Pitchfork's P2k: The Decade in Music

the moon & antarctica!

scott pl wasn't kidding when he said there wouldn't be much from 2009. only two albums so far

bright like neon love

lol whut

The only reason why I think Relationship of Command might be top 20 is because atdi were mentioned in "the decade in news" but still somehow it doesn't feel like a typical shoe-in album.. And similarly, besides Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear, there aren't any 2009 albums that seem like they should receive lots of votes all at once. I'm surprised Dirty Projectors placed well.

Did 1999 get shafted during the initial best of the 90s run the way 2009 has been?

It certainly didn't help 1999's case that a) it took everybody a while to find the diamonds in the rough, like it always does b) 1999 was an exceptionally great year for songs but not albums

But then I might just be remembering 1999 through the lens of childhood and radio pop.

You just know, with crushing inevitability, that Kid A is going to win, purely because EVERYONE voting in this poll (maybe) has been waiting for ten years to put it at the top of their list in some kind of long-winded Pavlovian indie fuXXor conspiracy. None of them will actually love this record the most out of all the records of this decade, they'll just have been expecting to do this for so long that they can't comprehend doing anything else.

fever to tell at number 24, wow

Is that surprising? I've never liked YYY, so it's a genuine question. The high ranking makes me at least want to give the disc another listen.

None of them will actually love this record the most out of all the records of this decade, they'll just have been expecting to do this for so long that they can't comprehend doing anything else.

Not sure how you could know that. Seems like a lot of people love the disc, and the band (maxing out their 3 disc limit, all in the top 50). BTW, Anmesiac appearing today (and, presumably, Kid A tomorrow) means that HTTT won't be on the list.

I know that because it's a rubbish record. < / pseudo objectivity >

lol. Brace yourself for upset tomorrow. I (maybe mistakenly) thought you liked Radiohead? In Rainbows, at least, seems to me to be a well-produced/engineered and dynamic record, which I know is something you'd appreciate.

I don't HATE Radiohead, I just think they're massively, massively overrated, and that, with regard to end-of-decade-polls, KId A has been hovering like a vulture for an entire fucking decade expecting to get voted at number 1 in every poll going, and it makes every single poll that it does win in redundant. With end of 90s polls there was an element of surprise, of being reminded of great records you'd meant to check out but hadn't got round to, or had loved and then forgotten. Kid A has been Pitchfork's album of the decade since September 2000, making the whole exercise redundant.

Obviously I hope I'm wrong.

And a record can be well engineered and dynamic etc and still be boring.

KId A has been hovering like a vulture for an entire fucking decade expecting to get voted at number 1 in every poll going

Damn that Kid A and his intentions.

The biggest problem with 1999 is that the Kelis and Jay-Z albums came out in, like, December.

But it was a great year for albums and singles both I think.

Xiu Xiu's 'A Promise' isn't yet on the list is it?

Obviously, Turangalila, Kid A itself as an entity isn't to blame; but people's attitudes towards it for it's entire existence have made this seem inexorable and predetermined. And thus no fun.

Scik - I hate to rant on about Kid A, but I feel ya with the vulture metaphor. I do think it deserves a lot of its praise, but I'm not convinced it's the 'best of the decade'. I'm also not too keen on the idea of Radiohead taking Pitchfork's top honors in two consecutive decades. After all, not even the Beatles could claim that.

There are a handful of albums from this decade that I think explore new territory more successfully and with more skill (ie. Silent Shout, Person Pitch, Endless Summer, et al.). I would personally put those albums above Kid A, but I also see that their respective statements are more specific, more acute. Kid A has a wider scope and a wider appeal (which doesn't necessarily make it better); thus more of the Pitchfork staffers will likely rate it as one of the best.

The only album I can definitely see posing a challenge, given these factors, is Discovery (as others have pointed out above). But I don't think Pitchfork's staff has the guts to put a dance record in the #1 position for the decade; they still tend to cling to their guitar-based rock like a life preserver. I hope I'm wrong.

I don't think it's all so inevitable. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see Silent Shout at No. 1.

has Kish Kash placed?

Has TNP's Electric Version placed yet?

Scik Mouthy OTM re: Kid A, I'm ready to take my medicine and be done with it.

Kish Kash wont place.

I don't think it's all so inevitable. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see Silent Shout at No. 1.

― Daniel, Esq., Thursday, October 1, 2009 9:21 AM

That'd be great. You never know ...

I think the best album from the (likely) top 20 is "Person Pitch" or maybe one of the Arcade Fire albums. This is kinda sad, actually.

What happened to The Drift?

I'm not expecting #1, obviously, but is it in the top 20 or was it completely left off the list?

The Drift will be left off.

The only album I can definitely see posing a challenge, given these factors, is Discovery (as others have pointed out above). But I don't think Pitchfork's staff has the guts to put a dance record in the #1 position for the decade; they still tend to cling to their guitar-based rock like a life preserver. I hope I'm wrong.

― untrue pitch, Thursday, 1 October 2009 10:18 (11 minutes ago) Bookmark

Are you trolling? They have put plenty of non-guitar based rock top of polls (Justin Timberlake, Annie, Person Pitch and Silent Shout off the top of the dome) and if anyone dislikes Discovery they are dead inside, while it is a lot easier to see the problems with Kid A. That and Kid A only has one real "guitar-based rock" song...

Kid A would be as good as XTRMNTR if there was more National Anthem and less Treefingers.

yeah, there's not going to be a place for the drift.

credibility for this list will be severely lost for me if TWO arcade fire albums make the top 20. i mean, come on.

no hail to the thief anywhere on the list is a bit silly if you ask me.

always good to see a bit of revisionism here and there though. always keeps things interesting .

Umm no, not trolling. JT and Annie topped the singles/tracks lists; I should've clarified, I'm talking about albums. Singles are a whole other ballgame.

Silent Shout and Person Pitch were great surprises. And I did allude to that by saying I don't think they have the guts to place a dance record at #1 for the DECADE (not year).

You're talking about it as if there are suspicious editorial machinations that underlie everything ... it's not about "guts", it's a poll, and if enough people vote for "Discovery" or "Silent Shout" or whatever, then it will win.

No place for The Drift in the decade's top 200 records is an outrage!

I believe someone from Pitchfork noted on here that it's not 100% by the numbers, that there is a little editorial 'massaging'.

You're talking about it as if everyone is capable of 100% emotional honesty / honesty of taste all the time, which also isn't true; there are gonna be all sorts of conflicting desires and impulses and influences affecting each individual ballot paper, which will in turn, of course, affect the overall poll results. I doubt very much that the Pitchfork editorial staff would massively gerrymander the list to get the result they wanted; but that doesn't mean that individual voters aren't subconsciously gerrymandering results by making sure they vote for albums they think they should vote for rather than albums they actually love.

I'm not saying that people are outright lying, just that, you know, ideology is a powerful thing and it's massively at play in music journalism.

Taste is easily led in young males searching for identity.

"If you don't like Kid A you're a dick".

"If you do like Kid A you're a sheep".

no place for Aerial either?

It's buy a woman.

Great points.

Haha, apologies, I'm being deliberately outrageous here.

The Drift wont poll because, presumably, each ballot was 50 albums, and I bet that, while a lot of people ADMIRE this record a lot, and would have put it in their 51-100 section, probably not enough LOVE IT to include it in a top 50. I reckon it's a record that a lot of people played quite intensively for a few days / weeks to get their head round it, then never visited it again. it's hardly a jolly thing to play often, is it?

Kate Bush probably wont poll for similar reasons. Eccentric English people releasing records that everyone has to have an opinion on briefly but that few people revisit often for affection.

Which is kind of how I feel about Radiohead.

i.e. there are most certainly 50+ records from the last ten years that I love MORE.

I beg to differ Nick. It may not be "jolly", but for some people (like myself) it is a record to play often. Just don't expect something "jolly".

But I can see how by your argumentation it will not be placed. Which still is an outrage!

xp

I don't disagree that some people are gonna love it to bits and play it a lot; hell, my number 1 would probably be Codename:Dustsucker, which I doubt many other people even remember who are gonna be voting in polls like this. I just think you shouldn't be surprised if it's not in the poll because I wouldn't count on anyone else voting for it.

When we ran polls like this at Stylus, 00-05 poll, or the top 101-200 albums ever, or whatever, we always said "vote for what you love, even if you're not sure regarding eligibility etc; just don't expect anyone else to vote for it".

Oh I'm not surprised by it, just like you I don't expect Scott up there. Nor Bark Psychosis.

i mean in all seriousness, every pitchfork list you read is going to be comfortably predictable and any "surprise" that crops up occasionally is going to be of the safe and calculated variety. it's a classic case of groupthink. that said, i always enjoy reading what they have to say about the albums. i'm pretty detached about it all and never expect much balance or to be influenced particularly. this allows me to overlook the fact that they consistently leave out some of my favourites.

In my mind, The Drift definitely ought to be in there in place of dross like Source Tags & Codes, and Aerial in place of dross like Chutes Too Narrow. Sadly, though, it's unlikely that Scott or Kate would end up in a poll that also includes records like those two.

Charlie, that's very magnanimous of you. I agree, I guess. Doesn't mean it doesn't piss me off. maybe I ought to arrange my own poll.

Groupthink always results in boring choices.