Why am I surprised-to-the-point-of-gagging by
the "best of '08 so far" poll put forth by NPR's All Songs Considered, which allows users to cast a ballot for Colin Meloy's live album (41 votes so far!) but not for Erykah Badu's astonishing
New Amerykah Vol. 1, the Ponytail album, or the High Places album? And currently shows lone hip-hop representative Lil Wayne trailing Fleet Foxes, Wolf Parade, and the aforementioned Meloy collection? (Bon Iver's
For Emma, Forever Ago and Vampire Weekend's album are currently in a slapfight for first place.) Could it be that I figured a kinda-important broadcast outlet like NPR would at least
try to, I don't know, engage with music that ran beyond the safest parameters of "indie" and "rock" once in a while? Are we really becoming a nation of niches? What does this mean for future pledge drives? And finally, can I ask any more semi-rhetorical questions with obvious, depressing answers? After the jump, the poll, in all its milquetoast glory.
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