Assuming the Mayans are right, then last minute Christmas shopping is a somewhat futile activity.

On the other hand, there does seem to be a fairly broad consensus that we might make it through till at least the end of the year, so friends and relatives will possibly be a little miffed should you try the old 'I didn't buy you anything because the world was going to end” excuse.

With that in mind, perhaps I can offer a few suggestions for CD buying, assuming that there are still old-fashioned folk out there like me who appreciate music that comes in little plastic cases as opposed to data temporarily hired from iTunes.

Actually, the year's strangest release won't work on your iPod anyway or, for that matter, on any musical device that has an 'i” in front of it.

The reliably wonderful Beck, the man behind 'Loser”, 'Where It's At”, 'Devil's Haircut”, 'Two Turntables and a Microphone” and albums as diverse and brilliant as Odelay, Mutations and Midnight Vultures, has just released his new album Song Reader. As sheet music.

Yep, you read that right. Beck's latest collection of twenty songs is foolscap documents, between four and eight pages each, with chord tabs for guitar and ukulele, piano arrangements and separate vocal lines. One song has a full arrangement written out for tenor sax, trumpet, bass trombone and tuba. But, other than that, it's a do-it-yourself package. It's possibly the most democratic album ever made. Or not made, depending on your perspective.

But, hey, it's Christmas.You want recommendations for albums that your recipients can actually listen to. Fair enough.

Funnily, as I look at my favourite releases from the year, the one thing that strikes me is quite how many of them were created by musicians in their sixties. There have, naturally, been a pile of great CDs, and a pile of great ones from young(ish) bucks such as Jack White's astounding Blunderbuss, or the multi-genre creations of hip-hop's latest over-acheiver Frank Ocean, whose extraordinary album Channel Orange drifted majestically through a host of influences while retaining a completely individual character.

But it was the ol' folks that really worked their tired asses off. Sixty is clearly the new 30.

Take Neil Young for starters. Neil is a gnarly 67, and you might expect a little taking it easy to be occurring. So he started the year with a gloriously ragged take on a bunch of standards (from 'Clementine” to 'God Save the Queen”) on an album with Crazy Horse called Americana. It's grungily magnificent. Then he released his quirkily rambling autobiography, had a film made about him, and made a second, even better, album with Crazy Horse, Psychedelic Pill, a set as stompy and extreme as anything he's ever done. Not, obviously, a man resting on his (not inconsiderable) laurels.

So what else have the pensioners been up to? Well, Uncle Bob, or Mr Dylan as his friends call him, played over 100 shows and released Tempest, certainly his best album in a decade, a sweeping epic of timeless splendour including a tribute to John Lennon and 14 minutes spent telling the story of the Titanic (without mentioning an iceberg, but giving Leo DiCapprio two name-checks). Not bad for 71.

Bruce Springsteen clocks in at a relatively youthful 63 and seems to want to do everything in a hurry. He organised benefit gigs for Hurricane Sandy and other causes, toured relentlessly while increasing the length of his shows (they sometimes go on for four hours now as opposed to the usual three), probably helped get President Obama re-elected with his many support gigs, and released the awesomely angry and frankly inspiring Wrecking Ball. Biggest bummer of 2012? That Bruce isn't coming here in 2013.

Then there's Leonard Cohen. In January he celebrated turning 77 with a new album and another world tour. The album, Old Ideas is a stunner: sly, wise, and stripped back to its concentrated essence. It's a profoundly beautiful piece of work.

So who else? A great comeback from Dexys Midnight Runners (Kevin Rowland, 64), more political japes from Ry Cooder (65), and a new albums from Graham Parker (62) – back with The Rumour! - and Ian Hunter (73).

This year, the old folks led the way.