Think of your favorite movie, or your favorite book, or your favorite painting, or pop song. Think of an argument that reached you through print, or a scene that moved you through the power of celluloid. It is a dead cinch that not so long ago, that scene, or that speech, or that argument or […]
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Critics Poll XXVI — Results
Consensus worries me. When I was seven, a strong consensus developed at summer day camp that I was funny-looking. Nobody wanted to sit with me. This consensus opinion may well have been accurate; current conditions around the orbit of my face suggest to me that it was. But you can see how I might be […]
Critics Poll XXVI — Singles
I used to think of Pitchfork as the critical equivalent of the Outback Steakhouse — not a destination in itself, but a place you might wind up at for reasons beyond your control. There you’d be served up something thick and oily, overseasoned yet somehow bland, and you’d consume it joylessly. At the end of your visit, you’d wonder why […]
Critics Poll XXVI — Miscellaneous Categories
At the time of David Bowie’s death, the poll ballot had been up on the site for a couple of weeks. Many of you had already voted; a few people even used the miscellaneous section to register disappointment with Blackstar. Once Bowie was with us no longer, that stopped — although I did get a […]
Critics Poll XXVI — My Ballot
KRS-ONE once said that he didn’t understand how a person who didn’t know hip-hop could call himself an American. This is the sort of inflammatory (not to mention self-serving) rhetoric we all expect from the Teacher, but I expect you know what he means, and you might even agree. Hip-hop is American culture. If we didn’t have hip-hop, […]
Critics Poll XXVI — My ballot, part II
Single of the Year 1. Ezra Furman — “Lousy Connection” 2. Chvrches — “Clearest Blue” 3. Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment — “Sunday Candy” 4. Tame Impala — “Cause I’m A Man” 5. The Decemberists — “Make You Better” 6. Drake — “Hotline Bling” 7. Kendrick Lamar — “King Kunta” 8. Natalia Lafourcade — […]
Conspiracy!
Although his killing made the news and was officially acknowledged by the President, I’d wager most Americans don’t know who Ahmad al-Awlaki was. Members of our government sure did, though: before al-Awlaki’s death by drone strike and maybe even after, he was counted among the most dangerous people in the world. The San Bernardino mass […]
No, Mr. Trump — thousands of Muslims did not celebrate in the Jersey City streets on 9/11
ISIS wants to create enmity between Muslims and non-Muslims. That’s their game. Donald Trump’s game turns out to be pretty damned similar. While it pains me to draw a comparison between the frontrunner of a major American party and a bunch of homicidal thugs, it is Mr. Trump himself who keeps forcing the issue. It […]
Critics Poll XXII — Singles
Let’s get the foregone conclusion over with first: 1. Adele — “Rolling In The Deep” (284) There was a moment in December when I thought “Video Games” would win, but that was before we found out Lana Del Rey was a Nazi war criminal or something. Just as it was in the world outside the […]
Critics Poll 22
The Critics Poll is back for the 22nd time. You are invited to participate. As always, fill out as much or as little as you want. Please include a name and where you’re from. I like to know! Press the “Hit me!” button on the bottom when you’re done. Deadline for voting: February 3. I’ll […]