Pazz 'n' Jop 2011: notes

As you may know by now, The Village Voice's 2011 Pazz 'n' Jop Critics Poll results were announced last night. The albums winner is tUnE-yArDs' w h o k i l l, which surprised me a bit, albeit pleasantly so; even if it is some way down on my personal 2011 favorites list, I can hear why it is an affecting record, warts and all. The singles winner is Adele's Rolling in the Deep, which seemed like a safe bet beforehand.

My ballot can be found here. My top seven records have been pretty much nailed on for a long time. Those seven records stand out, for me, by being more consistent and more solid works than the rest, and I attempted to indicate that by the scores I handed out for my ballot. Below those seven, there has been some fluctuation -- compare my pazz 'n' jop ballot to the latest revision of my favorites list -- though have revisited Paul Simon numerous times lately, I'm tempted to put it in the same category as my top 7.

A couple of points:

• None of my top 10 albums finished in the poll's top 10, but two are in the top 20, Frank Ocean and Fucked Up. If we go to the top 25, there are three counting Pistol Annies.
• My number one pick, Wussy's Strawberry, landed at 109th place, getting ten mentions.
• I was the only one to vote for Avram Fefer's Eliyahu and Wadada Leo Smith's Heart's Reflections (misspelled in the poll). Both are jazz records, and Eliyahu got only two votes in Rhapsody's Jazz Critics' Poll, from Tom Hull and myself, so that's no surprise, really. Darius Jones Trio's Big Gurl (Smell My Dream) , the third jazz record I voted for, got two more votes, from Steve Dollar and Tad Hendrickson.
• Matana Roberts' Coin Coin Chapter One... was the highest placed jazz album at 78, unless you count Colin Stetson, which we probably should, at 42.
• My sole Norwegian pick, Razika's giddy ska tale about the pains of growing up in "Vondt i Hjertet", got one other vote, incidentally by current poll organizer Maura Johnston.

Hoping to post some non-list related writing here during next week. I have a piece on jazz drumming in the pipeline plus, hopefully, a 2011 catch-up of Listening Booth notes, and the return of The 1984 Box Set.