Music tastemakers of a certain vintage still go crazy over The Village Voice‘s annual Pazz & Jop poll. The poll asks a who’s who of music critics for their favorites in music over the previous year. The results for 2010 were published recently, and Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was voted the best album of 2010 by a landslide, receiving almost double the votes of the runner-up, LCD Soundsystem’s This is Happening. Yeezy then ran roughshod over the singles list as well, placing three songs in the Top 10 (at numbers 4, 5 and 6). The best single tally unsurprisingly favored Cee-Lo Green, whose delightfully vulgar “Fuck You” triumphed convincingly over the likes of Janelle Monae (whose “Tightrope” finished at #2) and Robyn (whose “Dancing on My Own” claimed the #3 position).
Kanye’s #1 finish marks the third time an album of his has been voted the best of the year it was released by the P&J poll contributors. His debut, The College Dropout, was voted the #1 album of 2005, and the follow-up, Late Registration, finished tops in 2006. Somewhat amazingly, all five of Kanye’s studio albums have finished in the Top 10 on a year-end Pazz n Jop list.
The rest of the top ten is pretty equally split between indie faves who are still kind of under the radar (Beach House, The National, Sleigh Bells), indie faves who have broken through to the mainstream (Vampire Weekend, The Arcade Fire & The Black Keys), a modern R&B diva with classic influences (Janelle Monae) and a veteran rapper (Big Boi). Fans of commercial pop music probably won’t find anything to crow about-the only album in the Top 50 that’s sold over a million copies so far is Taylor Swift’s Speak Now (#26), but I was pleasantly surprised to see many of my favorite albums of the year finish in the upper portion of the chart, including Robyn (#13), The Roots (#18), Cee-Lo (#21), Erykah Badu (#23), Drake (#24), Spoon (#28-an album I should’ve placed in my Top 40 but didn’t) and Gil Scott-Heron (#47). Of course, there are also a handful of albums that were critically adored that I just didn’t “get”. I don’t think I’ll ever understand the appeal of LCD Soundsystem, and I’m equally flummoxed by the appearances made by M.I.A.’s latest (#31) and Rick Ross’s Teflon Don (#34). Meanwhile, the fact that both Ke$ha and Waka Flocka Flame made appearances in the Top 100 makes my stomach turn. But hell, the purpose of lists like this is to give people something to argue about. If everyone liked the same things, the world would be a lot less interesting place, right?
If nothing else, the Pazz n Jop list gives me a chance to review the music made in the past year, reminds me of some albums I may have missed (or not paid attention to), and gives me a chance to crow about how dope Kanye is yet again.
You can view the albums and singles lists, view the list of critics that participated, and look at 2009 and 2008’s lists here.
6 comments
Tyler says:
Jan 21, 2011
I voted, but I figured my lil vote wouldn’t affect the overall results. Kanye’s album is by far not the best album of last year, but what can you do?
carlos says:
Jan 21, 2011
Janelle Monae stinks.
blerd says:
Jan 21, 2011
I wouldn’t say she stinks. I think she’s overrated, but the album has grown on me over time.
Greg says:
Jan 21, 2011
I don’t put much stock into the “Pazz and Jop” poll, since it’s been dictated by indie politicking for as long as I’ve been paying attention to it (and I could honestly give a shit about The Village Voice). This year’s list isn’t doing much to change my mind. “My Big Fat Greek Twisted Fantasy” is easily my least favorite Kanye record. It has a few awesome tracks (“Gorgeous,” “All of the Lights,” “So Appalled”), but I can’t get over how manically self-absorbed it is. Kanye’s old albums at least tried to balance his narcissism with a certain level of thoughtfulness—I think he tries to accomplish the same thing here by hurling a few jabs at big brother and capping things off with a Gil Scott-Heron sample, but it just sounds like bullshit to me. Lots of critics that I respect (present company included) have given it their highest marks, but I just don’t get it.
Other Disagreements: Monáe’s album tried so hard to be quirky and eclectic that it just irritated the shit out of me. Bilal’s latest was eccentric soul done right, and it lands at fucking #234? That’s just robbery. I’m glad that Big Boi’s album has gotten some recognition, but people are blowing it way the fuck out of proportion. It’s a good hip-pop album by a veteran rapper. That’s it. And LCD Soundsystem fucking sucks. That doesn’t require any elaboration.
Other Disagreements Pt. 2 – Electric Boogaloo: As much as I love Nick Cave, there’s no way in hell that “Grinderman 2” deserves to rank that high. Half of it is brilliant – the rest is filler. Rick Ross’s album would have been classic had just about anyone else been rhyming on it. People are making waaaaay too big a deal over the fact that Ross has gone from a shitty MC to a passable one. The beats are fantastic (and “Tears of Joy” contains possibly the best chorus Cee-Lo has ever delivered), but there’s not a better than average lyric to be found on that album (save for Jay’s appearance on “Free Mason”). “Plastic Beach” is easily the worst record the Gorillaz have released (and arguably the worst thing Damon Albarn has released period). Flying Lotus isn’t doing shit that Aphex Twin and DJ Krush haven’t already done. MIA’s record was pretty much the epitome of a flop (both critically and commercially), so I have no idea how the hell it got to number #30. The Arcade Fire’s album would have been phenomenal with a little trimming. As it is, it’s simply a good one.
Agreements: The Black Keys, Titus Andronicus, Sufjan Stevens and The National deserve pretty much every accolade they’ve received. I’m still trying to process Joanna Newsom’s new one (all three discs of it), but what I’ve heard has actually lived up to the hype. Drake has more potential than he’s realized at this point, but “Thank Me Later” was a pretty solid record. And even though I don’t understand why the indies are so gung-ho about a Sweedish pop starlet, it’s always nice to seem Robyn get some love.
Nice Surprises: Gil Scott-Heron, Neil Young, Mumford & Sons, Tracey Thorn, The Gaslight Anthem and The Roots all cracked the Top 100. And Kvelertak’s album (an awesome blend of hardcore punk, death metal, classic rock and viking folklore) cracked the Top 150 – of course, it would have probably placed higher had it gotten a proper American release.
Misc. Complaints: Phantogram’s “Eyelid Movies” has to be the most slept-on album of 2010. Foals and the Deftones should be about a hundred spaces higher than the ones they occupy.
Overall Assessment: M’eh.
blerd says:
Jan 21, 2011
This, Greg, is why I love you. Even though we disagree (sometimes vehemently), your points are never made with a condescending tone and you always show respect. It’s a testament to how good a writer you are as well as how good a person you are.
I’m still working Kanye out, and the only thing that’s going to make a difference is time. I still love his first three albums after all these years. Is “Fantasy” as good? Ask me in two or three years so I can sufficiently compare and contrast. That might be part of the problem with instant reviews…writers don’t really get time to sit down and let the album sink in after a period of time. Sometimes it takes months, or years, to fully appreciate a piece of work.
Agreed on the point re: Bilal vs. Janelle Monae. Bilal’s album was much better qualitatively and seemed to come from a much less contrived place.
Judging from conversations I’ve had recently, I’m apparently *not* the only person who doesn’t get LCD Soundsystem. I thought I was on an island there.
Greg says:
Jan 22, 2011
Well hey, just because I’m more witty, talented and insightful than your average music critic, doesn’t mean I suffer from some sort of complex. Musical preference is entirely subjective, and nobody’s opinion is iron law, despite what certain publications would have you believe. I put a lot of thought into what I do (or at least what I do three to four times each year), and have no patience for anyone who doesn’t put in the same effort. Likewise though, I know how to politely disagree with people that do.
Here’s the thing – “My Dark Beautiful Twisted Fantasy” might be Kanye’s best produced album to date (it’s certainly his biggest), but the lyrics don’t come anywhere close to matching the production. I know that it’s supposed to play out like a running journal of Kanye’s dementia. The problem is that it doesn’t amount to anything more than leaden bragging, half-assed social commentary, petty insecurities (i.e. “the media whipping boy’s lament”) and pussy talk. I guess I just expected better material from him. I’m not expecting him to keep rapping about dead-end jobs or to keep referencing Emmett Till and the CRM, but I’d like to think he’s capable of more than recycled punchlines about the government handing out AIDS. Either way, he did the “I’m a megalomaniacal asshole and I don’t give a fuck” thing so much better on “Graduation.”
I definitely think there was a knee-jerk “It’s brilliant!” reaction to that album, given the insane amount of hype that preceded it. Guess we’ll have to see how it ages.
Frankly, I think LCD Soundsystem is just an elaborate troll on the part of the music press. Like, they just chose some shitty dance-pop group at random and decided to start raving about them – see if other people would follow suit. Sadly, it seems to be working.