Pazz & Jop 2008: LA Shut Out of Top Ten

The critics apparently aren't feeling LA music this year; it's been twelve years since LA snagged the number one spot on the estimable Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll (for Beck's Odelay). All the city got in the top 20 of the album category this year was a #13 nod for No Age's Nouns, and She & Him managed to eke out a spot at #30 (that's assuming you're willing to consider the duo of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward to be "local").

Be sure to check out regular LA Weekly contributor Jeff Weiss' fantastic essay on mixtapes, as well. My ballot is mysteriously absent from the list, which hopefully isn't some sort of judgment on the legitimacy of my taste. But for those keeping score at home, here's my list, with points divided up to equal 100, as per the poll's rules.

Hercules & Love Affair, Hercules & Love Affair (15)
Matmos, The Supreme Balloon (15)
No Age, Nouns (15)
Juana Molina, Un Dia (10)
Portishead, Third (10)
Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago (10)
Santogold, Top Ranking (10)
David Byrne & Brian Eno, Everything That Will Happen Will Happen Today (5)
Fucked Up, The Chemistry of Common Life (5)
James Blackshaw, Litany of Echoes (5)

(As if anyone cares at this point.)