This is what you’ve all been waiting for, right?
THE GOOD: Nos. 50-41 would have made an awesome alternate-universe top 10, what with Marnie Stern, Ponytail, High Places, and Beach House all being within. Alas.
THE BAD: I will not quibble with the No. 1 choice and the reasons for its placement being wholly attributed to its comforting throwback nature (”The threads of Brian Wilson’s intricate coastal pop, Appalachian folk, modern indie rock, Grateful Dead jams, and other influences are masterfully synthesized in the band’s harmonies and simply orchestrated but constantly shifting instrumental arrangements”… “pastoral tendencies”); instead, I will just chalk its absurdly high placement up to “yet another reason why this year needs to be put out to pasture ASAP.”
THE WHAAA? Those who “follow” Pitchfork as a hobby probably won’t be surprised by any of the picks for the top 10—the fake ‘Fork top 10 posted by the NME earlier this week, which was reportedly based off the site’s highest-numbered reviews of the year, had a remarkable overlap with the real one. It even got No Age’s No. 3 ranking right! (The only album from the proposed top 10 that didn’t make the real one: Fucked Up’s The Chemistry Of Common Life, which came in at No. 17.)
1. Fleet Foxes, Sun Giant EP / Fleet Foxes
2. Portishead, Third
3. No Age, Nouns
4. Cut Copy, In Ghost Colours
5. Deerhunter, Microcastle / Weird Era Cont.
6. TV On The Radio, Dear Science
7. Vampire Weekend
8. M83, Saturdays = Youth
9. Hercules & Love Affair
10. DJ/rupture, Uproot
11. Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III
12. Lindstrøm, Where You Go I Go Too
13. Erykah Badu, New Amerykah Part I: Fourth World War
14. Air France, No Way Down
15. Crystal Castles
16. Vivian Girls
17. Fucked Up, The Chemistry Of Common Life
18. The Mae Shi, HLLYH
19. The Walkmen, You & Me
20. Fuck Buttons, Street Horrrsing
21. Kanye West, 808s & Heartbreak
22. Santogold
23. Hot Chip, Made In The Dark
24. Gang Gang Dance, Saint Dymphna
25. Titus Andronicus, The Airing Of Grievances
(26-50 are at the link.)
The 50 Best Albums Of 2008 [Pitchfork]
This isn’t actually as terrible as I expected; perhaps I’m desensitized, or perhaps it’s because I read the NPR listener’s top 25 right before this post (that’s REALLY some serious Stuff White People Like), or perhaps I’m just happy to see M83 rate so high?
That being said, TITUS ANDRONICUS?? Fuck me, that shit is terrible. And yeah, the second half is definitely where the more interesting stuff is located (obviously, would have liked to see Shearwater and Arthur Russell place higher)
Who mastered that M83 album? I bought it when it came out and found it unlistenable in large part due to the mastering. Everything sounds so hot and gross, which is surprising given both the production team and the album’s goal of sounding like the 1980s (or maybe sounding like what the 1980s were supposed to sound like), the latter years of which saw some pretty good digital mastering.
Titus Andronicus took over my life for a good chunk of the year, so it’s nice to see them place pretty high. The middle ten on this list is way better than the top ten IMO. Also, as someone who’s been hitting DIY stuff around LA for a couple of years, it’s really fun to see No Age, Mae Shi, and Abe Vigoda all putting out great albums and getting their due props.
@cbatson: Hell Yeah!
@Marth: I love that one as well. It’s pretty rare that any record is that heartbreaking, brain warping, and giddy at the same time.
It definitely seemed like 50-26 had some of the cooler albums in my opinion, and I was surprised in reading it because they put a few of the bands they love to slurp up in that back section, while Shitsle Crapstles(and their album “Hey mom, thanks for the iMac!!) makes it to number 15.
@MayhemintheHood: Odd, I didn’t think the mastering on Saturdays=Youth sounded that hot and gross — then again, I listen to far too much of the music that it’s meant to pay homage to — the Cocteau Twins and Kate Bush can sound pretty … brittle to ears used to more modern production technology.
@the rich girls are weeping: ps — obvs, though, yes some of the problem may have come from the analog -> digital:
[remixmag.com]
I just want to say, I love Cut Copy, and love love love that In Ghost Colours (my personal album of the year) scored so high, especially above the (somewhat overrated imo) Hercules and Love Affair. And although HaLA beat cut copy for the #1 single, I was happy with cut copy scoring two high spots on the top singles/tracks list.
[mini-rant] About pfork’s “top tracks” methodology…there is a problem there. They say they are now looking at any TRACKS, not just singles. but then how can they chart songs that were released in 2007 and only became SINGLES this year? That doesn’t make any sense. “Flashing Lights,” I’m looking at you. Especially because my friends and I (and maybe pretty much everyone?) thought flashing lights was amazing back when Graduation came out last year. It was one of my favorite tracks of 2007 (but then so were Stronger and Can’t Tell Me Nothin). did pfork just miss it? [/rant]
oh, and f*** fleet foxes. that shit is boring.
@Freakytrigger: hi tom!
yeah, you know, i think a lot of the people who are like ‘OMG PITCHFORK GAVE THIS A 7.1 IN APRIL HOW CAN IT BE GOOD NOW’ are forgetting (intentionally or not?) the whole idea of the ‘grower.’ shoot, the hercules & love affair album was one of those for me.
of course this could get into a whole discussion of whether the internet allows for records to grow on you etc etc.
Maybe it’s not surprising, maybe there’s something vaguely annoying about Pitchfork’s general tone (in all things, not just the list), etc. - maybe, but, on the other hand, this is one of the better lists I’ve seen so far, and if not exactly adventurous it is relatively diverse (so happy to see Erykah Badu up there, even if I’m baffled how anyone could prefer the Fleet Foxes to Badu’s new one… I’m not exactly a FF hater, and they’re certainly preferable to other recent country-tinged bearded critical darlings from Seattle I could name, but don’t hear much to get excited about in the songs I’ve heard). And Pitchfork does stand by its convictions (they probably have more unique-ish picks on their list than most others, not counting lists made by individual critics, who are naturally more eclectically-inclined than grouped lists), which is kind of admirable even if you find those convictions to be occasionally head-scratching.
Basically, what I’m implying without really making much of an effort to mount an actual argument is that Pitchfork is, among the aboveground publications devoted to writing about and reviewing new music, one of the better music pub’s out there. And I do think that the quality of the writing and the thoughtfulness of the opinions expressed has consistently improved over the past few years. Given the current state of music writing and the presence of much more virulent annoyances out there (Hey Stereogum! How’s it going?), Pitchfork is, on balance, a good thing. And, again, I like the list. But, seriously, Fleet Foxes over Portishead or Badu… really?!? And I know they’re reissues but will somebody please give Steinski and Franco some love. Please?