the village voice published its annual pazz & jop critics poll today. besides being an extremely fun music-geek read, especially online, it's also the closest thing there is to a real critical consensus in pop music.  not surprisingly, outkast easily won, with both the #1 album and #1 single.  shockingly, though -- at least i
think it's shocking -- three power-pop albums made the top 10: the shins, the new pornographers and fountains of wayne.  fountains of wayne placed #3, behind only outkast and the white stripes. i knew a lot of people liked "welcome interstate managers," but i wouldn't have guessed that in a million years.

here's the link (be prepared to waste a good part of your day on this one!):

http://www.villagevoice.com/specials/pazznjop/03/

matty