The 14th Annual Expert Witness Poll: Results

Consensus, but over what?

Good year for women staring seriously out from their album covers.

After fourteen years, the best year-end poll in music criticism, or so I claim without evidence other than reminding you I reliably get it out punctually, has evolved to include not only refugees from Robert Christgau’s comment section but practicing critics, Substack wags, and various friends and lovers I’ve cajoled into sending me a ballot. While the results aren’t statistically representative of the opinions of anybody other than the people who voted in it, once you scroll down a bit they do give a sense of the breadth of good music in the world: South African gqom or is it 3-step; K-pop from the margins and right down the middle; all manner of sacred and profane Brazilian music; Nordijazz weird and weirder; and Slut SZN. The one clear weakness relative to American consumption is the lack of Spanish-language music (Hinds notwithstanding); I’ll think about what gerrymandering I can do to remedy this (let a year of Bzrp Sessions count as an EP maybe.)

Maybe the most surprising fact about this year’s top ten albums was not that they were by acts led by women or non-binary artists, it’s that I didn’t notice this until voter Boris Palameta pointed it out to me. As recently as 2017, I wondered if male domination of poll results (not to mention my own ballot) reflected sexism at the individual or the industry level, and then equality just happened. If other approximations of consensus, like Album of the Year’s aggregate, aren’t quite as female (some publications still really love those all-male British and Irish rock bands), parity at least isn’t far. This isn’t to wave a big “SEXISM IS OVER” banner, just to express relief that this particular battle is winnable even as it looks like we’re in for the long haul in more consequential battles than year-end music lists. Don’t worry boys, at least NLE Choppa won a category.

Okay, one more reason this poll is good. The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess being near or at the top of a bumper crop of albums by pop women (depending on how you split credit between Charli and her marketing team) was one of the stories of the music year. (Others: folkies are back and some of them are good; you can often make out the lyrics of songs again, and some people are even listening to them; the country music culture war metastasized and I don’t intend to discuss this further until Countrypop Life 3.) Though Midwest Princess was a mere 36th on my personal list, it had to be much higher on any list of the albums people I know loved in 2024, so I trotted out and emphasized the hoary old year-of-impact rule to encourage its lovers to stump for it. It was one of four possible winners I anticipated—the eventual top four, as it happened—in a year with weak consensus at the very top among my only mildly Bratty buddies. While one of said folkies won albums (with the lowest ever points per voter for a winner), “Good Luck, Babe!” ran away with singles in the most dominant victory in the history of that category, beating the old record for the number of votes, held by “Call Me Maybe” and Wussy’s “Teenage Wasteland”, by three (and both of those previous highs happened in years with larger electorates.) Of course, it’s too early to speculate about how high “Good Luck, Babe!” might end on all-time lists, except maybe it isn’t.

Anyway, no one wants a 5000 word year-in-review essay from me here (you’ve got Chuck E. for that), so to the results.

ALBUMS

1. Adrianne Lenker: Bright Future (278 points/23 votes/highest points given 20)
2. The Paranoid Style: The Interrogator (223/18/30)
3. Beyoncé: Cowboy Carter (214/18/30)
4. Chappell Roan: The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (213/16/20)*
5. Hurray for the Riff Raff: The Past Is Still Alive (149/11/30)
6. Sabrina Carpenter: Short n’ Sweet (141/11/30)
7. Waxahatchee: Tigers Blood (138/17/15)
8. Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft (132/12/17)
9. Charli XCX: Brat (130/12/20)
10. Doechii: Alligator Bites Never Heal (127/12/17)
11. Wussy: Cincinnati Ohio (123/11/20)
12. Tucker Zimmerman: Dance of Love (119/11/16)
13. Kendrick Lamar: GNX (103/11/16)
14. Rosie Tucker: Utopia Now! (75/8/13)
15. Bad Moves: Wearing Out the Refrain (70/7/19)
16. LL Cool J: The Force (67/8/12)
17. Kathryn Williams & Withered Hand: Willson Williams (65/5/30)
18. Vampire Weekend: Only God Was Above Us (64/7/17)
19. Corb Lund: El Viejo (57/4/30)
20. Megan Moroney: Am I Okay? (57/7/15)
21. MJ Lenderman: Manning Fireworks (56/6/20)
22. Buck 65, Jel, Doseone: North American Adonis (50/3/30)
23. Carly Pearce: Hummingbird (49/6/10)
24. Amyl and the Sniffers: Cartoon Darkness (48/5/13)
25. Allen Lowe & the Constant Sorrow Orchestra: Louis Armstrong’s America (40/3/18)
26. Amy Rigby: Hang in There with Me (40/4/15)
27. Dlala Thukzin: Finally Famous Too (38/4/15)
28. Father John Misty: Mahashmashana (35/2/25)
29. Sierra Ferrell: Trail of Flowers (35/3/17)
30. Amaro Freitas: Y’Y (35/4/10)
31. Rosali: Bite Down (34/2/20)
32=. Kim Deal: Nobody Loves You More (32/4/10)
32=. Mdou Moctar: Funeral for Justice (32/4/10)
34. Cassandra Jenkins: My Light, My Destroyer (31/2/25)
35. Manu Chao: Viva Tu (30/2/20)
36. Fox Green: Light Over Darkness (30/4/10)
37. Gillian Welch & David Rawlings: Woodland (29/2/19)
38. Miranda Lambert: Postcards from Texas (27/3/10)
39. Heems & Lapgan: Lafandar (27/3/12)
40. Sheer Mag: Playing Favorites (26/4/10)
41. Nick Lowe: Indoor Safari (25/2/15)
42=. Eirik Hegdal Ekletisk Samband: Turnchest (25/3/10)
42=. Kampire Presents: A Dancefloor in Ndola (25/3/10)
42=. Sisso & Maiko: Singeli Ya Maajabu (25/3/10)
42=. Tierra Whack: World Wide Whack (25/3/10)
46. Cindy Lee: Diamond Jubilee (24/2/14)
47. Rosé: Rosie (23/2/15)
48. Darius Jones: Legend of e’Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye) (23/3/10)
49=. Arooj Aftab: Night Reign (21/2/11)
49=. The Cure: Songs of a Lost World (21/2/11)
51=. Gui Amabis: Contrapangeia (20/2/10)
51=. Luizinho do Jêje, Marcelo Galter, Sylvio Fraga: Mocofaia (20/2/10)
51=. Mary Halvorson: Cloudward (20/2/10)
51=. Thalin, Cravinhos and VCR Slim: Maria Esmeralda (20/2/10)
51=. The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis (20/2/10)
51=. Unholy Modal Rounders: Unholier Than Thou: 7/7/77 (Live) (20/2/10)
51=. ØKSE (20/2/10)
59. Kate Nash: 9 Sad Symphonies (20/2/12)
60. Serengeti: Kenny Dennis IV (20/2/15)
61. Liquid Mike: Paul Bunyan’s Slingshot (19/2/10)
62. Takkak Takkak (19/2/14)
63. David Murray Quartet: Francesca (17/2/10)
64. Nilüfer Yanya: My Method Actor (16/2/8)
65=. Phelimuncasi & Metal Preyers: Izigqinamba (16/2/10)
65=. [Ahmed]: Giant Beauty (16/2/10)
67. Nia Archives: Silence Is Loud (16/2/11)
68. Jeff Parker ETA IVtet: The Way Out of Easy (15/2/9)
69=. Chief Keef: Almighty So 2 (15/2/10)
69=. Chris Smither: All About the Bones (15/2/10)
69=. Dwight Yoakam: Brighter Days (15/2/10)
69=. Kacey Musgraves: Deeper Well (15/2/10)
69=. Mannequin Pussy: I Got Heaven (15/2/10)
69=. Van Morrison: Live at Orangefield (15/2/10)
75. Thomas Anderson: Hello, I’m from the Future (15/3/5)
76. Mary Timony: Untame the Tiger (14/2/9)
77. Eminem: The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) (12/2/7)
78. Confidence Man: 3am (La La La) (11/2/6)
79=. Dj Anderson do Paraíso: Queridão (10/2/5)
79=. Hinds: Viva Hinds (10/2/5)
79=. Jlin: Akoma (10/2/5)

*Includes one vote carried over from 2023.

SINGLES

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

1. Chappell Roan: “Good Luck, Babe!” (22 votes/4 star votes)
2. Sabrina Carpenter: “Please Please Please” (11/1)
3. Rosie Tucker: “All My Exes Live in Vortexes” (8/3)
4. Waxahatchee, MJ Lenderman: “Right Back to It” (8/2)
5. Billie Eilish: “Birds of a Feather” (6/3)
6. Kendrick Lamar: “Not Like Us” (6/1)
7. Olivia Rodrigo: “So American” (6/1)
8. Shaboozey: “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” (5/2)
9. Rosé, Bruno Mars: “Apt.” (6)
10. Doechii: “Denial Is a River” (6)
11. Billie Eilish: “Lunch” (6)
12. Sabrina Carpenter: “Espresso” (6)
13. Allie X: “Off with Her Tits” (5)
14. MJ Lenderman: “Wristwatch” (5)
15. Charli XCX, Lorde: “Girl, So Confusing” (5)
16. Atmos Blaq: “Mfana Wase Dobsi” (4/1)
17. Chappell Roan: “Pink Pony Club” (4/1)
18. NLE Choppa, Carey Washington: “Slut Me Out 3” (4)
19. Beyoncé: “Ya Ya” (4)
20. Kabin Crew, Lisdoonvarna Crew: “The Spark” (3/1)
21. Bad Moves: “Hallelujah” (3/1)
22. Future, Metro Boomin, Kendrick Lamar: “Like That” (2/2)
23. Jade: “Angel of My Dreams” (3)
24. Megan Moroney: “Miss Universe” (3)
25. Kendrick Lamar: “Reincarnated” (3)
26. Charli XCX: “Von Dutch” (3)
27. Beyoncé: “Texas Hold ’em” (3)
28. ILLIT: “Magnetic” (2/1)
29. Corb Lund: “Out on a Win” (2 /1)

Also receiving two votes:

Adrianne Lenker: “Sadness as a Gift”
Chappell Roan: “Hot to Go!”
Doechii: “Nissan Altima”
Ella Langley, Riley Green: “You Look Like You Love Me”
Father John Misty: “Screamland”
Gigi Perez: “Sailor Song”
Kathryn Williams, Withered Hand: “Grace”
Kendrick Lamar: “Euphoria”
LL Cool J, Saweetie: “Proclivities”
MJ Lenderman: “She’s Leaving You”
Pet Shop Boys: “Why Am I Dancing?”
Sabrina Carpenter: “Taste”
Tinashe: “Nasty” (including one vote for the Match My Tweak remix)
Tyler, the Creator, GloRilla, Sexyy Red, Lil Wayne: “Sticky”

EPS/MINI ALBUMS

1. NLE Choppa: Slut SZN (16/4)
2. Wussy Duo: Cellar Door (8/6)
3. Ruby Bell: Greatest Hits (8/3)
4=. Margaret Glaspy: The Sun Doesn’t Think (7/4)
4=. Red Velvet: Cosmic (7/4)
6. Girl Scout: Headache (7/3)
7. Wonder Women of Country: Willis, Carper, Leigh (6/3)
8=. Olivia Rodrigo: Guts: Spilled/The Secret Tracks (6/2)
8=. Shakes & Les: Funk Series (6/2)
10=. A. Savage: The Loft Sessions (5/3)
10=. Jeffrey Lewis: Ghosterbusters (5/3)

Also receiving two votes:

Adrianne Lenker: I Won’t Let Go of Your Hand
Bon Iver: Sable
Carsie Blanton: The Red Album
Doja Cat: Scarlet 2 Claude
Greg Mendez: First Time/Alone
Man/Woman/Chainsaw: Eazy Peazy
NMIXX: Fe3O4: Break
Tinashe: Quantum Baby
Wilco: Hot Sun Cool Shroud
Wussy: The Great Divide

Artists of the Century will appear in annoying countdown format in a separate post in a few days.

Finally, for transparency, all the albums, singles, and EPs that got one vote are listed on the following non-proofread page that apparently dozens of you will read. Good for you!