The Best of Car Talk

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 songs, favorite albums, biggest surprises and favorite new artists. Kishi Bashi     Album: 151A     Song: Bright Whites Lianne La Havas     Album: Is Your Love Big Enough?     Song: Lost & Found The Dø     Album: Both Ways Open Jaws Extended     Song: The Wicked & the Blind Kacey Musgraves     Album: Merry Go 'Round     Song: Merry Go 'Round Neil Young & Crazy Horse     Album: Psychedelic Pill     Song: Walk Like a Giant Macklemore & Ryan Lewis     Album: The Heist     Song: Thrift Shop Cloud Nothings     Album: Attack on Memory     Song: Stay Useless The Sea and Cake     Album: Runner     Song: On And On Alt-J     Album: An Awesome Wave     Song: Tessellate Cat Power     Album: Sun     Song: Sun Frank Ocean     Album: Channel Orange     Song: Lost Japandroids     Album: Celebration Rock     Song: The House That Heaven Built Dirty Projectors     Album: Swing Lo Magellan     Song: Offspring Are Blank Best Coast     Album: The Only Place     Song: The Only Place Miguel     Album: Kaleidoscope Dream     Song: Adorn Ty Segall     Album: Twins     Song: Thank God For Sinners