The Pitchfork People's List - top albums 1996-2012

& lol @ dom (F), the joke that keeps on giving :)

Selfishly, may I ask for a few thoughts on my list beyond how white I am? Just craving a little feedback on it.

Oh I noticed you like that Real Estate record, I like that record

And I guessed when I looked at it that you were Canadian

Interesting! Why is that? I'm from New Jersey.

Evan, your list kicks ass. I'm not just saying that. Maximum riffage.

It seems very pre-"pfork-indie", when guitars crunched and snares shuddered

You said Shocking Pinks and I read Shearing Pinx and then I couldn't shake the feeling
Plus: Plants And Animals

Thanks blank! Wasn't asking for that, but it was nice to hear.
My favorite era of music ended just before 1996 and I'm very much into crunching guitars

That Plants and Animals record is so great, it's too bad they weren't ...something... enough to get as popular as other Canadians. Their next record didn't help, though it wasn't necessarily bad.

Want to big up contenderizer, I found yr thoughts on p4k interesting and engaging!

Also, totally pro the idea to 'have links from individual reviews to critic bios, photos (maybe, if people wanted to be seen?) and lists of their other writings on the site.'

If only b/c I like certain contributors to p4k a whole lot and it would be nice if I can just scroll down a page of links to their contributions. Would also re-enforce the idea that the site isn't some monolith of single opinion (which is what, like, The Economist tries to suggest), but an amalgamation of viewpoints.

Here's my list (not submitted). The least it can be said for it is that it hasn't lots of albums that aren't going to be on other lists, but that's probably also the most that can be said for it. Ranking is a bit bogus, starting with the album in second place, but there is some rough difference between top third, middle third, and bottom third.

1. Shiina Ringo – Karuki Zamen Kuri no Hana
2. Kate Bush – Aerial
3. Tokyo Jihen – Adult
4. Michael Stuart – Back to da Barrio
5. Matthew Shipp – Equilibrium
6. John Fahey – Red Cross
7. e.s.t. – Leucocyte
8. Boris – Smile
9. Boy Better Know – Tropical 2
10. Kayhan Kalhor/Mohammad Reza Shajarian – Night Silence Desert
11. Janelle Monae – The ArchAndroid
12. Marina & the Diamonds – Family Jewels
13. Miguel “Anga” Diaz – Echu Mingua
14. Ayelet Rose Gottlieb – Mayim Rabim
15. Miranda Lambert – Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
16. Mohamed Abdo – Kuwait 2001
17. Daddy Yankee – Mundial
18. Flying Lotus – Cosmogramma
19. Lansing-Dreiden – Incomplete Triangle
20. Shiina Ringo – Shouso Strip
21. Cooper-Moore & Assif Tsahar – America
22. Khaled Abdul Rahman – Khalediat 2010
23. Boredoms – Rebore 0
24. Maria Rita – Segundo
25. Bannakumbi – El Nuevo Dia
26. Sunny Jain Collective – Avaaz
27. Lansing-Dreiden – Dividing Island
28. Kate Bush – 50 Words for Snow
29. Company of Thieves – Running from a Gamble
30. Hossein Alizadeh – Ney Nava Plus Avay-E Mehr Nowruz & Savaran-E Dasht
31. Yousef Shamoun – Taneh wu Raneh
32. Marit Larsen – Under the Surface
33. Ned Rothenberg – Inner Diaspora
34. Boris – Feedbacker
35. Tokyo Jihen – Kyōiku
36. Taylor Swift – Fearless
37. Derek Bailey – Ballads
38. Maria Rita – Elo
39. Boris – Rainbow
40. Shiina Ringo – Muzai Moratorium
41. Nejo & Dalmata – Broke & Famous
42. Company of Thieves – Ordinary Riches
43. Rahim Al Haj – When the Soul Is Settled
44. Abdelli – New Moon
45. Jon Hassell – Maarifa Sreet
46. Janet Feder & Fred Frith – Ironic Universe
47. Kimbra – Vows
48. Cadaver Exquisito – En Vivo Desde La Terrraza del Ateneo
49. Cinematic Orchestra – Motion
50. Erik Friedlander – Volac: Book Of Angels Vol. 8
51. Matthew Shipp – One
52. Grupo Cimarron – Si Soy Llenaro
53. Dave Fox – Dedication Suite

It should be stressed that this problem is by no means unique to Pitchfork - the same "will to canon" feel is evident in the writing on sites like FACT (which swaps a US indie-rock center for a UK dance center) or The Quietus (which strikes me as a Pitchfork/FACT/The Wire cross) as well as your more typical organs like Rolling Stone, Spin and indeed The Wire. All of these are basically different slants on a SWM perspective, and all have a rather fuzzy editorial remit.

I don't think any of these particularly need to change their approach but it's worth acknowleging the limitations of that approach if only so as to recognise what kind of perspectives (and obv in particular written perspectives) outside of that worldview are worth locating and supporting.

interesting list, rudipherous. not familiar w much of anything on it, but love the kate bush and boris stuff. went for attention please as my state-allotted single boris pick, but it could just as easily have been smile, rainbow, feedbacker or flood.

enjoyed reading your list, too, evan. you remind me that i criminally neglected my beloved guitar romantic and, dang, for some reason i thought dusk at cubist castle came out in '95! crud. anyway, cool to see mention of giant sand, polvo, bedhead, etc. early 90s nostalgia right here. would have voted for what fun life was had it come out a few years later...

this list is going to be super embarrassing for everyone involved i think

not familiar with most of what's on your list rudipherous, but good to see some love for 'rebore vol. 0' - it should have been in my top 20 and i prefer it to 'vision creation newsun' by some margin.

enjoyed reading your list, too, evan. you remind me that i criminally neglected my beloved guitar romantic and, dang, for some reason i thought dusk at cubist castle came out in '95! crud. anyway, cool to see mention of giant sand, polvo, bedhead, etc. early 90s nostalgia right here. would have voted for what fun life was had it come out a few years later...

― contenderizer, Wednesday, August 22, 2012 12:17 AM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Thanks! I had to remind myself when What Fun Life Was came out because that album is so fantastic. Though Transaction de Novo is special to me since it was the gateway for me to their patient sound.
90s nostalgia is a common thread for me.
It would be fun to try to make a list consisting of the 15 years prior, but would be much much harder for me.

Just looked at your list too, I think that Grouper album would have made it if I had spent enough time with it. All the attempts I've made I just wasn't focused enough to sit all the way through. "Heavy Water/I'd Rather Be Sleeping" on the other hand is one the most incredibly beautiful tracks ever.

Also from your list I was reminded to seek out the Sleep and Jack Rose records. Love that James Blackshaw album too!

Thanks for the comments. Incidentally, Karuki Zamen Kuri No Hana TV ads.

thanks, y'all. my list would be a hell of a lot different if i'd had more than a couple hours to think about it. regret about half of it now :/

Shiina Ringo – Karuki Zamen Kuri no Hana

well i definitely meant to have this on my list but it felt sort of like i'd be the only one voting for it? dammit who knows why i took it off

Karuki Zamen Kuri No Hana would have been on my list had i submitted it in time. FWIW:

1. Mylene Farmer - Innamoramento
2. Faye Wong - Fable
3. Oskar - Beg Pa Ostriyu Nozha
4. Lee Jung Hyun - I <3 Natural (Vol. 4)
5. Afghan Whigs - Black Love
6. V.I.A Gra - Popitka No. 5
7. Tatu - 200 km/h Pa Vostrechnoi
8. Puffy - Spike
9. Allison Moorer - The Hardest Part
10. Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs
11. Brodka - Granda
12. Ruslana - Diki Tantsi
13. Marit Bergman - Baby Dry Your Eye
14. Taylor Swift - Fearless
15. Shiina Ringo - Karuki Zamen Kuri No Hana
16. Zdob Si Zdub - Agroromantica
17. Fabrika - Dyevushki Fabrichnie
18. The Ark - In Lust We Trust
19. Bjork - Homogenic
20. Alcazar - Alcazarized
21. Girls Aloud - What Will The Neighbours Say?
22. Ayumi Hamasaki - LOVEppears
23. Outkast - Stankonia
24. TLC - Fanmail
25. Air - Moon Safari
26. E-40 - Revenue Retrievin' Day Shift / Night Shift
27. Einsturzende Neubauten - Ende Neu
28. Mazzy Star - Among My Swan
29. Screaming Trees - Dust
30. Broadcast - Work And Non-Work
31. Tove Styrke - Tove Styrke
32. Kapela Ze Wsi Warszawa - Wiosna Ludu
33. Olivia Tremor Control - Dusk At Cubist Castle
34. Los Tigres del Norte - Pacto de Sangre
35. Electrik Red - How To Be A Lady vol.1
36. Katya Chilly - Ya Molodaya
37. Felix Da Housecat - Kittenz And Thee Glitz
38. A*Teens - Teen Spirit
39. Shakira - Laundry Service
40. Waka Flocka Flame - Flockaveli
41. Destiny's Child - The Writing's On The Wall
42. Carla Bruni - Quelqu'un m'a Dit
43. Adult. - Resuscitation
44. Miranda - Es Mentira
45. Utada Hikaru - Exodus
46. Paola & Chiara - Giornata Storica
47. Vitalic - OK Cowboy
48. New Kingdom - Paradise Don't Come Cheap
49. The Boredoms - Vision Creation Newsun
50. Sleater-Kinney - Dig Me Out

If only b/c I like certain contributors to p4k a whole lot and it would be nice if I can just scroll down a page of links to their contributions. Would also re-enforce the idea that the site isn't some monolith of single opinion (which is what, like, The Economist tries to suggest), but an amalgamation of viewpoints.

isn't their entire thing that it IS a monolith hivemind of branded opinion?

have u ever actually looked at pfork lex

that's a crazy-ass list, SV. in a good way, i think...

I do like the idea of Press, especially review-type Press, which treats its reviewers as individuals. And I love that thing that many websites do, where you can click on the writer's name and see what other stuff they have written, in order to just kind of assess their viewpoint, what their angle is. In the case of something like Pitchfork, it would help, when deciding whether to pay attention to the review, to see what other artists/music they had rated highly.

I wrote for a UK magazine for a while where we all had to conform to the house style, where you were not allowed to use "I" or "me" and if mentioning yourself in the review, you had to refer to yourself as "Magazine X" - I couldn't do it. (I think a big part of that was not really being that into the magazine's special music interest area, even though they approached me to write for them.)

I do have mixed feelings, though about turning it into some kind of social media thing, where some people will end up judging the writing/tastes based on their membership of certain groups (good or bad, stronger or weaker) which is not necessarily a good thing. Sometimes it feels like representation, sometimes it feels like exoticism or tokenism. I don't know how to counter that, though.

isn't their entire thing that it IS a monolith hivemind of branded opinion?

― lex pretend, Wednesday, 22 August 2012 07:59 (26 minutes ago) Permalink

I do like the idea of Press, especially review-type Press, which treats its reviewers as individuals. And I love that thing that many websites do, where you can click on the writer's name and see what other stuff they have written, in order to just kind of assess their viewpoint, what their angle is. In the case of something like Pitchfork, it would help, when deciding whether to pay attention to the review, to see what other artists/music they had rated highly.

― my god it's full of straw (White Chocolate Cheesecake), Wednesday, 22 August 2012 09:33 (23 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I actually can't believe PF don't link to "other reviews by this writer". I know Stylus used to do it, and the Quietus do it now as well as probably a whole load of websites. It's a function I use very often, not just because I agree with a writer's views and tastes but also because I like their writing style. So why not PF? I'm sure this would be the most productive way for them to get away from the kind of negative assumptions levelled at them by the likes of the Lex. Because really, I honestly believe that no matter the editorial stance, the majority of music websites and their views are affected by their writers and it is kind of unfair to complain about a site's viewpoints in such wide generalist terms. Attitudes and tastes will vary from writer to writer, so if PF wants to get away from being seen as a totem of rockism it's high time they started showcasing their writers as individuals rather than pawns.

I'm reminded of the video game magazines of my youth - Mean Machines etc - which always included an editorial section at the beginning, often humorously or self-deprecatingly talking about the team of writers (Julian 'Jaz' Rignall', Radion Automatic etc), their current interests, some daft thing they did in the office that day. You quickly got to know a bit about the person whose writing you were reading. And throughout the magazine you KNEW who was doing the talking. Not only this, but you felt included as a reader - something that was important to young gamers at the time I think. Also - up to two or three people contributing to a game review (sometimes with conflicting views). This was standard for the computer mag format in the early nineties, but it's something that just doesn't exist in mainstream music writing.

I guess this boils down to whether one believes that music criticism ought to be objective or subjective though.

who the hell believes music criticism is objective?!

the idea of following what "a publication" thinks rather than individual writers (or non-writers) is completely alien to me. even when i was like 15 i had a very firm idea of which writers i trusted and which writers i thought were morons.

NME's authority waned at about the point it went from being a cacophony of different voices with different opinions to having a set party line with one or two token dissenters. The chance of backing the wrong horse is too high but hey Pitchfork's being doing that for years.

Different and conflicting opinions I should say.

Forgive me but I don't understand how

the idea of following what "a publication" thinks rather than individual writers (or non-writers) is completely alien to me.

and

isn't their entire thing that it IS a monolith hivemind of branded opinion?
― lex pretend, Wednesday, 22 August 2012 07:59 (26 minutes ago) Permalink

correlate.

xxpost

Although yeah, I think NME is an even more extreme example of "in-house" conformity if ever there was one.

The idea of a "house voice" or "house opinion" bugs me no end; it's dishonest and it's myth-making. So glad Stylus not only put all a writer's stuff together but also gave space for a photo and bio if you wanted to put one too.

At the same time, my guess is that most readers just don't look at bylines, they see a review and go "Pitchfork said this" or "NME said that".

xpost Yeah, photos, bios - do it! It's a great idea. Music IS subjective after all and trying to homogenise everything under a house style is as ridiculous as me expecting all my friends to be into exactly the same things.

I guess this boils down to whether one believes that music criticism ought to be can be objective or subjective though.

^^^^fixed your post

It's the photos/bios thing that bothers me. I would much rather have a list of what ratings they gave to recent albums. I just think that a photo/bio, rather than provide the person's context, will just provide a way for some readers to dismiss that person's opinions if they are not of the expected gender/race/etc.

x-posts

At the same time, my guess is that most readers just don't look at bylines, they see a review and go "Pitchfork said this" or "NME said that".

― Matt DC, Wednesday, 22 August 2012 11:05 (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It just seems so old fashioned to think this way in this day and age. Especially when writers move from publication to publication. I'd really like to see music writers given a chance to exorcise their individual eccentricities and values - to maybe have multiple reviewers talking about a release and seeing where their opinions agree or conflict - somewhere between Singles Jukebox and the usual review format, maybe?

It's not old-fashioned, that's how modern media brand-building works, for better or worse. The Economist doesn't have a single byline in it most of the time.

The exception being columnists obviously, but that's something of a special case.

in my experience having a "bio" on your publication serves no other purpose than that when people disagree with your reviews they can grab at whatever factoids are available about you to use as insults when they want to discredit your opinions (the best was when a guy from a band i panned laid into me using each of the 4 or 5 things i'd tweeted that day against me in random contextless ways). if a publication doesn't edit away your personality or writing style and puts your byline on what you write that's all they're really obligated to do. not going beyond that to a bunch of social media nonsense is not 'monolithic.'

xpost Music (other than music news) is opinion-based, and therefore it's pointless to shy away from making that explicit. Music reviews are not facts, and so a byline works as a caveat: "this is my opinion, your listening experience may vary"

The idea of a "house voice" or "house opinion" bugs me no end; it's dishonest and it's myth-making. So glad Stylus not only put all a writer's stuff together but also gave space for a photo and bio if you wanted to put one too.

― Sick Mouthy (Scik Mouthy), Wednesday, August 22,

Your house opinion isn't in what you say about records, its about what you decide to cover

i mean i'm guessing virtually every PF writer has an easily googleable blog or social media presence where you could really get to know them and their taste if you want to, which would not have been as true 5 or certainly 10 years ago, so i don't know why there's a demand for the publication to hold your hand through that anyway.

xpost

i was gonna say "i don't" but then i remembered 12 years of the ilx archives. u_u

Your house opinion isn't in what you say about records, its about what you decide to cover

― coal, Wednesday, 22 August 2012 11:20

That's true.

Only partly true.

"truthy"

(sorry, couldn't resist)

PF does manage house opinion to a great degree, possibly more than other publications -- like seemingly going to pains to assign reviews to people who don't go against the staff's emerging consensus, etc. that's probably a smart thing in terms of, like, not panning a record that's going to get voted as one of the year's best a few months later, but it definitely seems a little overmanaged in that sense.

One year at Stylus we didn't even review the album that ended up taking our end of year poll #1 spot.