Best music of 2012, so far

It's almost July, which means we're already getting bombarded with "best of 2012. so far" lists. 

I'm partial to music lists, and here are three good ones (two of which come in excellent podcasts):

• "All Songs Considered": Good mix of songs, albums and surprises. My biggest surprise is the lack of boring tender songwriter crap that usually ends up on All Songs. lists. 
• "Sound Opinions": Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis have come up with my favorite mix of the lot. Gotta go dig up that dBs disc. 
• Paste Magazine: Six lists from different staffers. 

If there are any trends from this small sample, it's that Alabama Shakes, Japandroids, Dr. John and Killer Mike seem to be front-runners for year-end lists.