Thousands of votes poured in from NPR Music listeners in our poll for the best music of the year (so far). In the end, The Decemberists' album The King Is Dead was the clear winner, followed by Fleet Foxes' Helplessness Blues, Adele's 21 and Bon Iver's Bon Iver. Radiohead's The King of Limbs rounded out the Top 5.
One thing was clear in the results: It's been a strong year for veteran bands. Longtime fan favorites such as The Decemberists, Radiohead, Death Cab For Cutie and even Paul Simon remain among the most popular artists, multiple albums into their careers. But plenty of up-and-comers still broke the Top 100: tUnE-yArDs, James Blake, Yuck and Cults are just a few of them.
It's been a great year for discovery, and hopefully you can use the list below to find some music you haven't heard this year — or revisit ones that maybe deserve a little more time.
1. The Decemberists: The King Is Dead
2. Fleet Foxes: Helplessness Blues
3. Adele: 21
4. Bon Iver: Bon Iver
5. Radiohead: The King of Limbs
6. Iron & Wine: Kiss Each Other Clean
7. Death Cab For Cutie: Codes and Keys
8. My Morning Jacket: Circuital
9. Amos Lee: Mission Bell
10. Bright Eyes: The People's Key
11. tUnE-yArDs: w h o k i l l
12. Paul Simon: So Beautiful Or So What
13. James Blake: James Blake
14. Moby: Destroyed
15. Wye Oak: Civilian
16. The Antlers: Burst Apart
17. The Head And The Heart: The Head And The Heart
18. PJ Harvey: Let England Shake
19. Lykke Li: Wounded Rhymes
20. The Strokes: Angles
22. Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi: Rome
21. The Civil Wars: Barton Hollow
23. Cults: Cults
24. Okkervil River: I Am Very Far
25. Foo Fighters: Wasting Light
26. The Mountain Goats: All Eternals Deck
27. David Wax Museum: Everything Is Saved
28. R.E.M.: Collapse Into Now
29. Panda Bear: Tomboy
30. Yuck: Yuck
31. Eddie Vedder: Ukulele Songs
32. Alison Krauss & Union Station: Paper Airplane
33. Smith Westerns: Dye It Blonde
34. Robbie Robertson: How to Become Clairvoyant
35. David Bazan: Strange Negotiations
36. Lady Gaga: Born This Way
37. Raphael Saadiq: Stone Rollin'
38. Lucinda Williams: Blessed
39. Dawes: Nothing Is Wrong
40. Destroyer: Kaputt
41. Cut Copy: Zonoscope
42. The Low Anthem: Smart Flesh
43. Middle Brother: Middle Brother
44. Kurt Vile: Smoke Ring for My Halo
45. The Pains of Being Pure At Heart: Belong
46. The Dodos: No Color
47. Foster the People: Torches
48. Peter Bjorn and John: Gimme Some
49. Cake: Showroom of Compassion
50. Emmylou Harris: Hard Bargain
51. Jill Scott: The Light of the Sun
52. Steve Earle: I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive
53. Noah And The Whale: Last Night on Earth
54. The Book of Mormon Original Cast Recording
55. Devotchka: 100 Lovers
56. Toro y Moi: Underneath the Pine
57. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.: It's a Corporate World
58. Chris Bathgate: Salt Year
59. The Kills: Blood Pressures
60. Mogwai: Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will
61. Ha Ha Tonka: Death of a Decade
62. F----- Up: David Comes to Life
63. Chris Thile & Michael Daves: Sleep With One Eye Open
64. Low: C'mon
65. Thurston Moore: Demolished Thoughts
66. The Joy Formidable: The Big Roar
67. Alexi Murdoch: Towards the Sun
68. Ivan and Alyosha: Fathers Be Kind EP
69. Sarah Jarosz: Follow Me Down
70. Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx: We're New Here
71. Lupe Fiasco: Lasers
72. Thao and Mirah: Thao and Mirah
73. Telekinesis: 12 Desperate Straight Lines
74. Tyler, The Creator: Goblin
75. Abigail Washburn: City Of Refuge
76. Battles: Gloss Drop
77. The Weeknd: House of Balloons
78. Bill Callahan: Apocalypse
79. The Lonely Forest: Arrows
80. The Felice Brothers: Celebration, Florida
81. Son Lux: We Are Rising
82. City and Colour: Little Hell
83. Of Montreal: thecontrollersphere EP
84. Ellie Goulding: Lights
85. Kate Bush: Director's Cut
86. Jessica Lea Mayfield: Tell Me
87. Cowboy Junkies: Demons
88. Givers: In Light
89. Wanda Jackson: The Party Ain't Over
90. Typhoon: A New Kind of House
91. Ben Sollee: Inclusions
92. Deerhoof: Deerhoof vs. Evil
93. YACHT: Shangri-La
94. Gang Gang Dance: Eye Contact
95. Austra: Feel It Break
96. The Raveonettes: Raven in the Grave
97. Yellow Ostrich: The Mistress
98. Those Darlins: Screws Get Loose
99. Ringo Deathstarr: Colour Trip
100. Anna Calvi: Anna Calvi
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