Year-End Critics' Polls '08

i think that was a cool choice for no. 1 tho def a weird blurb -- those blanket statements always sound weird to me

flipping thru the bottom 50 yesterday it struck me how similar a lot of the songs sound, even across diff genres -- like the tough alliance song doesnt sound too far off from the fleet foxes song (slow ambient + with acoustic guitar) -- a bunch of diff songs on the list had that same vibe.

"mopey" is the adjective you're looking for, i think

(slow ambient + with acoustic guitar) -- a bunch of diff songs on the list had that same vibe

If you take out Fleet Foxes, Deerhunter and M83 that isn't a bad top ten

i like most of the top 10 but the idea that those tracks are the BEST of 08 is baffling. my perennial beef as ever is that this indie-centric list is paid undue attention by people when it shouldn't be treated as a barometer of anything other than mopey indie, and the stuff in it is dragged into the critical centre. it doesn't reflect my year at all, thank fuck.

it doesn't have to reflect your year. it's their list, not yours.

also: same as every other fucking list! godddd critical consensus is a downer these days.

― lex pretend, Tuesday, 16 December 2008 17:14 (27 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

It's certainly weird that critical consensus consists of critics reaching a consensus about things, totally.

The only song in that top 10 that I think could be described as "mopey" is Portishead, ffs.

you dont expect him to have heard the songs surely? ;)

i like most of the top 10 but the idea that those tracks are the BEST of 08 is baffling

feel the same way about the Vibe list. many ok to good tracks but most of them wouldn't get in my own 100.

the beyonce blurb wins by percentage of wrong sentences in one paragraph (100%).

lol

Knowing what ta Pfork list is going to look like in general, their list isn't bad at all.

i was glad to see "happy house" and "wearing my rolex" so high though i did notice that two writers listed "can't believe it" #1 but it didn't make the top 100 ~*~*curious*~*~

It's weird to say that the pfork list looks like all the others; that's really not the case. Still there aren't too many things blowing me away as I go through it. I guess it's just that since they're less indie-centric than ever the kneejerk indie haters sound particularly retarded.

i did notice that two writers listed "can't believe it" #1 but it didn't make the top 100 ~*~*curious*~*~

the pop songs on the list puzzled me too - "love in this club", "single ladies" and "live your life"?

yah i found that really sorta random! esp love in this club -- single ladies is more understandable i think

those songs are awesome.

The 11-20 on the Pfork list is much better than the top 10.

xp: "Live Your Life" is great. I thought most, if not all, of us agreed on this.

Single Ladies is super great.

love in this club is not that awesome

i like single ladies and live your life a lot but i didn't expect pitchfork writers to be rallying around either to be quite honest - "love in this club" is lazy/borderline reprehensible and has aged so awfully that it's not even funny

I CAN BREAK THESE CUFFS

also lolwtf @ "flashing lights" - was that a single in february or something? even so it feels 2 years old

i can break these cuffs is top 10 of the decade xp

I still can't tell Crystal Castles and Cut Copy apart

Yeah, I basically agree with that except the part for it being weird for them to rally around the first two. I mean, both are huge songs that are at least pretty good. It makes sense that a certain amount of PF writers have heard and like them. Why wouldn't it?

xxxxp

"Flashing Lights" had its chart peak and video release around Jan/Feb, although honestly it was so popular as an album track in '07 that I'm surprised they didn't list it last year already. I was happy to see it, though, especially since it took the big Kanye spot on the list instead of something from 808s. I was scrolling down with dread convinced I would see "Love Lockdown" in the top 5 til I absolutely knew it wasn't there.

I still can't tell Crystal Castles and Cut Copy apart

Then you haven't listened to them.

"Love Lockdown" was #39

haha o i missed that

i was kinda surprised that an 808s album track like "street lights" or "paranoid" didn't chart

I may be wrong, but I don't think they listed more than 2 tracks by any given artist.

Still confused by love for "single ladies"--the random background synths are as annoying as fuck.

I still can't tell Crystal Castles and Cut Copy apart

Then you haven't listened to them.

― Matt DC, Tuesday, December 16, 2008 1:56 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Well, I've LISTENED to them (i even relistened to the four songs they rank on the Pfork list) but they're both so incredibly boring and completely incapable of leaving any impression on me that I'm never left thinking anything beyond "I hate this music" and "people that listen to Belle And Sebastien dance to this"

Still confused by love for "single ladies"--the random background synths are as annoying sick as fuck.

odd that "time to pretend" makes p4k's list again!

Yr all still crazy about "Love in This Club" it's #1 the best.

AY!

I don't get Crystal Castles, but Cut Copy is a fantastic synth-pop band.

based on the singles list fleet foxes are probably winning it all - maybe cut copy or portishead

btw were "flashing lights" and "no matter what" the two highest rated rap tracks? weird

yeah it's pretty easy to see why "belle & sebastian fans" like cut copy - 80s babies digging indie dudes doing 80s dance pop with huge choruses. seems like a no brainer

btw i <3 them

"Love In the Club" is the most boringly repetitive song of the year. The hook consists the exact same 2 bars of music over and over again without even the slightest variation.

xpost on high-rated rap tracks--and A Milli, and the Wiley song.

"A Milli" is higher than "no matter what" (xxxp)

Yeah, but what an amazing two bars they are! (xp)

And today is the first time I've listened to Cut Copy--not making an impression.

I'm surprised "A Milli" wasn't rated even higher

Vocals aside, most of this stuff seems more connected to Martin's previous work/collaborators than anything else.

― Alex in SF, Tuesday, December 16, 2008 11:04 AM Bookmark

You do you, umma do me

whoops, whatever I copied didn't copy

I may be wrong, but I don't think they listed more than 2 tracks by any given artist.

― beggin-ass keith (The Reverend), Tuesday, December 16, 2008 2:05 PM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

well, kanye's on it 4 times if you count "american boy" and "put on", but as main artists i think you're right.

You do you, umma do me

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― beggin-ass keith (The Reverend), Tuesday, December 16, 2008 11:15 AM Bookmark

was supposed to be in response to

Yeah, but what an amazing two bars they are! (xp)

― Maciej (maciej recognizing trill), Tuesday, December 16, 2008 11:14 AM Bookmark