Mayer Hawthorne/J. Cole
Sex in the City
By Xgau Nov 4, 2011 1:46AM
Mayer Hawthorne: How Do You Do (Universal Republic)
The best punk revivalists understand that without catchy songs they might never have fallen for the style to begin with. Ditto the best honky tonk revivalists. Soul revivalists, not so much. So maybe Detroiter Andrew Cohen's civically revivalist Motown/Ford homage inspired him to hone a bunch of hooks and get an assembly line up and running. What we're hearing here is the Temptations turning into the Delfonics--the way his midrange gives up the verse and his falsetto takes the chorus is as nice as his boyish sexism. In the best song, he spills his coffee and misses his bus yet is lifted by a cellphone call where she says she loves him. In a good one Snoop Dogg sings. A MINUS
J. Cole: Cole World: The Sideline Story (Roc Nation/Columbia)
Smart about abortion's complexities and MLK's infidelities and weed's propensities, so aware of how "mornin'" spawns "moanin'" and "wet shit" swallows "next shit" that the sex rhymes hit a nerve, toned up by Drake and Jay-Z's 16s not to mention Trey Songz's and Missy Elliott's hooks, he's worth the shot Jay couldn't resist giving him. But he's still not comfortable enough or clever enough. Ask yourself, kid‑-are you having fun yet? If not, why not? Ultimately, isn't that what flow is about? B PLUS
215Comments
Nov 4, 2011 8:23AM
More a Legend was recently declared, by international decree, to be "a life force beyond time itself, certainly beyond puny considerations of its date of origin."
Greg and Cam, thanks very much for all your recommendations at the end of the last thread. I do have Action-Packed, though have never gotten around to it until now.
I already know that The Chills would be #1 for me in 1990, but that's as far as I'm going.
Greg and Cam, thanks very much for all your recommendations at the end of the last thread. I do have Action-Packed, though have never gotten around to it until now.
I already know that The Chills would be #1 for me in 1990, but that's as far as I'm going.
Nov 4, 2011 8:14AM
Nov 4, 2011 7:57AM
I want to make sure of one thing before voting. 1990 was the year that Philip Glass's Music in Twelve Parts made it to disc in its entirety (in a very good version on Virgin). Now the first half of the work (Parts 1-6) was recorded in the 1970's (EDIT: 1975, actually), and Virgin actually issued Parts 1 & 2 on vinyl at the time (I remember seeing an import copy at Starship, then as now the hippest music store in Tulsa, Oklahoma, not that there's a heck of a lot of competition). The rest of the work was recorded in 1989 (EDIT: oops, make that 1987), and the complete version issued in February of 1990. Now does the previous issue of Parts 1 & 2 taint the set as a "compilation", or can I go ahead and vote for it as an original album?
FURTHER EDIT: Oops, I may have to withdraw my vote for this album anyway. I was going by the release date listed at amazon.com, which seemed right according to my dodgy memory, but I've just found a Philip Glass discography online that lists it as a 1988 release (1989 in the U.S.). Checking further.
FURTHER EDIT: Oops, I may have to withdraw my vote for this album anyway. I was going by the release date listed at amazon.com, which seemed right according to my dodgy memory, but I've just found a Philip Glass discography online that lists it as a 1988 release (1989 in the U.S.). Checking further.
Nov 4, 2011 7:50AM
Nov 4, 2011 7:06AM
Nov 4, 2011 6:57AM
Crazy - once you remove all the comps and best-ofs from the Dean's List (the one in the 90s book), Ice Cube's Kill at Will ends up in the top 10! Also, Bob Dylan, Rosanne Cash, Sonic Youth and Nick Lowe all take pretty big drops between Xgau's original 1990 Dean's List and the one that makes the book. And the Chills and L7 (who didn't even appear on the original list) do way better.
(not that I'm advocating using the Dean's list as single or primary source for the poll)
(not that I'm advocating using the Dean's list as single or primary source for the poll)
Nov 4, 2011 6:24AM
Nov 4, 2011 6:23AM
1990 is going to be a lot of fun. Christgau's Index by Year only has 6 full A's, not counting compilations: Chills, LL Cool J. L7, Madonna, Pixies, Public Enemy. But a lot of interesting A minuses and B pluses below. I haven't played that Blake Babies album in forever. Or that LL Cool J album, either.
Nov 4, 2011 6:14AM
Nov 4, 2011 5:53AM
Nov 4, 2011 5:24AM
Thank you to Bradley for the 60s jazz poll - I'm impressed by how involved voters got, and how everybody helped each other out with suggestions.
Reminder: including runners-up on ballots in the 1978 poll provided some crucial quirk and variety, so everyone is encouraged to do so again for 1990.
Reminder: including runners-up on ballots in the 1978 poll provided some crucial quirk and variety, so everyone is encouraged to do so again for 1990.
Nov 4, 2011 5:18AM
Last time, I asked for recommendations for the 1990s. The chosen year, first suggested by ShadyShack is...
1990!
Here's what ShadyShack said:
'For your consideration I recommend 1990, because overall its a weak year with no real strong winners. Take a look at the P&J and Dean's List and I think we could improve upon it or maybe not. It's just kind of a "meh" year in my opinion, and maybe it still will be weak. But maybe some gems are there to be rediscovered and reevaluated after some years of separation. It would create a lot more disparity between polls due to the lack of any A+'s that are not best of's or comps and the majority of A's from 1990 are best of's too. Even the Dean's essay is titled "Hard News in a Soft Year".'
1990!
Here's what ShadyShack said:
'For your consideration I recommend 1990, because overall its a weak year with no real strong winners. Take a look at the P&J and Dean's List and I think we could improve upon it or maybe not. It's just kind of a "meh" year in my opinion, and maybe it still will be weak. But maybe some gems are there to be rediscovered and reevaluated after some years of separation. It would create a lot more disparity between polls due to the lack of any A+'s that are not best of's or comps and the majority of A's from 1990 are best of's too. Even the Dean's essay is titled "Hard News in a Soft Year".'
Nov 4, 2011 5:07AM
Welcome to the fourth Expert Witness Improves on Pazz and Jop poll. Here's how it works.
1. Everyone may vote, lurkers definitely included.
2. Pick your 10 favorite albums from the chosen year (define "favorite" any way you like - it's your list). Specify the title and artist.
3. Rank your appreciation of said albums by dividing 100 points among them, with each album being given a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 30 points. You may choose to leave out the points, in which case each of your 10 albums will be given 10 points.
4. You may also include runners-up, as many or as few as you wish. Those do not have to be ranked.
5. Only albums of new or previously unreleased material qualify. Best-ofs and re-issues don't. The Basement Tapes would qualify for 1975. The various-artists release Dark Was The Night would qualify for 2009. Bob Marley's Legend would not qualify at all.
6. Albums should be from the chosen year only. Pazz and Jop allows late-breaking albums from a previous year (with 1982's Thriller famously winning the 1983 poll, for instance) - we're not doing that.
7. E-mail your ballot to mysteryf
at
yahoo
dot
com
If you're a regular poster, please include your EW handle so that I know who you are.
8. DO NOT post your ballot on this board until poll results are published.
9. Whatever albums get the most points win. Ties are divided by number of votes. Albums need at least 2 votes to be included on the finisher list.
10. Voting ends Sunday Nov. 13 at 8 PM, Eastern time. Results will hopefully be in some time on Tuesday Nov. 15, and posted on that day's EW entry.
1. Everyone may vote, lurkers definitely included.
2. Pick your 10 favorite albums from the chosen year (define "favorite" any way you like - it's your list). Specify the title and artist.
3. Rank your appreciation of said albums by dividing 100 points among them, with each album being given a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 30 points. You may choose to leave out the points, in which case each of your 10 albums will be given 10 points.
4. You may also include runners-up, as many or as few as you wish. Those do not have to be ranked.
5. Only albums of new or previously unreleased material qualify. Best-ofs and re-issues don't. The Basement Tapes would qualify for 1975. The various-artists release Dark Was The Night would qualify for 2009. Bob Marley's Legend would not qualify at all.
6. Albums should be from the chosen year only. Pazz and Jop allows late-breaking albums from a previous year (with 1982's Thriller famously winning the 1983 poll, for instance) - we're not doing that.
7. E-mail your ballot to mysteryf
at
yahoo
dot
com
If you're a regular poster, please include your EW handle so that I know who you are.
8. DO NOT post your ballot on this board until poll results are published.
9. Whatever albums get the most points win. Ties are divided by number of votes. Albums need at least 2 votes to be included on the finisher list.
10. Voting ends Sunday Nov. 13 at 8 PM, Eastern time. Results will hopefully be in some time on Tuesday Nov. 15, and posted on that day's EW entry.
Nov 4, 2011 4:53AM
Anecdotal note re Peter Brotzmann, tied for last in the jazz poll. I was about 13 and looking for something on the radio I could finish a school report to (I think the report was about Mayan culture). Twisting the dial, I heard something incomprehensible and noisy. And it went on forever. And when it was over, the DJ said it was called something like "**** the Board," which he repeated for good measure, which of course meant that my 13-year-old head would not remember the artist's name. But I give myself credit for being less amazed that a DJ could say that on the radio than by the existence of that music itself, which maybe 5 years later I would learn was called free jazz. I described it to my friends and they simply didn't believe me. Anyway, about 20 years after that I happened on an album selling for about $50 called **** de Boere, and figured that had to be it, especially since it was by a guy who'd been in Last Exit. Finally got a copy and...it was OK. The existence of free jazz was an amazing thing, but not that much of it have I found repays listening. But it sure opened my head when I was 13.
WKCR, the Columbia U. station, by the way. Bet they can't announce that title anymore.
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Starting in 1967, Robert Christgau has covered popular music for The Village Voice, Esquire, Blender, Playboy, Rolling Stone, and many other publications. He teaches in New York University's Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music, maintains a comprehensive website at robertchristgau.com, and has published five books based on his journalism. He has written for MSN Music since 2006.
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