Quote :

"and that, my friends, is why Pitchfork has become a laughable parody of itself over the past 2 years."

because they picked a #1 track that's complex and doesn't track in instant gratification?

12/15/2010 2:43:37 PM

Pitchfork can be a little ridiculous at times, but no way in hell is Stereogum better/more accurate in reviewing music.

For instance, Stereogum has Wild Nothing (#9), Antony & the Johnsons(#8), Sleigh Bells (#6), and Beach House (#3) in their top 10. All of those are way too high IMO. Maybe Beach House is top 10 (I don't think so, but I could see the argument), but I don't think it's #3. That said, I know a lot of people like that record a lot and will put it in their top 10. LCD was at #14 on their list, which is just plain silly. That record was definitely top 5 of the year material. I did like that they had SVE on their list, though, and I like that Sufjan was #4.

Not that any of it matters. They're just reviews, and blog reviews at that.

[Edited on December 15, 2010 at 3:02 PM. Reason : .]

12/15/2010 2:53:48 PM

i will say that they are drinking way too much robyn kool-aid at pitchfork

i like the robyn record, and i liked her last record

but if pitchfork were your only source, you'd think she's the biggest and best act in the world

12/15/2010 2:56:06 PM

Quote :

"more accurate in reviewing music."

hmm

12/15/2010 2:58:18 PM

^what's hmm?

^^yeah, of course they're still wrong about stuff. a lot of stuff. but i trust their opinion for the most part more than most other publications.

12/15/2010 3:05:31 PM

Quote :

""more accurate in reviewing music." hmm"

Quote :

"^what's hmm?"

what you said is what's "hmm"

or, if described in an unnecessarily harsh way, fucking dumb

so long as they list the band name correctly, and don't lie about the general sound of a record, then aren't being inaccurate

what you probably mean, is that they have better taste in music, which means closer to your taste in music

which to be fair, probably is better than most


This ongoing conversation that people have at the end of every year does bring up an interesting question: what is it about us people that makes ranking things so goddamn important? certainly, rankings have little to no consequence, yet they remain so fascinating to so many.

[Edited on December 15, 2010 at 3:31 PM. Reason : ...]

12/15/2010 3:31:05 PM

No idea. Humans just love lists and rankings. Be it sports, GPA, music, film, whatever. Plus it gives people something to argue about

As far as ranking goes, I have had a hard time doing that for years now it seems like. I can usually easily make up my list of top 10-15 albums in a year but ranking them in order just is too hard. I think a lot of it comes to comparing styles. IE I love both The National's High Violet and Dillinger Escape Plan's Option Paralysis, but trying to compare the two of them is just about impossible for me.

12/15/2010 3:46:08 PM

i wanted a continuous playlist from pitchfork

12/15/2010 3:53:26 PM

yes...music is subjective, clearly. when i said "accurate," i meant "more in line with my tastes." i just thought that was obvious. of course there is no objective truth in music. i guess i should've used a different word. semantics.

as far as lists, i think that i'm interested in them because they provide perspective. i'm often curious what people will take from our generation 20 or even 100 years from now, and year-end or "greatest" lists give us an opportunity to take a step back for a second and look at what the best records from a certain time frame (or ever) were/are. i know that's getting into kind of a circular answer, but, ultimately, i don't think there is any easy answer for why people feel the need to say some things are good and some aren't.

[Edited on December 15, 2010 at 3:56 PM. Reason : .]

12/15/2010 3:55:39 PM

See if anyone can nail Pitchfork's top 5 (or perhaps 10 for the brave). I say: 1. Kanye 2.Ariel Pink 3.Big Boi 4.Arcade Fire 5. Beach House

12/15/2010 4:01:42 PM

Fun.

1) Kanye West
2) Kanye West
3) Kanye West
4) Kanye West
and so on

But, for real:

1) Kanye West
2) LCD Soundsystem
3) Deerhunter
4) Big Boi
5) Ariel Pink
6) Joanna Newsom
7) Beach House
8) Flying Lotus
9) Robyn
10) Titus Andronicus

I like 8/10 of these, which is usually about right with Pitchfork's lists.

12/15/2010 4:15:34 PM

age of narcissism

12/16/2010 2:22:06 AM

if that's their top 10, then i'm batting 30%.

There is some shit that they obsess about that I have no desire to listen to twice - doesn't discredit the entire website though.

12/16/2010 3:04:21 PM

I still need to check out the Titus Andronicus album.

12/16/2010 3:08:37 PM

Pitchfork Top 10:

1. Kanye
2. LCD Soundsystem
3. Deerhunter
4. Big Boi
5. Beach House
6. Vampire Weekend (?!)
7. Joanna Newsom
8. James Blake
9. Ariel Pink
10. Titus Andronicus

12/17/2010 1:35:08 AM

Quote :

"because they picked a #1 track that's complex and doesn't track in instant gratification?"

no, because they pick tracks to make statements, rather than selecting them on their merits.

"round and round" isn't a bad song... it sure as fuck isn't great, either. far from it. but, that's all subjective.

they're all about playing god with artists and being the indie tastemaker of the decade. i enjoy some of what they write, but their reviews were much better in the early 2000's than now. now they've found their niche in over-hyping and destroying bands (sometimes simultaneously... see The Black Kids), and they've become a parody of themselves in my eyes, and many others.

LOL at the Joanna Newsom record being in their top 10 --- god damn. what a shit record that was.

James Blake must be on their list to blow up this year...

12/18/2010 1:47:18 PM

Stereogum, who you praised in this very thread, has Joanna Newsom at #11.

12/18/2010 3:08:43 PM

Quote :

"James Blake must be on their list to blow up this year..."

seriously. you can't lump three EPs together just to make it more convenient to put the artist on an aoty list. especially when that artist's best song to date is a cover.

12/18/2010 4:14:50 PM

Quote :

" i enjoy some of what they write, but their reviews were much better in the early 2000's than now."

12/18/2010 4:33:57 PM

Quote :

"Stereogum, who you praised in this very thread, has Joanna Newsom at #11."

omfg, and the pitchfork top 50 is linked from stereogum's main page!

i didn't praise stereogum because i thought they made better top 10 lists than pitchfork; i praised them because they actually....you know...review music. you remember, that stuff pitchfork used to do really well 4 to 9 years ago. that was also poor placement on my part in the post, as my comment about Newsom's shit show of a record wasn't a dig at it appearing on the list.

A few good writers still remain.... but, in an attempt to out-source their pretentiousness, they've sure watered down the content, quality and seem to be more focused on making or breaking artists careers than merely evaluating their output.

They're becoming an entertainment network, not a legitimate source of music criticism for me, and that's fine. They still serve a fine and important purpose, just not the same one they used to serve.

[Edited on December 18, 2010 at 4:40 PM. Reason : .]

12/18/2010 4:39:29 PM

James Blake is really fucking good

12/18/2010 5:34:41 PM

IMO, Stereogum's reviews seem significantly more amateur-ish than Pitchfork's. And I don't think that Pitchfork's sole role is as an indie tastemaker; I think most of their writers are respectable music critics who write professional reviews that are consistently interesting. Not all of them are interesting or well-done, but most of them are. I really don't agree that they aren't a legit source for music criticism. Just my opinion, though.

Also, what's up with the James Blake hate?

Quote :

"James Blake is really fucking good"

One more thing: Pitchfork definitely does get stuff wrong on occasion, obviously. The most egregious error on their top 50 AOTY list, to me, was not including The Black Keys' Brothers. That album is fantastic and reached a LOT of different people this year; its appeal is pretty universal. It REALLY grew on me as the year went on and ended up being one of my favorite records of the year. To not even give it an honorable mention reeks of the too-cool-for-school attitude that I think jstpack was hinting at (although, to be clear, I think this is the exception to the rule, not the rule).

[Edited on December 18, 2010 at 6:36 PM. Reason : .]

12/18/2010 6:34:54 PM

^ that is a great example, for sure.

And, I guess for me it's just the cumulative effect of seeing albums like Brothers snubbed so they can blow up something like Janelle Monae and put that in the top 10 albums. Monae has ended up on a lot of top 20 lists other than P-forks... I just happen to think it's a shit record.

Unrelated, but I just love the Monae descriptor in the top 50 list.....

Quote :

"Philip K. Dick boogies like James Brown in Janelle Monáe's future, so how could it possibly be a dystopia? Her hugely ambitious full-length debut-- more Sign 'O' the Times than Kid A-- continues the ongoing story of android-human romance that she began on her 2007 EP Metropolis: Suite I: The Chase, set in a world that resembles a funkier Brazil crisscrossed with action sequences and love themes. Divided into suites bookended by orchestral overtures, the whole thing could easily curdle into concept-album hokum, but Monáe nods to the metaphorical potential of the sci-fi underpinnings (android/Other/African-American) without overplaying them. She understates her ideas and trusts her listeners to get them. --Stephen M. Deusner"

Dear.

Lord.

As I said, there are still plenty of good writers over at P-fork, but, they're just reaching a really weird place as a publication. They certainly seem to have a tastemaker agenda, imo, and that opinion derived by the launching of their web tv service and, of course, Pitchforkfest. Obviously, some of that comes with the territory of being successful at what you do and spreading the brand name, but it brings its share of pitfalls with it.

Blurring the line between the almighty dollar and objective music reviewer never makes things easy.

I still read Pitchfork, I still check there, I'm just starting to pay more attention to the likes of PASTE, Stereogum and Coke Machine Glow. I finish a review from Pitchfork, take the gigantic grain of salt that now comes with it, and see how others have weighed in. Something I've always done, but with greater urgency now.

http://www.cokemachineglow.com/feature/5816/top50albums-2010?pg=5

here's the Coke Machine Glow listing while I'm at it.... and Monae weighs in at 12 there vs. 10 at P-fork, fwiw.

Deerhunter @18, Future Islands @16 for comparison, Menomena at 11.

The Menomena record really needs some more love.


[Edited on December 18, 2010 at 7:37 PM. Reason : .]

12/18/2010 7:30:57 PM

Yeah, that Menomena record is pretty fantastic.

12/18/2010 10:16:21 PM

Quote :

"The Menomena record really needs some more love."

Fuck yes it does. They were also one of the best shows I saw this year.

12/18/2010 10:59:40 PM

I love Menomena with all my heart, but their newest album really didn't do it for me. I need to give it another shot, I guess, but I remember thinking it paled in comparison to Friend and Foe.

12/18/2010 11:40:56 PM

I've been killing some El Michels Affair lately. Anyone else a fan?

Can you guys list some similar tracks/groups?

12/20/2010 10:06:12 AM

Every time I listen to "Dance Yrself Clean" I can't help but think the vocals during the first 3 minutes of the song sound exactly like Aaron Weiss from mewithoutYou

[Edited on December 20, 2010 at 3:19 PM. Reason : .]

12/20/2010 3:19:05 PM

From what

12/20/2010 3:20:32 PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MewithoutYou

12/20/2010 3:27:31 PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Day_Without_Me

12/20/2010 3:46:18 PM

^^she played the flute, but no one was dancing!

12/26/2010 9:59:16 PM

I am enjoying the new bleeping and blooping Gorillaz iPad album.

12/27/2010 1:38:18 PM

I still think the Parades album is a really good one from this year that hardly anyone seems to be talking about. I feel like only one or two other people on TWW have mentioned them.

[Edited on December 30, 2010 at 10:13 AM. Reason : .]

12/30/2010 10:13:15 AM

Quote :

"The Menomena record really needs some more love. Fuck yes it does. They were also one of the best shows I saw this year."

This.

[Edited on December 30, 2010 at 10:46 AM. Reason : .]

12/30/2010 10:46:08 AM

yea the new menomena is def on my top 5 list for the year

12/30/2010 2:17:16 PM

Been diggin' on the newest Phosphorescent record of late (insanely titled Here's to Taking it Easy (Tho the Jaws of This World Wish Only to Grab Hold of Your Sweet Ass), or HTTIE (TTJOTWWOTGHOYSA) for short).

Great song titles ("It's Hard to Be Humble (When You're from Alabama)," "Nothing Was Stolen (Love Me Foolishly)," and "Heaven, Sittin' Down") and an awesome album. Has that classic country-rock sound in the vein of Gram Parsons or Harvest-era Neil.

[Edited on December 31, 2010 at 11:20 AM. Reason : .]

12/31/2010 11:17:25 AM

^I will need to check that out.

12/31/2010 11:35:11 AM