The 26th P&J Singles Poll!

I was gonna say "Toxic" over "Tipsy" over "Save A Horse" but I realized I know like LCD Soundsystem's "Yeah" over all of this. Hadn't heard it at the time of this poll, though.

NOW like

WHAT IS UP with these typos, bad dog!

Damn, really hard year. I could be convinved to vote for any of these:

Jay-Z: "99 Problems" (Roc-A-Fella)
Usher featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris: "Yeah!" (Arista)
Modest Mouse: "Float On" (Epic)
Britney Spears: "Toxic" (Jive)
Kanye West: "Jesus Walks" (Roc-A-Fella)
Snoop Dogg Featuring Pharell: "Drop It Like It's Hot" (Doggystyle/Geffen/Star Trak)
M.I.A.: "Galang" (XL)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs: "Maps" (Interscope)
Green Day: "American Idiot" (Reprise)
Loretta Lynn featuring Jack White: "Portland Oregon" (Interscope)
Killers: "Somebody Told Me" (Island)
LCD Soundsystem: "Yeah" (DFA)
Walkmen: "The Rat" (Record Collection)
Scissor Sisters: "Take Your Mama" (Universal)
Fabolous: "Breathe" (Desert Storm/Atlantic)
Von Bondies: "C'mon C'mon" (Sire)
Annie: "Chewing Gum" (679 import)
Annie: "Heartbeat" (679 import)
Ciara Featuring Petey Pablo: "Goodies" (Sho'Nuff-Musicline/LaFace/Zomba)
Kanye West: "Through the Wire" (Roc-A-Fella)
Interpol: "Slow Hands" (Matador)
Libertines: "Can't Stand Me Now" (Rough Trade)

Haha has anybody willingly listened to "Mosh" in the last year? Let alone enjoyed it?

"Tipsy" is fucking awesome, if Clipse didn't suck so hard they could make a song as good as that.

"99 Problems," then and now, although "Can't Stand Me Now," "Toxic," and Snoooo-woop are very close. I'll take "Dark of the Matinee" and "Michael" over "Take Me Out."

"99 Problems" rules the pack for me this time out.

Clipse -> suck = Does not compute.

"Tipsy" is fucking awesome, if Clipse didn't suck so hard they could make a song as good as that.

wau

Songs on this list I know I don't like: "Jesus Walks" (sez you), "Mosh" (once approved this because OF THE GOOD IT COULD DO) "The Rat" (enjoy "Little House Of Savages" more, still prefer Jonathan Fire*Eater), "Why?" (questions suck), both Alicia Keys, "Through The Wire" (possibly still the chirpiest song ever), that Von Bondies (I prefer the Vines), "Bridging The Gap" (Will Smith's son returns the favor for "Just The Two Of Us).

I think I like the bottom half more than the top half.

I like the four rap songs plenty (including "Mosh"!). But then I'm just that kind of idiot, so...what d'ya expect?

xp

I'm not even going to touch that one.

xp

so how many votes will "Slow Hands" earn as the winner?

I'm kinda hoping for da crowning of "Float On," or even "Vertigo" myself. Maybe by 15 votes?

I forgot how terrific that Morrissey song is. It fooled me for a tenth of a second into liking the album.

Terror Squad: "Lean Back" (SRC/Universal)
Gwen Stefani: "What You Waiting For?" (Interscope)
Big & Rich: "Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)" (Warner Bros.)
Alicia Keys: "You Don't Know My Name" (J)
Nina Sky featuring Jabba: "Move Ya Body" (Universal)
Destiny's Child: "Lose My Breath" (Columbia)

Hmmmm.....

The Kanye West singles don't seem nearly as good as they did at the time, probably because the first two singles off his next album beat the shit out of all of them.

ooh, forgot I about the Mozz song on my 'no like' list. Better than most of that album, but I prefer "The Jet Song."

I voted for the Gwen Stefani then, and it still sounds better than the album's other singles (but "Cool" sounded pretty good).

"Through the Wire" still strikes me as a completely bizarre choice of song to introduce yourself to the world, though. For some reason, when I first heard it, in early '03, it didn't really make much sense to me, but when I started hearing it later in the summer/fall it became great.

I'm voting "Slow Jamz," which is possibly in my top 5 for the whole decade.

The first four singles off that Stefani album (never understood the general dislike for "Rich Girl") are all great.

I didn't like "Slow Jamz" at the time (thanks to "TTW" I was repelled by the sample hook) but I love it now.

People don't like "Rich Girl" because its a song about wishing you had slaves set to a Fiddler On The Roof melody.

Do you understand now?

also, its actually being CUTE because she already IS a rich slave owner with geishas. Hurrah.

question: is this the most indie the P&J singles poll has ever been?

this top ten is indie?

Don't you be dissing my homegirl, Anthony.

I like the Fiddler on the Roof melody. (Maybe this is influenced by the fact that my dad used to sing this all the time when I was very small. It's one of my first musical memories.) Slaves are not cool, though. I suppose it could be taken that way, I never really thought about it, but I'm not much into the taking of moral stances on music, anyway.

this top ten is indie?

-- Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Wednesday, November 21, 2007 7:15 AM (Wednesday, November 21, 2007 7:15 AM) Bookmark Link

Franz Ferdinand: "Take Me Out" (Domino)
Modest Mouse: "Float On" (Epic)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs: "Maps" (Interscope)

fwiw, I think "Take Me Out" is great and like the other two just fine, but don't be disingenuous.

I meant the whole top 40 (mostly the bottom half), not the top 10.

Only indie track on this entire list is MIA, maybe YYYs at a push.

xxp

YYYs were more like that garage rock wing of mallcore, in retrospect

And I definitely mean "indie" in the broadest sense (major label indie like Modest Mouse, indie-friendly non-rock like Annie and M.I.A., etc.).

Toxic vs. The Rat vs. Take Me out vs. Heartbeat

Actually cannot choose.

Slaves are not cool, though. I suppose it could be taken that way, I never really thought about it, but I'm not much into the taking of moral stances on music, anyway.

Not for me to suggest you take a "moral stance" but...

I'd get me four Harajuku girls to (uh huh)
Inspire me and they'd come to my rescue
I'd dress them wicked, I'd give them names (yeah)

is, at the very least, some creepy, objectifying racial bullshit.

it's like Jefferson Davis growing a 'fro and singing spirituals?

No disagreement. I like plenty of other music that's just as problematic and see no reason to single Stefani out. (xp)

hahahahahahaha examples plz!

"Wait (The Whisper Song)"

Any song that talks about inciting violence.

i mean we got our ho-controlling in rap but i didn't realize that many people were buying humans as dolls in pop music, to the point that there's no reason to comment or find it distasteful.

x-post haha "people talk about inciting violence so i really refuse to think about gwen stefani buying geishas."

Ev'rywhere I hear the sound of marching, charging feet, boy
'Cause summer's here and the time is right for fighting in the street, boy
Well then what can a poor boy do
Except to sing for a rock 'n' roll band
'Cause in sleepy London town
There's just no place for a street fighting man
No!

Hey! Think the time is right for a palace revolution
'Cauce where I live the game to play is compromise solution
Well then what can a poor boy do
Except to sing for a rock 'n' roll band
'Cause in sleepy London town
There's no place for a street fighting man
No!
Get down

Hey! Said my name is called disturbance
I'll shout and scream, I'll kill the king, I'll rail at all his servants
Well, what can a poor boy do
Except to sing for a rock 'n' roll band
'Cause in sleepy London town
There's no place for a street fighting man
No
Get down

Any song that includes the word "faggot" or other homophobic language, any song that promotes sexism and/or objectifies women, etc. etc. etc.

certainly "Harajuku Girls" counts, Rev!

i mean we got our ho-controlling in rap but i didn't realize that many people were buying humans as dolls in pop music, to the point that there's no reason to comment or find it distasteful.

x-post haha "people talk about inciting violence so i really refuse to think about gwen stefani buying geishas."

-- da croupier, Wednesday, November 21, 2007 7:43 AM (Wednesday, November 21, 2007 7:43 AM) Bookmark Link

I'm not saying it isn't distasteful or that I don't have to think about it. Stop putting words in my mouth.

Ha! I forgot about "Harajuku Girls". That one did bug me.

I do resent being told what I should take offense at.

these songs were all too recent to talk about now. i was blogging then

does not compute

"i can't talk about these, i was talking about them when they came out."

im just tired of talking about them

isn't it great how we all love toxic??

i od'd that year, maybe

"Lose My Breath" still gets my vote. Its sound is as startling as "Thong Song." But the vibe is furious and ugly ugly ugly, suitable for a time in which men and women were/still are marching overseas to literally lose their breaths. In this context, the echoed-into-nothingness "you are dismissed" comes off as devastatingly final.

And kudos to Usher, Lil Jon & Co. for approximating the inside of a dance club like nothing since Debbie Deb's talismanic "When I Hear Music."

M.I.A.:

Armand Van Helden: "My My My" (Southern Fried) - As Peter Heller's "Big Love" and Shakedown's "At Night" have demonstrated, house needs only the barest, most banal sentiments to pack a wallop and evoke, well, anything. For me, Bush, Iraq, the corporation as very private citizen, etc.

Alcazar: "This Is The World We Live In" (BMG International) - The mashup as perfectly natural aesthetic strategy.

Black Leotard Front: "Casual Friday" (DFA) - Shame on DFA for not reissuing Tantra: The Double Album. So this coked-out, jet-lagged, Guccied-up spectacular will have to do. I particularly love how the second set of "bon jour, comment t'allez-vous"'s jump out at you, the first of many great ideas in fifteen minutes.

There's something very Peg Bundy about this song, no? Where most disco strives for the upper class, this slab bypasses its audience of the voluntarily poor and heads straight for the suburban cocktail lounge. Do you hear it?

Yolanda Perez: "Estoy Enamorada" (Fonovisa) - Dad and daughter rap-bitch at each other in Spanglish. Thank you, xhuxk (although I've yet to hear the album).

Vybz Kartel: "Buddy Nuh Done" (Baby G) - I love him BECAUSE he sounds like a "battybwoy."

Belle & Sebastian: "I'm a Cuckoo (by the Avalanches)" (Rough Trade/Sanctuary) - The Avalanches as perfectly natural aesthetic strategy.

Capt. Save-a-Ho(rse Ride a Cowboy).

I like other stuff up there too (incl. Von Bondies a lot more now than I did then, thanks to renting several seasons of Rescue Me on Netflix.).

What I voted for that year:

2004 singles ballot
1 Big & Rich "Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)"Warner Bros.
2 M.I.A. "Galang" XL
3 Yolanda Perez con Don Cheto "Estoy Enamorada" Univision/Fonovisa
4 Martina McBride "This One's for the Girls" RCA Nashville
5 Chris Ryan "East Coast Liner" Premium Issue Recordings
6 Toby Keith "Whiskey Girl"
7 Terri Clark "Girls Lie Too" Mercury
8 Gretchen Wilson "Redneck Woman" Epic Nashville
9 Phat Sk8trax "Boogie Back Rap" skate101.com
10 Crystal Gayle "Midnight in the Desert"
ocnsignal.com/radio-art.htm

Alright, lesbian dancehall ftw.

ok so "save a horse" might actually win this.

i think this is a mediocre list. "all falls down" is probably one of my 10 fav of the decade so i'm voting that.

did the lauryn hill demo sound any different/better? i've never heard it.

a lot of these songs still sound awesome at parties on a "wow i haven't thought about this song in years but it's still awesome" tip: "yeah", "drop it like it's hot", "tipsy", "slow jamz", "move ya body"

how i address the haters and under estimaters
and ride up on them like they escalators

i'm gonna do a fabo singles poll soon. love that dude.

did the lauryn hill demo sound any different/better? i've never heard it.

-- J0rdan S., Wednesday, November 21, 2007 7:14 PM (Wednesday, November 21, 2007 7:14 PM) Bookmark Link

It sounds really slapdash and poorly built (I'm sure it's unmixed). Kind of ugly, really.

And not in a good way.

"Lose My Breath" still gets my vote. Its sound is as startling as "Thong Song." But the vibe is furious and ugly ugly ugly, suitable for a time in which men and women were/still are marching overseas to literally lose their breaths. In this context, the echoed-into-nothingness "you are dismissed" comes off as devastatingly final.

o_O

I went with "Heartbeat" very narrowly over "99 Problems"

neither of which I voted for that year, Jay-Z because I'd put it on my 2003 year-end megamix and Annie because I didn't hear it until I'd cast my votes

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I don't know if this is j0eks or not, but I'm happy with the winner.

"lean back" is way better than all of these songs:

M.I.A.: "Galang" (XL)
Annie: "Heartbeat" (679 import)
Annie: "Chewing Gum" (679 import)
Jay-Z: "99 Problems" (Roc-A-Fella)
Britney Spears: "Toxic" (Jive)

r to the eezy
m to the wizz-i
my arms stay breezy
the don stays flizzy
got a date at 8
so i'm in the seven forty fizzive
and i just bought a bike so i can ride till i die

I would have voted for "99 Problems" at the time.

(btw i know it's not "remi" but idk how else you spell "whizzeye" or w/e)

also A+ remix. classic mase verse.

i would have voted "all falls down" at the time and i thought i did in this poll.

The bouncers don't check us
And we walk around the metal detectors

Your vote was rejected by the poll's better judgment.

so don't question how we got in here with burners and hoodies.

apparently the poll's good taste filter forgot to block out annie.

I like "Heartbeat". Can't say I've ever heard the other one. Did she really have that much more hype than Robyn at the time? I would have figured them to do at least equally well in P&J.

"This debut full-length by the Norwegian singer is preceded by quite a bit of critical buzz on both sides of the Atlantic."

^^metacritic blurb.

i actually don't think annie is that bad, but idk i feel like she's something you would feel foolish for really loving at the time. like being an indie kid and trying to "accept" pop but then realizing two years later that FS/LS>>>>>>>annie. (that's not self-referential btw and i also don't know if it makes sense)

Naw, I understand totally. I had a year after my discovery of popism/whatever where I kind of went overboard and embraced some somewhat embarrassing shit. I imagine others might have done the same.

Annie you might feel foolish about having thought might actually get popular or something. For liking, no way.

agreed

I think that's generally true of a lot of artists you get embarrassed about, actually: the embarrassment tends to be over certain expectations that weren't met, rather than how the music itself sounded or sounds. (Which isn't to say I haven't gone back and wondered why the hell I liked something the first time myself. I do that plenty.)

i think it's cool if annie was like some gateway to indie kids accepting pop music— or maybe pop albums, because who didn't like "crazy in love" right?— but i don't know if that's actually true.

scott pl.'s pretty good reivew of annimal on pfork talks about pop music like the idea of liking it was still pretty foreign to a large core of their audience in 2004.

anniemal*

everyone i knew who liked annie already liked pop music

that record isnt very good

I like "Heartbeat". Can't say I've ever heard the other one. Did she really have that much more hype than Robyn at the time? I would have figured them to do at least equally well in P&J.

At least nine one-time ILXors--by my count--voting for this Annie single should be proof enough to solve that mystery, no?

As for the lack of Robyn votes--who knows?

I guess Robyn was next year, wasn't she? That probably explains it.

I think that's generally true of a lot of artists you get embarrassed about, actually: the embarrassment tends to be over certain expectations that weren't met, rather than how the music itself sounded or sounds. (Which isn't to say I haven't gone back and wondered why the hell I liked something the first time myself. I do that plenty.)

I don't think that's it, really. I'm not specifically talking about Annie or Robyn here, they kind of bypassed me at the time, but some things I was getting into at that moment strike me as kind of tacky and obnoxious even though I held no great expectations for them then or now.

Re: "Lose My Breath," I guess I had to remind that it's a piece for marching band drums (not even brass) and voice, and little else. Hence the militaristic implications of the song should have been obvious (delete snarky prepositional phrase).

Well, again, I guess I just had to.

I didn't mean YOU, Rev.

Alright. That kind of seemed a response to what I was saying, but n/m.

Re: "Lose My Breath," I guess I had to remind that it's a piece for marching band drums (not even brass) and voice, and little else. Hence the militaristic implications of the song should have been obvious (delete snarky prepositional phrase).

they want a soldier, where they at? where they at? Destiny fufilled = MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW.

Shall I assume that's snark?

Well, whatever. I hear a march to war. Some of y'all apparently hear well-funded high schools.