Pitchfork's P2k: The Decade in Music

Could Yankee Hotel Foxtrot be a contender for #1, or is P4K too over its Wilco love affair these days?

yeah the rest are kind of risky, but those 11 i would bet my left testicle on. and the missy elliot, i just figured that so addictive wouldn't be the only missy album on the list, which might have been silly logic but i dont think so.

pretty toney?

xpost oh yeah, oops.

My Left Testicle have a new album coming out, right?

My thoughts on this list- I should dig out Donuts again and finally get around to listening to all them Kompakt things. Don't really care about the order, but would love to see Discovery or Blueprint beat Kid A.

It's true, it is dumb to feel disappointment about something being left off the list, but I can't help feeling a little glum if y'all are right and The Drift gets left off. Just because I thought ppl started to finally "get" Scott Walker Mk II this decade. God knows no one wanted to hear about Tilt the first five years or so after it came out. Mebbe you guys are right though, everyone at least gave a listen.

BTW Scik, Scott W is American, not a britishes.

All I can say is Love and Theft better be in the top 20, or I may be forced to write them a sternly worded letter.

if MPP is number one, I will leave the internet for good. xposts.

Gukbe is off the web because of you.

only two or three of my favourite albums of the decade have been on the list so far, and it doesn't bother me a bit. 200 is a really small sampler considering how much music gets released in a decade. also i don't want to sound like a sarcastic ass but is there some kind of joy or satisfaction in having your tastes reflected or reaffirmed by internet lists? i can't really imagine feeling that way.

xpost hahaha

don't want to sound like a sarcastic ass but is there some kind of joy or satisfaction in having your tastes reflected or reaffirmed by internet lists?

this is pretty much why internet lists get traffic afaik

All I can say is Love and Theft better be in the top 20, or I may be forced to write them a sternly worded letter.

I may be forced to do the same if it is in the top 20.

is 'West Coast' in this bitch or what

I may be forced to do the same if it is in the top 20.

That was a zinger!

top 20 is relatively easy to predict, basically albums that at this point well they couldn't possibly be left off the list.

sufjan stephens - illinois
the strokes - is this it
lcd soundsystem - sound of silver
outkast - stankonia
jay z - the blueprint
radiohead - kid a
daft punk - discovery
animal collective - merriweather post pavilion
panda bear - person pitch
arcade fire - funeral
missy elliot - under construction

Here are the other 9

bob dylan – love and theft
white stripes – white blood cells
spoon – kill the moonlight
modest mouse – the moon and antarctica
Interpol – turn on the bright lights
The knife – silent shout
Wilco – yankee hotel foxtrot
Kanye west – late registration
New pornographers – electric version

No worries. I zing gently, if at all.

(xp)

don't want to sound like a sarcastic ass but is there some kind of joy or satisfaction in having your tastes reflected or reaffirmed by internet lists?

I feel like I see more of the opposite -- some kind of joy/satisfaction in being COMPLETELY OUTRAGED that out of the countless records released in the past decade, some bunch of DOUCHEBAGS on some WEBSITE likes basically the same type of stuff as you but in a SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT ORDER, the idiots

xxp well there ya have it folks.

no way @ electric version

the rest look right though

30 albums that were ranked highly in the past... there is bound to be some surprising exclusions:

agaetis byrjun
blueprint
carter III
discovery
funeral
illinois
kid a
kill the moonlight
silent shout
late registration
merriweather pp
moon & antarctica
neon bible
person pitch
since I left you
smile
sound of silver
stankonia
is this it?
supreme clientele
turn on the bright lights
white blood
yankee hotel foxtrot
unicorns
the drift
walkmen - you & me
chemistry of life
liars - threw us in a trench…
prefuse 73
love & theft

yeah order is 100% irrelevant if you consider how the thing was compiled.

supreme clientele will prob be there too (unless i missed it already)

ahh nevermind u put in there

lol I love Silent Shout but I think it's super super unlikely to make the top 20 of the decade

i wouldnt be surprised to see supreme clientele left off, a lot of musicwriter types jumped ship from that one to fishscale as 'best ghostface album' it seems (wrongly though!!!)

but I think it's super super unlikely to make the top 20 of the decade

surely it would having topped the 06 list?

Yeah, I'd be shocked if it isn't in the top 20.

silent shout was their #1 of year for 2006, unless all the writers who voted it high that year have left or disowned it, it should at least be somewhere on this list

I feel like I see more of the opposite -- some kind of joy/satisfaction in being COMPLETELY OUTRAGED that out of the countless records released in the past decade, some bunch of DOUCHEBAGS on some WEBSITE likes basically the same type of stuff as you but in a SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT ORDER, the idiots

― nabisco, Thursday, October 1, 2009 11:29 AM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Yeah,

a) You can only make these claims if a certain amount of records you DO love are on the list. Thus the list supports your role as part of a demographic/movement/subculture. if you have a completely different top 200, you're probably listening to jazz or j-pop or video game music or 20th century classical and don't care what pfork has to say

b) Usually those type of "I CANT BELIEVE" people take GREAT PRIDE in BEATING the almighty pitchfork in their mind. [[insert ott retrades argument]], etc. Which is just another way of having your tastes reaffirmed. "I KNEW these dickheads wouldn't put Scott Walker."

Well, I don't really care either way. I like reading Pitchfork, and this list has pointed out a handful of discs I may be interested in, but have escaped my attention. I'm happy enough with that.

xposts pointing out that Pitchfork totally loves The Knife

ha this basically goes to show how much attention I pay to Pitchfork

nabs,
Especially since this is no question, a really good, really diverse overview of the type of music the indie world liked in the 2000s. I think anyone who has a huge problem with it is falling into one of that categories and is scared to admit it

(now, their totally batshit, revisionist list of music videos on the other hand...)

Is it possible Funeral will be #1? They are bound to have 2 Arcade Fire albums in the top 20. I may not fully agree, and maybe my perspective is skewed living in Montreal, but Funeral seems to me to be pretty watershed in the 'underground indie' scene moving towards more mainstream popularity.

if you have a completely different top 200, you're probably listening to jazz or j-pop or video game music or 20th century classical

Or pop and r&b LOL.

Usually those type of "I CANT BELIEVE" people take GREAT PRIDE in BEATING the almighty pitchfork in their mind. [[insert ott retrades argument]], etc. Which is just another way of having your tastes reaffirmed. "I KNEW these dickheads wouldn't put Scott Walker."

OTM

Calling Pfork "idiots" for failing to rank a record is really just as bad as kshighway-types swallowing everything they say. They're both ploys to justify your own opinions and being comfortable in your skin--funny since it's a genre of music and criticism generally formed by people who aren't comfortable in their own skin.

sofatruck even though i'm also from montreal i can tell you now with 100% certainty that neon bible will not be in the top 20. however good it is, it is dissapointing as a follow-up to funeral and most ppl outside of montreal realize this. it's true everyone in town still freaked out about it, and i totally agree that funeral was the first really huge breakthrough indie rock album of the decade and is contender for #1. neon bible could've been somewhere else on the list, but not top 20.

no, you're right on those points, Whiney -- it's just amusing to see how livid people will claim to be that one of their top-10 choices ranked in the mid-30s, or something. but surely sometimes it's just as simple as people whose sense of what's huge and awesome and important is just unique -- say, people who attach really strongly to a small slice of stuff, and don't necessarily follow other stuff broadly enough to expect the things that, you know, other people care about. I mean, we often make this assumption on the internet that everyone knows everything and is all savvy about other opinions and whatnot, but that's ... not true.

going through my old mp3s really makes me hope someone at Pitchfork goes for gonzo laughs and slides Marissa Marchant into the top 10 somehow

kshighway-types

Speaking of which, whatever happened to this dude? I'd have thought he'd be all over this.

either he didn't actually exist or he decided he didn't want to put up with assholes

too many people were nice to kshighway and sock master got bored

― mark cl, Wednesday, September 30, 2009 3:39 PM

samosa, I am in total agreement that Neon Bible was a disappointment, and it certainly wouldn't be in my personal top 20 or even 100 of the decade, but it does surprise me that it would be in their top 200.

Statistically, these will most likely be included in the top 20 albums:

Radiohead – Kid A (#1, 2000; #1, 2000-04)
Jay-Z – The Blueprint (#2, 2000-04)
Interpol – Turn on the Bright Lights (#1, 2002; #3, 2000-04)
Outkast – Stankonia (#4, 2000-04)
The Avalanches – Since I Left You (#3, 2001; #5, 2000-04)
Sigur Ros – Agaetis Byrjun (#2, 2000; #6, 2000-04)
Modest Mouse – The Moon and Antarctica (#3, 2000; #7, 2000-04)
The White Stripes – White Blood Cells (#8, 2001; #8, 2000-04)
Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (#2, 2002; #11, 2000-04)
Daft Punk – Discovery (#12, 2000-04)
Spoon – Kill the Moonlight (#6, 2002; #14, 2000-04)
The Strokes – Is This It (#15, 2001; #16, 2000-04)
Ghostface Killah – Supreme Clientele (#19, 2000-04)
The Arcade Fire – Funeral (#1, 2004; #45, 2000-04)
Sufjan Stevens – Illinois (#1, 2005)
Kanye West – Late Registration (#2, 2005)
The Knife – Silent Shout (#1, 2006)
Panda Bear – Person Pitch (#1, 2007)
LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver (#2, 2007)
Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion (projected #1, 2009)

Sad, but these are the close outliers:

The Books – The Lemon of Pink (#2, 2003; #20, 2000-04)
Prefuse 73 – One Word Extinguisher (#6, 2003; #51, 2000-04)
The Unicorns – Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone? (#10, 2003)
Brian Wilson – Smile (#5, 2004; #25, 2000-04)
Deerhoof – The Runners Four (#6, 2005)
Boris – Pink (#9, 2006)
Scott Walker – The Drift (#10, 2006)
Lil Wayne – Tha Carter III (#11, 2008)

And, c'mon guys, as much as I'd love to see Kish Kash or Under Construction be included... it just isn't going to happen at this point. Too many other albums that "deserve" inclusion, based on these past rankings.

Tomorrow is gonna be like christmas day for ilxor

i hope pitchfork gets him at least *one* sweater

Let's go back to posting the funniest excerpts from the album blurbs, that Clipse one is pure gold.

<I AM NOT JUDGING YOU>God the fucking Avalanches, who gives a shit. Who said that piece of shit crate-digging abortion mattered at all? Did "Motoring Britain" make your top 500,000 songs of the decade?</I AM NOT JUDGING YOU>