My Pazz & Jop Ballot, part one

[koganbot]

Here's my Pazz & Jop ballot as I just submitted it; I've got a week to write comments. If I write any, I'll repost this with the comments added. Also, as far as I'm concerned the year doesn't end until December 31, so I'll post expanded lists then, and for all I know the order and contents of my top tens might also have changed.

Frank Kogan's Pazz & Jop Ballot 2008

SINGLES
1. Rihanna "Disturbia" (Island)
2. Ashlee Simpson "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)" (Geffen)
3. Ashlee Simpson "Little Miss Obsessive" (Geffen)
4. Heidi Montag "No More" (no label)
5. Robyn "Who's That Girl?" (Konichiwa)
6. September "Cry For You" (Robbins)
7. Annie "Songs Remind Me Of You" (Island)
8. Britney Spears "Break The Ice" (Jive)
9. Buraka Som Sistema f. Pongolove "Kalemba (Wegue Wegue)" (Fabric)
10. V.I.C. "Wobble" (Reprise)

ALBUMS
1. Danity Kane Welcome To The Dollhouse (Bad Boy) 13 points
2. Willie Nelson Moment Of Forever (Lost Highway) 13 points
3. Scooter Jumping All Over The World (All Around The World) 12 points
4. Ashlee Simpson Bittersweet World (Geffen) 11 points
5. CSS Donkey (Sub Pop) 11 points
6. María Daniela Y Su Sonido Lasser Juventud En Éxtasis (EMI Mexico) 10 points
7. Vanessa Hudgens Identified (Hollywood) 9 points
8. Santogold Santogold (Downtown) 8 points
9. Britney Spears Circus (Jive) 8 points
10. Buraka Som Sistema Black Diamond (Fabric) 5 points

Comments

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

The Humdinger is AMAAAAZING and of all the excellent late-doors albums I heard, is the only one to have actually cracked my top 10 (which is all but set in stone now). There is not one song on it which is less than awesome. I keep caning it, expecting the cream to rise to the top, except it's all rising.

[koganbot]

After only a couple hearings: the tracks are excellent but the vocals sometimes fall into too much placidity. Had a similar problem with the Knux, and, to tell you the truth, with Kanye and OutKast themselves, sometimes, which must seem strange since they'll often, quite obviously, be rapping with blatant energy. So I'm not totally sure what I mean. But yes, the Nappy Roots alb is good stuff. I've got an older one of theirs somewhere that I remember liking, though obviously I didn't stick with it.

Did you hear the Knux album?

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I hear the vocals as less placid, more laconic. It fits with their small-town background, anyway, the pace of life going slower and all that. 'Small Town' is one of the most evocative tracks I've heard this year, you can almost taste the rural air.

(I didn't really like that Knux track which cropped on poptimists so didn't investigate further.)

[koganbot]

I resist "Small Town" since I listen to a lot of country where I feel like I'm getting battered to bits by that theme.* Main problem I have with the song is the singing, which is dreadful. I like the rapping, even if the words are sentimental cliché. My favorite voice is the funny high-pitched one.

*I like Miranda Lambert's "Famous In A Small Town" in that it's a send-up of the sentimental small-town song. "Whether you're late for church or you're stuck in jail, hey, word's gonna get around." Even better is "Dry Town," about one of the drawbacks of a particular type of small town.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Did you ever hear Bubba Sparxxx's country-tinged "hick-hop" album from a few years back?

Next year I shall make an effort to get into country: I feel by resistance to it is unjustified at this point.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

*my resistance

[koganbot]

I got my book contract because an acquisitions editor read what I wrote in my comments to my Country Critics Music Ballot 2003 about Bubba and David Banner et al. (Posted it on ILM, where he read it.)

Resistance is quite understandable, but if you can get by it, you'll find an incredibly rich world of artistry and emotion. You can ease yourself in by starting with Taylor Swift, who's basically Ashlee South, even if not yet as good as Ashlee. Also, listen to Miranda Lambert who thinks of Ashlee as a great singer and songwriter, according to Chuck, who interviewed her boyfriend, Blake Shelton.

Taylor writes in realistic detail about her struggles with romance, while Miranda writes expressionistically about wanting to blow it all up with fire.

When you're ready for it, I'll post a country set on my MySpace playlist.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Yeah my resistance isn't much more than not really "getting" the little I've heard (as opposed to disliking it), and the general premonition of weariness at the thought of plunging into a whole new genre, set of rules, set of artists and so on.