. Kanye West - "Mercy" (SP #1, CX #1, BET #1, PD #4, RS #6, P4K #30, NME #39, F #78, NPR*, NPA*)
9. Solange - "Losing You" (NR #5, LBF #7, G #7, SP #10, P4K #16, NME #19, SN #21, CoS #35, PD #9_, NPR *, PMA *)
8. Frank Ocean "Thinkin' Bout You" - (CoS #1, LBF #3, RS #4, PD #8, P4K #11, GvB #11, F #13, AS #29,
7. Frank Ocean - "Pyramids" (P4K #2, PM #3, GvB #3, P #4, CX #4, NR #8, NME #12, BET #19, PD #23, PMA*)
6. Carly Rae Jepsen - "Call Me Maybe" (G #1, PD #1, SP #7, NR #13, CoS #14, NME #20, PM #20, SN #20, P4K #29, RS #50, NPR*, PMA*)
5. Fiona Apple - "Every Single Night" (PMA #1, SN #3, Pm #4, CoS #6, AS #7, NR #10, SP #19, P #25, CX #28, PD #28, P4K #35)
4. Japandroids - "House That Heaven Built" - (SN #1, P #1, PM #2, CoS #2, P4K #5, PMA #12, BPM #16, RS #24, NR #30, PD #59)
3. Grimes - "Oblivion" - (P4K #1, PM #1, GvB #2, SN #4, NME #6, CX #11, SP #15, RS #28, P #34, BPM #40, PD #92)
2. Miguel - "Adorn" (BET #2, SP #6, P #7, PMA #8, P4K #12, CoS #12, GvB #12, G #13, PD #14, CX #18, SN #32, RS #33, F #41, NPR*)
1. Usher - "Climax" (GvB #1, BPM #2, PMA #2, G #2, PD #2, P4K #3, CoS #5, SN #8, SP #11, RS #15, CX #16, F #21, LBF #25, BET #27, NPR *)
Follow @CountyGrind
