www.JAIMEVILLE.com

This year I was honored to be asked to contribute to the annual Village Voice critics’ poll. Here’s the info and the results.

Pazz & Jop 2007
35th Annual Village Voice Critics’ Poll

• the winners
• the critics
• my ballot

About Pazz + Jop:
The Pazz & Jop critics’ poll is a highly influential poll of music critics run by The Village Voice newspaper. It is compiled every year from the top ten lists of hundreds of music critics (roughly 800 in the 2004 poll). Albums have been voted upon every year since 1974 (voting also took place in 1971), and votes for singles have been tabulated since 1979.
Since the poll’s inception, critics have been invited to award their ten albums a total of 100 points, with each album receiving a maximum of 30 points and a minimum of 5. Lists submitted without points are given 10 points per album by the poll’s editors. Singles lists have always been unweighted.
Music critic Robert Christgau was in charge of the poll for 33 years, and wrote an essay every year that accompanied and framed the list. Christgau was dismissed from the Village Voice in August 2006, but the paper intends to continue the feature. Christgau continues to submit his Top Ten list and to encourage other eligible critics to do so.
The poll was jokingly given the spoonerism name “Pazz & Jop” rather than the more obvious “Jazz & Pop” because, inevitably, some detractor will claim that a nominated work is ineligible or undeserving on the grounds that it isn’t “really” jazz or pop. Since there are no formal definitions for the made-up terms “pazz” and “jop”, voters will concentrate on the actual merits of a work rather than arguing over whether it fits into this or that genre.

• Village Voice - website

Vince Neil
7:30 p.m. Thursday, January 17. Bottleneck Blues Bar at the Ameristar Casino, 1260 South Main Street, St. Charles.
By Jaime Lees
Published: January 16, 2008

Vince Neil probably doesn’t care that I’ve decided he’s the Third Hottest Blond Guy in a Hair Metal Band from 1987 (third to Bret Michaels and Sebastian Bach, duh), but he does still seem to care about bringing the rock. As lead singer of the mighty Mötley Crüe, Neil has faced some hard times — like the death of spandex — some of which have hopefully prepared him for playing the has-been casino circuit. He may seem like a bloated shell of a reality-television whore now, but don’t forget that this is one of the men behind the classic Crüe albums (i.e., Too Fast For Love, Shout at the Devil, Girls, Girls, Girls). A true star, Neil will face anything (even his own mortification) to make ya feel alright.

• article link
• Vince Neil - website

Bare Is My Mind?
Bobby Bare Jr. covers up with his ace Pixies and Breeders tribute act.
By Jaime Lees
Published: January 2, 2008

Call him what you will — Charles Thompson, Black Francis or Frank Black, but as the frontman of the Pixies, ol’ what’s-his-name deserves a little praise. From 1985 to 1993 Black pulled lead singing and songwriting duties for America’s preeminent alternative band — and is credited with bringing killer caterwauls, magnetic guitar hooks and paranoid, UFO-themed lyrics to the masses. The Pixies reigned over college radio and youth culture for a time, and the bands that followed in its sonic wake still hail the power of the quartet as a revelation. (Most famously, its loud/quiet/loud dynamic was claimed to be the sound inspiration for a blue-eyed, blond-haired guy fronting some band called Nirvana.)

Nashville singer-songwriter Bobby Bare Jr. counts himself among the Pixies’ many fans. As the son of country musician Bobby Bare, he grew up around music and has the distinction of receiving a Grammy nomination at the age of five. First fronting the rock band Bare Jr. — and now as a solo artist churning out stripped-down, bittersweet compositions that push the envelope of alt-country — Bare has found genuine success throughout his entire career.

But for now, Bare has put all solo and future plans on pause in order to squeeze one more project into his busy schedule: His very own Pixies cover band, Is She Weird, Is She White. (Appropriately, it’s currently touring with a Guided By Voices cover band, the Teenage FBI.) Bare’s Pixies covers can sound much different than the originals, often changing the tempo or the tone of the songs — making these interpretations insightful, if not asking the audience to listen again with fresh ears.

Which begs the question: Why would Bare, a renowned solo artist and pedigreed musician, start a cover band? That scene is usually a schlocky, dirty world populated by balding has-beens and portly never-beens. Why would Bare take the chance of sullying his good name — and embrace another artist’s music?

“Because the Pixies fuckin’ rock!” Bare explains, enthralled.

And indeed, his love of Black Francis is well-documented. The lyrics to “Dig Down,” a song found on Bare’s first solo album, Young Criminals’ Starvation League, include Francis in an exalted list of historical rock icons. Bare sings about all of the distinguished dudes who have used up all the soul and original ideas in the world of rock & roll, listing Francis in a pantheon of recognized legends including Pete Townshend, Jimi Hendrix, Chuck Berry and the Beatles.

When we catch up with Mr. Bare via phone, he seems honest and charmingly childlike, as though he can’t contain any emotion — be it excitement or insecurity. He comes off as a hyperactive kid on a sugar high when talking about music that thrills him, and he’s eager to relay fanboy stories of Frank Black and the Pixies (like a fantastic, “freaked out” moment when he sang background vocals on a recent Frank Black record). And of course, Bare’s most eager to discuss his past and future work — and undying love for the Pixies.

Bobby Bare Jr.: I obviously have been a fan for a long, long, long, long time. Because it’s like, I don’t know, do you dress up for Halloween?

Jaime Lees: Oh, hell yeah.

It’s exactly like dressing up for Halloween, for a musician. It’s just fun to be somebody else.

How do you have time to get all of this done?

It’s a whole lot of work. Usually for a real set you learn fifteen songs — like, for an hour [long] set. If you learn fifteen Pixies songs you’ve only learned 30 minutes worth of music. So, you know, we’ve got to learn twenty-something songs. And we do some Breeders songs.

What’s your favorite to sing? Or what do you most look forward to?

What songs? The ones like “Gigantic,” where I just play guitar. ‘Cause I never, ever get to just play guitar in any band. So that’s what’s fun to me.

Are the people who come to the shows your fans? Or Pixies fans? Or a mix?

Um, I think they’re just mostly Pixies fans. We’ve only done this in Nashville. This is going to be our first show out of town.

The St. Louis one is?

Yeah. We’ve only done probably four of these. It’s me; the former drummer from [...And You Will Know Us By the] Trail of Dead [Doni Schroader]; and Beth Cameron, both of whom are also in a band called Forget Cassettes. And a girl named Leah [Paxton] who’s been in bands with the other two people.

How did you get hooked up with the Guided By Voices tribute band?

It’s other people who have been in my band. It’s my drummer from my last tour who is also the drummer for Clem Snide [Ben Martin]. The guitar player is William Tyler; he’s in Lambchop and the Silver Jews.

Did you go see any of their [Pixies] reunion tour shows?

Yes, I saw three of them. I played Sasquatch in Seattle and Austin City Limits in Austin where they were the headlining band….But they played the Ryman Auditorium [in Nashville] and that was the best show I’ve ever seen anybody do anywhere. Seeing them at a festival where there’s 75,000 people was just OK, but at the Ryman it was transcendent.

Did you hear any of the new Breeders album yet?

No! When did it come out?

It didn’t come out yet, but they leaked a single online last week.

Oh, wow. Is it good?

It’s really good. It’s sort of like, sleepy-time Breeders, you know? It’s really pretty. They said that they’re going to have a whole U.S. tour in the spring and do South By Southwest…

For the Breeders? Holy cow. Awesome. Isn’t there supposed to be a Pixies album, too?

I don’t know. No one ever gives a straight answer on that crap.

Do you think anybody will come out and see us?

Heck yeah. We’re big here on fun shows…So are you gonna call yourself Bare Robert or something?

Naw, I’ll just be Bobby.

9 p.m. Thursday, January 3. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Avenue. $10. 314-773-3363

• 01-02-08 Riverfront Times (St. Louis) - article link
• 12-17-07 reprint in the Nashville Scene (Nashville) - article link
• Bobby Bare Jr. - website