December Madness 2010

[koganbot]

I'll be out of the house early tomorrow afternoon, and though the P&J letter just says the ballot is due "by December 24," not "by the end of our work day on December 24," I am two hours behind New York, so not to take any chances I ought to get my ballot in by 2:30 in the afternoon my time; and since I'll be gone in the early afternoon that means 11 in the morning, which is less than 26 hours from now. So I really need to stop hunting down albums I haven't listened to yet.

But wouldn't it be a real coup if the Daddy Yankee album and the Cypress Hill album were among the best of 2010, and I were the one person in our critical neighborhood to find this out in time for Pazz & Jop? THAT WOULD BE AMAZING, YES!

No it wouldn't. It would be a decidedly minor coup. I mean, tremendous as for all we know those albums are, they're not likely to change anything, make you or anyone else rethink the world. Remember when you were the first critic to realize that the Ramones' Mondo Bizarro was an unexpected moment of late-period greatness? Did that alter you? Did that transform anything?

Why did you just refer to me as "you"? For that matter, why did I just refer to me as "you"? And how is Daddy Yankee's unexpectedly mounting and surmounting the bitch worlds of Autotune and the mix-n-match Eurodance r'n'b mess on his single, which, by the way, is the single of the year... how is this not significant?

Single Of The Year

Watch on YouTube

First, if it's the single of the year, how come it's not in your top twenty-five? Second, Wikipedia says "Unlike his previous albums, himself describes the album with a mixture of Reggaeton, Merengue, perico ripiao, soca and dance hall." It doesn't say anything about shitting all over Guetta and Rotem.

Well, that's Wikipedia, and to their credit they call Daddy Yankee "himself." And anyway I'm tired of people denigrating Guetta. "Commander" is terrific, or it would have been if he'd given it to RiRi rather than Kelly. And later Wikip quotes Daddy Yankee saying, "Reflects my experiences lived in all promotional trips, in summary, Daddy Yankee Mundial is an album with a great musical variety where The Street joins The World." (Emphasis added.) I love a man who takes advantage of an expense account.

No you don't. And what about your not putting your single of the year in the top twenty-five?

It turned out that this year more than twenty-five songs were the best single of the year. That happens sometimes.

You're nuts.

Comments

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Have a good Xmas, Frank.

[koganbot]

Thank you. You too.

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

Aw shit, that's really good. I'll check out the Daddy Yankee album. I also missed out on listening to Taylor Momsen (from Gossip Girl) and friends in the Pretty Reckless, whose style struck me as Ashlee-esque even if their content didn't. But I haven't listened to that yet either. I got my "BUT DON'T YOU SEE" pick in with Trey Songz, whose album I'm probably grossly overrating. Call it Margaret Berger syndrome -- in retrospect, though, I think I placed that one just right. But it was hasty at the time.

Oh and that Finnish album (Jenni Vartiainen, whose name I will never be able to spell without googling it first) you shared was really nice, too, though I need more time with it.

[koganbot]

Taylor M. has a good deep, raw voice but the look and the material seem sub-Garbage (as Jordan Schur's assistant pointed out in Episode 3 or 4 of The Ashlee Simpson Show, that's not the trash garbage but the Shirley Manson Garbage). Look forward to hearing what she does in the future. Maybe she'll outgrow being dangerous.

I've got the Jenni Vartiainen album penciled in at #12 and it could rise or fall. Her single is an even higher-ranking Song Of The Year than "Vida En La Noche" is.

You can always post a real year-end list on December 31st to supersede Pazz & Jop.

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

I doubt there will be any huge moving and shaking -- there were some substantial shake-ups last week and I'm pretty confident nothing will take my 1-2-3 spot (Margaret Berger crashed in to #3 in 2006 -- I might rank Paris Hilton a notch higher [I had her at 4], but I can't recall any other late entry rising that high that quickly).

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

Would definitely swap out BWO for Fergie now (in my 2006 list) and now Cassie would easily be my #2 -- hadn't heard it at that point.

mr. yankee

[joshlanghoff.livejournal.com]

Dude, that Daddy Yankee is MY single of the year too! This excites me unreasonably. I wrote it up at http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/134407-the-60-best-singles-of-2010/, where it came in at #54, which, as I was telling the Afro-Latin folks over at ILM, may just mean I was the only person who voted for it but I voted it #1. Anyway, yes, have a wonderful Christmas, and keep talking to yourself cos it's entertaining, and I suppose I should cast about for the Cypress Hill -- except it seems like I streamed it earlier in the year and it didn't do much for me.

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

merry xmas frank

will be refreshed and i hope writing a streak in the new year

[koganbot]

Good Xmas to you too.

Gasolinita

[(Anonymous)]

I'm happy you've discovered Mundial, one of my favorite albums this year, and my favorite DY album (though I probably haven't heard them all). Please visit the rolling Afro-Latin thread, though I admit it doesn't tend to have a lot of dynamic discussion. (Truthfully I'm more of a "I really like x"--and that's all--type poster most of the time.)

Incidentally, I'm even more amazed that both this and Marina & the Diamonds placed in your best of list, because my personal list goes (1) The ArchAndroid (2) The Family Jewels (3) Mundial, etc. Also, your earlier impressions of her singles (maybe it was just one) were pretty negative.

Rudipherous in Albuquerque

Re: Gasolinita

[koganbot]

If my early opinion of Marina's music was negative, I think I held my tongue - anyway, I can't seem to find it. Gave both "Hollywood" and "I Am Not A Robot" thumbs up over on poptimists. Maybe I made fun of her elsewhere? I definitely made fun of her over on Freaky Trigger, but not in order to say negative things about her or her music.

But I think you're right that my original idea was "This is not the sort of music I like," except my actual take (as in the reviews above) was probably "This would not ordinarily be the sort of music I like except that I find her repressions and earnestness incredibly sexy."

My switch on Ke$ha was much more drastic.

Re: Gasolinita

[(Anonymous)]

My fault. I think I must have lumped your "No" vote for Marina & the Diamonds "Obsessions" (which you called "Obsessive," you were so interested in it) here: http://koganbot.livejournal.com/132822.html with the actual negative comments of others on the Singles Jukebox. It's possible that we like Marina & the Diamonds for very different reasons. I'm not saying her persona and her neuroses don't come into it at all for me, but it's more purely musical factors that really pull me in.

Rudipherous

Re: Gasolinita

[koganbot]

Ah, no wonder I couldn't find it (or even remember that I'd said it).

I think the sexiness is ultimately musical (haven't spent much time with her videos), "repression and earnestness" being my attempt to characterize her voice and what it means. Tunes and such help too, of course.