pitchfork is dumb (#34985859340293849494 in a series.)

R.E.M.?

Taking Back Sunday, The Used, AFI, Unwritten Law were all more popular on rock stations.

Weird to read "a band whose legacy is largely undecided" about your all-time favorite band. I am decided.

For the Julia Holter one, I found the score of 8.2 confusingly low for a review that read like sheer impassioned accolades. I felt like something was left unsaid like a unspoken characteristic of the release that disqualified it from the top shelf and made it simply a perfect execution within the limits of it's sort instead of an absolute classic.

Think a long way upthread we were talking about how the score is not usually chosen by the reviwer, still seems crazy to me.

ah I see. I guess the scores are too narrative-bound to be kept off the leash of centralized control

that only really makes sense if you're going to get someone to write a review who agrees with whatever the narrative is though, when there's an obvious disconnect like that it feels really weird

in the olden days, some albums used to get very high scores without getting the editorial BNM.

here's an example: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/12454-the-59-sound/

the gaslit anthem

8.2 is the only score that seems to get both BNMs and non-BNMs these days

not sure what the difference is supposed to be since editorial decides both these days right?

I've always seen BNMs mostly given to records that may have some crossover appeal. Records that are very solid more strictly within their genre/style get the score but not the tag.

That's how I've always imagined the distinction.

Both Janalle Monae and this seemed like they very explicitly wanted to encapsulate what 2018 seemed like, and both surprisingly missed BNM, and though I can't really base it on anything it makes me think that Pitchfork wants to avoid looking like they give the tag out for extra-musical reasons. Which in both cases ends up meaning some of the most exciting music gets snubbed, but oh well.

the 8+ records that narrowly miss BNM are almost always more interesting to me than the ones they rave about

yeah, they collect them in the "overlooked records" feature, usually the best stuff is in there

no BNM for twin sister, no credibility

i really dont understand how mr twin sister were a way more hyped band in the indie press before they changed names and suddenly became the best band in the world instead of a just ok dreamy synthpop group

i guess part of that is they were briefly signed to domino, but it seemed like that came on the back of buzz around their early EPs?

They had a couple of early singles which I still count among my favourite releases of the decade, then the LP on Domino was a huge let-down, think that burned a lot of people out, don't think a hype band can become a hype band again.

BNM is one of the worst things about Pitchfork

no BNM for twin sister, no credibility

― ||||||||, Tuesday, November 6, 2018 2:29 AM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

re: ufo, blame Dr. Dre

twin sister album was a disappointment

though not giving BNM to the 2014 was a big oversight

Beer Helped Me Express My Identity—And Then I Stopped Drinking Beer

Nice of them to give Ian Mackaye a column

twin sister album was a disappointment

― flopson, Tuesday, November 6, 2018 7:13 PM (two days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

listen harder

Beer Helped Me Express My Identity—And Then I Stopped Drinking Beer

I thought this was a joke (should’ve known better)...

I think the beer narrative will be the defining literary mode of our time

twin sister album was a disappointment

― flopson, Tuesday, November 6, 2018 7:13 PM (two days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

listen harder

― princess of hell (BradNelson), Thursday, November 8, 2018 12:40 PM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The 2011 album? I could never get into it. Bad Street, Daniel and Kimmi In A Rice Field are ok I suppose, Saturdaysunday is legit bad.

I'm really into everything they've done before and since.

mr twin sister put out a new album a few weeks ago

i believe that’s what flops is talking about

Right. That one is great, so is the previous one. But we were talking about the 2011 LP when they were just called Twin Sister.

lol yeah when i made that very pendantic post i realized what you were talking about

I'm listening to it again now. Still really patchy, sounds like they were trying various producers who all didn't work in different ways. A few tracks are actually really good. But some real stinkers too.

I suppose I expected more from Latinx people. (Why do we always expect more of marginalized people? Must the onus always be on the oppressed to be engaged constantly in acts of critical resistance?)

(From the Morrissey article)

stop trying to make latinx happen

That's a real "who's we?" situation there xpost

I suppose I expected more from Latinx people. (Why do we always expect more of marginalized people? Must the onus always be on the oppressed to be engaged constantly in acts of critical resistance?) I expected, as society too often does, for Latinx people to walk, talk, and even rock in perfect parallel with their politics.

i don't mind latinx really anymore but i think the main problem w/ the piece is his assumptions that latinx people share some kind of common political or politicized identity or a shared experience of being marginalized & oppressed, or that latinx people would think morrissey's islamophobic comments are indicative of how he might feel toward his fans in latin america.

like cmon dude do you know that there are people of latin american origin who are one or more of the following
rich
racist
conservative
islamophobic
apolitical goths who just like the smiths

Not all languages are like English, and that's ok. I'm not convinced that English's relatively genderless grammar has resulted in a less sexist culture overall.

i think the main problem w/ the piece is his assumptions that latinx people share some kind of common political or politicized identity or a shared experience of being marginalized & oppressed

All "white" people are the same
All "black" people are the same
All "Latin" people are the same
All "Asian" people are the same

i don't mind latinx really anymore but i think the main problem w/ the piece is his assumptions that latinx people share some kind of common political or politicized identity or a shared experience of being marginalized & oppressed, or that latinx people would think morrissey's islamophobic comments are indicative of how he might feel toward his fans in latin america.

yeah I thought this was really weird too

I think the real tell in the piece is

Another fan, Jose, made the three-hour drive down to Long Beach from Bakersfield to see Morrissey perform alongside more contemporary favorites. “Every artist is pretty problematic in their own way,” he said. “Everybody’s going to be supporting them, so it doesn’t matter.”

Jose’s friend, Diana, said that they try their best to separate the art from the artist, especially when it’s someone they loved from a young age like Morrissey. “It doesn’t mean we agree with everything,” she said, “but the music is good.”

otm

even for someone as completely online as me, enjoying certain artists is an act of compartmentalization

or reinterpreting the work through my own lens so i can disentangle it from the shittiness of the artist (never entirely successfully, but it happens)

i think the main problem w/ the piece is his assumptions that latinx people share some kind of common political or politicized identity or a shared experience of being marginalized & oppressed

^^^ my problem, among many, with political reporters aghast that Cubans are so damn conservative. What did you expect?

Is the mental exercise Brand New for you or have you had to do this for awhile?

xp

i think the main problem w/ the piece is his assumptions that latinx people share some kind of common political or politicized identity or a shared experience of being marginalized & oppressed

^^^ my problem, among many, with political reporters aghast that Cubans are so damn conservative. What did you expect?

― I like queer. You like queer, senator? (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, November 8, 2018 12:21 PM (three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I feel like ilxors are guilty of this too. Most talk about what certain demographics do or should think based on the particular perspective of well read people who spend most of their day on liberal politics forums.

Is the mental exercise Brand New for you or have you had to do this for awhile?

xp

― Evan, Thursday, November 8, 2018 10:25 AM (four minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

oh god no i still can't listen to brand new at all

i was thinking more like... lou reed

pumpkins being the prime example - at least for me