You don't even make the list

The results from Idoloator's Jackin' Pop -- the massive "year's best" meta-poll of music critics (specifically, these ones), intended as an alternative to the Village Voice's venerable Pazz and Jop in the post-Christgau era -- are now up. David is right, the ability to sort the results by demographic is incredibly entertaining, as is the "Enthusiasm 40" -- like Pazz and Jop, Jackin' Pop is a weighted poll, and critics can give more weight to some choices than others.

Here's the top ten albums overall:

1. TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain (1338 points in 125 votes)
2. Ghostface Killah - Fishscale (1247 points in 118 votes)
3. The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls in America (1073 points in 95 votes)
4. Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury (1057 points in 102 votes)
5. Joanna Newsom - Ys (883 points in 84 votes)
6. Bob Dylan - Modern Times (749 points in 70 votes)
7. Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere (623 points in 61 votes)
8. The Knife - Silent Shout (607 points in 56 votes)
9. Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (588 points in 58 votes)
10. Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit (586 points in 54 votes)

I remain thoroughly transfixed by #1 (I forced Ethan I. to listen to "A Method" when he came over before Xmas) -- it might be the most compelling indie rock album I've heard since Funeral, and I really need to blog about it at length at some point.

I've heard some killing individual cuts from #2, #3, and #4, but haven't gotten around to obtaining the albums yet, though I'm most excited about #3, which from the sounds of it is a fun record. And they have the Anti-Social Music connection, which is very cool.

Much respect for #5, the unlikeliest indie rock darling ever. You would think this record would be right up my alley. I love harp -- in fact a few years ago, I joked with my friend Travis that harp was going to be the next big thing in indie rock. I love long-form through-composed songs. I love Steve Albini's engineering skills, and Van Dyke Park's orchestrations are to die for. Newsome's quirky, unpredictable, fully-committed vocals keep things from getting unbearably twee. (Sometimes.) But this record does absolutely nothing for me. While I'm very appreciative of the way Newsome has broadened the scope of the musical conversation, especially online, I don't want to hear any of her many supporters use the word "pretentious" to disparage anyone ever again. Not Tori Amos, not Meatloaf, not Yes, not even Sting. No, not even when he grabs for the damn lute. I mean it, now.

I'm not a Dylan-hater, but I have to confess I have very little interest in #6.

#7 is better than the anti-Gnarls backlash would have you believe, but contra Klosterman's "auteur" idiocy, many of the weaker tracks survive purely on the strength of Cee-Lo's vocals.

#8 -- I evidently slept on this band this year. I've barely heard of them, and have no idea what they're about.

I like Neko better as a New Pornographer, but #9 proves she does what she does better than just about anyone else. And if we're comparing occasionally over-precious Renaissance Faire-styl'd lyricis, I'll take Neko over Joanna anytime.

Belle & Sebastian is a band I have no particular objection to, but find it hard to get excited about, and nothing I've heard from #10 has done much to change my mind on that score.

On the jazz tip, Ornette's Sound Grammar comes in at #45, just behind Thom Yorke and just ahead of "Midlake," whatever the hell that is. I must confess that I still have not heard Ornette's new joint -- I'd been expecting Santa to help me rectify this, but evidently Sound Grammar Records don't have great distribution to the Arctic Circle. And, as previously noted, Vancouver's record shop situation has gotten dire. But now that I'm back in NY, I'll probably just order online.

Also, if you're not totally listed out by now, Francis Davis, who's still at the Voice -- they apparently haven't gotten around to firing their entire music staff yet -- has began an ambitious Jazz Critic's Poll. Davis weighs in on the results here.