Year-End Critics' Polls 2012

when everyone was freaking out over "I Decided", I seriously thought half of ILX had gone deaf

all solange praise makes me feel like i'm taking crazy pills

What kind of pharmaceuticals you getting in Baltimore

I will say though, Solange's version of "Stillness Is The Move" is great

I tried out the genre of "I ~see through~ this naked emperor b/c i am a superior listener so let's pop-psychoanalyse all the people who don't" posturing when it first came out, and I was underwhelmed then, and in 2012 it just seems really tired and old in my opinion... It's all just reconstituted whining from old ILM threads, only fit for solitary parlour games amongst sad rapidly aging young men who don't get invited to dinner parties.

― Tim F, Thursday, 13 December 2012 15:14 (6 hours ago) Permalink

great post fight the bullshit ilm 2012 \m/

I like some Kalenna OK but don't like "Matte black truck" at all at all

Didn't realize I was still on the P&J mailing list! (Haven't voted since 2007.) Could probably throw together a list, but I'm not an "active" "critic" and would prefer not to sully the waters.

Did you get a ballot last year?

Comments for the Guardian trax list are (predictably) a treat.

So, is there any kind of groundswell I'm out of the loop on of people opting out of voting in Pazz & Jop? I just got my ballot, too, and still haven't decided what I'm doing.

Did you get a ballot last year?

It looks like I did, I just didn't remember.

poll-nullification would be better

1500 ballots all for 'call me maybe'

there we go ballot arrived

are some people boycotting it this year or something?

not sure if there'd really be a boycott as much as one big "ugh i don't really care anymore"

i voted. hastiest/laziest ballot i ever sent in. didn't even bother ranking my albums

wasn't there a "vote for hinder" effort the last time this happened?

there has been a general apprehensive "i'm gonna vote...unless you're not gonna, why, have you heard anything?" vibe about it all this year. if Jackin' Pop was on i'd throw my support behind that but as is i still feel like throwing my 2 cents in to see how it goes this year, who knows what'll be going on with it a year from now.

i voted. hastiest/laziest ballot i ever sent in. didn't even bother ranking my albums
--Mordy

You show them.

this is different than when they fired xgau because the voice was still doing good work then... not sure i want to implicitly throw my (however insignificant!) weight behind "hmm i wonder which black person white people will vote for this year" blog posts

i love showing ppl up by being lazy. it's the easiest revolution

i guess i must be master class showing ppl up, i got exhausted just looking at the email

i'm still gonna vote idc

the world is fucked up & there are greater injustices

i realize thats a fallacious argument but eh

Ah, there's my ballot - sent to my old email address.

I voted in the prez election this year, might as well vote for P&J. Plus, Obama doesn't want to read my comments about him.

who is the morbz of pazz & jop

I'm not a voter, but I sure as hell wouldn't do anything to support the regime of a dude who doesn't even know the difference between shudders and shutters.

lol

"shutters" is seriously one of the saddest/funniest things I've ever read

suggest boycott

haha i really hope the ballot i just sent in goes through. if anyone's actually at the switch though, i highly doubt it will.

he sent me two ID numbers. concerned about potential counter-shenanigans

btw anyone who doesn't want to submit a ballot, I'll do one for you

xp The Guardian commenters have gone nuclear this year on the tracks thread. They think it's a disgrace and an embarrassment and all the songs sound the same and they want everyone who voted for them to resign. Even by EOY standards the hatefest is quite something.

it's amazing life-giving stuff. and i thought they couldn't top last year's outrage

"Those two ridiculous and unforgivable misjudgements mean that I will dismiss the rest of what you have to say about the music that I haven't heard."

OK then, take care, bye.

Kerrang! individual ballots for those of you looking to have your Enter Shikari and Papa Roach love justified: http://www.kerrang.com/blog/2012/12/the_kerrang_teams_top_10_album.html

dunno if they've done the overall poll yet or if there's any mileage in trying to work it out or if anyone cares or or or

If anyone's reading the Guardian and has a say over these things, I implore you to just let Tom Ewing put this post up in its entirety, with any relevant names updated for 2012:

http://tomewing.tumblr.com/post/14189168260/a-music-website-has-chosen-something-unacceptable-in

"this must be a joke right? In fact the entire list is embarrassing.....as for talk of innovative pop song etc....it's the very opposite so cliched and dull consequently..even the video is cliche....I kind of hope this is a joke because otherwise the entire music staff and the Guardian should go write for Smash Hits....thankfully I never ever read any music reviews on The Guardian and stick to UnCut......I now know why...."

"Remember it's the music 'business', thats all it's about 'business'. Forget 'creativity' forget 'art' forget 'expression' forget 'depth'. But do remember 'business'. Now how do you like your business served? Cold, calculated, clinical? Focus group music? Fine...then this list is all you need. Enjoy your business!"

"WTF is this list, is it meant as an ironic joke about the state of the music industry, thank god I was a teenager in the 70s, and not now, I feel so sorry for young people these days having to listen to such rubbish. This list should include Justin Beaver or whatever his name is. Total crap."

"task for guardian critics in 2013: get better taste, people are laughing at you.

I'm a proud musical snob, so do these things:

Listen to BBC 3's late junction at least once a week
Read Wire publication
When in London, go to Cafe Oto
Purchase Boomkat's single of the week
Avoid Fearne Cotton generally

Next year, your list should be engaging and free of indulgent pap."

Enjoy your business!

The EOY year lists tend to bring out curmudgeons that don't actually read / comment on the Guardian's music pages at any other time of the year. It's a mystery why they're so invested in it come December.

https://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&safe=off&tbo=d&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=%22Justin+Beaver+or+whatever+his+name+is%22&oq=%22Justin+Beaver+or+whatever+his+name+is%22&gs_l=hp.3...84.1105.1.1831.3.3.0.0.0.1.458.1175.2-1j0j2.3.0.les%3B..0.0...1c.1.QY2WmRUZE_Y&psj=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.1355325884,d.d2k&fp=a990c85c38ccdf8e&bpcl=39967673&biw=1143&bih=702

top result is a tweet by former Cardiff City defender Spencer Prior

Does bieber or biber not just mean beaver in German anyway?

The sad thing is that so many of them honestly can't distinguish between Rihanna/Savages/Plan B/TNGHT. They're so estranged from music, and often at a surprisingly young age, that they have to take out their frustration on new artists and anyone who likes them. They can't keep up but they won't let go so the only option is to blame someone else: "I don't listen to modern music not because I'm growing older but because it's all terrible." These people seem to really dig solo albums by ex-members of Britpop bands.

At least those ex-members still have souls and sing their own songs.

This commenter on the Channel Orange article has clearly seen through your scheming:

It's not a bad album...
but I get the impression that it's number 1 for reasons other than musical.

xp Makes you realise that outside of the ILX/music critic bubble the world of "serious" music fans is, and always will be, Rockism Central.