Pitchfork's P2k: The Decade in Music

kshighway i don't think ppl dislike you or whatever, at least i don't.

kshighway: stop caring about rookie mistakes and carry on doing whatever the hell you want to. all clusterfuck threads have easy targets, just take it as a stupid hazing.

kshighway is my favorite newbie

It's very easy to see why kshighway would get the impression that he was disliked, though; perhaps maybe ppl could take that into consideration a little more when furiously banging out zings...?

It's very easy to see why dan should know better than to use phrases like "furiously banging out zings"

for once I didn't abuse my mod power to make myself look smarter

yeah, i don't think that just because ppl are disagreeing with you or what you are saying or the position you are taking means they dislike you. This board is all about the clusterfuck and "you like [X] so you are racist" and vicious assaults on character over definitions of genres that are only used by board members, so like, don't take no advice on your posting style, just don't worry too hard either.

Short of quitting the board, what can I do to stop everyone from continually calling me out for what I'm guessing are hopefully just rookie mistakes naive young posters make?

hi, kshighway: I am inclined to totally appreciate your posting style and find it kind of a breath of fresh air, so here is my advice. don't start being cynical and sneery and in-the-know and only posting snarky one-liners that nobody can call you out on: it'd solve your problem but be kind of depressing. do learn to do this thing I'm bad at where you don't sweat being misunderstood or goofed on, so you can just say stuff reasonably and then let it lie, without feeling driven to clarify yourself or follow up too far on things.

you are mostly just getting ribbed on here because there are certain things this circle has gotten really wary and cynical and jaded about (like the fact that there are totally normal and reasonable people who really like popular indie acts) and it's unusual to see people here who aren't conscious of certain stuff surrounding that -- you will, over time, become conscious of that stuff and savvy about other people's assumptions, hopefully without becoing wary or jaded or cynical yourself; godspeed

wait for it...

Nabisco OTM

(had to be said)

also what they all said about people just being zingy and stuff -- umm I think sometimes a lot of zinging here is based on people being conscious/aware of the same assumptions and perspectives, which can probably be frustrating if you come in without sharing or being aware of those

nabisco gave the best advice but really do considering talking more about music and talking less about talking about music--don't know abt anyone else but the only thing i know you like for sure is wilco.

this is a great place to discover and talk about music a lot of the time.

Nabisco OTM

(had to be said)

― young depardieu looming out of void in hour of profound triumph (Le Bateau Ivre), Monday, August 24, 2009 8:51 PM (1 hour ago)

"One would think the editors of a decent music publication would identify said "gaps" ahead of time, rather than wait for the world to laugh so loudly at their befuddlement that they're shamed into course-correction."

(leaving aside that this is coming from Ott of all people) I don't know if there are any music publications that don't have certain critical gaps and blinders. It's the flipside to having a recognisable identity that draws readers to you in the first place.

At any rate I tend to think of Pitchfork's evolution in pre-ScottPl and post-ScottPl terms.

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/5488/33vm8lh.gif

Meaning before I hired him, and after. Gotcha.

you and nick sylvester need a slam book

and until you become aware of those assumptions and perspectives, do not post about your sex life ...could be a good idea not to do so even after such awareness sets in.

Rob, I make more than twice your annual income, and am far and away held in higher regard as a writer/author.

looooooool that's like the saddest thing i've ever seen.

yeah, poor low paid unrespected Rob Mitchum

Yeah, doesn't Rob Mitchum have like a doctorate in microbiology or something?

maybe if he hadn't wasted so much time on that people would care about him as a writer/author

xpost

some dude: I'm going to go post to the Nels Cline thread now!

nabisco: As usual, beautifully put, and extremely helpful. I'll try not to lapse into cynicism/excessive zinging, and I'll try not to explain myself too much here or apologize of loving indie rock. Also, thanks for the stuff you said regarding "other people's assumptions" and my (hopefully) eventually coming to understand where more veteran posters are coming from. And thank you for taking the time to say all of that; I really, really appreciate it.

*for loving

got bored enough to do this, only counted songs that I can think of how they go, which excludes a couple tracks from albums I like but could never really tell one song from the next:

You are familiar with 176 out of 500 songs for a score of 35.20% cool

o_0 at that Hipinion board. Briefly trying to GOOGLE the backstory explaining that poster's (an ex-P2k writer) problem with Pitchfork was fruitless, but it did lead me to this odd entry about the Pitchfork site from "Encyclopedia Dramatica," whatever that is. I also spotted this Stereogum post, which just confused me.

wtf http://addictivethoughts.com/2009/04/14/for-posteritys-sake-the-infamous-ryan-sjohn-coltrane-pitchfork-review/

haha I was reading that too

Shit, cat.

speaking of vanished embarassing late-90s p4k reviews, Mordy and I had to dig up this one last night:

http://web.archive.org/web/20040421093112/www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/b/basement-jaxx/remedy.shtml

That old Pitchfork layout is headache-inducing. Hilarious review, tho. That was scrubbed from the site? I figured the scrubbing of the Coletrane review was an isolated incident. I wish there was a searchable database of "disappeared" Pitchfork reviews.

The Rooty one was awful also.

The Rooty one was decently written, just massively rong, which is much more than can be said for the one above.

You are familiar with 176 out of 500 songs for a score of 35.20% cool

lol this is how they put it. "cool."

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/5488/33vm8lh.gif

i am glad that the opportunity to use that gif arose so soon, anyway.

L-R: myself, lex

That Coltrane review offends me not so much for the bad attempt at jazz slang as much as it does for the missing semi-colons that would have made large chunks of it easier to read.

A couple of their late nineties Pet Shop Boys reviews made me cry.

I remember reading that Basement Jaxx review when it came out; between that and Brent's Kid A review I soon decided to stop actively reading Pitchfork. (Then a whole bunch of ppl I knew started writing for them, bastards.)

off topic but why do all your display names include genitals in them now?

Dan's attending some extraordinary parties.

hahaha

Because those are the quotes I run across on Mondays that I find the funniest

"Well, what about Oakenfold or Sasha and Digweed?"

"Doesn't count. They're some of the most revered DJs in England-- not because they create house music, but because they scrounge and dig deep to find the really good stuff. It'll be a sad day for dance music when they play Basement Jaxx."

I'm speechless.

I remember reading that Basement Jaxx review when it came out; between that and Brent's Kid A review I soon decided to stop actively reading Pitchfork

^^^this

It's weird to be reminded how when Pitchfork started there was this idea that internet music journalism could take whatever form it liked, and then after a string of disastrous misfires like this it returned to a more traditional album review format, albeit longer and less regimented than the magazines. I got the same feeling reading some old Paul Morley reviews from the early 80s NME - the idea of doing something different was admirable but the result was usually hopelessly pretentious, opaque and alienating - his experimental reviews have dated so badly, although not as badly as "Shit, cat."

that 50 cent gif is blowing my mind

i totally miss the wacky p4k reviews.

The Jet review with the monkey was the best eg of an off-the-wall review. Quick, somebody find an album that sounds like that 50 Cent gif.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ojLosm2HyZg/SnXblk3HuFI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/6V6NRVytgS0/s400/slaughterhouse-cover-500x500.jpg

Slaughterhouse: Slaughterhouse
4.5

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/5488/33vm8lh.gif