PHOENIX FAVES I: Clipse
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The most amazing thing about the Phoenix’s first annual music critics’ poll is that almost everyone – almost! – somehow kept their list to 10. Having done these for 12 years (whether anyone asked for ‘em or not), I’ve almost never to keep a top 10 list under a dozen. My poor editors will vouch for this. I’d pat myself for coloring inside the lines this year, but I’m cheating: my list-making compulsions have already been satiated by the list of 100 singles we’ve got waiting to be uploaded for a blog post in a few hours. And yes, that one’s a Top-100 list that as of now is hovering around, oh, 127 tracks. Sigh. Anyone wanna help me cut it?What small, private lists like this remind us is that big, honking institutional lists are largely fictions, mirages of a consensus that no longer exists, if it ever really did in the first place. And even within their personal lists, you’ll generally find critics in Whitman mode -- contradicting themselves, containing multitudes. Feel free to post your own top 10 (or 100) in the comments section: beats waiting for someone to invite you to vote in Pazz and Jop.
-Carly Carioli
Jeff BREEZE
1. Various, THE STUFF THAT DREAMS ARE MADE OF (Yazoo)
2. The Red Krayola, INTRODUCTION (Drag City)
3. Emily Haynes and the Soft Skeleton, KNIVES DON’T HAVE YOUR BACK (Last Gang)
4. Charles Mingus, MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MONTEREY, 1965 NOT HEARD . . . PLAYED IN ITS ENTIRETY, AT UCLA (Sunnyside/Sue Mingus Music)
5. Seekonk, PINKWOOD (North East Indie/Tongue Master)
6. Arnold Dreyblatt and the Orchestra of Excited Strings, LIVE AT FEDERAL HALL NATIONAL MEMORIAL 1981 (Table of the Elements)
7. MV and EE with the Bummer Road, MOTHER OF THOUSANDS (Time-Lag)
8. Helms, SECRET DOORS (Plants and Brains/History Major)
9. Sparks, HELLO YOUNG LOVERS (In the Red)
10. Tara Jane O’Neil, IN CIRCLES (1/4 Stick/Touch & Go)
Franklin BRUNO
1. Mecca Normal, THE OBSERVER (Kill Rock Stars)
2. Scritti Politti, WHITE BREAD BLACK BEER (Nonesuch)
3. Ornette Coleman, SOUND GRAMMAR (Sound Grammar)
4. Kelis, KELIS WAS HERE (La Face)
5. Mission of Burma, THE OBLITERATI (Matador)
6. Jason Moran, ARTIST IN RESIDENCE (Blue Note)
7. Erase Errata, NIGHTLIFE (Kill Rock Stars)
8. De La Soul, THE IMPOSSIBLE MISSION MIXTAPE (AOI)
9. Wussy, FUNERAL DRESS (Shake It)
10. Tom Verlaine, SONGS AND OTHER THINGS (Thrill Jockey)
Matthew M. BURKE
1. Todd Woodward, PARADISE (Independent)
2. Slaine, THE WHITE MAN IS THE DEVIL VOL. 2 (Leedz Edutainment)
3. Crazy L, THE MADHOUSE (Independent)
4. Daniel Laurent, THE SUPPRESSION (Self Made Entertainment)
5. The Foundation Movement, GREATEST HITS (Independent)
6. Termanology, HOOD POLITICS IV: SHOW AND PROVE (Brick/ST Records)
7. Mighty Mystic, WAKE UP THE WORLD, THE MIXTAPE VOL. 2 (Split2nd Entertainment)
8. J Dilla, THE SHINING (BBE)
9. Method Man, 4:21… THE DAY AFTER (Def Jam)|10. Ill Bill, ILL BILL IS THE FUTURE VOL. 2 (Uncle Howie Records)
Carly CARIOLI
1. Justin Timberlake, FUTURESEX/LOVESOUNDS (Jive)
2. Xasthur, SUBLIMINAL GENOCIDE (Hydrahead)
3. Various, HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL SOUNDTRACK (Disney)
4. Clipse, HELL HATH NO FURY (Startrak)
5. Gnarls Barkley, ST. ELSEWHERE (Downtown)
6. Diplo, MAD DECENT RADIO VOL. 1 (Money Studies)
7. Certified Bananas, SPRANG (internets)
8. Converge, NO HEROES (Epitaph)
9. Spank Rock, YOYOYOYOYO (Big Dada)
10. Mastodon, BLOOD MOUNTAIN (Reprise)
