Sunday, December 13, 2009

This year I've been participating in The Singles Jukebox, the review consortium organized by William B. Swygart. For year-end, Will has organized what he calls Best-Off--an eight-round heat of five songs each, with the top two finishers from each organized in head-to-head fashion in the coming weeks. The two heats I helped judge, Group 5 and Group 7, are now up. The others are entertaining, too: Group 1, Group 2, Group 3, Group 4, Group 6, Group 8.

Below, updated for the final time, are my scores from the regular season, arranged by number and then alphabetically by artist, with the average Jukebox score in parentheses. An asterisk* means I'd drop my score by a point (maybe more, but usually not) if I were doing it again. Two asterisks** means my score appears but not my review. A plus sign (+) means I'd bump it up a point.

10:
DJ Quik & Kurupt, "9x's Outta 10" (8.06)
Walter Jones, "Living Without Your Love" (7.22)
Joy Orbison, "Hyph Mngo" (7.21)
Maxwell, "Pretty Wings" (7)

9:
DJ Quik & Kurupt, "Hey Playa! (Moroccan Blues)" (8.25)
Drake, "Best I Ever Had" (5.27)
Heartland, "Mustache" (6.15)
Natalie Imbruglia, "Want" (6.31)
Ne-Yo, "Part of the List" (7.3)
Noisettes, "Never Forget You" (6.71)
Toddla T, "Shake It" (6.3)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, "Heads Will Roll" (8.46)

8:
An Horse, "Camp Out" (7.3)
Annie, "I Don't Like Your Band" (6.6)
Boy Better Know, "Too Many Man" (5.91)
Busy Signal, "De Style Deh" (8.27)
Cascada, "Evacuate the Dancefloor" (5.91)
Ciara, "Like a Surgeon" (5.55)*
Cicada, "Metropolis" (5.7)*
Cheryl Cole, "Fight for This Love" (4.53)
Dirty Danger "'Ard Boiled" (6.44)
Egypt, "In the Morning" (6.64)
The Field, "The More That I Do" (6.53)
Charlotte Hatherley, "White" (6)
Keri Hilson, "Slow Dance" (6.09)
House of House, "Rushing to Paradise (Walkin' These Streets)" (7.12)
Paul & Fritz Kalkbrenner, "Sky & Sand" (5.75)*
The Lost Trailers, "All This Love" (5.88)
Love & Theft, "Runaway" (6.2)
Miranda Lambert, "Dead Flowers" (6.85)*/**
Meleka, "Go (Crazy Cousinz Remix)" (6.67)
Micachu & the Shapes, "Golden Phone" (5.3)
New Boyz, "You're a Jerk" (6.78)
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, "Young Adult Friction" (6.43)+
Professor Green ft. Chynaman & C.O.R.E., "Upper Clapton Dance" (7.27)
Tempa T, "Next Hype" (6.18)
Vitalic, "Your Disco Song" (6)

7:
Alien Beat Club, "My Way" (4.73)
Alphabeat, "The Spell" (6.38)
Amerie, "Why R U" (6.5)
Bisso Na Bisso, "Show Ce Soir" (6.5)
Blackout Crew, "Dialled" (5.08)
Calle 13 ft. Ruben Blades, "La Perla" (6.5)
Cam'ron ft. Skitzo & Byrd Lady, "Cookies-N-Apple Juice" (4.55)*
Chicane, "Poppiholla" (4.45)
Coeur de Pirate, "Comme Des Enfants" (6.27)
Taio Cruz, "Break Your Heart" (6.25)
Delphic, "This Momentary" (6.58)
Fefe Dobson, "I Want You" (6.93)
The-Dream, "Sweat It Out" (7.92)
The-Dream ft. Kanye West, "Walking on the Moon" (7.09)
The Drums, "Let's Go Surfing" (6.08)
Dusty Kid, "America (The Director's Cut)" (6.11)
Eels, "Fresh Blood" (4.77)*
The Flaming Lips, "Silver Trembling Hands" (5.33)
Florence and the Machine, "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" (6.4)
Girls Can't Catch, "Keep Your Head Up" (4.62)
Gorilla Zoe, "Echo" (5)
The Gossip, "Heavy Cross" (6.3)
Ellie Goulding, "Starry Eyed" (5.93)
HEALTH: "Die Slow" (5.2)
Jay Sean ft. Lil Wayne, "Down" (4.64)*
Jessica Jarrell, "Armageddon" (6.62)
Jeremih, "Birthday Sex" (5.27)+
R. Kelly ft. OJ Da Juiceman, "Superman High" (5.1)*
Natalia Lafourcade, "Ella Es Bonita" (6.44)
Miranda Lambert, "White Liar" (6.5)
Ryan Leslie, "You're Not My Girl" (6.2)
Lethal Bizzle ft. Donae'o, "Go Hard" (6.22)
Little Boots, "Remedy" (6.08)
Major Lazer, "Hold the Line" (6.29)
Marmaduke Duke, "Rubber Lover" (3.86)*
Method Man & Redman ft. Erick Sermon, "Mrs. International" (6.31)+
Chrisette Michele, "Blame It on Me" (6.64)
Chrisette Michele, "Epiphany" (6.83)
Nicki Minaj ft. Lil Wayne, "I Get Crazy" (6.64)
Mos Def, "Casa Bey" (6)**
Mz. Bratt, "Who Do You Think You Are" (6.25)
Paramore, "Ignorance" (6.25)
The Pastels & Tenniscoats, "About You" (5.89)
Phoenix, "Lizstomania" (5.86)
Pitbull, "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" (5.42)
Pleasure P, "Boyfriend #2" (4.88)*
The Prodigy, "Warrior's Dance" (5.57)
Sidney Samson, "Riverside" (6.1)
Shakira, "Lobo" (7.88)
Sharam ft. Kid Cudi, "She Came Along" (6.55)
Spinnerette, "Baptized by Fire" (5.3)
Spoon, "Got Nuffin'" (6.5)
Sticky ft. Lady Chann, "Your Eye Too Fast" (6.88)
Subeena, "Boksd" (6.57)
Sub Focus, "Rock It" (5.36)
Taylor Swift, "You Belong with Me" (8.58)
T.I., "Hell of a Life" (5.82)
Emiliana Torrini, "Jungle Drum" (6.73)
Kanye West ft. Mr. Hudson, "Paranoid" (6.71)
Charlie Wilson, "Can't Live without You" (5.11)
Young Money, "Every Girl" (5.64)

6:
Lily Allen, "22" (6.06)
Azzido Da Bass, "I Want U" (6.14)
Basement Jaxx, "Raindrops" (6.13)
Beastie Boys ft. Nas, "Too Many Rappers" (5.33)
Bless Beats ft. Charlie Brown & Wiley, "The Rain" (5.1)
VV Brown, "Shark in the Water" (7.27)
Mariah Carey, "Obsessed" (6.4)
Carolina Liar, "Show Me What I'm Looking For" (5.44)
Ciara, "Tell Me What Your Name Is" (6.55)
Clipse ft. Kanye West, "Kinda Like a Big Deal" (6.4)
Crookers ft. Kardinal Offishall & Carla Marie, "Put Your Hands on Me" (5.8)
Dan Deacon, "Paddling Ghost" (5.22)
The Dead Weather, "Treat Me Like Your Mother" (5.2)
Speech Debelle ft. Michacu, "Better Days" (5.22)
Dizzee Rascal ft. Chrome, "Holiday" (6.15)
Donae'o, "Party Hard" (6.63)
Donkeyboy, "Ambitions" (6.9)
Friendly Fires, "Jump in the Pool" (6.45)**
Future of the Left, "Arming Eritrea" (6.53)
Keri Hilson ft. Keyshia Cole & Trina, "Get Your Money Up" (6.56)
Whitney Houston, "Million Dollar Bill" (6.08)
Humphrey ft. Rohoff, "La Dans" (5.7)
Jeremih, "Imma Star (Everywhere We Are)" (5.07)
R. Kelly ft. Keri Hilson, "Number 1" (6.27)
Ben Kweller, "Fight" (5.08)**
Lil Kim ft. T-Pain & Charlie Wilson, "Download" (4.23)
Madonna, "Celebration" (4.71)
Major Lazer ft. Ricky Blaze & Nina Sky, "Keep It Going Louder" (6.71)
Make the Girl Dance, "Baby Baby Baby" (7.2)
Reba McEntire, "Strange" (6.9)
Mumford and Sons, "Little Lion Man" (6.09)
Muse, "Uprising" (5.57)
Nina Sky, "On Some Bullshit" (6.91)**
Nneka, "Heartbeat (Chase and Status Remix)" (6)
Panic at the Disco, "New Perspective" (4.1)
Sean Paul, "So Fine" (4.89)
Pet Shop Boys, "Did You See Me Coming?" (5.58)
Pill, "Trap Goin' Ham" (7.1)+
The Raveonettes, "Last Dance" (7)
La Roux, "Bulletproof" (5.6)
Tommy Sparks, "She's Got Me Dancing" (5.75)**
Jamie T, "Sticks 'n' Stones" (5.6)
The Temper Trap, "Sweet Disposition" (5.64)
Tinchy Stryder ft. Amelle, "Never Leave You" (5.85)
Jazmine Sullivan, "In Love with Another Man" (6.73)
Three 6 Mafia ft. Webbie, "Lil Freak" (5.31)
Usher, "Papers" (5.14)
Wale ft. Lady GaGa, "Chillin'" (4.79)
The xx, "Basic Space" (6)

5:
Agnes, "Release Me" (6.2)
Jason Aldean, "Big Green Tractor" (4)
Aqua, "My Mamma Said" (5.64)
Bag Raiders, "Shooting Stars" (5.18)
Beautiful Small Machines, "Robots in Love" (6)
Black Eyed Peas, "Meet Me Halfway" (4.64)
Bloc Party, "One More Chance" (4.64)
Booty Luv, "Say It" (6.11)
VV Brown, "Game Over" (6.94)**
The Ian Carey Project, "Get Shaky" (5.4)
Chipmunk, "Oopsy Daisy" (5.38)
Colbie Caillat, "Fallin' for You" (5)
Los Campesinos!, "The Sea Is a Good Place to Think of the Future" (6.47)
Kelly Clarkson, "Already Gone" (4.94)
Clipse ft. Pharrell, "I'm Good" (6.08)
Keyshia Cole ft. Monica, "Trust" (4.92)**
Herman Dune, "On a Sunday" (4.9)
Fight Like Apes, "Something Global" (6.6)
Florence & the Machine, "Drumming Song" (6.38)
Michael Franti & Spearhead, "Say Hey" (5.78)
Freemasons ft. Sophie Ellis-Bextor, "Heartbreak Make Me a Dancer" (6.62)
Ginuwine, "Last Chance" (5.11)
Gloriana, "Wild at Heart" (6.67)
Ellie Goulding, "Under the Sheets" (6.67)
Gracious K, "Migraine Skank" (4.83)
Pat Green, "What I'm For" (5.27)
Green Day, "Know Your Enemy" (3.64)+
Gucci Mane ft. Plies, "Wasted" (6.5)
Anthony Hamilton, "The Point of It All" (6)
Calvin Harris, "Ready for the Weekend" (4.87)
Hilltop Hoods, "Chase That Feeling" (5.12)
Whitney Houston, "I Look to You" (5.27)
Illa J ft. Debi Nova, "Sounds Like Love" (5.8)
Ironik ft. Chipmunk & Elton John, "Tiny Dancer" (3.18)
Sarah Jarosz, "Left Home" (6.6)
Kano, "Rock 'n' Roller" (3.9)
Kissy Sell Out, "The Kiss" (5.4)
k-os, "4 3 2 1" (5.44)
Little Birdy, "Summarize" (5.67)
Lord Cut-Glass, "Look After Your Wife" (5)
Mark Mallman, "White Leather Days" (4.29)
Manic Street Preachers, "Jackie Collins Existential Question Time" (4.23)**
Medina, "Velkommen Til Medina" (6.43)
Daniel Merriweather, "Impossible" (6)
Metric, "Help I'm Alive" (5.38)**
Mew, "Introducing Palace Players" (6.36)
Kate Miller-Heidke, "The Last Night on Earth" (4.2)
Misstress Barbara ft. Sam Roberts, "I'm Running" (5.56)
MPHO, "Box 'n' Locks" (5.17)
MSTRKRFT ft. John Legend, "Heartbreaker" (5.31)
New Boyz ft. Ray J, "Tie Me Down" (4.89)
Paperboys, "Lonesome Traveller" (5.91)**
Pink, "Please Don't Leave Me" (6.38)
Pitbull ft. Fergie & LMFAO, "Back to the Future" (4.73)
Pixie Lott, "Mama Do" (3.87)
Plies, "Becky" (5)
Polarkreis 18, "The Colour of Snow" (7.2)
Raekwon ft. Inspectah Deck, GZA, Ghostface & Method Man, "House of Flying Daggers" (7.36)
Jay Reatard, "It Ain't Gonna Save Me" (6.21)+
Reigning Sound, "Stick Up for Me" (6.25)
Richgirl, "He Ain't With Me Now (Tho)" (7.17)+
Hope Sandoval & the Warm Intentions, "Blanchard" (5.27)
The Saturdays, "Forever Is Over" (5.69)+
Shystie ft. DJ Deekline, "Nu Style" (7.62)
Joss Stone ft. Nas, "Governmentalist" (4.43)
The Sweptaways and Jens Lekman, "Happiness Will Be My Revenge" (3.44)
Weezer, "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To" (4.91)
w-inds ft. G-Dragon, "Rain Is Falling" (4.25)

4:
Animal Collective, "My Girls" (4.94)
Arctic Monkeys, "Crying Lightning" (4.33)
Katie Armiger, "Gone" (3.6)
Mario Basanov & Vidis ft. Kathy Diamond, "In My System" (5)
Biffy Clyro, "That Golden Rule" (5.27)
Black Eyed Peas, "I Gotta Feeling" (5.5)
Boys Like Girls, "Love Drunk" (5.38)
Alexandra Burke ft. Flo Rida, "Bad Boys" (6.2)
Danny Byrd ft. IK, "Red Mist" (5.17)**
Cascada, "Dangerous" (4.73)
Cobra Starship ft. Leighton Meester, "Good Girls Go Bad" (5.56)
Death Cab for Cutie, "Meet Me on the Equinox" (4.25)
Jason DeRulo, "Whatcha Say" (4.53)
Alesha Dixon, "Let's Get Excited" (4.85)
Donkeyboy, "Sometimes" (5.73)
Drake ft. Trey Songz, "Successful" (5.69)
Dorrough, "Ice Cream Paint Job" (5.36)
Enter Shikari, "Juggernauts" (3.67)
Fabolous ft. the-Dream, "Throw It in the Bag" (4.71)
Nelly Furtado, "Manos Al Aire" (5.1)
Future of the Left, "The Hope That House Built" (4.82)
David Guetta ft. Akon, "Sexy Bitch" (4.82)
Maia Hirasawa, "South Again" (5.62)
Hockey, "Song Away" (4.62)
Allison Iraheta, "Friday I'll Be Over You" (6.6)
Just Jack, "Embers" (4.8)
Demi Lovato, "Here We Go Again" (6.53)
Mario ft. Gucci Mane & Sean Garrett, "Break Up" (4.79)
The Mars Volta, "Cotopaxi" (4.6)**
John Mayer, "Who Says" (5.22)
Jesse McCartney ft. T-Pain, "Body Language (Remix)" (5.27)
Meg and Dia, "Black Wedding" (5.25)
Metric, "Gimme Sympathy" (6.7)
Mr. Hudson ft. Kanye West, "Supernova" (5.7)
Monica ft. Missy Elliott, "Let Me Know" (4.69)
N-Dubz, "Wouldn't You" (4.8)
Pitbull, "Hotel Room Service" (5.6)
Darius Rucker, "Alright" (3.73)
Shakira, "Did It Again" (5.3)
Shontelle ft. Akon, "Stuck with Each Other" (4.08)
Slaughterhouse, "The One" (3.88)
Martin Solveig & Dragonette, "Boys & Girls" (4.93)
Teddybears, "Get Mama a House" (5.13)
Wild Beasts, "Hooting and Howling" (4.21)
Charlie Winston, "In Your Hands" (5.44)

3:
a-ha, "Foot of the Mountain" (5.12)
Alice in Chains, "Check My Brain" (5.67)
Aqua, "Back to the 80s" (5.17)
The Big Pink, "Velvet" (4.8)
Blazin' Squad, "Let's Start Again" (4.75)
Mary J. Blige ft. Drake, "The One" (4.73)
Boys Like Girls ft. Taylor Swift, "Two Is Better Than One" (3.92)
Michelle Branch, "Sooner or Later" (4.45)
Chris Brown ft. Lil Wayne & Swizz Beatz, "I Can Transform Ya" (3.82)
Caitlin & Will, "Address in the Stars" (4.67)
Chamillionaire, "Good Morning" (5.29)
The Cribs, "Cheat on Me" (4.45)
Kristinia DeBarge, "Goodbye" (3.67)
Empire of the Sun, "We Are the People" (4.58)**
Jade Ewen, "My Man" (5.14)
Foo Fighters, "Wheels" (3.33)
Livvi Franc ft. Pitbull, "Now I'm That Bitch" (5.89)
Grizzly Bear, "Two Weeks" (5.43)
Erik Hassle, "Don't Bring Flowers" (4.73)
Jay-Z, "Death of Autotune" (5.53)
Jay-Z ft. Rihanna & Kanye West, "Run This Town" (5)**
Jonas Brothers, "Paranoid" (5)
Kasabian, "Fire" (3.73)
Lady GaGa, "Paparazzi" (5.61)
Marit Larsen, "If a Song Could Get Me You" (5.62)
Leona Lewis, "Happy" (4.62)
Lights, "Saviour" (4.73)
Mika, "We Are Golden" (3.54)
Moneybrother, "We Only Die Once (And for Such a Long Time)" (4.09)
Morandi, "Colors" (4.19)**
Remi Nicole, "Standing Tears Apart" (4.43)
Nina Sky, "Beautiful People" (4.67)
OneRepublic ft. Sara Bareilles, "Come Home" (3.08)
Parachute, "She Is Love" (2.23)
Eva Simons, "Silly Boy" (5.09)
Britney Spears, "3" (6.06)
Rob Thomas, "Her Diamonds" (4.38)
3OH!3, "Starstrukk" (4)
U2, "Magnificent" (3.29)
Wilco, "You Never Know" (4.87)
Young Soul Rebels, "I Got Soul" (4.4)

2:
Ace Hood ft. T-Pain & Akon, "Overtime" (4.22)
Akon, "Be with You" (4.38)
The Big Pink, "Dominos" (4.5)
The Cast of Glee: "Don't Stop Believing" (4.62)
Miley Cyrus, "Party in the U.S.A." (6.69)
Deadmau5, "Ghosts 'n' Stuff" (3.86)
DJ Khaled ft. Usher, Young Jeezy, Rick Ross & Drake, "Fed Up" (4.1)
Paloma Faith, "Stone Cold Sober" (4.73)
Tiziano Ferrero ft. Kelly Rowland, "Breathe Gentle" (5.56)
Gaggle, "Crows" (5.5)
Kings of Leon, "Notion" (4.47)**
Adam Lambert, "Time for Miracles" (3.55)
Lenka, "The Show" (4.92)
Matt & Kim, "Daylight" (4.41)
Karen O and the Kids, "All Is Love" (4.08)
Owl City, "Fireflies" (4.28)
Rick Ross ft. T-Pain, Lil Wayne & Kanye West, "Maybach Music 2" (5.06)
Simian Mobile Disco, "Audacity of Huge" (6)
Frank Turner, "The Road" (4)

1:
Toby Keith, "American Ride" (4)
Linkin Park, "New Divide" (3.85)**
Milow, "Ayo Technology" (2.23)
Miss Li, "Dancing the Whole Way Home" (5.29)
Lisa Mitchell, "Coin Laundry" (3.2)
Muse, "United States of Eurasia (Collateral Damage)" (2.94)**

0:
Chris Brown, "Changed Man" (1.88)