pitchfork is dumb (#34985859340293849494 in a series.)

it doesn't actually pass the quick fact-check I did (i.e. Wikipedia, lol). Bleach had sold about 40,000 copies by the time Nevermind came out, whereas Pretty on the Inside had only sold 27,000 by 1994 (three years after it was released).

MAMA'S WRONG AGAIN!

Swift Boat Veterans for Bleach ✊🇺🇸

Girlfriends wrong again

lol

This 'fact' seems to come from Courtney Love. It is probably correct that in Sept. 91 the new Hole album was selling more than a two year old Nirvana album--until Nevermind blew up anyway.

That's the one sentence you guys got stuck on, huh

beats working I guess

true

How is that Defector piece simultaneously interesting and boring?

(and surely any passer-by could have explained the Moby joke to him)

I glanced over the first few graphs and couldn’t get into this piece, but on the upside it did make me think on my favorite Pitchfork reviews (which are from the last several years, honestly).

Defector rarely misses, but…

To my mind the best thing about the piece was that McQuade said he was much more of an electronic music listener than anything else. Kinda wish he'd just talked about that!

kind of misses the fact that while the stuff pitchfork covered was well done, it was very much not not representative of the breadth of those genres, either!

i'm not an expert on electronic/dance but as a reader phillip sherburne is one of the reasons i kept coming back to pitchfork

Seems shocking that Hole only sold 27k albums across '92 & '93.

xp yeah, his writing is a treat!

I mean, in a just world, Pretty on the Inside would have outsold both Bleach and Nevermind, but I'm a much bigger fan of Hole than Nirvana.

Genuine question since I didn't get into Hole until Live Through This, but was there sexist bullshit around Pretty on the Inside when it came out like the two followings albums (i.e. the stupid rumors of "Live Through This/Celebrity Skin is only good because Kurt/Billy wrote it for her").

IIRC the response was mostly "Jesus, her voice is awful and don't we already have one Babes In Toyland?"

Glad to see that people are still linking to ILM threads in 2024.

(And funny that this guy was Keith Fullerton Whitman's brother.)

I mean there are for real bad feelings among Babes in Toyland that Courtney jacked songs or parts of songs from Kat when they were in Pagan Babies together, also Kat's baby doll dress thing, but who knows if Kat is the most reliable narrator either

and just generally their style for the first Hole record

<I>(And funny that this guy was Keith Fullerton Whitman's brother.)</I>

still am!

:)

lol

resident advisor talked to some ex-pitchforkers

https://ra.co/news/80210

Walmart

This made me crack up.

On February 1st, Minsker also revealed that former Pitchfork staff are no longer allowed to freelance for the site. "I've heard this from at least four people who were told pretty directly from someone at Pitchfork," Minsker said. As an active union member, he said he feels protective of his colleagues: "It feels unnecessary and vindictive. We all deserve better."

WTF

I agree that a Pitchfork list that says Pavement’s “Gold Soundz” is the best song of the ’90s is a much more interesting version than one that puts Mariah Carey’s “Fantasy (Remix)” featuring Ol’ Dirty Bastard at No. 1, and I say this even though I think “Fantasy (Remix)” is a better tune.

I will never understand this way of thinking. Pitchfork -- specifically -- ranking "Fantasy" as their number 1 is far more surprising and transgressive (and therefore interesting to me) than "Gold Soundz." And if it's a "better tune," what are we even arguing about?

I think the "poptimism failed them" crowd assumes Pitchfork was trying to pull in a new and more diverse readership, while I always interpreted it as their writers and editors trying to challenge their existing readership. The people I know that read Pitchfork are much better off having "Fantasy" be "validated" than being told Pavement is the most important band in the world for the millionth time.

Either way its just inflicting one view over another. Validation of music is stupid and is a complete waste of time.

Unless you're 12.

anything that's "the best of the 90s" is just some fun tunes we remember and like to hear, or think people born after the 90s might like to hear

Mostly agree with you, Indexed, about Pitchfork's intent with respect to its readership -- except the list also gets perceived within the broader ecosystem of music criticism on the internet, at a time when it wouldn't be unusual to see "Fantasy" atop a '90s list put out by Billboard or Rolling Stone or Vulture, either because those publications have historically been more sympathetic to pop music or have become more recently influenced by poptimism or both. So I also understand how "Gold Soundz" might be seen as a more interesting choice, because it's not one that you'd have seen a lot of other publications make.

It's a good thing we now have a media landscape every week some outlet is pubbing the exact same lists of songs as all the other other outlets but with the order changed

Any answer besides "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is basically trolling so both Pavement and Mariah are both "see what we did here" picks

what about "juicy"

Weird that a song mostly made in 1981 ("Genius of Love") would be the number one song of the 1990s.

the man said to get back to those gold sounds

if someone held a gun to your head and said "Name Pitchfork's Best Song of the 1990s" could you do it?

If You Don't Read This Website, We'll Kill This Dog

if someone held a gun to your head and said "Name Pitchfork's Best Song of the 1990s" could you do it?

― tylerw, Friday, February 2, 2024 4:49 PM (thirty-two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

i would do a flip and karate kick the gun out of their hand and run off yelling "crime scene part one by afghan whigs!!!!!!"

if someone held a gun to your head and said "Name Pitchfork's Best Song of the 1990s" could you do it?

― tylerw, Friday, February 2, 2024 4:49 PM (thirty-two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Vanessa Williams - "Save the Best For Last."

Detachable Penis

If You Don't Read This Website, We'll Kill This Dog

Interesting that the masthead hasn’t been updated.

"Validation of music is stupid and is a complete waste of time."

so what you're trying to say is that Pavement rule, right?

"Vanessa Williams - "Save the Best For Last."

would so vote for this to be best of 90s. best song ever. "this kiss" could be number two. "baby baby" and "every heartbeat" for #3 and #4. "vision of love" or "hold on" for #5. i'd be good with those. and then a bunch of my bloody valentine, pavement, and east coast rap with a special shout-out to Lord Finesse's "Underground Operations".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAqfftTSU1k

no one needs a music review site to do a “best of” list. they just need to read scott’s posts

"Save the Best for Last" is one of my all-time jams.