New York Times pop music critic Jon Pareles rounds out our week-long look back at the best of the year in music.

Jon Pareles' list:

• Metals (album) - Feist
• So Beautiful Or So What (album) - Paul Simon
• Watch the Throne (album) - Jay-Z and Kanye West 
• Ashes and Fire (album) - Ryan Adams
• Bad as Me (album) - Tom Waits 
• Take Care (album) - Drake
• W H O K I L L (album) - tUnE-yArDs
• Wounded Rhymes (album) - Lykke Li 
• Cotonou Club (album) - Le Tout Puissant Orchestre Poly-Rythmo 
• Aesthethica (album) - Liturgy