Fair enough, I haven't heard it. I guess I mean albums that aren't already critically regarded as classics.
― jmm, Sunday, 16 December 2018 20:15 (five years ago) link
Honestly, this is why I sometimes think P-fork should just "stay in their lane"... they revisit a 16-yr-old album that was hugely popular, fit perfectly with the moment, introduced/established a significant artist, and has no bad or skippable songs over its 13 tracks... and they give it a 6.6 because... reasons?
― underqualified backing vocalist (morrisp), Sunday, 16 December 2018 20:25 (five years ago) link
they want everyone to know that this album that everyone of a certain age knows about has many strong moments and is ok to listen to
but yes, i very much enjoyed reading it all the same
― Karl Malone, Sunday, 16 December 2018 20:41 (five years ago) link
Let Go is a 6.6 though
― flopson, Sunday, 16 December 2018 22:46 (five years ago) link
it has one of the defining pop ballads of its era ("i'm with you") plus two singles that stodgy critics were singling out as being Actually Pretty Good For An Inherently Silly Manufactured Pop Tune even then. perhaps every other song on the album is mediocre but i wouldn't know as i've not heard it in full.
― dyl, Sunday, 16 December 2018 22:59 (five years ago) link
first four or five tracks are all time bangers but it drops off pretty quick
― flopson, Sunday, 16 December 2018 23:03 (five years ago) link
Not to 6.6 level. 6.6 is a mediocre album
― underqualified backing vocalist (morrisp), Sunday, 16 December 2018 23:28 (five years ago) link
why am I arguing about this, lol
Anyway, some of the best songs are later — like “Things I’ll Never Say”
― underqualified backing vocalist (morrisp), Sunday, 16 December 2018 23:29 (five years ago) link
could you guys make it any more obvious?
― maffew12, Monday, 17 December 2018 00:29 (five years ago) link
I’m convinced this record wouldn’t be half as loved if Avril had lived longer
― flappy bird, Monday, 17 December 2018 00:42 (five years ago) link
Do you mean, like, if Avril's career had lived longer...?Or is ilx now the nexus of some Berenstein Universe-type phenomenon where all of us are denizens of different timelines with different pop histories and celebrity deaths?
― You're all losing so many points on your progress bars (Champiness), Monday, 17 December 2018 01:38 (five years ago) link
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2017/may/15/avril-lavigne-melissa-cloning-conspiracy-theories
― Frozen CD, Monday, 17 December 2018 02:02 (five years ago) link
"all time bangers"
― Paul Ponzi, Monday, 17 December 2018 02:40 (five years ago) link
ic otm, tbh
https://twitter.com/en_cohen/status/1074443467886014464
― alpine static, Monday, 17 December 2018 07:01 (five years ago) link
^Tweets are protected
― underqualified backing vocalist (morrisp), Monday, 17 December 2018 07:16 (five years ago) link
sorry, he posted: "If there's any 2002 album named "Let Go" that Pitchfork needs to reconsider..." with a screenshot of the 3.8 they gave Nada Surf's Let Go
― alpine static, Monday, 17 December 2018 07:43 (five years ago) link
― underqualified backing vocalist (morrisp), Sunday, December 16, 2018 6:28 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
not to be the decimal police here but a 6.6 is a basically decent album, mediocre is more like the 5 range
― aloha darkness my old friend (katherine), Monday, 17 December 2018 07:48 (five years ago) link
5 is bad! That’s 2.5 stars on the Rolling Stone scale. (Maybe I shouldn’t be “converting,” lol?)I mean I know 5.0 is literally the middle of the scale; but I feel like anything rated less than 7.0 (or RS’s 3.5 stars) is not too worth checking out. (How many records do you own & enjoy that you would rate less than a 7.0?)
― underqualified backing vocalist (morrisp), Monday, 17 December 2018 14:32 (five years ago) link
We call it "deep sixing" when a record gets a 6.0-6.9 because that's effectively the result. Below 6.0 is insulting enough to make stans protective and create backlash but a 6-range is perfectly milquetoast and is the most effective way to consign an album (or artist) to purgatory
― flamboyant goon tie included, Monday, 17 December 2018 14:33 (five years ago) link
Don't forget to carry the one.
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 17 December 2018 14:33 (five years ago) link
grade inflation strikes again!
― evol j, Monday, 17 December 2018 15:45 (five years ago) link
Saba – CARE FOR ME (8.7)Car Seat Headrest – Twin Fantasy (8.6)Mount Eerie – Now Only (8.5)Father John Misty – God's Favorite Customer (8.5)Tim Hecker – Konoyo (8.5)Jean Grae / Quelle Chris – Everything's Fine (8.4)Joey Purp – Quarterthing (8.3)Jeff Tweedy – Warm (8.3)
yeah interesting stuff. You'd expect Mount Eerie and Tim Hecker. Can't hardly believe they gave Father John Misty a BNM anyway.
The reversed thing, would be interesting too. Like Christine & The Queens "only" got a 7.9 and a review which clearly didn't really liked the record. Yet it made the top 50. Was it the lowest rated album that got into the list? lemme check some random others.. no, tried about 10. only found an 8.3 and a 8.1.
― Ludo, Wednesday, 19 December 2018 20:48 (five years ago) link
Bill Callahan Join Twitter.
― MarkoP, Wednesday, 19 December 2018 22:16 (five years ago) link
oh sick, now I can ask what poem he read before a screening of Faces in 2010
― flappy bird, Thursday, 20 December 2018 00:26 (five years ago) link
Like Christine & The Queens "only" got a 7.9 and a review which clearly didn't really liked the record.
― Ludo, Wednesday, December 19, 2018 3:48 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Chris is a portrait of an instantly memorable character making utterly gleaming pop music. ... The resulting album is an electric blend of unforgettable imagery, emotional depth, and lurid, sizzling pop-funk.
yeah sounds like he totally hated it!
― aloha darkness my old friend (katherine), Thursday, 20 December 2018 13:56 (five years ago) link
there's a good point above about how Pitchfork really does crank out good writing pretty regularly...But today there's the music of Malcolm Gladwell's life! I really need to stop visiting this site daily. Maybe we can have a "Pitchfork is great" thread just to link the good stuff!
― maffew12, Thursday, 20 December 2018 14:07 (five years ago) link
isn’t that just intra conde synergy
― maura, Thursday, 20 December 2018 22:31 (five years ago) link
it's actually a p good list
― flopson, Thursday, 20 December 2018 22:51 (five years ago) link
who cares he sucks
― maura, Thursday, 20 December 2018 23:07 (five years ago) link
i don’t have a strong opinion on him either way
― flopson, Friday, 21 December 2018 02:55 (five years ago) link
God bless em, they still have RSS feeds. Getting back on that!
― maffew12, Friday, 21 December 2018 12:43 (five years ago) link
Have Pitchfork discontinued their "new tracks" page? No updates on it at all since December 1.
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/
A shame if they have, I found some great tunes via that page.
― does it look like i'm here (jon123), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 18:09 (five years ago) link
Sorry, December 4 not December 1. Anyway the point stands.
Watch Ezra Koenig, Haim Members Cover “Little Drummer Boy”
― underqualified backing vocalist (morrisp), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 19:27 (five years ago) link
i think both of the lsat few posts can be summed up with "it's december"
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 26 December 2018 19:43 (five years ago) link
They should get back to their genre-specific 2018 album lists — they petered out after Rock, Rap, and Metal.
― underqualified backing vocalist (morrisp), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 19:57 (five years ago) link
what other genres are there
― brimstead, Wednesday, 26 December 2018 23:47 (five years ago) link
they experimental & electronic lists
― flappy bird, Thursday, 27 December 2018 00:10 (five years ago) link
they had*
― flappy bird, Thursday, 27 December 2018 00:11 (five years ago) link
I wish they'd do a list like this one for every year: https://pitchfork.com/features/the-out-door/9323-genres-of-one/?page=1
But since The Out Door fizzled in 2015…
― pomenitul, Thursday, 27 December 2018 00:15 (five years ago) link
"i think both of the lsat few posts can be summed up with "it's december""
okay, but to post pretty much nothing for the entire month seems a bit extreme. I'd understand if they went silent for a week or so either side of christmas.
― does it look like i'm here (jon123), Thursday, 27 December 2018 08:31 (five years ago) link
They used to suspend album reviews after the ROY list until Jan, but have published one or two a day in that period the past few years
― We were never Breeting Borting (President Keyes), Thursday, 27 December 2018 11:36 (five years ago) link
EOY that is
― We were never Breeting Borting (President Keyes), Thursday, 27 December 2018 11:37 (five years ago) link
i'd been down to see a Roy list, list of the best Roys
― flappy bird, Thursday, 27 December 2018 15:43 (five years ago) link
I really miss both The Out Door and Resonant Frequency columns. Two of Pfork's best ever.
― ilxor, Friday, 28 December 2018 19:37 (five years ago) link
agreed
― flappy bird, Friday, 28 December 2018 19:38 (five years ago) link
I was checking for a review of the last Drive-By Truckers album (2016) and I see that there wasn't one. It makes sense that over time Pitchfork is going to give up on bands they used to review habitually (studio, live, solo albums, comps, etc.) Are there other cases like this--where a band that used to score 8s (or higher) loses relevance and gets left behind?
― We were never Breeting Borting (President Keyes), Tuesday, 8 January 2019 16:16 (five years ago) link
sometimes it's less a conspiracy theory and more that a band is championed by one staff writer and/or freelancer who, for whatever reason, doesn't pitch the latest album
― theorizing your yells (katherine), Tuesday, 8 January 2019 17:43 (five years ago) link