Ennio Morricone’s soundtrack to The Mission was one of the first instrumental soundtrack I ever owned (second only to Star Wars, I think) and remains one of the few in my collection.
While the movie has faded in my memory, this music has stayed with me for decades. The haunting ‘Gabriel’s Oboe’ melody, which shares space in this cut with the chanted vocals, is one of my favorite pieces of music ever.
Rounding out the Village Voice Pazz & Jop top ten is the third Kanye West song, and by far the worst of the bunch.
‘Bound 2’ is so bad it makes you wonder if it’s bad on purpose. Kanye’s rapping, never his strongest suit, is just awful here and the production, always his strongest suit, is disjointed and unpleasant.
At #8 in the Village Voice Pazz & Jop poll is Icana Pop’s ‘I Love It’ — a song that has really grown on me since I first heard it. It’s one of those songs that’s annoying if you just listen to it, but very effective when backing up the right images.
In the ninth spot is Miley Cyrus’ ‘We Can’t Stop.’ I’m a little surprised this track outranked ‘Wrecking Ball’ (which does show up in the top twenty) but I guess it was the song that really launched Cyrus’ freakazoid year.
In the seventh spot on the Village Voice Pazz & Jop list is another Kanye West track — he really dominated the poll this year.
I like ‘Black Skinhead’ better than ‘New Slaves’ but I still don’t see how this is one of the best songs of the year. I think the brazenness of Kanye’s music, and the man himself, scores him points with critics. He doesn’t just make music, he makes performance art.
In the fifth spot on the Village Voice Pazz & Jop poll is Robin Thicke’s ‘Blurred Lines’ (actually, it tied for fourth with yesterday’s Kanye track).
Coming in at #6 is ‘Hold On, We’re Going Home’ by Drake.
I haven’t heard much by Drake, but I know he’s considered the bee’s knees by critics and fans alike. I was impressed by his recent Saturday Night Live appearance (the comedy anyway… I didn’t watch the musical performances).
