The 27th P&J Singles Poll!

I voted for the Thin White Duke remix of "Mr. Brightside" then, and still might, but Miranda Lambert and "Hung Up" are closing fast.

Gotta "Stay Fly." Sorry, Miranda.

DJ Paul is a dog, one you do not trust.

mr. brightside.

This was the first year I made a top twenty list! These were on it, along with some other songs, the only one I can think off the top of my head being Paul Wall's "Sittin' Sidewayz"

Kanye West Featuring Jamie Foxx: "Gold Digger" (Roc-A-Fella)
Amerie: "1 Thing" (Sony Urban Music/Columbia)
Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley: "Welcome to Jamrock" (Tuff Gong/Universal)
Gwen Stefani: "Hollaback Girl" (Interscope)
The White Stripes: "My Doorbell" (V2)
LCD Soundsystem: "Daft Punk Is Playing at My House" (DFA/Capitol)
Mike Jones Featuring Slim Thug & Paul Wall: "Still Tippin'" (Swishahouse/Asylum/Warner Bros.)
Ying Yang Twins: "Wait (The Whisper Song)" (Collipark/TVT)
Mariah Carey: "We Belong Together" (Island)
R. Kelly: "Trapped in the Closet Chapter 1" (Jive)
Rihanna: "Pon De Replay" (Def Jam)
M.I.A.: "Bucky Done Gun" (XL)
Kanye West: "Diamonds From Sierra Leone" (Roc-A-Fella)

"Daft Punk Is Playing at My House" and "Trapped In the Closet" don't quite hold up, but whatever. These are great, too, but it took me a minute to come around to (or in the case of Spoon, hear) them:

Kelly Clarkson: "Since U Been Gone" (RCA)
Three 6 Mafia Featuring Young Buck & Eightball & MJG: "Stay Fly" (Columbia)
Madonna: "Hung Up" (Maverick)
Spoon: "Turn My Camera On" (Merge)
My Chemical Romance: "Helena (So Long & Goodnight)" (Reprise)

I'm still as struck by the craftiness of "We Belong Together" as I was six months later when I finally got it (those first six months were torture, though) every time I hear it, so I'll pick that one.

"Gold Digger", Bloc Party's "Banquet" is pretty great too

"Galang," but "Since U Been Gone" is a close second.

I would have voted "Sex In the Kitchen (Remix)" had it been included.

This is one of the years (possibly THE year) where my taste most overlapped with P&J's singles poll, for singles at least, so it's tough for me to pick what to vote for here. I still really like "1 Thing" and "Since U Been Gone" and "Stay Fly" and "Hate It Or Love It" and "We Belong Together" and "Wait" and the first chapter of "Trapped In The Closet" and "Lose Control" (ALL of which were in my top 10 at the time) and "Diamonds From Sierra Leone" and "B.Y.O.B." and "Do You Want To" and "The Corner." Still a lot of bullshit on this list, and a lot of good singles missing, but less than usual.

And "Helena"! Another one in my top 10, might be my #1 in hindsight.

y-y-y-y-y-y-y

^-^-^-^-^-^-^

as my #1, Usher's "Burn," aint up there, I gotta decide between my 2 & 3, Clarkson and Killers. I'd rather hear the latter right now.

"Burn" was '04 (wasn't in P&J that year either, though).

"still tippin" is one of my 20 favorite songs of the decade i think.

The Legendary K.O.: "George Bush Doesn't Care About Black People" (MP3)

MULLIGAN.

My bad, Al. 2005 I voted for Trick Daddy's "Sugar."

EVERY DAY MORE OF THESE PJ THINGS WHY

to ruin ILM chortle chortle

EVERY DAY MORE OF THESE PJ THINGS WHY

-- KANTLIPS, Wednesday, 28 November 2007 20:46 (14 minutes ago) Link

oh calm down, there's only one more year left to do this for and then there'll be none left (at least until the results for '07 and future years come in). presumably we'll then just have polls about which hair on Christgau's head is most darling.

these threads are usually pretty great.

ban KANTLIPS.

I've thought about doing these kinds of polls for Billboard #1 albums and singles from a given year, but I'm afraid they'd be less interesting, especially since by definition there'd be fewer hip/critic-friendly options so most people would zero in on the same one or two albums. if anyone else wants to take that idea and terrorize the board with it for 6 months, though, be my guest.

so basically you want the threads but not the calls for your bannage.

you can't have your poll and eat it too, alex.

I'm loathe to expend the effort, not scurred of KANTLIPS.

That sounds like a cool idea, Alex--not that I'm about to tackle that one myself (or any other poll threads--for a while, anyhow). So, following next week's polls--and assuming we still have an ILX to return to after the move--I'm hangin' up my P&J-poll-startin' shoes. Thank the lord!

Someone could always do the NME and Melody Maker lists, rocklist.net has the lists starting from the 70s. I did from 90-95 I think but got bored. A lot of the same people from the P&J threads posted there. (well, chuck at least)

I might take up the call for the Billboard polls.

Amerie for me please.

M.I.A.:

Hard-Life: "Hard Toxic (Stupid September Mix)" (no label) - New heights in mashups. Hard-Fi's "Hard To Beat" provides the bottom. "Ray of Light" gives way to "Toxic" on top. But then, remarkably, Hard-Fi's "girl, you've got something I like" pops up as a pre-chorus to the chorus of "Toxic." Very well-integrated, as if Madonna and Britney are members of Hard-Fi. But then, after a sprinkling of "Stupid Girl" (!!!), everything drops out and in comes EWF's "September." Horribly integrated. Makes no sense at all. (Oh and there's a smattering of George Michael in there somewhere.) So is it even a mashup? A megamix? A song? What is this? The schizophrenia of the thing is, well, intoxicating. And did I mention it totally sounds like a peak club moment on Sat. night?

Guillemots: "Who Left The Lights Off Baby" (Fantastic Plastic) - Kinda like if "Getting Better" was a narsty breakup song. But one that twists around a well-worn cliché so many times that it starts to fill the room with splinters.

Black Eyed Peas: "My Humps" (A&M) - Shame on Rock Crit for not placing the most natural hit of the decade in the P&J Top 40. Also check out the hilariously incongruous Arcade Fire mashup "Hump My Tunnel."

The Click Five: "I Think We're Alone Now" (Lava promo) - Nixed from the final full-length probably cuz it was too honest about the band's place in the teen pop continuum.

Supersystem: "Everybody Sings" (Touch & Go) - Disco (or, ok, electroclash) that works via Q&A rather than second person plural commands. And sets I Heart Huckabees to a dance beat.

Roll Deep: "The Avenue" (Relentless) - More grime games with figure and ground.

Tori Alamaze: "Don't Cha'" (Universal) - I never tire of these Sirkian R&B hits where the music says what the lyrics dare not. The Creature Features organ, the woozy backup chipmunks, and the overall spareness of the track let us know that the answer to the title taunt can always be “um, no.” Much more precious than The Pussycat Dolls' whored-up version.

I am resolutely pro-Humps. The funny thing is, it made me overcome my kneejerk BEP hatred, while it just redoubled most's.

Although, without hearing the mashup, I'd wager that Arcade Fire are so humorless they could make "My Humps" unfunny.

I dig Arcade Fire. But it was hilarious to watch my Arcade Fire-worshipping friend listen intently to the opening tinkles of "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)" only to grow ENRAGED seconds later when Fergie starting humping all over it. So the mashup really only "works" insofar as it pisses off Arcade Fire fans.

Okay, in that case, I approve.

I am resolutely pro-Humps. The funny thing is, it made me overcome my kneejerk BEP hatred, while it just redoubled most's.

-- The Reverend, Thursday, November 29, 2007 1:26 AM (7 hours ago) Bookmark Link

yeah, same here. and I liked almost every Fergie solo single! she's funny.

IMO the Legendary KO took a bad song and made it great. I don't get the love for the original, or "Since U Been Gone" for that matter, AT ALL.

er "gold digger" is bad??

gold digger is annoying

but so is legendary ko version

the Legendary KO thing is just like every bad freestyle/amateur remix of a hit song on a million rappers' Soundclick pages, but that little bit of zeitgeist and political content sure did make it catnip for crits. possibly more embarrassing than Christgau's '01 ballot with "Rock The Casbah" on it.

for a massive smash rap single we could do (and i guess have done) a lot worse than "gold digger". the verses are pretty great i think in terms of shit you'd normally here 8 times a day on the radio.

Yeah, I never particularly liked "Gold Digger" but I've got nothing against it really.

"Gold Digger" is great, catchy story, catchy cadence, catchy Jamie Foxx hook

gold digger was the point at which jamie foxx became not okay.

weren't you just defending gold digger? i'm confused

yes i like the song. jamie foxx's involvement.... not soo much. there is not point in talking about this i was just making a joke. he is obv minimally involved at best.

basically i'm saying the whole ray charles thing became a liiiiiiiiiiiitle much on gold digger.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

This was a fantastic year for singles. At the time I put together a top 10 for the first three months of the year alone that was packed with great stuff: "Random," "Since U Been Gone," "Oh My Gosh," "Mr. Brightside," "One Life to Leave" (Out Hud), "I Predict a Riot," "Daft Punk is Playing at My House," "1 Thing," "Let's Get Blown," and "Signs" (the latter two both Snoop). I mean, "Hate It or Love It" was *bubbling under* that list (though it eventually ended up in my year-end top 10). It was kind of a watershed moment, that spring, because I feel like nothing since has lived up to its promise.

Song I've continued to play the most, without question: "Oh."

"How We Do" >>>>>>>>>>>>>> "Hate It Or Love It" (has a song ever been so overrated on account of four great bars?)

i'm w/ rev on this one but i don't think the gap is that large. they're both classics.

"Kerosene."

What I voted for that year:

1 Jennings, Shooter 4th of July Universal South
2 Lee, Rod Dance My Pain Away Club Kingz
3 Lambert, Miranda Kerosene Sony Nashville
4 Bentley, Dierks Lot of Leavin' Left to Do Capitol
5 Partlow, Hope Crazy Summer Nights Virgin
6 DJ Lil Jay What Chew Know About Down the Hill Club Kingz
7 Kentucky Headhunters, The Big Boss Man CbuJ Entertainment
8 Lady Sovereign Random Chocolate Industries
9 O-Zone Dragostea Din Tei UNKNOWN
10 Towers Of London I Lose It TVT

I did overstate the gap, I'm just tired of the one being looked over and the other praised. On the realz, "How We Do" is fucking pristine. It's like "Me & U", where each sound is isolated into its own pocket of space never interacting with anything, which is the coolest effect ever, and "Hate It Or Love It"'s great opening quatrain aside, "How We Do" has better rapping to boot. It's all in the syncopations.

"Helena" 4evereverever but god what a great list.

4evereverever

That's "Diamonds From Sierra Leone", dummy.

haha

It was a toss up between Galang and Stay High, and in the end I chose Stay High by a hair. This is a pretty strong list, but for the life of my I can't figure out who would have nominated "Trapped in the Closet" for anything other than "best music video DVD to watch stoned."

Careful there, wars have been fought.

This would be an ideal forum for Xhuxk to explain why each chapter of "Trapped in the Closet" was counted as a different single! Assuming he hasn't done so already. Is that really how people heard it?

Poor Klosterman had to waste half his ballot!

Back around the time this P&J was published, I counted up all the ballots that voted for different chapters of "Trapped" and calculated that if they'd all been counted as the same song, it would've moved up about ten spots to #14 in the overall poll.

o_O

He's back.

O_o

Damned googley-eyed freaks!

Poor Klosterman had to waste half his ballot!

haha at first I read this and thought, no he chose to only vote for five album, before I realized you meant about "Trapped." (and btw that's a totally fair rule--the songs are all in separate parts.)

Oh well, my nieces would have been happy with the "winner"...two years ago.

"Boulevard of Broken Dreams" was the world's biggest selling song in 2005, it was at number one in India for about three months.

Mike Jones Featuring Slim Thug & Paul Wall: "Still Tippin'" (Swishahouse/Asylum/Warner Bros.) 0
Kanye West: "Diamonds From Sierra Leone" (Roc-A-Fella) 0
Ying Yang Twins: "Wait (The Whisper Song)" (Collipark/TVT) 0
M.I.A.: "Bucky Done Gun" (XL) 0
Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley: "Welcome to Jamrock" (Tuff Gong/Universal) 0
Spoon: "Turn My Camera On" (Merge) 0
The White Stripes: "My Doorbell" (V2) 0
Rihanna: "Pon De Replay" (Def Jam) 0

^ Deserved better.

I don't quite understand the love for Boulevard of Broken Dreams. it's a good song and all, but it's not, like, Diplo good. Since U Been Gone should have won here.

Is Diebold testing '08 election machines dere?

anyone else remember the mashup of 'wonderwall' and 'boulevard of broken dreams'?

My vote for "Hate it or Love It" got eaten. Most of you are probably happy about that.

THE NEW RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE TRIUMPHS AGAIN

no.

xp

Mike Jones Featuring Slim Thug & Paul Wall: "Still Tippin'" (Swishahouse/Asylum/Warner Bros.) 0
Kanye West: "Diamonds From Sierra Leone" (Roc-A-Fella) 0
Ying Yang Twins: "Wait (The Whisper Song)" (Collipark/TVT) 0
M.I.A.: "Bucky Done Gun" (XL) 0
Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley: "Welcome to Jamrock" (Tuff Gong/Universal) 0
Spoon: "Turn My Camera On" (Merge) 0
The White Stripes: "My Doorbell" (V2) 0
Rihanna: "Pon De Replay" (Def Jam) 0

^ Deserved better.

-- The Reverend, Tuesday, 4 December 2007 14:18 (6 hours ago) Bookmark Link

"Boulevard of Broken Dreams" better than all these songs except maybe "Welcome to Jamrock"

as proven by science.

dom in a liking unpopular popular song instead of trendy songs shocker.

though i probably like "boulevard of broken dreams" as much as everything on that list except "still tippin and "wait".

I like "Boulevard" OK but no fucking way is it better than the other rock hits on there. Maybe Franz Ferdinand and the SOaD song I barely remember.

Songs I love:

Kanye West Featuring Jamie Foxx: "Gold Digger" (Roc-A-Fella) 2
Bloc Party: "Banquet" (Vice) 2
Fall Out Boy: "Sugar, We're Goin' Down" (Island) 2
The Killers: "Mr. Brightside" (Island/IDJMG) 2
My Chemical Romance: "Helena (So Long & Goodnight)" (Reprise) 1
Beck: "Girl" (Interscope) 0
Ying Yang Twins: "Wait (The Whisper Song)" (Collipark/TVT) 0
The White Stripes: "My Doorbell" (V2) 0

"Boulevard" is indeed better than that SOaD song you barely remember

yeah that song is awful.