Someone else mentioned this website on another thread. It is truly a treasure trove of information. It basically does what Metacritic does, but for critic lists and does it internationally. It takes average rankings for albums in the U.S., UK and Ireland, and the rest of the world, then averages them together.

Here's their top 100:

1 Portishead - Third
2 Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
3 TV on the Radio - Dear Science
4 Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
5 Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
6 MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
7 Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
8 Santogold - Santogold
9 Deerhunter - Microcastle / Weird Era Cont.
10 Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid UK
11 Hercules and Love Affair - Hercules and Love Affair
12 Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
13 Glasvegas - Glasvegas
14 Sigur Rós - Med sud i eyrum vid spilum endalaust
15 Kings of Leon - Only by the Night
16 Cut Copy - In Ghost Colors
17 Hot Chip - Made in the Dark
18 Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)
19 The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age of Understatement
20 No Age - Nouns
21 Foals – Antidotes
22 M83 - Saturdays = Youth
23 The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
24 Coldplay - Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends
25 Metallica - Death Magnetic
26 Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing
27 Late Of The Pier - Fantasy Black Channel
28 The Bug - London Zoo
29 Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
30 Lykke Li - Youth Novels
31 My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
32 Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs
33 WHY? - Alopecia
34 The Dodos - Visiter
35 Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna
36 Beck - Modern Guilt
37 Neon Neon - Stainless Style
38 Girl Talk - Feed the Animals
39 The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely
40 Flying Lotus - Los Angeles
41 R.E.M. - Accelerate
42 Lindstrøm - Where You Go I Go Too
43 The Kills - Midnight Boom
44 Laura Marling - Alas, I Cannot Swim
45 Fucked Up - The Chemistry of Common Life
46 Duffy Rockferry
47 The Walkmen - You & Me
48 Beach House - Devotion
49 British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?
50 The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound
51 Spiritualized - Songs in A & E
52 Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping
53 White Denim - Workout Holiday
54 She & Him - Volume One
55 Drive-By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark
56 Shearwater - Rook
57 Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now, Youngster…
58 Black Mountain - In The Future
59 Metronomy - Nights Out
60 Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul
61 Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak
62 AC/DC - Black Ice
63 Paul Weller - 22 Dreams
64 Okkervil River - The Stand Ins
65 Robyn - Robyn
66 Department of Eagles - In Ear Park
67 El Guincho - Alegranza
68 Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires
69 The Notwist - The Devil, You & Me
70 Randy Newman - Harps and Angels
71 Benga - Diary of An Afro Warrior
72 Q-Tip - The Renaissance
73 Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy
74 Opeth - Watershed
75 Silver Jews - Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea
76 Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight
77 Get Well Soon - Rest Now, Weary Head! You Will Get Well Soon
78 Ladyhawke - Ladyhawke
79 Adele - 19
80 Fleet Foxes - Sun Giant EP
81 Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree
82 Sebastien Tellier - Sexuality
83 Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer
84 Bloc Party - Intimacy
85 Mogwai - The Hawk Is Howling
86 Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Lie Down in the Light
87 Stephen Malkmus - Real Emotional Trash
88 Jamie Lidell - Jim
89 Conor Oberst Conor Oberst
90 The Magnetic Fields - Distortion
91 Amadou & Mariam - Welcome to Mali
92 Black Kids - Partie Traumatic
93 Flight of the Conchords - Flight of the Conchords
94 Dr. Dog - Fate
95 Toumani Diabaté - The Mandé Variations
96 High Places - High Places
97 Håkan Hellström - För sent för Edelweiss
98 Wild Beasts - Limbo, Panto
99 Robert Forster - The Evangelist
100 Gojira - The Way of All Flesh


I am struck by how similar this list is to ours. There are 6 common albums in the top 10, and 64 of the albums on this list were on our list. The following albums were within 10 places of their Metacritic ranking:

1. Portishead (5)
2. Fleet Foxes (3)
3. TV on the Radio (1)
4. Bon Iver (2)
5. Vampire Weekend (6)
9. Deerhunter (4)
16. Cut Copy (14)
20. No Age - Nouns (21)
23. The Hold Steady (13)
29. Crystal Castles (35)
35. Gang Gang Dance (41)
36. Beck (39)
39. The Raconteurs (46)
40. Flying Lotus (49)
41. R.E.M. (50)
50. The Gaslight Anthem (40)
54. She & Him (55)
69. The Notwist (77)
75. Silver Jews (73)
86. Bonnie "Prince" Billy (82)
98. Wild Beast (90)

Since acclaimedmusic.net is an international survey, it seems that, like Metacritic, the world has a American indie/folk bias.

quote:

Posted by Troy
the world has a American indie/folk bias.

That's a horrible thought. Bias like that suggests zombie list making, cos I'm not buying the argument that Portishead, Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, MGMT, Kings of Leonor Coldplay to take a handful, are among the years best.

But I'm forgetting my manners. Thanks for bringing this site to our attention Troy. It will prove an invaluable resource to a music junkie like me.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Ninny Gooptz,

I believe they are chosen hastily when people realize they don't have the time or inclination to dig far into unfamiliar territory for albums that belong in the discussion.

At the same time, I believe they are in fact among the best albums of the year -- only, at the expense of other deserving albums that get left out the discussion unfairly.

this is a handy tool esp. for exploring past decades, thanks for pointing it out!