HER VOICE IS MUCH STRONGER THAN YOUR AVERAGE DISCO FLOOZY (AT HER BEST, SHE RESEMBLES AGUILERA, SUBTRACTING A FEW OCTAVES AND ADDING A LOT OF TASTE): Back in the Age of Christgau when the Village Voice mattered, the annual Pazz & Jop Poll served to reify the critical consensus. In 2010, though, it's an interesting but not essential read on the year in music.
Mazel tov to Animal Collective (album, Merriweather Post Pavillion) and Jay-Z w/Alicia Keys (single, "Empire State of Mind") on their respective wins. For those who follow pop music more closely than I do, how'd the critics do?
Yeah, I got nothing; I just wanted to note that "Average Disco Floozy" would be a great name for a band.
ReplyDeleteprobably my favorite of the year, at #299: Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3, <span>Goodnight Oslo</span>
ReplyDeleteAt #589, I didn't know Peter Wolf had a new album.
#641, Prince, <span>LotusFlow3r</span> -- I preferred this over MPLSoUND
I'm happy-ish to say that I own one and sampled and rejected five of the top ten albums. So I'm no less unhip but somewhat less culturally unaware than in years past. In an era of far more fragmentation in the music industry, when far more music can get released electronically, it seems impossible that anybody could get a broad enough view to say what's the best.
ReplyDeleteI tend to think that there is a fair amount of "Oooh, I've loved their old stuff, so I'll put them high on a list this year!" going on this year. I don't think that Springsteen's or U2's CDs should be anywhere near that high, for example. Wilco (the Album) also is probably a bit inflated. Own them all, like them, but nowhere near their best stuff, in my opinion. Was glad to see Andrew Bird, Neko Case, and Lily Allen reasonably high on the list.
ReplyDeleteThis post also gives me an opportunity to drop links to some imixes that I did. [Technically, playlists that I created throughout the year.] The first one has a lot of music from 2008, and there are some songs (especially on CD 2) that are from my "Hey, I own that and have never put it on itunes? Oooh, I like that song." period, right around March or so. But anyway:
CD1: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewIMix?id=348666153&s=143441
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CD2: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewIMix?id=348689518&s=143441
CD3: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewIMix?id=349063646&s=143441
CD4: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewIMix?id=349064245&s=143441
The Alicia Keys bridge on Empire State of Mind has been stuck in my head for days...truly a brilliant song. For a suburban version, check out the rap here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/258570/december-15-2009/alicia-keys---empire-state-of-mind--part-ii--broken-down
Check the suit with built-in hoodie. Awesome.