thee_blacklisted

The Pazz & Jop poll is finally live on the Village VOICE site! Yay. Its where music critics vote on their favorite records each year. I can't believe this is still exciting to me -- I've been doing it for 16 years now (!), yeah I think I was first asked when I was 18 -- back then there were a lot more categories, like EPs, and the album cat. was broken into reissues, etc. It's rad for me to be able to sort through all the other writers' ballots -- many of 'em are peers, people I used to hang with in New York, or see at shows. A few of them are old sworn enemies of mine, and a bunch are people I really admire.

I know you're all thinking 'Gee Mike -- what is being a music critic/ editor REALLY like?' And it's sort of like being a shriner or a mason, only you don't really do anywhere near as much good for the world, and you get really bad CDs in the mail instead of cool hats!

Anyway, here's how I voted:
http://www.villagevoice.com/specials/pazznjop/02/critic.php?criticid=319

PAZZ & JOP 2003
Caucasoid Male, aged 34, divorced, resident of Seattle, WA. In 2002, I wrote for: Artforum, Yeti, Sound Collector, Amazon.com, Bookforum, the Stranger, Seattle Weekly, NWSource, & some other places too.

ALBUMS
# artist title label points
1 Iron and Wine The Creek Drank the Cradle Sub Pop 15
2 Oneida Each One, Teach One Jagjaguwar 14
3 Neko Case Blacklisted Bloodshot 13
4 Missy Elliott Under Construction Elektra 12
5 Fred McDowell & Johnny Woods Mama Says I'm Crazy Fat Possum 11
6 Queens of the Stone Age Songs for the Deaf Interscope 9
7 William Parker Quartet Raining on the Moon Thirsty Ear 8
8 Henry Flynt C Tune Locust 7
9 Timesbold Timesbold Zeal 6
10 2 Many DJ's As Heard on Radio Soulwax Pt. 2 Pias import 5

SINGLES
# artist title label
1 LCD Soundsystem "Losing My Edge" DFA
2 Missy Elliott "Work It" Elektra
3 Tweet "Oops (Oh My)" Elektra
4 Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Bang" Shifty/Touch and Go
5 Low "Canada" Kranky
6 Ja Rule featuring Ashanti "Always on Time"
7 Mum "Green Grass of Tunnel" FatCat
8 Steve Earle "John Walker's Blues"
9 Tarwater "1985" Mute
10 Phill Niblock "Guitar Too, For Four" Moikai

And of course, everyone voted for WILCO as having made the best album of the year. While Im very glad to see that banjo-prog is getting its due, I have to say: fuck Wilco. That records pretty good to be sure, but its just not THAT good. Califone, for one, have been making far more interesting, and tuneful, experimental Americana since 1998and they dont have to bring Jim ORourke in to make their records sound all modern, noisy and cool.