Here, according to the website, Complex, are the 25 Best Movie Critics of All Time. Says Matt Barone in his intro, “Anyone who takes cinema seriously is advised to read their work.” All right, then.
Archive for the ‘Polls & Lists’ Category
25 Movie Critics
Posted by s woods on February 11, 2013
Posted in Movie Critics, Polls & Lists | Leave a Comment »
Bread and Butter
Posted by s woods on February 1, 2013
“Lists are bread and butter to music writers; the problem with bread and butter, as we all now know post-Atkins, is that it sits in your stomach too long and makes you fat. Some of the writers here love lists, love making them, perusing them, criticising them, codifying and collating them; and some of the writers at Stylus hate lists, partly for what they represent (an attempt to mask subjective tastes as objective establishment, the stuffy domain of dullards and geeks, boredom and approval) and partly because listening to music seems like much more fun than sorting it into order. Either way though, one can’t deny the importance of them; in many ways they’re our currency, our identity, our cultural history, glimpses of where we are now so people henceforth can look back and see where we were then.”
- Stylus (writer unknown), introduction to Top 101-200 Favourite Albums Ever, 2007
Posted in Polls & Lists, Quotes | Leave a Comment »
Singles, 1981, Eddy Edition
Posted by s woods on January 29, 2013
On the heels of last night’s NME chart from ’81, Chuck Eddy provides an overview of 50 singles from the same year over at Rhapsody, and captures the tenor of the year in a single sentence: “Stuff was getting weird.”
Posted in Chuck Eddy, Polls & Lists | Leave a Comment »
Singles, 1981, Brit Edition
Posted by s woods on January 28, 2013
The top 50 singles from one of the most exciting years ever for pop music, according to the critics at the NME. (At the time, this list meant as much to me as Pazz & Jop.)
Posted in Archival, Polls & Lists | Tagged: 1981, critics poll, NME | 4 Comments »
Critical Links Galore!
Posted by s woods on January 25, 2013
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Elton’s Heavy 100
Posted by s woods on January 23, 2013
In February 1974, Creem published Elton John’s “Heavy 100,” his favourite albums of all-time (or rather, an excerpt of that; according to the introduction, his list-in-progress numbered 286). It’s a fascinating list, very rock critic-friendly in many ways, and it’s viewable here.
Posted in Links, Polls & Lists | 2 Comments »
Fusion Critics Poll, 1972, continued
Posted by s woods on October 3, 2011
Last week I reprinted the chart. Today, the individual ballots. (Will remove if some actual participant in the poll or former Fusion board member requests as much. That includes any of you former “Stone” critics.)
Posted in Archival, Polls & Lists | 6 Comments »
Fusion Critics Poll, 1972
Posted by s woods on September 29, 2011
A friend sent me this, so I’m posting it, a little nervously… more fascinating archival material.
Just one short comment: fairly delighted (and surprised) to see Pagliaro’s “Some Sing Some Dance” rank #6 on the Top 6 (!) singles list. To put this in some perspective, it apparently only needed three votes to attain that position. Still, we’re talking about a bilingual pop craftsman from Montreal, who never once cracked the Top 100 in the States. “Some Sing” has always been a personal favourite (it made my recent Top 100), and it’s odd to see it played back in this context. (Odd enough that even the Fusion eds felt the need to clarify in the introduction to the poll, “That Pagliaro song is from Canada, near as we can tell.”)
Posted in Archival, Polls & Lists | 6 Comments »
Rockcritics Poll: Early American Rock ‘Zines
Posted by s woods on July 4, 2011
Posted in Polls & Lists | 4 Comments »
Jeff Pike’s Top 100 (+ 100 more)
Posted by s woods on June 21, 2011
Back in the ’90s, when pretty much whatever energy I still had left as a rock critic was being spilled into freebie fanzines, Jeff Pike’s Tapeworm was one of the funnest ones for me to write for. The premise was simple, and irresistible (and no doubt a wee bit quaint to anyone under the age of 30): contributors would compile a mix tape, write whatever they wanted to about said mix tape, send it to Jeff, and receive back a copy of another tape reviewed in the same issue. I think that was the premise; it’s almost 20 years now, and all my ‘zines are currently in storage. Receiving the tape in the mail was not the highlight for me in any case; it was making my mix, writing it up, and reading about everyone else’s. The other great thing about Tapeworm, for me, was that it was the third or fourth baton in the Great Fanzine Relay race of ’89-’97 (or thereabouts), following Frank Kogan’s Why Music Sucks, Phil Dellio’s Radio On, and — either right before or perhaps in conjunction with — Sarah Riegel’s Kitschener, each of which had several crossover contributors, each of which was a pleasure to read and an even greater pleasure to contribute to.
Which is all a long preamble to note some recent online music writing activity by Jeff Pike (who once wrote a terrific piece in Tapeworm on Joe Carducci, which he was kind enough to let me reprint in Popped). Can’t Explain: 100 Hit Songs is Jeff’s countdown, from 2010, of his personal favourite songs which reached the Billboard Top 40. Each selection is accompanied by its own substantial review. Can’t Explain: 100 Other Songs is the still-in-progress flipside to that: 100 more songs, 100 more reviews, though in this case, it’s “songs that never made the U.S. Billboard Top 40 — in many if not all cases didn’t even get within shouting distance of it.” The most recent entry is Flamin’ Groovies’ “Shake Some Action,” which recently made my own Top 100. Here’s Jeff: “Its gentle yelps of sincerity guide the way down the path to the chorus, which soars even as it maintains almost perfectly the unassuming air, a kind of humility that comes to feel nearly spiritual across the breadth of the album, and it starts approximately right here.” (Simultaneous to all this music counting-down, Jeff is also writing a fair bit on movies.)
Posted in Fanzines, Polls & Lists | 2 Comments »
Phil & Scott’s Top 100s, 2011 Facebook Edition (Part 3)
Posted by s woods on May 31, 2011
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Phil & Scott’s Top 100s, 2011 Facebook Edition (Part 2)
Posted by s woods on May 28, 2011
As promised, here’s Phil’s Top 100. (Note that Phil has also started to reprint his list — with his original comments — on his web page.)
1. “Only Love Can Break Your Heart,” Neil Young (1970)
2. “My Favorite Things,” John Coltrane (1961)
3. “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart,” Wilco (2002)
4. “Running From Home,” Bert Jansch (1965)
5. “The Boy Who Crossed the Street,” St. James Infirmary (1989)
6. “Outta Control,” 50 Cent (feat Mobb Deep) (2005)
7. “Blues Run the Game,” Jackson C. Frank (1965)
8. “Too Late,” Wire (1978)
9. “Consider Me Gone,” Jellystone Park (1991)
10. “Trois Gymnopédies,” Erik Satie (1888)
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Phil & Scott’s Top 100s, 2011 Facebook Edition (Part 1)
Posted by s woods on May 27, 2011
Twenty years ago, Phil Dellio and I each published our 100 favourite singles in Phil’s Radio On fanzine. To commemorate this important Vigintennial, we decided to do it all over again, this time in a Facebook page we created — called, excitingly enough, Phil & Scott’s Top 100s. I’m re-printing our current lists here, sans comments (which you can read on Facebook if you have an account and are so inclined to bother).
My Top 100 is below, I’ll post Phil’s tomorrow. Of course, I’d already change about a quarter of my list, and as I noted right from the start, the order of songs is virtually meaningless to me. To prove my point: just as an experiment, when we completed our countdown (on Facebook we each posted one song per day), I reprinted my entire list in reverse order. It made exactly as much sense to me with Frank Hutchison at #1 and Brian Eno at #100, with George McRae at #2 and Fifth Dimension at #99, etc. (Shirley and Company at #46, however — that never changes.)
1. “Here Come the Warm Jets,” Eno (1973)
2. “Wedding Bell Blues,” Fifth Dimension (1969)
3. “They Don’t Know,” Tracey Ullman (1984)
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From the Department of Naughty and Nice: Jason Gross opines off on the best and worst in music writing of 2008
Posted by A.C. Rhodes on January 9, 2009
It was the baddest of times, it was the even worse of times. Amid firings, layoffs and buyouts, Perfect Sound Forever‘s Jason Gross lays it all out for us at Pop Matters with his Best Music Scribing Awards 2008.
Categories include Super, Superior, Quality and Bottom of the Barrel. Topics covered range from heady (various artists facing health challenges) to humorous (posts left in response to a YouTube video of self-important noise rockers) and topical (two about music used as torture in the middle east).
No matter if opinions are in kind or differ, one thing is certain, this segment is thought provoking and sure to get avid readers and music enthusiasts talking.
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The Best of the Rest, ’08
Posted by A.C. Rhodes on January 3, 2009
Aside from holiday blues, year-end wrap up and best ofs can be as irritating or oppressive. That said, we’re delighted to bring you ours, collected from an intimate variety of writers and artists. Below, lists and links are posted if only in a tidier fashion. You may even have fun spotting the duplicates. So, here’s the best of what last year had to offer – new President notwithstanding.
******
A.C. Rhodes
*The Black Angels – Directions to See a Ghost (Light in the Attic)
*British Sea Power – Do You Like Rock Music? (Rough Trade)
*The Black Keys – Attack & Release (Nonesuch)
*Magnetic Fields – Distortion (Nonesuch)
*The Walkmen – You and Me (Gigantic)
*MGMT – Oracular Spectacular (Sony)
*Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes (Sub Pop)
*Tricky – Knowle West Boy (Domino)
Somewhat overlooked, but outstanding:
* The Baseball Project – Volume 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails (Yep Roc)
* Flight of the Conchords – Flight of the Conchords (Sub Pop)
* Bombay Dub Orchestra – 3 Cities (Six Degrees)
* Cindy Lee Berryhill – Beloved Stranger (Populuxe Records)
* The Sadies – New Seasons (Yep Roc)
Good old Chuck Eddy. He took a beating here at RockCritics, what with his posts mysteriously winding up in the spam bin and other writers lashing out on occasion. No matter, here’s his 10 topper CDs and singles. And be sure to check out his link.
1. Jamey Johnson – That Lonesome Song (Mercury)
2. Ross Johnson – Make It Stop! The Most Of Ross Johnson (Goner)
3. Rose Tattoo – Blood Brothers (SPV/ Wacken)
4. Rick Springfield – Venus In Overdrive (New Door/UME)
5. Woodbox Gang – Drunk As Dragons (Alternative Tentacles)
6. The Tonic Rays – The Tonic Rays (thetonicrays.com)
7. The Knux – Remind Me In 3 Days… (Interscope)
8. Carter’s Chord – Carter’s Chord (Show Dog Nashville)
9. Phil Vassar – Prayer Of A Common Man (Universal)
10. New Bloods – The Secret Life (Kill Rock Stars)
1. Miley Cyrus – “See You Again” (Hollywood)
2. Phil Vassar – “Love Is a Beautiful Thing” (Universal)
3. Sister Sin – “One Out Of Ten” (Victory)
4. Buraka Som Sistema featuring PongoLove – “Kalemba (Wegue Wegue)” (Fabric)
5. Kid Rock – “All Summer Long” (Atlantic)
6. Cyndi Lauper – “Into The Nightlife” (Epic)
7. Scooter – “The Question Is What Is The Question” (Sheffield Lab)
8. Alphabeat – “Boyfriend (Pete Hammond Remix)” (EMI Europe)
9. Sway featuring $tush – “F Ur X” (Dcypha Alliance)
10. Blackout Crew – “Put A Donk On It” (All Around The World)
His Top 50 can be found here (with the rest of the Top 150): Chuck_in_the_rest
Britta Phillips, of Dean & Britta, whose L’Avventura (Jet Set Records) was just re-released writes: “Our music list is very short.” But it’s sweet, especially if your tastes run along Americana dream pop:
Jonathan Richman – Because Her Beauty Is Raw & Wild (Vapor Records)
Crystal Stilts – Alight of Night (Slumberland Records)
Hercules & Love Affair – Hercules & Love Affair (DFA Records)
Happy New Year, Britta
Wil Forbis (Editor, Acidlogic.com)
1. Nicole Atkins – Neptune City (Red Int/Red Ink)
2. Rancho Deluxe – True Freedom (Independent Release)
3. Stace England and the Salt Kings – Salt Sex Slaves (Rankoutsider Records)
4. Guns N’ Roses – Chinese Democracy (Geffen Records)
5. Lil Wayne – Tha Carter III (Cash Money/Universal Motown)
Jeff Giles (Editor, Popdose.com & Bullz-Eye.com)
1. Randy Newman – Harps and Angels (Nonesuch)
2. Dr. John – City That Care Forgot (429 Records)
3. The Felice Brothers – The Felice Brothers (Team Love)
4. Matthew Ryan – Matthew Ryan vs. the Silver State (Megaforce)
5. Lindsey Buckingham – Gift of Screws (Reprise)
6. Q-Tip – The Renaissance (Universal Motown)
7. Steve Poltz – Traveling (Emergent / 92E)
8. The Roots – Rising Down (Def Jam)
9. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend (Xl Recordings)
10. Pete Seeger – At 89 (Appleseed Records)
Ted Cogswell (Freelance Writer in Seattle, WA)
1. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! (Anti)
2. Jay Reatard – Singles 06-07 (In the Red) & Singles ’08 (Matador)
3. Little Willie John – Nineteen Sixty Six (Ace/Kent)
4. Cheap Time – Cheap Time (In the Red)
5. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes (Sub Pop)
6. The Black Keys – Attack & Release (Nonesuch)
7. Various artists – Como Now (Daptone)
8. Bob Dylan – Tell Tale Signs (Sony)
9. White Denim – Workout Holiday (Full Time Hobby)
10. King Khan – The Supreme Genius of King Khan & the Shrines (Vice)
Robert Hull (Former editor, current writer and entrepreneur – See PopKrazy)
1. Velvet Underground & Nico – Unripened (XTV bootleg)
2. Bob Dylan – Tell Tales Signs—Deluxe Edition (Columbia)
3. Dennis Wilson – Pacific Ocean Blue/Bambu (Epic/Caribou/Legacy)
4. Elvis Presley – The Complete 68 Comeback Special, Box Set (BMG)
5. The Clash – Rat Patrol from Fort Bragg (Nicaragua/Redline bootleg)
6. Raphael Saadiq – The Way I See It (Columbia)
7. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes (Sub Pop)
8. Randy Newman – Harps and Angels (Nonesuch)
9. Brian Wilson – That Lucky Old Sun (Capitol)
10. Hank Williams – The Unreleased Recordings (Time Life)
Honorable Mention: Lil Wayne – Tha Carter III & all unreleased sessions (Cash Money/Universal Motown)
BEST ALBUM OF 2009: The Memphis Goons: Peppo (Shangri-La)
This in from Young Fresh Fellows’ Scott McCaughey, also of the supergroup Minus 5
These are good ones I remember. Keep warm now…
1. She & Him – Vol. 1 (Merge)
2. Death Cab For Cutie – Narrow Stairs (Atlantic)
3. The Tripwires – Makes You Look Around (Paisley Pop)
4. Little Sue – Baby Knows Better (Bathtub Lily Music)
5. Randy Newman – Harps And Angels (Nonesuch)
6. Jenny Lewis – Acid Tongue (Warner Bros.)
7. Boston Spaceships – Brown Submarine (Guided By Voices Inc.)
8. Brian Wilson – That Lucky Old Sun (Capitol)
9. Chris Walla – Field Manual (Barsuk)
10. Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid (Fiction)
Sylvie Simmons, writer and author (sylviesimmons.com)
1. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes (Sub Pop)
2. Bon Iver – For Emma… (Jagjaguwar)
3. John Martyn – The Battle Of Medway, July 17 1973 (Hux Records)
4. Mark Lanegan & Isobel Campbell – Sunday At Devil Dirt (Fontana Intl)
5. Drive By Truckers – Brighter Than Creation’s Dark (New West Records)
6. Sun Kil Moon – April (Caldo Verde)
7. Johnny Dowd – A Drunkard’s Masterpiece (Munich)
8. Okkervil River – The Stage Names (Jagjaguwar)
9. Tindersticks – The Hungry Saw (Beggars Banquet, Intl)
10. Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip – Angels (Strangefamousrecords)
Toby Mamis, freelance journalist and public relations manager weighs in with his Top 5 and goes into some detail:
1. Tat – Soho Lights (Red Wagon)
2. Duffy – Rockferry (Mercury)
3. Ting Tings – We Started Nothing (Columbia/ Red Ink)
4. Gabriella Cilmi – Lessons To Be Learned (Universal UK)
5. Hanoi Rocks – This One’s For Rock N Roll (Megamania)
“I am sure I missed some good ones, but it’s been a busy year, and these are the ones that got through to me. For doubters, the Duffy album is way deeper than most people think; Duffy 2008 may seem like Lulu 1965, but I think there’s more to her than that.”
Mark Kemp, author and freelance writer:
TV on the Radio – Dear Science (Interscope)
Calle 13 – Los De Atrás Vienen Conmigo (Sony International)
Drive-By Truckers – Brighter Than Creation’s Dark (New West Records)
Orchestra Baobab – Made in Dakar (Nonesuch)
The Knux – Remind Me in Three Days (E Pluribus Unum)
Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes (Sub Pop)
Girl Talk – Feed the Animals (Illegal Art)
Hayes Carll – Trouble in Mind (Lost Highway)
Erhykah Badu – New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War (Motown)
Ximena Sariñana – Mediocre (WEA International)
Aterciopelados – Rio (Nacional)
Beck – Modern Guilt (DGC)
Buena Vista Social Club – Buena Vista Social Club at Carnegie Hall (Nonesuch)
Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend (XL)
B.B. King – One Kind Favor (Geffen Records)
My Morning Jacket – Evil Urges (ATO)
Tim Napalm – A self-described “punk rock musician/internet radio DJ/blogger/rock journalist in recovery,”
1. Primal Scream – Beautiful Future (WEA Intl)
2. Ultrazeen – VS
3. Motorhead – Motorizer (Steamhammer/SPV)
4. Carbon/Silicon – Carbon Casino (Carbon/Silicon Records)
5. Wild Billy Childish and the MBEs – Thatcher’s Children (Damaged Goods)
6. The Clash – Live At Shea Stadium (Epic)
7. Joy Division – The Miriam Collection (DVD) (The Weinstein Company)
8. Ladies and Gentlemen – The Fabulous Stains (Rhino Entertainment) (on DVD at fucking last!)
9. ZZ TOP – live in some shed named for a bank in Corpus Christi, TX, this past May
10. “Atomic Cocktail” with Vic Tripp (Wednesdays at 6 PM Pacific over http://www.luxuriamusic.com).
Matt Schild, Editor of Aversion.com, inarguably one of the best e-zines, presents his admittedly “rather weird list,” already published on Aversion, but doesn’t have a problem with us reposting and linking to it. Aw, gee, Matt.
1. TV on the Radio – Dear Science (Interscope)
2. Future of the Left – Curses (Too Pure)
3. Sons and Daughters – This Gift (Domino)
4. Portishead – Third (Mercury)
5. The Shackeltons – The Shackeltons (Loveless)
6. British Sea Power – Do You Like Rock Music? (Rough Trade)
7. Frightened Rabbit – The Midnight Organ Fight (FatCat)
8. Ghost Buffalo – The Magician (Suburban Home)
9. Fucked Up – The Chemistry of Common Life (Matador)
10. The Dutchess and the Duke – She’s the Dutchess, He’s the Duke (Hardly Art)
He adds, “Since I’m tired of hearing about TVOTR all the time, I’ll go with Future of the Left.” 
J. Sigler, a former short story scribe, foodie and soon to be overly popular Bay Area photographer no doubt hopes to both enlighten and bug you with his Top Ten picks:
1. Saosin – Saosin (Capitol)
2. Mute Math – Mute Math (Import)
3. Anberlin – Never Take Friendship Personal (Tooth & Nail Records)
4. City and Colour – Bring Me Your Love (Vagrant)
5. The Almost – Southern Weather (Tooth & Nail/Virgin Records)
6. Radiohead – In Rainbows (Ato Records/Red)
7. Fair – Best Worst Case Scenario (Tooth & Nail)
8. Foo Fighters – Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (Phantom Sound & Vision)
9. Thrice – Alchemy Inde, Vol. 3 & 4: Air & Earth (Vagrant)
10. Spitalfield – Better Than Knowing Where You Are (Victory Records)
Always the consumate professional and over-acheiver, Holly Gleason, columnist and author, got to us first with her copious list. Someone was paying attention last year:
Top 10 CDs
1. Lee Ann Womack – Call Me Crazy (MCA Nashville)
2. Erykah Badu – New Amerykah, Pt. 1 (Motown)
3. AC/DC – Black Ice (Columbia Records)
4. Allison Moorer – Mockingbird (New Line Records)
5. The Black Keys – Attack & Release (Nonesuch)
6. Mudcrutch – Mudcrutch (Reprise)
7. Rodney Crowell – Sex & Gasoline (Yep Roc Records)
8. The Raconteurs – Consolers of the Lonely (Third Man/Warner Bros.)
9. JD Souther – If The World Was You (MRI Associated)
10. Michael Stanley – Just Another Night (Line Level Music)
Top 10 Singles
1. “Last Call” – Lee Ann Womack (MCA Nashville)
2. “Sex on Fire” – Kings of Leon (RCA)
3. “All Apologies” – Grace Potter & the Nocturnals (Ragged Company/Hollywood Records)
4. “Girls in their Summer Clothes” – Bruce Springsteen (Columbia/CBS Records)
5. “Better As A Memory” – Kenny Chesney (BNA Records)
6. “Addicted” – Saving Abel (Virgin Records)
7. “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore” – Lady Antebellum (Capitol/Nashville)
8. “4 Minutes (To Save The World)” – Justin Timberlake (Jive Records)
9. “All Summer Long” – Kid Rock (Atlantic)
10. “Anything Goes” – Randy Houser (Universal South)
Similarly, Bud Scoppa, former A&R executive, author and freelance writer extraordinaire, was a good egg and got back to us tout-de-suite! We’re sure you’ll agree with his XL list. He even caught some shows.
BUD SCOPPA 2008 TOP 10
1. Pictures and Sound – Pictures and Sound (Vanguard)
2. Randy Newman – Harps and Angels (Nonesuch)
3. TV on the Radio – Dear Science (Interscope)
4. Kings of Leon – Only by the Night (RCA)
5. Mudcrutch – Mudcrutch (Reprise)
6. My Morning Jacket – Evil Urges (ATO)
7. Beck – Modern Guilt (DGC)
8. Teddy Thompson – A Piece of What You Need (Decca)
9. Explorers Club – Freedom Wind (Dead Oceans)
10. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes (Sub Pop)
NEXT 15
11. Lindsey Buckingham – Gift of Screws (Reprise)
12. Ray LaMontagne – Gossip in the Grain (RCA)
13. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend (XL)
14. Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid (Fiction/Geffen)
15. Matthew Sweet – Sunshine Lies (Shout! Factory)
16. Death Cab for Cutie – Narrow Stairs (Atlantic)
17. The Raconteurs – Consolers of the Lonely (Third Man/Warner Bros.)
18. Robin Danar – Altered States (Shanachie)
19. Boz Scaggs – Speak Low (Decca)
20. Lucinda Williams – Little Honey (Lost Highway)
21. Coldplay – Viva La Vida… (Capitol)
22. Brian Wilson – That Lucky Old Sun (Capitol)
23. John Mellencamp – Life Death Love and Freedom (Hear Music)
24. Willie Nelson/Wynton Marsalis – Two Men With the Blues (Blue Note)
25. Shelby Lynne – Just a Little Lovin’ (Lost Highway)
IMPORTANT ARCHIVAL RELEASES
Neil Young – Sugar Mountain: Live at Canterbury House 1968 (Reprise)
Bob Dylan – Tell Tale Signs: Bootleg Series Vol. 8 (Columbia Legacy)
Nick Lowe – Jesus of Cool (Yep Roc)
Dennis Wilson – Pacific Ocean Blue (Caribou/Epic Legacy)
Blue Ash – No More, No Less (Collectors Choice/UMe)
CONCERTS
Radiohead (@ Hollywood Bowl) gets the godhead award.
Kings of Leon (@ Nokia Theatre) is rapidly growing into the best rock & roll band on the planet, period.
Mudcrutch (@ the Troubadour) set off a rollicking blast from the past.
Beck (@ Club Nokia) fused phat beats and arena-rock riffage.
Ray LaMontagne (@ the Wiltern) proved you don’t have to be loud to be heavy (to borrow Tom Morello’s line).
Plant/Krauss (@ Santa Barbara County Bowl), I imagine, but there was a ticket snafu, so I can’t say for sure.
Posted in Polls & Lists, You Be the Critic | 4 Comments »
Jason Gross’s Best Music Scribing Awards
Posted by s woods on January 14, 2008
I look forward to reading Jason Gross’s 2007 edition of the “Best Music Scribing Awards,” now online at PopMatters. When Jason told me several months ago he was moving this feature from rockcritics into PopMatters–where he writes a daily blog about the music business–I was a bit disappointed, but I thought the move made a lot of sense for him. And I have to say, though I haven’t yet read a word of it, the piece looks really good (and I think it was a smart move to trim his categories down this year). Important thing is that the piece is available–and that it will be next year, and the year after that, and the… etc.
Here are the previous editions of Jason’s roundup:
Posted in Polls & Lists | Leave a Comment »
Get Your Year-End Lists Right Here!
Posted by s woods on December 7, 2007
An insane-in-the-best-way-possible kind of blog list: Largehearted Boy gathers in one place every 2007 year-end music list he can get his hands on–a work in progress, already bustling with activity.
Couldn’t resist taking a peak at Kim Gordon’s ArtForum roundup. Her Britney review… If it wasn’t so bad, you could almost call it art.
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Music Press Awards… Vote Today!
Posted by s woods on November 26, 2007
The Music Press Report is hosting its first annual Music Press Awards, and you are encouraged to partake. These are the categories, click through the link to vote:
- Best Book
- Best Web Site
- Best Photograph
- Best Magazine
- Best Newspaper
- Best Feature
- Best Interview
- Best Review
- Music Writer of the Year
- Music Photographer of the Year
- Favorite Album
- Favorite Artist
- Favorite Tour
Personally, I think a “worst of” might’ve been fun too (of course I’d say that, right?)… Nonetheless, this is a fun idea, even if I haven’t a clue what or who I would vote for other than anything and everything by “s woods” (hey, someone’s gotta represent).
Posted in Polls & Lists | 1 Comment »
