pitchfork is dumb (#34985859340293849494 in a series.)

*bearing

Interesting to see who has fallen out of favour since they did the 2010-14 list. As others have pointed out, Ariel Pink and Sun Kil Moon are two big ones. Swans had a couple of albums in last time (including one in the top 20) and are nowhere to be seen. My Bloody Valentine were pretty high and didn't make it. I was expecting more Beach House considering how loyal they've been to them. Real Estate have taken a tumble too. I guess they're well and truly done with James Blake after he recently called them out on Twitter.

The biggest surprise on the whole list for me is just how high Anti is. I like it a lot, but does seems high and I'm still annoyed at the narrative that it was her first great album when Rated R is right there.

Whoa mbv didn’t crack the top 200? That seems wild.

mbv too noisy

& european

Notorious MBV

My Buddy Valentin

No need for more than one European in the top 10, Robyn stands for the entire continent.

I liked that record. I think it’s absence from spotify has made people forget about it.

I like this track as much as anything on loveless.

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&hl=en-us&q=my+bloody+valentine+in+another+way&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAONgFuLSz9U3KEwpNDE2VQKzizOSs4rKtUSzk630c0uLM5P1E3OSSnOtivPz0osXsSrlViok5eTnp1QqlCXmpOaVZOalKmTmKSTm5ZdkpBYplCdWAgBrm3jFVgAAAA&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiN77Gg7IzlAhXkxlkKHTd5AOoQri4IZDAD&biw=375&bih=628

That was supposed to be an embedded youtube video

in another way is incredible yes

My Bloody Dark Twisted Valentine

but most of the album is great too

maybe the one benefit of pfork's ludicrous anti-uk/eu bias is the lack of that bafflingly overrated slowdive comeback ;)

1 European in the top 20, 2 in the top 25.

Lol

have never understood the love for the mbv s/t but it didn't really carry over much of what i love about loveless at all

the slowdive s/t on the other hand was surprisingly great

maybe the one benefit of pfork's ludicrous anti-uk/eu bias is the lack of that bafflingly overrated slowdive comeback ;)

― imago, Tuesday, October 8, 2019 7:15 AM (thirty-five seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink

again have some self-consciousness, dude who rides for the ride reunion records

i'm just teasing, i know i 'ride' for all sorts of nonsense lol

m b v is the best thing they've ever done.

^might agree

Another less surprising omission is the Big Boi album. Seems crazy to think just how popular that album was in 2010 (even winning our very own poll). I doubt we'll see it pop up in many of these lists at all.

Just noticed that they went with Sweetener as their Ariana pick. I'll never get it. It's probably her worst album.

i'm just teasing, i know i 'ride' for all sorts of nonsense lol

― imago, Tuesday, October 8, 2019 7:17 AM (four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

i was teasing back! ;)

as i said earlier btw, can we promise to give it a few years before we poll this decade

I think RTJ and ATCQ kinda supplanted Big Boi

I still largely ride for that Big Boi record, but it doesn't seem to have been a particularly influential one in the long run. Oh, and for a sneak peak into how much things have changed between 2010 and 2019, have a look at the thread for it and how much everyone loved the terrible rape joke in one of the skits, and think about how immediately canceled it would get him in 2019.

so this was the decade when they stopped making jazz records?

tune-yards' stock is way down it seems

Was that the thing that the hepcats used to listen to?

xp

On the other hand, they still seem to care about Wu Lyf.

no, they made one jazz record. Some of Kendrick's sidemen I think.

xxp: you mean "shit, cats"

comparative riches for metal with at least two albums in there, and a fully deserved crowning of deafheaven as best metal act of the decade

Why that unlistenable Portal album over Surgical Steel or Coloured Sands, though?

i revisited let england shake last night and it's way too low here though not unexpectedly. total masterpiece

^^ otm.

Too 90s-ish.

2xp

no, they made one jazz record. Some of Kendrick's sidemen I think.

lol

As others have pointed out, Ariel Pink and Sun Kil Moon are two big ones. Swans had a couple of albums in last time (including one in the top 20) and are nowhere to be seen.

surely no mystery here omitting these three in particular

also am I crazy or did I miss it or is Esperanza Spalding missing from this ridiculous list

I didn't do too bad in my guesses! I had no idea Beyoncé would rate above Lemonade. I am surprised to see King Krule at 60-- I thought higher. I think I typed "DAMN" when I was thinking "m.A.A.d." but I don't listen to much Kendrick. I was right in chiming back in that Fiona would be top 10. I was right that Visions (50) wouldn't crack the top 20.

I was pleasantly surprised to see Rashad and SZA in the top 25. I forgot about Erykah and The Knife, which is weird, I wore those albums out big time. I am pleasantly surprised to see Destroyer so high. I'm glad that people like Mitski this much. Tierra Whack was my favourite album of last year and I love seeing it so high.

I don't think this list can be evaluated via lenses of poptimism or indie-centric or anything else. The metric is different. I was struck-- especially seeing the make-up of the entries from 100-200-- that this list did not seem like it was evaluating "albums" based on their individual merits, but rather the kind of overall "geist" of what each artist represents to the current cultural landscape. Pinkprint made the list not because it's a good album, but because Nicki was a major cultural force this decade, i.e. This website has come to value "personality" over "content".

I complained through 2004-2010 that the shift of this website toward "exceedingly objective 'qualitative' evaluation" would celebrate artists who carried more agency, who made work that was more quantifiably "good" or "of merit"-- transgressive work and/or non-functional work would be overlooked. This is still an issue. The only legitimately difficult record I see on this list is The Knife.

But I'm glad that the list is far more diverse, and prioritizing a kind of deeper cultural meaning over "this record was made with money and craft".

It is weird to me that Caribou "Our Love" placed so high and "Swim" is nowhere to be seen, but ah well.

There were 20 albums that made the top 10 in their respective years but failed to make the top 200 of the decade:

Angel Olsen – My Woman (#9, 2016)
Arcade Fire – Reflektor (#10, 2013)
Ariel Pink – Before Today (#9, 2010)
Ariel Pink – Pom Pom (#9, 2014)
Beach House – Bloom (#7, 2012)
Big Boi – Sir Lucious Left Foot (#4, 2010)
Chance the Rapper – Coloring Book (#6, 2016)
Danny Brown – Old (#5, 2013)
Grizzly Bear – Shields (#10, 2012)
James Blake – The Bells Sketch EP / CMYK EP / Klavierwerke EP (#8, 2010)
Kanye West – Life of Pablo (#5, 2016)
Kelela – Take Me Apart (#4, 2017)
Majical Cloudz – Impersonator (#8, 2013)
Miguel – Wildheart (#8, 2015)
My Bloody Valentine – m b v (#4, 2013)
Sun Kil Moon – Benji (#7, 2014)
Swans – The Seer (#5, 2012)
Swans – To Be Kind (#6, 2014)
Tune-Yards – w h o k i l l (#7, 2011)
Vince Staples – Big Fish Theory (#7, 2017)

james blake's cmyk made the song list, so i guess that one is represented

Yeah, that one's kind of a weird case, anyway, since it was three EPs that were listed together on the 2010 list. That reads like excitement about a new artist who didn't yet have a full-length out. So I wouldn't have expected that to show up on the decade list.

I was pleasantly surprised to see Jessica Pratt show up on both the albums and tracks list. Had no idea she was rated that highly by people. That said, her album from this year is easily her best.

Likewise the Angel Olson album that just cane out is her best, and there are at least 2-3 albums still slated for release this year that I’m excited about. So yeah this is premature. Should’ve come next spring. Feels unfinished.

And I guess I’ll have to wait for the Quietus’ list to see Tropical Fuck Storm.

Looking through the year-end lists some more. Kurt Vile had three albums that placed in a year-end top 25, but none of them made the decade list:

Smoke Ring for My Halo (#16, 2011)
Wakin on a Pretty Daze (#13, 2013)
b'lieve i'm goin' down (#23, 2015)

Smoke Ring is there

Oh you're right! Don't know how I missed that. Anyway, ignore that post!

props to this list for informing me about snail mail which i'm too out of it to have known about otherwise

Hahaha pitchfork is so wildly inconsistent on their picks, do they change staff often?

Probably a combination of changing staff and individuals' changing tastes. Which seems utterly normal to me.

was wondering why this had like 400 new answers and of course: lists