pitchfork is dumb (#34985859340293849494 in a series.)

I have so much I'd love to type about _Tilt_ and it's all about the music and wouldn't ever need to re-re-re-re-reiterate the Walker Bros./"Scott 4 flopped"/drunk in the 70s/'here are some quotes' things that people who're actually interested in Scott Walker have already tattooed seven times on their hearts

I’m sure I’m not the only one here who would love to read this if you do end up typing it out!

I see many good perceptive bits in the reappraisal. I liked his referring to a lyric sheet "strewn with unidentified remains. Displaced images, fished from mysterious backwaters of history..." It's disorganized, though: preface, nut graf...then it goes back for more history before returning to the album.

very disappointing "end of an era" site redesign today, as much as one could imagine it coming

news to the top, reviews buried below, rip music criticism

I'm not seeing that on my desktop; it's three news stories in a horizontal line, then six reviews stacked vertically, then more news below. And there's a nav bar at the top and "Reviews" is the #2 slot.

yeah, it doesn't look any different than it has recently

On the phone you have to scroll down past the 3 stories, but that's been the case for awhile now

It looks fine.

I think it looks ok, too, but agree that it sucks to see the Reviews section a footnote. I thought I'd heard/read that their users still engaged with their reviews more than you might think.

Does the SEO benefit accrue differently if certain words are above the fold vs. anywhere on the homescreen? If so, I suppose it would make sense that someone is more likely to be searching for a current news item and land on Pitchfork vs. whatever new music review happened to post that day.

A quick search for "1975 new album" (one of the headlines currently on the homescreen) puts Pitchfork at the top of google.

I think it looks good, but it annoys me a little that Safari’s “reading mode” never works on their pages, don’t know why that it is.

I'm seeing the usual right now after getting a glimpse of the new layout earlier. Either they pulled it back or it's some kind of randomized thing at this stage. I dunno, weird.

i'm defaulting to this new one:

https://pitchfork.com/?verso=true

at least Weezer isn't the lead review

it's funny to me that pitchfork reviews on mobile always have an ad running that pauses the music on my phone lol

Is the horizontal white line below the logo supposed to be there? Or is it a glitch?

interesting!

https://i.imgur.com/nzF9eDR.png

all websites suck these days, though. there's no way to make one that makes money, or doesn't bleed money, without also making it really suck

forbes.com, though

forbes is a good one, quality writing, fun atmosphere

also love the houston chronicle, especially how they give voice to so many non-houston issues

Oh ok, the new Pfork layout does look worse on the desktop than mobile (I hate when menus etc. move/shrink/animate as you navigate a page)

I'm glad this thread exists as a distraction from the SCOTUS thread.

Pitchfork should have a 9 critic panel that rates albums. Most of them over 60 years old.

Former members too, like Justice Pl@genhoef.

lmao @ that Karl screencap

I’ll probably never listen to a Jack Johnson album, but I thought this was a really well-written review.

the proportions feel generally off in this new design, like why is the album art for the lead review that big on the home page?

xpost i think this is a pretty good summary of Jack Johnson:

More James Taylor or even Jackson Browne than the cash cow that Mister Margaritaville became, his preternatural sense of sangfroid has sometimes crowded out his surprising depth as a world-weary songwriter in search of small moments of respite and delight.

plus, i learned a new word! i don't think i have *ever* seen the word "sangfroid" in my life.

It means literally "singing while very cold."

btw I respect Jack Johnson because I was at a Bonnaroo where Mumford was supposed to be the Saturday headliner and had to cancel, and they called Jack Johnson on like two days' notice and he showed up. I didn't go (wouldn't have gone to Mumford either), but reports were that it was a good show. I just liked the idea of guy who can show up on no notice and charm the masses from the big stage.

blake mills produced the new one

Jack Johnson is Raffi for grown ups

It means literally "singing while very cold."

Jack Johnson is Raffi for grown ups

and he clearly knows it, as evidenced by his curious george soundtrack album

My brother-in-law's fiancee asked me to play a Jack Johnson song at their wedding, it was all good until the minister introduced me as Jack Johnson.

and he clearly knows it, as evidenced by his curious george soundtrack album

I really do enjoy singing along to the de John song in the craziest voice possible

I really do enjoy singing along to the de John song in the craziest voice possible

My brother-in-law's fiancee asked me to play a Jack Johnson song at their wedding, it was all good until the minister introduced me as Jack Johnson.

― Halfway there but for you, Friday, July 1, 2022 11:40 AM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

lol

I bought Brushfire Fairytales back when it came out and played the hell out of it. I guess I lost interest because he didn't really grow much after that.

It means literally "singing while very cold."

LOL

Jack Johnson is like really authentic folk music, I first encountered him covering sublime’s “garden grove” at Coachella and he seemed like the ultimate “guy who brings his acoustic guitar to parks and parties”

https://pitchfork.com/news/r-kelly-sues-metropolitan-detention-center-brooklyn-over-suicide-watch-conditions/

Weird piece… not sure why it deserves a big story at the top of the page.

(or, more precisely, why I need to see a giant picture of R. Kelly’s face when I visit the site, just because he’s suing the jail)

well at least somebody is facing some sort of consequences.

cool to see the groove theory album get some love in yesterday's archive review. they underrated it and were kind of shitty about amel's role in the group, but if it gets more people to revisit the album, i say good. it's a really unique record for 90s r+b; kind of street smart MOR.

it's funny to me that pitchfork reviews on mobile always have an ad running that pauses the music on my phone lol

Oh so that's why that happens! Very annoying. Every time I click into a new review, Spotify pauses.

Only happens when I'm listening on my phone through headphones. When I use my phone to control my Yamaha music streamer, there's no issue.

the redesign has taken over the mobile site too

personally, not a fan

The redesign finally reached my mobile view, and, not a a fan.

jinx

Yeah, saw it this morning on my laptop and it suuuuucks.

I mostly check it out of habit, part of my morning routine, but this is probably where I stop. The redesign is a headache.

yeah, putting a huge ad in-between the news and the reviews is a killer