extremely good but not in a way that captured the imaginations of so many listeners
*ponders this alternate dimension*
yes, i would have been a very special and more rare wilco fan, in that case. would have been pretty crazy
― Karl Malone, Saturday, 24 September 2022 19:57 (one year ago) link
or maybe, just maybe, i would be one of those many listeners that never heard the album at all, because it was not made in a way that captured the imaginations of many listeners. i'm so glad we're in the universe we're in now, where 9/11 happened AND we all got to listen to wilco
― Karl Malone, Saturday, 24 September 2022 20:06 (one year ago) link
what if an overrated indie rock album... wasn't that good?
― flopson, Saturday, 24 September 2022 20:09 (one year ago) link
That review was stupid but the album remains a masterpiece.
― The Ghost Club, Saturday, 24 September 2022 21:40 (one year ago) link
What if Jeff Tweedy had hot dog fingers?
― jmm, Saturday, 24 September 2022 21:47 (one year ago) link
Their original review (now byline-free) is just as OTT
No one is too good for this album; it is better than all of us.
― "Cool ranch dressing!" (morrisp), Saturday, 24 September 2022 22:17 (one year ago) link
dear god
― Paul Ponzi, Saturday, 24 September 2022 23:58 (one year ago) link
They continued being a midlevel rock band rather than one of the most revered rock bands of the 21st century, which is what they did in our universe.
No but isn't that just what happened after YHF instead
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Sunday, 25 September 2022 00:06 (one year ago) link
like "got good reviews, landed on a few year-end lists, toured slightly bigger venues, and that’s it." That's bang on about most if not all of the successive albums no?
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Sunday, 25 September 2022 00:08 (one year ago) link
Thousands of bands would kill for Wilco's loyal live followings, they can do midsized amphitheaters from now til the end of time
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Sunday, 25 September 2022 01:41 (one year ago) link
What if Wilco had been in the WTC that day? Makes you think...
― Muad'Doob (Moodles), Sunday, 25 September 2022 02:07 (one year ago) link
Pitchfork is so embarrasing, including its "indie" phase.
― CerebralCaustic, Sunday, 25 September 2022 03:23 (one year ago) link
I’m so embarrassing, including my indie phase
― Karl Malone, Sunday, 25 September 2022 03:35 (one year ago) link
(now byline-free)
lol
― nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Sunday, 25 September 2022 13:24 (one year ago) link
Huh, I remember Brent Sirota writing a bunch of Pitchfork reviews, and now I can find only one still attributed to him. He's a history professor now, so maybe he wanted to disconnect himself from this early non-academic writing.
― jaymc, Sunday, 25 September 2022 14:20 (one year ago) link
Actually, it looks like his byline appears on album review thumbnails on artist pages (like the one I linked, as well as on Wilco's) -- just not on the reviews themselves.
― jaymc, Sunday, 25 September 2022 14:31 (one year ago) link
His name is on the YFH reviewhttps://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/8676-yankee-hotel-foxtrot/amp/
― SincereLee 'Scratch' Perry (President Keyes), Sunday, 25 September 2022 14:33 (one year ago) link
Once more with feeling.
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 25 September 2022 14:34 (one year ago) link
Huh, it does show up when the page is viewed via that AMP link (and yes, the bylines do seem to be on the Reviews page thumbnails)
― "Cool ranch dressing!" (morrisp), Sunday, 25 September 2022 14:44 (one year ago) link
I tried another example – the byline and publication date don’t show up when I click into the review via searching the website, but they do show up when the exact same URL is retrieved in a Google search (and it’s not an AMP link this time):https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/7429-girls-can-tell/ It must be some specific issue with my phone’s browser?
― "Cool ranch dressing!" (morrisp), Sunday, 25 September 2022 14:54 (one year ago) link
(FWIW, the version of the page where the byline doesn’t show up has a floating Pitchfork header that scrolls with the page; whereas the version that includes the byline just has a static header)(sorry, I know this doesn’t matter, it’s just weird)
― "Cool ranch dressing!" (morrisp), Sunday, 25 September 2022 14:56 (one year ago) link
Oh wait, the second (Googled) url is an AMP:https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/7429-girls-can-tell/amp/
― "Cool ranch dressing!" (morrisp), Sunday, 25 September 2022 15:10 (one year ago) link
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/3171K369FGL.jpg
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Sunday, 25 September 2022 15:37 (one year ago) link
The Nona Hendryx review is really great, as is the album, but
Black women had played rock’n’roll since its birth by Big Mama Thornton in 1952
BMT inventing r'n'r is a new one on me
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Sunday, 25 September 2022 20:11 (one year ago) link
Don’t you know? Big Mama Thornton is the most important artist in rock ‘n’ roll history. All others are but mere pretenders to Her throne.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Sunday, 25 September 2022 20:29 (one year ago) link
If you make that claim, you might as well credit Leiber and Stoller, too, which complicates that particular narrative
― Paul Ponzi, Sunday, 25 September 2022 20:57 (one year ago) link
Also the fact that rock and roll already existed
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Sunday, 25 September 2022 21:14 (one year ago) link
Or at least, if one would argue it hadn't yet (and boy don't these things get argued), what makes Big Mama Thornton the point where it begins and not similar enough records which already existed? etc etc
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Sunday, 25 September 2022 21:17 (one year ago) link
what if there were a world where WW2 didn't happen AND big mama thornton never learned to play guitar as a result?
― Karl Malone, Sunday, 25 September 2022 21:21 (one year ago) link
i'm just glad that WW2 happened and big mama thornton DID play guitar
― Karl Malone, Sunday, 25 September 2022 21:22 (one year ago) link
Frankly, when it comes to Nona Hendryx I agree with Christgau(!): Every time I listen to one of her solo records I want it to be great, but it's just...not. Black women are as capable of making bland, overdetermined rock as any white dude.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Sunday, 25 September 2022 21:52 (one year ago) link
I like her first album and love Nona (1983), to my ears the most successful Material-involved project. The Art of Defense is damn tuneless, and I've tried. The Heat tries hard for a Tina Turner-type crossover.
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 25 September 2022 22:05 (one year ago) link
Art of Defense has one of my favourite Nona jams on it - 'To The Bone':
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gMUlqaOtbk
― o shit the sheriff (NickB), Sunday, 25 September 2022 23:05 (one year ago) link
yeah that's one of the good ones
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 25 September 2022 23:06 (one year ago) link
also i really like a lot of the jazz album she did with kahil el'zabar:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7DvOimaRJk
― o shit the sheriff (NickB), Sunday, 25 September 2022 23:12 (one year ago) link
Well they certainly chose a better song for number one than “Gold Soundz” this time.
https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-best-songs-of-the-1990s/
― Mr. Snrub, Tuesday, 27 September 2022 15:52 (one year ago) link
They did but I'm still not that keen on this one either
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Tuesday, 27 September 2022 15:52 (one year ago) link
I even like "Ray of Light", but ranked that much higher than "Vogue"?
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 27 September 2022 15:55 (one year ago) link
I haven't read any of the write-ups yet - I see a few familiar faces though! - except for Murder She Wrote, where the song being anti-abortion is strategically tiptoed around. Also a few of the years are wrong (I'm sorry I can't help myself but when no. 7 in the list is two years out I can't help but notice)
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Tuesday, 27 September 2022 15:56 (one year ago) link
I don't even see any tiptoeing there really, which is fine imo. What is weird is not mentioning who produced the thing
Hyperballad would have been a good choice for what is ultimately a silly exercise
― rob, Tuesday, 27 September 2022 16:00 (one year ago) link
really enjoyed making lists for this one
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Tuesday, 27 September 2022 16:01 (one year ago) link
"I don't even see any tiptoeing there really, which is fine imo. What is weird is not mentioning who produced the thing"
Well I was feeling in the space of a capsule review there's inevitably not really any space to mention it, or else it will seem incidental once it quickly moves on
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Tuesday, 27 September 2022 16:06 (one year ago) link
Like many lists of this type it has influenced what I've been listening to all day. Which are songs here that I love but haven't heard in some time.
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Tuesday, 27 September 2022 16:07 (one year ago) link
It's a good/fun list
― "Cool ranch dressing!" (morrisp), Tuesday, 27 September 2022 16:21 (one year ago) link
The number one song is exactly the type of song that Pitchfork of 2022 would place as number one.
Gold Soundz always felt less like an actual number 1, and more of an appropriate choice to close out a 90s retrospective done by a predominately indie leaning publication.
I am curious to see if the tides have changed enough to unseat OK Computer from the top spot of the album list.
― MarkoP, Tuesday, 27 September 2022 16:28 (one year ago) link
I for one am really really sick of most of these songs.
― Mr. Snrub, Tuesday, 27 September 2022 16:31 (one year ago) link
idk this is a publication whose new generation of writers listens to Mariah Carey and Beth Orton.
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 27 September 2022 16:33 (one year ago) link
selections are pretty good, i think the populist picks in the 250-201 range are better than the populist picks at the actual top of the list, but what can you do.
basically, len and return of the mack are too low!
― comedy khadafi (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 27 September 2022 16:35 (one year ago) link
I was psyched to see "My Boo" show up
― "Cool ranch dressing!" (morrisp), Tuesday, 27 September 2022 16:35 (one year ago) link