Who's sitting P&J out this year?

[koganbot]

Dave over on Tumblr:

I like voting in it - stayed on board for the Jackin’ Pop year (voted in both polls) and have thought about staying on this year, since for better or worse it’s the only huge critics poll. Glenn McDonald is still doing stats, which alone kind of makes me want to participate. Just wondering if anyone is staging a parallel poll

Comments

Chuck Pazzing And Jopping

[anonymous]

Still don't know what I'm going to do. Nate Patrin had posted thuswise on Facebook last night: "A suggestion for people abstaining from or concocting protest ballots for Pazz & Jop: fill out a ballot, but put the least-touted, most-underrated favorites of yours on it. Even if you think Frank Ocean or Kendrick Lamar or Sky Ferreira or Fiona Apple put out the 'best' music of the year, that doesn't matter; they'll receive their hard-earned due elsewhere. What matters is using one of the most well-organized and public polls in music criticism to deliberately tilt things away from the consensus while still being honest about stuff you like that might not get exposure otherwise

Re: (Chuck Again)

[anonymous]

Of course two reasons the early '70s weren't P&J's high point (which is what I meant, not "highlight") is the Xgau's essays were really short before 1977 or 1978 and hadn't fully gelled into interesting commentary yet, and he didn't start printing voters' comments as sidebars until 1983 (when I supposedly inspired him to start.)

Re: Chuck Pazzing And Jopping

[koganbot]

UPDATE: It turns out that a Wild Flag track ("Future Crimes") crawled onto my computer at one point, I know not how; but I now remember the aggegation: a couple Sleater-Kinneys plus a couple more luminaries. The actual physics of rock 'n' roll still escapes them, but the tune and the effort move me. (Sweetly atmospheric "oo-oos" hover above busy guitar figures. [7])

Re: Chuck Pazzing And Jopping

[koganbot]

Here's a power law graph of "ranking of popularity" (with a long tail) that I filched from Wikipedia:

Re: Chuck Pazzing And Jopping

[skyecaptain]

I think it will likely be "Gangnam Style" or "Call Me Maybe." Frank Ocean will split votes between "Thinkin Bout You" and "Pyramids." Grimes will probably split votes between "Genesis" and "Oblivion" (would have pegged "Genesis," which got a lot of indie/alternative/college airplay this year, but Pfork just voted "Oblivion" #1). Kendrick Lamar will probably place top ten for (if I had to guess) "Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe" (which will get lots of votes from people voting for album tracks from their fave albums). Miguel's "Adorn" will do well, and I would guess that Usher's "Climax" might do OK.

Re: Chuck Pazzing And Jopping

[koganbot]

will probably place top ten for (if I had to guess) "Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe"
'Cause it's the Lamar that sounds most like it was produced by Grimes?

Re: Chuck Pazzing And Jopping

[skyecaptain]

I've never actually heard it! Haven't listened to Kendrick Lamar yet. I think most of my positive discoveries are fairly spontaneous (i.e. I listen to things my friends listen to because it's in my frame of reference from hanging around friends, not because I'm thinking "I must learn to like what my friends like," though that might be some part of it) but my ignorances are often deliberate reactions to stuff that other people are talking about in ways that put me off. I do quite like the Grimes album in a "bubbling under my top twenty" sort of way, though.

Re: Chuck Pazzing And Jopping

[koganbot]

I recommend Lamar, though I haven't heard the album yet. He employs sound filtering that sounds accidentally (I assume) similar to indie (think he's trying to evoke dope and alcohol haze, not indie distance; also think he's ambivalent about the moral value of livin' the haze). Here are a couple of good ones:

Re: Chuck Pazzing And Jopping

[anonymous]

Think another big single could be that boring Gotye hit I can never remember the name of. And wouldn't be shocked if singles by Alabama Shakes and Mumford & Sons (both of whose tepid albums should also do real well with more trad daily paper hack types) place in the Top 10.

By the way, Frank, here's a long review of the Mumford & Sons album I wrote for Spin, in case you never saw it:

http://www.spin.com/reviews/mumford-and-sons-babel-gentlemen-of-the-roadglassnote

And while I'm at it, an even longer review of the new Ke$ha album:

http://www.spin.com/reviews/kesha-warrior-rca

Re: Chuck Pazzing And Jopping

[koganbot]

Any guesses as to how Sleigh Bells'll do? I'm not tuned in enough to know, but it seems as if this year's album, which is better (or at least not worse) than their first, has been getting a lot less attention. Was surprised how many had a tepid response to "Demons" on the Jukebox (though the Jukebox are a small, always shifting, not typical sample).

Re: Chuck Pazzing And Jopping

[skyecaptain]

Sleigh Bells will probably be in the top 40, but no songs or album making any waves. Figures that when they click with me everyone else has moved on to the next thing -- but I'm not seeing them show up in year-ends, and I don't think they speak to the "silent minority" of people who will probably vote for the new Dylan and Springsteen (and maybe Leonard Cohen) albums into the top 20-30. Forgot that Gotye will likely get counted from last year's votes and do pretty well, probably top twenty in singles.

Re: Chuck Pazzing And Jopping

[anonymous]

Didn't read this (and doubt the headline is true), but somebody just linked to this on my facebook feed.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mikebarthel/sleigh-bells-made-the-most-underrated-album-of-201

Re: Chuck Pazzing And Jopping

[skyecaptain]

Good essay from dickmalone but the headline is misleading. Mostly just talks about the album's narrative and returning to it throughout the year.

Re: Chuck Pazzing And Jopping

[skyecaptain]

Tried to get all the way through the Frank Ocean album again today and found it to be a real chore. When it wins, it will probably be the most boring record to win since 2006, or maybe the TVOTR win in 2008. (Aside from their first EP I think TVOTR is the most consistently boring band on the planet.) Or Animal Collective in 2009, though that one's not so much "boring record" as "bad record getting inexplicable acclaim" (and I liked Animal Collective a few albums prior).

Re: Chuck Pazzing And Jopping

[koganbot]

I liked hunks of the 2006 winner:

Re: Chuck Pazzing And Jopping

[koganbot]

Forgot about "Oblivion," which is pretty mere compared to 2011's "Vanessa," which I placed on my long list. "Oblivion" is interesting as an Everlys/Del Shannon/Beatles melody put under restraints and behind a filter, which maybe is necessary so that it doesn't sound empty and regressive altogether. And no doubt many people find the restraint deeply moving. But there's a chasm of achievement between Evs/Shannons/Beatles and this stuff, which lacks the old stuff's thrill and outrageous beauty. Meanwhile, for new stuff, I've got Shinsadong Tiger, hence a new Ev-Shan-Beatle, just for the taking. Of course, from what I know of Grimes' taste,* she's got Shinsadong Tiger, too.

*But I've yet to click on that Grimes interview you linked on Tumblr.