The 13th Annual Expert Witness Poll: Results

Our first repeat albums champion!

There are a lot of year-end polls these days, the biggest being friendly competition Glenn Boothe’s Village Voice Pazz & Jop Rip-Off, which is around seven times bigger than ours, though like ours, demographically limited. The most pazz-and-joppy is the Uproxx Music Critics Poll, which does a much better job at getting ballots from people of color (our lower bound is determined by whether the pollrunner can get his spouse to vote, which this year he didn’t), although hardly anyone middle-aged-and-up participates: there are more than two critics who loved Robert Forster’s album, kids. With an outspoken jazz bloc, we do a bit better than the VVP&J at getting African-American artists into high placements, as well as African artists into middling positions, but we certainly have our blind spots: it’s not a Beyoncé year, so you’ll have to scroll way down to find any R&B.

There was no doubt that this time we’d crown our first two-time album of the year winner (a woman of color, as it happens, though she almost never discussed as such); the only question was how high up the all-time list Guts would get. By points per album voter—of whom there were 49 (excluding one singles-only diehard), many of whose ballots were posted in our voting thread—it ended up fifth in the since-2011 history of the poll, behind Attica!, Modern Vampires of the City, We Got It from Here… Thank You for Your Service, and Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit. Singles was much more closely fought, with the South African dance clique, myself included, using our star votes tactically; it wasn’t enough.

Taking singles seriously is a hallmark of our poll; EPs too, where not only did we identify the correct winner by a healthy margin, we managed to have all of our top ten under 25 minutes for once. I tried a live artist category this year, with results that are fun-ish and maybe accurate after I made a late executive decision for number of votes to take priority over my esoteric fractional point system. I don’t think results would vary too much from year to year, so I think I’ll reserve the fourth category for a rotating question. (Next year: an Artist of the 21st Century poll. Get thinking.) Nevertheless, albums gets the most attention, and I’m glad the results have thrown up some things I missed (Underscores!) as well as stuff you might have missed if you didn’t read this newsletter. That mostly means, again, African music and populist jazz. True, James Brandon Lewis and Jason Moran finished one and two in the Francis Davis Jazz Poll, but Isach Skeidsvoll only got two votes in that tally, as it happens from me and our Norwegian correspondent Chris Monsen. If the ultimate achievement of this poll is to bring attention to Scandinavians playing piano and horns in the style of South African exiles from the apartheid era, well, at least there is a point.

ALBUMS

Yes, it’s the Target Edition, sorry.

1. Olivia Rodrigo: Guts (433/29/30)
2. Wednesday: Rat Saw God (208/18/20)
3. 100 Gecs: 10,000 Gecs (156/15/16)
4. JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown: Scaring the Hoes (129/13/20)
5. Robert Forster: The Candle and the Flame (112/11/17)
6. Boygenius: The Record (107/10/20)
7. James Brandon Lewis: For Mahalia, with Love/These Are Soulful Days (99/8/25)
8. Speedy Ortiz: Rabbit Rabbit (95/10/18)
9. Gina Birch: I Play My Bass Loud (89/11/20)
10. Withered Hand: How to Love (80/6/22)
11. Jason Moran: From the Dancehall to the Battlefield (78/6/20)
12. Lankum: False Lankum (77/7/20)
13. Ratboys: The Window (75/8/20)
14. Zach Bryan: Zach Bryan (74/8/15)
15. Lori McKenna: 1988 (72/8/14)
16. Isach Skeidsvoll: Dance to Summon (69/6/18)
17. Caroline Polachek: Desire, I Want to Turn into You (61/6/11)
18. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit: Weathervanes (60/4/30)
19. Ashley McBryde: The Devil I Know (59/8/10)
20. Billy Woods & Kenny Segal: Maps (56/7/13)
21. Yo La Tengo: This Stupid World (55/7/10)
22. Allison Russell: The Returner (44/5/10)
23. Anohni and the Johnsons: My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross (43/3/20)
24. Taj Mahal: Savoy (42/5/10)
25. Underscores: Wallsocket (40/2/30)
26. The Tubs: Dead Meat (40/4/10)
27. Buck 65: Super Dope (40/5/10)
28=. Felo Le Tee & Mellow & Sleazy: The III Wise Men (39/4/15)
28=. Tyler Childers: Rustin’ in the Rain (39/4/15)
30. Mahlathini & the Mahotella Queens: Music Inferno: The Indestructible Beat Tour 1988-89 (37/2/30)
31. Aluna: Mycelium (35/2/27)
32. Lana Del Rey: Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd (35/3/15)
33. Romy: Mid Air (35/4/15)
34. Jaimie Branch: Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((World War)) (33/3/13)
35. Jamila Woods: Water Made Us (32/5/10)
36=. Marina Sena: Vício Inerente (31/3/13)
36=. Victoria Monét: Jaguar II (31/3/13)
38. Noname: Sundial (31/4/11)
39. Everything But the Girl: Fuse (30/3/10)
40. Ice Spice: Like..? (Deluxe) (28/2/20)
41. CMAT: Crazymad, for Me (28/3/10)
42. Matana Roberts: Coin Coin Chapter Five: In the Garden (28/3/13)
43. Allen Lowe & the Constant Sorrow Orchestra: America: The Rough Cut (27/2/20)
44. Water from Your Eyes: Everyone’s Crushed (27/4/10)
45. Lewis Capaldi: Broken by Desire to Be Heavenly Sent (25/2/16)
46=. Margo Price: Strays (25/3/10)
46=. Young Fathers: Heavy Heavy (25/3/10)
48. Filipe Catto: Belezas São Coisas Acesas por Dentro (24/2/13)
49. Rodrigo Amado The Bridge: Beyond the Margins (24/2/14)
50. Jeff Rosenstock: Hellmode (23/2/14)
51=. A. Savage: Several Songs About Fire (23/3/10)
51=. Palehound: Eye on the Bat (23/3/10)
53=. Buck 65: Punk Rock B-Boy (22/2/12)
53=. Home Is Where: The Whaler (22/2/12)
55=. Megan Moroney: Lucky (20/2/10)
55=. PJ Harvey: I Inside the Old Year Dying (20/2/10)
55=. The New Pornographers: Continue as a Guest (20/2/10)
58. Lydia Loveless: Nothing’s Gonna Stand in My Way Again (20/3/10)
59. Danny Brown: Quaranta (20/4/5)
60. Doja Cat: Scarlet (18/2/10)
61. Bounaly: Dimanche à Bamako (17/2/10)
62=. Iris DeMent: Workin’ on a World (16/2/10)
62=. The Feelies: Some Kinda Love: Performing the Music of the Velvet Underground (16/2/10)
64=. Brandy Clark: Brandy Clark (15/2/10)
64=. Corinne Bailey Rae: Black Rainbows (15/2/10)
64=. DJ Ws da Igrejinha: Caça Fantasma, Vol. 1 (15/2/10)
64=. James Brandon Lewis: Eye of I (15/2/10)
64=. Joanna Sternberg: I’ve Got Me (15/2/10)
64=. Liv.e: Girl in the Half Pearl (15/2/10)
64=. Mitski: The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We (15/2/10)
64=. Screaming Females: Desire Pathway (15/2/10)
64=. The Chemical Brothers: For That Beautiful Feeling (15/2/10)
73. Grupo Frontera: El Comienzo (14/2/9)
74. Javier Red’s Imaginary Converter: Life & Umbrella (12/2/7)
75. Quasi: Breaking the Balls of History (11/2/6)
76=. Corook: Serious Person (Part 1) (10/2/5)
76=. Jessie Ware: That! Feels Good! (10/2/5)

SINGLES

Star votes are an extra half a point. Farruggia tiebreaking rules apply.

1. Olivia Rodrigo: “Bad Idea Right?” (11 votes/2 star votes)
2. Sho Madjozi: “Chalé” (8/5)
3. Wednesday: “Chosen to Deserve” (5/2)
4. Boygenius: “Not Strong Enough” (6)
5. PinkPantheress & Ice Spice: “Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2” (5)
6. 100 Gecs: “Dumbest Girl Alive” (5)
7. Noname: “Namesake” (3/2)
8. NewJeans: “Super Shy” (3/1)
9=. Big Thief: “Vampire Empire” (3)
9=. Bizarrap & Shakira: “Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” (3)
9=. Skrillex & Nai Barghouti: “Xena” (3)
9=. That Mexican OT, Drodi, Paul Wall: “Johnny Dang” (3)
13. Corook & Olivia Barton: “If I Were a Fish” (3
14. Young Fathers: “I Saw” (3)
15. Lana Del Rey: “A&W” (3)
16. Tyler Childers: “In Your Love” (3)
17. Zach Bryan & Kacey Musgraves: “I Remember Everything” (3)
18. 100 Gecs: “Hollywood Baby” (3)
19. Olivia Rodrigo: “Vampire” (3)
20=. Big Thief: “Born for Loving You” (2/1)
20=. Cristale, TeeZandos, Fumez the Engineer: “Plugged In” (2/1)
22. Tamara Stewart: “The Orphan” (2/1)

Also receiving two votes:

Bully: “Hard to Love”
Dlala Thukzin, Zaba, Sykes: “iPlan”
Iris DeMent: “Workin’ on a World”
Jamila Woods & Duendita: “Tiny Garden”
Jelly Roll: “Need a Favor”
Jess Williamson: “Hunter”
Jiraya Uai & MC Tarapi: “Hoje Tem Rodeio, Baile De Favela”
Megan Moroney: “Tennessee Orange”
Mr Eazi: “Werser”
Olivia Rodrigo: “Get Him Back!”
Paramore & Remi Wolf: “You First”
Ratboys: “The Window”
Robert Finley: “Miss Kitty”
That Chick Angel, CasaDi, Steve Terrell: “One Margarita (The Margarita Song)”
Yo La Tengo: “Sinatra Drive Breakdown”

EPS/MINI-ALBUMS

1. NewJeans: Get Up (24 points/11 votes)
2. Corook: Serious Person (Part 1) (15/6)
3. Emperor X: Suggested Improvements to Transportation Infrastructure in the Northeast Corridor (10/3)
4. Ice Spice: Like..? (8/5)
5. Hemlocke Springs: Going...Going...Gone! (6/20)
6. JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown: Scaring the Hoes: DLC Pack (5/2)
7. Nia Archives: Sunrise Bang Ur Head Against Tha Wall (4/3)
8=. Corook: Serious Person (Part 2) (3/2)
8=. Kelsea Ballerini: Rolling Up the Welcome Mat (3/2)
10=. Girl Scout: Real Life Human Garbage (2/2)
10=. Zach Bryan: Boys of Faith (2/2)

LIVE ARTISTS

1. Big Thief (4 votes/0.70 points)
2=. Todd Snider (2/1.17)
2=. Wussy/Wussy Duo (2/1.17)
4. Wednesday (2/0.83)
5. Speedy Ortiz (2/0.67)
6. Lucinda Williams (2/0.61)
7. The Mountain Goats (2/0.45)
8. Liz Phair (2/0.37)
9. Low Cut Connie (2/0.35)
10. Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit (2/0.28)

Finally, for the freaks and the sickos, here’s a poorly formatted list of all albums, singles, EPs, and live artists who received one vote.