The results of Village Voice’s annual Pazz & Jop poll were released today and this year’s big winner was D’Angelo with his late 2104 surprise album “Black Messiah.” Other artists that were top 10 favorites of the more than 600 critics polled include Run the Jewels, St. Vincent, The War On Drugs, Against Me, FKA Twigs, Sturgill Simpson, Taylor Swift, Angel Olsen and Spoon.
If you aren’t familiar with Pazz & Jop, it’s the Voice’s annual year-end polling of critics/bloggers/people-who-are-generally-knowledgeable-when-it-comes-to-popular-music, and it typically shows which albums and songs are the most critically acclaimed of the year. Voters are given 100 points to distribute between up to 10 of their favorite albums in any manner they choose and those numbers are tallied up to determine the final results. Voters are also asked to list up to 10 of their songs of the year, but unlike albums the songs are not given point values.
I’ve been casting a Pazz & Jop ballot for the past few years and once again I would like to share my ballot with Guerrilla Candy readers. You can see more details of other ballots from critics around the country over here.
Albums |
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| 1 | The Hold Steady, Teeth Dreams Razor & Tie |
Points: 30 |
| 2 | Run the Jewels, Run the Jewels 2 Mass Appeal |
Points: 20 |
| 3 | Kiasmos, Kiasmos Erased Tapes |
Points: 9 |
| 4 | Afghan Whigs, Do to the Beast Sub Pop |
Points: 8 |
| 5 | Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Wig Out at Jagbags Matador |
Points: 7 |
| 6 | Cloud Nothings, Here and Nowhere Else Carpark |
Points: 6 |
| 7 | Against Me!, Transgender Dysphoria Blues Total Treble |
Points: 5 |
| 8 | Shabazz Palaces, Lese Majesty Sub Pop |
Points: 5 |
| 9 | Broken Bells, After the Disco Columbia |
Points: 5 |
| 10 | Jack White, Lazaretto Third Man/Columbia |
Points: 5 |
Singles |
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| 1 | Taylor Swift, “Shake It Off” Big Machine |
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| 2 | Flying Lotus (ft. Kendrick Lamar), “Never Catch Me” Warp |
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| 3 | “Weird Al” Yankovic, “Handy” RCA |
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| 4 | Ariana Grande (ft. Iggy Azalea), “Problem” Republic |
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| 5 | Iggy Azalea (ft. Charli XCX), “Fancy” Island |
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| 6 | Mastodon, “The Motherload” Reprise |
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| 7 | Big Data (ft. Joywave), “Dangerous” Wilcassettes |
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| 8 | Paramore, “Ain’t It Fun” Fueled By Ramen |
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| 9 | St. Vincent, “Digital Witness” Loma Vista |
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| 10 | Spoon, “Inside Out” Loma Vista |
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