pitchfork is dumb (#34985859340293849494 in a series.)

It's such a funny fucking conceit because like 90% of "indie rockers" who grew up in the American suburbs would probably tell you that they found living there oppressive and *leaving* the suburbs was a top priority

^^^^

I don't know if i'm going to get over the "correction" of

"Arcade Fire’s 2010 album The Suburbs — which includes string arrangements from a queer artist"

"An earlier version of this piece misstated the number of people of color who have appeared on Belle & Sebastian record sleeves"

"Some of my best string arrangements are gay"

No mention of Thalia Zedek

The way the article sort of leaps from B-52's and Pete Shelley to Pansy Division felt like maybe there might be some more secret history the writer might have missed

Stephin Merritt releasing, in 1995, an entire album of indie-rock "stars" singing his lyrics is probably a more on-target example of "queering indie rock" than, say, the aesthetic of a major-label band coming out of a college town in the late '70s (not that the B-52's aren't great & worth writing about!).

Describing suburbs as “a hotbed for heterosexuality” is very hilarious to me, such a stupid phrase. Makes the suburbs seem a lot sexier than I think the writer intended. "Heteronormativity" is maybe the more apt word there

I remember my youth in the suburbs… a HOTBED of heterosexuality, it was. Every day at 5pm sharp the dads would all get home from work, and the heterosexuality would start spreading like wildfire… you could hear the indie rock for miles around, some nights…

Give John Cheever the news.

roll over Beethoven

When a son reached a certain age, his father would take him to his wood shop in the garage and give him an issue of The Big Takeover

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRQ7ecvU56k

a hotbed for whiteness and heterosexuality

isn't this the by-definition coldbed

I saw Hotbed of Heterosexuality open for Corrosion of Conformity... it was a pretty sick show.

Lol morrisp

J Hus review is like a real live "Goop on Ya Grinch"

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/j-hus-beautiful-and-brutal-yard/

Russian dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s best-known revelation after a decade of exile and imprisonment was that “the line between good and evil runs not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either—but right through every human heart.” J Hus seems to have had a similar epiphany after 27 years of London, and eight or so navigating the music industry. On the cover of his third album, Beautiful and Brutal Yard, there are two houses: one engulfed in flames, the other smothered in bright blooms. Smoke and petals intermingle, and the whole thing takes the shape of a human heart.

........

Thumbed, hall party highlife basslines are refigured for a new generation—though some of the more choice lyrics about “the finger blaster” and sticking a “thumb in your anus” might raise more than blushes among the aunties and uncles.

lol I meant to post this quote after reading it this morning:

"Like Solzhenitsyn, J Hus is just as concerned with unpicking the knots of his own humanity as he is the societal structures and injustices that have shaped it."

Pfork says the Barbie soundtrack is one of “8 New Albums You Should Listen to Now”; but essentially drags it both in its own blurb and a neighboring blurb, and links to a 5.4 review (also published today). Are they being forced by a partnership or something to begrudgingly include the album in their weekly rundown?

(The review is unreadable, btw, IMO)

One of the six paragraphs on the review is just a recap of a scene from the movie.

of the review

And Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night” is a serviceable Future Nostalgia retread that’s partially redeemed by its inclusion in an exuberant dance sequence,

how crass for Dua Lipa to contribute a Dua Lipa track

This in the intro text that always accompanies that weekly feature:

With so much good music being released all the time, it can be hard to determine what to listen to first. Every week, Pitchfork offers a run-down of significant new releases available on streaming services.

The first sentence sort of implies that the list will be composed only of "good music," but the second takes a slightly different tack by focusing on "significant" releases. I'd say that the soundtrack of perhaps the most-anticipated film of the year, featuring songs from some of today's biggest pop stars, counts as a "significant new release," regardless of its quality, and perhaps even worth listening to for that reason alone.

kinda depends on how much one cares for pop music of course

!

https://i.imgur.io/SMH9lrq_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium

having said that
i’d s a d to get BNM

— jenny lewis (@jennylewis) August 3, 2023

you hear that Alfred?

I'll tap my finger once again at the poster I had printed of Brian Gray Howe's low-key misogynistic review of Edith Frost's (to date) final album, which she said on Twitter was a contributing factor to her quitting music. I'm a fan so that particular one sticks in my craw.

I think there are a lot of bad reviews of that kind from the oughts though, pitchfork having had its fair share and fortunately they have a better approach now with the reviews, that specific kind of thing I doubt would fly now.

I didn't think I was at all cruel.

unless she specified i doubt she was calling out your review

but jlew has been through the pfork ringer multiple times between rilo kiley and her solo work, and i remember many of these reviews being kinda idk unfair. on the other hand lindsay zoladz basically canonized rk forever with a pfork piece. ultimately pfork is as varied as the ppl who write for it

i think she's talking about the bethany coast review from today

that was my suspicion

It's a negative review, but not particularly "scathing" IMO

Cosentino had an even better take:

Love how my pitchfork review is like, “there are grammatical errors in the lyrics” as if it’s a 9th grade English paper, yet no one took the time to proofread the review to make sure my last name is spelled correctly throughout.
God. Bless.

— Bethany Cosentino (@BethanyCoast) August 3, 2023

Well, you can't argue with that...!

lol

What’s interesting about this to me is that I just don’t understand who listens to Best Coast, or Jenny Lewis. Outside of… ILX, I don’t know a single person who has ever spoken of them in any sort of way. Who listens to this stuff?

It's a negative review, but not particularly "scathing" IMO

"Train homage" is fightin' words though

xp- passionate millenial males

xp Hahaha, fair

That Bethany Cosentino review does scan as if she released a book of poetry rather than an album (or maybe that the reviewer is a frustrated poet).

What’s interesting about this to me is that I just don’t understand who listens to Best Coast, or Jenny Lewis. Outside of… ILX, I don’t know a single person who has ever spoken of them in any sort of way. Who listens to this stuff?

Is it so hard to believe that two musicians who make catchy pop-rock that is generally well-reviewed have fans?

I know a lot of normal non Internet damaged ppl who like Jenny Lewis

^one for the sticker

That Bethany Cosentino review does scan as if she released a book of poetry rather than an album

imo this is a thing now and it's honestly a paradigm shift. interviewers will do a whole interview of "this song here says this, can you talk more about that?" in the 90s they barely asked about lyrics at all.

I guess I just think it’s weird that I know not a single person who cares about them IRL, and it’s not like I’m only friends with heads. Lots of more “indie” people in my friend circle, never heard them mentioned in any conversation. Here and music sites are the only reason I have any knowledge of them.

I've met plenty of Best Coast fans around my age & Rilo Kiley fans who are a bit older. I liked Pocahaunted

Omg, I did not know she was in Pocahaunted. Saw them once in a warehouse-type show.