Let's All Laugh at Pitchfork

[epilogue]

They probably couldn't afford him anymore

Christgau is great. He was the first music critic I could name. But I think even he would agree he is the very definition of "old-guard"

I'll look up some of his work. It's entirely possible I've read his stuff before. But I'm terrible about looking up reviews without being pointed toward them. And then I'm terrible at retaining the name of the reviewer. I'm the worst.

[bodysnatcher]

i'm going to look up all my favorite albums on pitchfork, and create a total average from the ones that have been reviewed. that way i'll know my sweet spot rating for albums i'll probably like

i'm guessing it's around a 6.2

[epilogue]

Sometimes I feel very sad

God, tell me about it. I should get this tattooed on my fucking chest.

[epilogue]

i'm going to look up all my favorite albums on pitchfork, and create a total average from the ones that have been reviewed. that way i'll know my sweet spot rating for albums i'll probably like

i'm guessing it's around a 6.2

I don't understand. Can you make a YouTube tutorial about exactly what you're doing and how?

[BurtReynolds]

Pitchfork seems to like everything they review. What happened to the 1 star reviews? Those were entertaining at least.

[epilogue]

Pitchfork seems to like everything they review. What happened to the 1 star reviews? Those were entertaining at least.

Did you not see the chimp peeing in his own mouth?

[BurtReynolds]

Pitchfork seems to like everything they review. What happened to the 1 star reviews? Those were entertaining at least.

Did you not see the chimp peeing in his own mouth?

that was back in the olden days. they never do that now

[epilogue]

Pitchfork seems to like everything they review. What happened to the 1 star reviews? Those were entertaining at least.

Did you not see the chimp peeing in his own mouth?

that was back in the olden days. they never do that now

How old is Pitchfork?

[bodysnatcher]

It was on a downhill slide for a while, but once it was acquired by Condé Nast, it just completely tanked.

[Kevin Davis]

Pitchfork has changed a lot over the years -- that flowery and/or insufferably theatrical "personal essay" style of writing has been gone from their standard reviews for a while now, and their reviews now much more closely resemble that of a standard music magazine. They've employed so many writers over 20 years that calling out "Pitchfork" for the way "Pitchfork" writes or reviews records misses the point; they've employed some of the best music writers of the past 10-15 years (Lindsay Zoladz, Nitsuh Abebe), the occasional upstart dolt who's still trying to figure out how cleverness fits into criticism without overwhelming it, and a bunch of writers whose work you've forgotten as soon as you've finished reading it. About the same ratio as most publications, really.

Pitchfork's worst offense is probably that it created a moment in time where a really crummy, self-serving form of music writing was being produced by the hippest publication on the internet, and overall I think that's had a negative influence on music writing as a whole, resulting in a lot of clowns with nothing of any value whatsoever to say about music thinking their penchant for being funny qualified them to be music critics, and this being seen organizationally as a model that works. It's cooled over time, but I think the shockwaves of it have been felt permanently.

[tragabigzanda]

Top 10 maybe?
Hello Morning
Close Captioned
The Kill
Place/Position
Do You Like Me?
Latest Disgrace
Recap Modotti
Nightshop
Break
Life & Limb

I'd maybe bump Life & Limb for Epic Problem

[Kevin Davis]

They launched in 1996.

[bodysnatcher]

yeah i remember reading it in '98 in my dorm

[tragabigzanda]

[bodysnatcher]

it's the gawker of music writing

[BurtReynolds]

Pitchfork seems to like everything they review. What happened to the 1 star reviews? Those were entertaining at least.

Did you not see the chimp peeing in his own mouth?

that was back in the olden days. they never do that now

How old is Pitchfork?

old as fuck.

[bodysnatcher]

[Kevin Davis]

It's also worth noting that Pitchfork is probably the last major music publication to come into existence during the pre-Napster era, where folks' primary means of music acquisition was still going to music stores and rummaging through bins, and also the first major publication whose principal mission was to direct people to off-the-beaten-path records. To that end, I think the flippant writing style (and extreme numerical scores) of their early years kind of reflected their cultural role as a consumer guide, in an era where more was at stake in checking out a new record than simply the ten minutes you might spend watching a couple YouTube videos.

[Strat]

I never cared for pitchfork. Ever.

[Norah]

I just think it's weird to have a problem with artful, flowery language being used to describe art.