Pazz and Jop.

Pazz and J/op

Are there any comments? I won't start whining yet--last year it took a couple of extra days before comments were posted. But I'm ready to start whining at a moment's notice if need be.

To my ears, and maybe mine alone, Musgraves has finally (started making CDs for CD Baby in middle school or something) reduced herself to a complete nonentity---but the melts-in-your-mind effect-noneffect seems meant as solace, and is perhaps taken that way, once daily or whatever, in this churning time. If so, cool, whatever gets you through the night, and past that, a lot of good stuff here, far as I've scrolled so far. (Musgraves also topped the Nashville Scene poll.)

I'm skimming the "Pazz & Jop: The Top 50 Singles of 2018" piece, and it's "I, I, I"--"The first time I voted in this poll I was 18 years old..."--with a "by the Editors" byline. I don't get that at all.

Musgraves has finally (started making CDs for CD Baby in middle school or something) reduced herself to a complete nonentity---but the melts-in-your-mind effect-noneffect seems meant as solace, and is perhaps taken that way, once daily or whatever, in this churning time.

Thanks for nailing what I can't like this record.

You and I may have been the only ones who called her re the sub-standard greeting card verse of the previous offering. I dunno---I never got into Moby or New Pornographers either (even though one New P was Neko, whom I usually like).

Nice to see the 'Black Genius' essay completely overlook Kamasi Washington, Makaya McCraven, and Shabaka Hutchings, all of whom had albums in the top 40...

i dislike and regret that i contributed to something that gave an essay to someone i consider horrible and abusive

also the results are super boring

interesting to see high placements for artists who probably won't even crack the 77 here (some regrettably!)

"someone i consider horrible and abusive"

I gotta ask: Christgau?

nope but also sure why not xgau is certainly a shithead who sucks too

I'm skimming the "Pazz & Jop: The Top 50 Singles of 2018" piece, and it's "I, I, I"--"The first time I voted in this poll I was 18 years old..."--with a "by the Editors" byline. I don't get that at all.

― clemenza, Wednesday, February 6, 2019 10:49 AM (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

That line is in Jessica Hopper's essay, which is bylined.

Now I see, thanks--misread that because of the embedded link.

I've gleaned from my FB wall that comments will go up tomorrow.

A sometime ilxor posted something on FB that I found interesting, even if the fact of it isn't necessarily surprising cuz audiences be fickle:

"two albums ago, Tune-Yards won P&J, this album finished #99. seems like there is something interesting in that, though I am not sure what exactly. Perhaps it's more difficult for indie artists to sustain attention over multiple records, esp. now. On this list, Noname and Mitski (both great records) may have more to do with "I like Noname and Mitski" than these particular records, and if they make an equally good ones this year they might not be Top 10 material, the initial discovery counts for a lot."

otoh Low just had what I assume is their best placement ever and that's like their 22nd album, so I maybe wouldn't read that much into it beyond the fact that ppl were generally just that that into this particular tune-yards record

My @villagevoice Pazz & Jop ballot. Thanks to @ismathers, James Christopher Monger, @RekkidOfTheDay, Brent Burton, @unlistenmusic, @knopps, @AdrienBegrand, Chuck Eddy, @DarkForcesSwing, @dominiqueleone & Kevin Stewart-Panko for validating a couple choices! https://t.co/qS9RWsj1Gs pic.twitter.com/FiK7yqOzJ3

— Brian O'Neill (@NYC__Native) February 7, 2019

the singles results are shockingly boring, even for a consensus list

this shit is a mess on mobile

I voted for Tune-Yards, but that's my particular kind of blend, more than straight-up indie rock (with a few exceptions, mainly Sleater-Kinney).
Love that the ballots are back, but can't click on titles to see who all voted for them--so how did you figure out who validated your choices, Brian? Did you just go for the most likely prospects? Already seeing several votes for Voivod, and ashamed of not listening, especially considering some of the crapola I did make time for.

the thing about the tune-yards record is that a) it's nowhere near as good as the older records, b) it was very quickly engulfed by thinkpieces that overtook the actual record, and c) it came out in January. I'd actually forgotten it was a 2018 album until the list came out!

katherine otm on all points. I will ride for "Heart Attack", "Hammer", and "Now As Then" on that album... and depending on when you talk to me, maybe "Look at Your Hands"

Love that the ballots are back, but can't click on titles to see who all voted for them

there's a search box on the ballots page, you can find all the voters for a particular artist/title

Barry Bruner NTS Sessions 1–4 Autechre 11
Brad Nelson NTS Sessions 1–4 Autechre 5
Christopher R. Weingarten NTS Sessions 1–4 Autechre 24
Phil Freeman NTS Sessions 1–4 Autechre 10
Raymond Cummings NTS Sessions 1–4 Autechre 5

Pathetic.

Brian? Did you just go for the most likely prospects? Already seeing several votes for Voivod, and ashamed of not listening, especially considering some of the crapola I did make time for.

The new Voivod album is great! This was my review when it came out, for what it's worth.

By "go for" etc. I meant looking up the ballots of people you might have thought the most likely to vote for that album, not that you actually *voted* in a way you might have thought somebody else did etc.Yes now I see the search box on the ballots page it works thanks.

And thanks for the review; I'll check out the album soon.

Cheers! Yeah, I figured out how to search the ballots...

They're posting essays too:

https://www.villagevoice.com/2019/02/12/pazz-jop-a-promise-realized/

Lizzy Goodman--

This is all to say that for me the most remarkable thing about this year’s results is how unremarkable they are. For the first time ever, the critical establishment and the Recording Academy were in agreement, with Kacey Musgraves and Childish Gambino topping Pazz & Jop’s albums and singles lists while also taking home Grammys for Album and Record of the Year, respectively. Further, in this year’s poll, five artists made the top five albums, and those artists were female. It’s just what happened. It’s not the result of a deliberate attempt to recognize art by women, it’s a result of the fact that art made by women was, according to P&J voters, this year’s best.

Alfred Soto Tantabara Tal National 10
Brad Luen Tantabara Tal National 11
Christopher R. Weingarten Tantabara Tal National 8
Jason Gross Tantabara Tal National 8
Kevin John Tantabara Tal National 10
Steve Kiviat Tantabara Tal National 10

Crystal Leww Vibras J. Balvin 10
Josh Love Vibras J. Balvin 5
Steve Kiviat Vibras J. Balvin 10

you're welcome!

Too bad there won’t more votes for those. Not enough folks into “niche genres “ participating in the poll

Time Waits For No One

Incidentally, Boy in Da Corner also featured the year’s deepest beats, courtesy of producer Dizzee Rascal. It’s every bit as great a debut album as Run-D.M.C. or Ready to Die or Pretenders or The Clash.

That tune-yards album still sounds good to me---Garbus does something I don't quite get from any other source, and does it well: what counts most with me when putting together faux-lifeboat/triage "Top Ten" (basically a bs premise)
(Haven't done comparative listening w prev albums, don't feel the need. Also don't read many rockrit thinkpieces so no prob.)

I’d take a sip of Kelis’s milk-shake over a lick of Beyoncé’s jelly any day.

AMY PHILLIPS
Manhattan

o_O

conference room etc

I didn't catch this before, but it looks like the Village Voice's archivist and web administrators are scanning every page of their Pazz & Jop issues and uploading them on to the pages they have for Christgau's main essay. Comments, select ballots, even ads...all there.

Just read this one: https://www.villagevoice.com/2019/01/14/1986-pazz-jop-township-jive-conquers-the-world/

It makes for an entertaining read, and interesting who used to vote in these (Vernon Reid before Living Colour, Glenn Kenny before he went into film criticism full-time, etc.)

Whoa, thanks. Vernon Reid's '86 ballot is great. And Jack Rabid's singles, w/ "Tears"!

thank you for posting that, and the link

One of my favourite Marcus quotes is buried in there: "Singles are the pop world. Look, on Top 40 (I don’t care what it’s called now), Pia Zadora could make the best record of 1987, and we’d all (those of us honest enough to admit it) be scurrying to figure out what that meant. It wouldn’t mean anything, other than that the radio is still a good, weird machine."

You're welcome! From the looks of it, it's not until the 1983 poll that the Pazz & Jop issue really begins to blow up, beginning with a comments section for participants: https://www.villagevoice.com/2019/01/09/1983-pazz-jop-who-else-a-goddamn-critics-band-thats-who-else/

Before that year, Christgau's site more or less has everything that was published (except for photos of course - some of the original captions are kind of amusing).

One of my favourite Marcus quotes is buried in there: "Singles are the pop world. Look, on Top 40 (I don’t care what it’s called now), Pia Zadora could make the best record of 1987, and we’d all (those of us honest enough to admit it) be scurrying to figure out what that meant. It wouldn’t mean anything, other than that the radio is still a good, weird machine."

His comments are usually good. For example, in 1984's section on music videos (which used to be a category in the P&J poll), he writes this about "Boys of Summer": "...just as you can't get blood from a stone you can't get an expression from Don Henley's face."

Wished I saved those scans, they've all been taken down and replaced with Village Voice logos. Boooooooooo...

Must be that Orange County, Cali Republican Dude who bought the Voice

So there's a Facebook group called "Village Voice Pazz & Jop Rip-off Poll" and the results were just posted. Top albums are:

1. Wet Leg
2. Big Thief
3. The Beths
4. Beyonce
5. Alvays
6. Horsegirl
7 Spoon
8. Fontaines DC
9. The Smile
10. Kendrick Lamar

Not too many participants into afropop/afrobeats, reggaeton, or r'n'b.

Based in consensus chatter, that’s more or less what I’d expect.

SZA came in at about #50.

and lo, the horny dads shall inherit the music criticism

They’re phrasing it as feminism