✅ Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Critics’ lists published at the end of the decade.
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by Jimoincolor »

Blonde at number 1. Wow. Amazing choice.
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by Kingoftonga »

I guess they're over that 9.2 rating they gave Benji five years ago?

I'll have to dig into this more thoroughly, but my first positive reaction is that I'm glad Joanna Newsom made the Top 20, and my first negative reaction is that elevating two Beyonce albums over Lemonade seems like trademark Pitchfork contrarianism.
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by Sunwoo1213 »

No Swans?
No James Blake?
3 and Beyonce over Lemonade?

What the...
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by PlasticRam »

Kingoftonga wrote: Tue Oct 08, 2019 1:39 pm I guess they're over that 9.2 rating they gave Benji five years ago?
He had a beef with a writer of Pitchfork if I remember correctly.
I feel like that
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by charliepanayi »

Sunwoo1213 wrote: Tue Oct 08, 2019 1:49 pm No Swans?

What the...
I think we know why Swans aren't in it...
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by Sunwoo1213 »

charliepanayi wrote: Tue Oct 08, 2019 1:54 pm
Sunwoo1213 wrote: Tue Oct 08, 2019 1:49 pm No Swans?

What the...
I think we know why Swans aren't in it...
Can you tell me why? Not trying to offend you.. I'm just really curious
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by Nick »

Sunwoo1213 wrote: Tue Oct 08, 2019 2:22 pm
charliepanayi wrote: Tue Oct 08, 2019 1:54 pm
Sunwoo1213 wrote: Tue Oct 08, 2019 1:49 pm No Swans?

What the...
I think we know why Swans aren't in it...
Can you tell me why? Not trying to offend you.. I'm just really curious
Michael Gira had a rape allegation come out against him a couple years ago.
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by Harold »

Sunwoo1213 wrote: Tue Oct 08, 2019 2:22 pm
charliepanayi wrote: Tue Oct 08, 2019 1:54 pm I think we know why Swans aren't in it...
Can you tell me why? Not trying to offend you.. I'm just really curious
Presumably this is referring to the rape allegation made against Michael Gira a few years ago by another artist. I didn't think the story was given enough credence at the time to impact things like this years later, but who knows.
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by Sunwoo1213 »

I didn't knew there was a rape allegation with Michael Gira.

Did it went to court? or just allegation was made and gira denied.. and forgotten?
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by charliepanayi »

Sunwoo1213 wrote: Tue Oct 08, 2019 2:41 pm I didn't knew there was a rape allegation with Michael Gira.

Did it went to court? or just allegation was made and gira denied.. and forgotten?
The allegation was made, Gira denied it and that's where it's been left. Either way, there's no love-in for Swans in the music press these days (Stereogum hasn't even mentioned their new album at all from what I can tell - which is funny because they didn't have a problem with coverong Freddie Gibbs and Tool's new albums this year)

Anyway, I thought The Age of Adz not being on this list at all was a real surprise and RTJ2 all the way down at 131
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by Moonbeam »

Surprised they are so low on Janelle.
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by Live in Phoenix »

Well, I was off about Kanye getting "punished." I had been starting to think that MBDTF would be banished to some #4-6 spot. (But Swans guy got punished? Obviously I don't condone rape, if that's even what occurred; but does everyone then have to walk around playing pretend that the artist never existed, that Pitchfork never gave him numerous 9 ratings, etc.? Did that really make the mess go away?)
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by Cold Butterfly »

.
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by Nick »

Moonbeam wrote: Tue Oct 08, 2019 3:33 pm Surprised they are so low on Janelle.
Janelle ticks all the boxes for Pitchfork acclaim but somehow they’re kinda lukewarm on her. Only one of her albums is in this list and zero of her songs were on their songs list. It’s weird.
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by acroamor »

no W H O K I L L by tUnE-yArDs, even though it was in their top 10 for its year, very disappointing.
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by mowino »

No Big Boi?
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by Chris K. »

I'm not at all surprised by the fact that I'm not that into this list, despite the fact that I do appreciate many of the albums towards the top. I used to have a love/hate relationship with P4. I think now it's just leaning towards hate. The list just feels incredibly arbitrary (especially in the context of their past lists/ratings). The placement for Lonerism (their #7 for 2010-2014) is laughable, for instance.They're allowed to change their minds, but this seems like more of a calculated and politically-motivated re-calibration. It's hard to take seriously.
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by panam »

1. Frank Ocean Blonde (2016)
2. Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)
3. Beyoncé Beyoncé (2013)
4. Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly (2015)
5. Fiona Apple The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do (2012)
6. Solange A Seat at the Table (2016)
7. Vampire Weekend Modern Vampires of the City (2013)
8. Robyn Body Talk (2010)
9. D’Angelo & the Vanguard Black Messiah (2014)
10. Frank Ocean Channel Orange (2012)
11. Grimes Art Angels (2015)
12. Rihanna ANTI (2016)
13. Drake Take Care (2011)
14. Lorde Melodrama (2017)
15. Kanye West Yeezus (2013)
16. Joanna Newsom Have One on Me (2010)
17. Sufjan Stevens Carrie & Lowell (2015)
18. Kendrick Lamar good kid, m.A.A.d. city (2012)
19. Lana Del Rey Norman Fucking Rockwell! (2019)
20. DJ Rashad Double Cup (2013)
21. Beach House Teen Dream (2010)
22. Destroyer Kaputt (2011)
23. Kacey Musgraves Golden Hour (2018)
24. SZA CTRL (2017)
25. Jamie xx In Colour (2015)
26. Angel Olsen Burn Your Fire for No Witness (2014)
27. Earl Sweatshirt Some Rap Songs (2018)
28. FKA twigs LP1 (2014)
29. Deerhunter Halcyon Digest (2010)
30. Mitski Puberty 2 (2016)
31. Beyoncé 4 (2011)
32. Bon Iver Bon Iver (2011)
33. Big Thief U.F.O.F. (2019)
34. Vince Staples Summertime ’06 (2015)
35. Blood Orange Cupid Deluxe (2013)
36. Rosalía El Mal Querer (2018)
37. David Bowie Blackstar (2016)
38. Tierra Whack Whack World (2018)
39. Bill Callahan Apocalypse (2011)
40. Charli XCX Pop 2 (2017)
41. Beyoncé Lemonade (2016)
42. Erykah Badu New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh (2010)
43. Sky Ferreira Night Time, My Time (2013)
44. A Tribe Called Quest We got it from Here... Thank You 4 Your service (2016)
45. Mount Eerie A Crow Looked at Me (2017)
46. The Knife Shaking the Habitual (2013)
47. Carly Rae Jepsen E•MO•TION (2015)
48. ANOHNI Hopelessness (2016)
49. Oneohtrix Point Never Replica (2011)
50. Grimes Visions (2012)

51. DJ Koze Knock Knock (2018)
52. LCD Soundsystem This Is Happening (2010)
53. Jlin Black Origami (2017)
54. Young Thug Barter 6 (2015)
55. St. Vincent Strange Mercy (2011)
56. Björk Vulnicura (2015)
57. Kendrick Lamar DAMN. (2017)
58. Kamasi Washington The Epic (2015)
59. Taylor Swift Red (2012)
60. King Krule The OOZ (2017)
61. Arca Arca (2017)
62. Grouper Ruins (2014)
63. Danny Brown XXX (2011)
64. Mitski Be the Cowboy (2018)
65. Future Dirty Sprite 2 (2015)
66. Fever Ray Plunge (2017)
67. Courtney Barnett Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit (2015)
68. Flying Lotus Cosmogramma (2010)
69. Drake If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late (2015)
70. Perfume Genius No Shape (2017)
71. Robyn Honey (2018)
72. Father John Misty I Love You, Honeybear (2015)
73. Cardi B Invasion of Privacy (2018)
74. SOPHIE OIL OF EVERY PEARL’s UN-INSIDES (2018)
75. The Weeknd House of Balloons (2011)
76. Arcade Fire The Suburbs (2010)
77. Four Tet There Is Love in You (2010)
78. Kurt Vile Smoke Ring for My Halo (2011)
79. Tame Impala Currents (2015)
80. Aphex Twin Syro (2014)
81. Solange When I Get Home (2019)
82. Girls Father, Son, Holy Ghost (2011)
83. Burial Rival Dealer EP (2013)
84. Chance the Rapper Acid Rap (2013)
85. Jessica Pratt On Your Own Love Again (2015)
86. Haim Days Are Gone (2013)
87. Rae Sremmurd SremmLife (2015)
88. Jenny Hval Apocalypse, girl (2015)
89. Caribou Our Love (2014)
90. Joyce Manor Never Hungover Again (2014)
91. Bon Iver 22, A Million (2016)
92. JAY-Z / Kanye West Watch the Throne (2011)
93. Tirzah Devotion (2018)
94. Vampire Weekend Contra (2010)
95. Jai Paul Leak 04-13 (Bait Ones) (2019)
96. Low Double Negative (2018)
97. The War on Drugs Lost in the Dream (2014)
98. Todd Terje It’s Album Time (2014)
99. Bad Bunny X 100PRE (2018)
100. Ariana Grande Sweetener (2018)

101. Chromatics Kill for Love (2012)
102. Jeremih Late Nights: The Album (2015)
103. Helado Negro This Is How You Smile (2019)
104. Waxahatchee Cerulean Salt (2013)
105. Disclosure Settle (2013)
106. Moses Sumney Aromanticism (2017)
107. Dirty Projectors Swing Lo Magellan (2012)
108. Kaytranada 99.9% (2016)
109. Julia Holter Aviary (2018)
110. Waka Flocka Flame Flockaveli (2010)
111. EMA Past Life Martyred Saints (2011)
112. Daft Punk Random Access Memories (2013)
113. Japandroids Celebration Rock (2012)
114. Sampha Process (2017)
115. U.S. Girls In a Poem Unlimited (2018)
116. Janelle Monáe The ArchAndroid (2010)
117. Death Grips The Money Store (2012)
118. Leonard Cohen You Want It Darker (2016)
119. Girlpool Before the World Was Big (2015)
120. Tyler, the Creator Flower Boy (2017)
121. The Hotelier Home, Like Noplace Is There (2014)
122. Snail Mail Lush (2018)
123. Deafheaven Sunbather (2013)
124. Real Estate Days (2011)
125. Yves Tumor Safe in the Hands of Love (2018)
126. Panda Bear Tomboy (2011)
127. Car Seat Headrest Teens of Denial (2016)
128. Radiohead A Moon Shaped Pool (2016)
129. Various Artists Bangs and Works Vol. 1: A Chicago Footwork Compilation (2010)
130. Tame Impala Lonerism (2012)
131. Run the Jewels Run the Jewels 2 (2014)
132. Amen Dunes Freedom (2018)
133. Frankie Cosmos Zentropy (2014)
134. M83 Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming (2011)
135. Fleet Foxes Helplessness Blues (2011)
136. Tim Hecker Ravedeath, 1972 (2011)
137. A$AP Rocky LIVE.LOVE.A$AP (2011)
138. Alabama Shakes Sound & Color (2015)
139. Emeralds Does It Look Like I’m Here? (2010)
140. Parquet Courts Sunbathing Animal (2014)
141. Rick Ross Rich Forever (2012)
142. Fennesz Agora (2019)
143. Weyes Blood Titanic Rising (2019)
144. PJ Harvey Let England Shake (2011)
145. Chief Keef Finally Rich (2012)
146. Sheer Mag Compilation (2017)
147. The National High Violet (2010)
148. Nicolas Jaar Space Is Only Noise (2011)
149. Mac DeMarco 2 (2012)
150. Playboi Carti Playboi Carti (2017)

151. Lady Gaga The Fame Monster (2009)
152. Arctic Monkeys AM (2013)
153. Purple Mountains Purple Mountains (2019)
154. Mica Levi Under the Skin OST (2014)
155. 21 Savage / Metro Boomin Savage Mode (2016)
156. Jenny Lewis The Voyager (2014)
157. The 1975 A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships (2018)
158. Sleigh Bells Treats (2010)
159. Pallbearer Foundations of Burden (2014)
160. Noname Room 25 (2018)
161. The 1975 I like it when you sleep… (2016)
162. Sturgill Simpson Metamodern Sounds in Country Music (2014)
163. Meek Mill Dreamchasers 2 (2012)
164. Hop Along Painted Shut (2015)
165. Jay Som Everybody Works (2017)
166. Nicki Minaj The Pinkprint (2014)
167. (Sandy) Alex G DSU (2014)
168. Julianna Barwick The Magic Place (2011)
169. Paramore After Laughter (2017)
170. Skee Mask Compro (2018)
171. JPEGMAFIA Veteran (2018)
172. Popcaan Where We Come From (2014)
173. Hurray for the Riff Raff Small Town Heroes (2014)
174. Sharon Van Etten Are We There (2014)
175. Jessie Ware Devotion (2012)
176. Gil Scott-Heron I’m New Here (2010)
177. Margo Price All American Made (2017)
178. Savages Silence Yourself (2013)
179. Shabazz Palaces Black Up (2011)
180. Chvrches The Bones of What You Believe (2013)
181. Jamila Woods LEGACY! LEGACY! (2019)
182. G.L.O.S.S. Trans Day of Revenge (2016)
183. Elysia Crampton American Drift (2015)
184. Soccer Mommy Clean (2018)
185. Hailu Mergia Lala Belu (2018)
186. Various Artists Mono No Aware (2017)
187. Iceage Beyondless (2018)
188. Pusha-T Daytona (2018)
189. Miranda Lambert The Weight of These Wings (2016)
190. Huerco S. For Those of You Who Have Never (and Also Those Who Have) (2016)
191. Kate Bush 50 Words for Snow (2011)
192. Kelela Cut 4 Me (2013)
193. Lil Peep Hellboy (2016)
194. Titus Andronicus The Monitor (2010)
195. Downtown Boys Full Communism (2015)
196. Portal Vexovoid (2013)
197. Fatima Al Qadiri Genre-Specific Xperience (2011)
198. Jean Grae / Quelle Chris Everything’s Fine (2018)
199. Wu Lyf Go Tell Fire to the Mountain (2011)
200. Ratking So It Goes (2014)
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by Illiniq »

As per usual, P4K's album list is more on point than their always wretched best songs lists. If it was me, I'd probably flip their bottom 100 with their top 100 and then start minor adjustments from their, but I'd say 70-80% of the titles here belong.

Main Complaints

1. Egregious omissions -

Hadestown - Anais Mitchell ( the rest of the listening world caught on this year, Pitchfork whiffed on this one from day one)

Whokill - Tuneyards

Carrion Crawler/The Dream - Thee Oh Sees (best effort in decade from one of the most prolific acts of the decade)

The Seer/To Be Kind - Swans - I don't give a shit about the rape allegation from that stand point that I am a passionate believer in assessing the work separate from the artist's personal life, if GIra did it, though I don't think the case is resolved yet, jail him, it won't be the first time he's been in the can, but the fact of the matter is The Seer and To Be Kind are two of the highest achievements in music this decade and should be considered as such regardless.

Benji - Sun Kil Moon - Likewise I don't care if MK's an asshole, this is another one of the actual 10 best albums of the decade.

Light Up Gold or Wide Awake - Parquet Courts - Both vastly superior to Sunbathing Animal - 10 years from now, in Velvet Underground and Nico Style, once this hip hop/poptimist era has fade, Wide Awake will be properly recognized as the best/most intelligent, and most representative of it's moment album of 2018. Insane that they never got behind this album.

Trouble Will Find Me - The National - One of the five best rock acts of the decade - they deserve two inclusions.

Southeastern - Jason Isbell - One of the greatest Singer-Songwriter efforts of the decade, not in the P4K wheelhouse but shouldn't matter, better than 75% of what's on their list.

Singles - Future Islands

No Cities To Love - Sleater-Kinney - yeah their new album is the biggest disappointment bar none of 2019 but that's no reason to punish this fantastic effort that almost matches the greatness of The Woods.

Skeleton Tree/Push The Sky Away - Nick Cave - can't believe one of these two didn't make it.

Love & Hate - Michael Kiwanuka - Another title P4K has just missed the boat on but one of the most enjoyable R&B efforts of the decade, with Cold Little Heart arguably one of the decade's real 10 best songs.

American Dream - LCD Soundsystem - Both LCD efforts this decade are easily amongst the 200 best releases of the decade.

A Deeper Understanding - War On Drugs - don't have an issue with Lost In The Dream ahead of this, songs here aren't as memorable, but this may be the single greatest production effort in the history of recorded music. For that alone, it deserves inclusion.

St. Vincent/Masseduction - St. Vincent - one of the top ten artists of the decade by every metric, she flat out deserved 2 albums on the list.

Confident Music For Confident People - Confidence Man - Best stupid party album of the decade, another one P4K never jumped on but belongs - wasn't a catchier album released this decade.

Joy As An Act Of Resistance - IDLES - how does a site that prides itself on "Wokeness" miss the ball on the most "Woke" punk album ever released. The runaway winner of best album of 2018 in Europe, just don't get P4K's resistance to this record outside their regular anti-rock bias.

2. Minor Omissions - Not That big a deal to be left off but either a little surprised they missed the cut, or albums I value more than at least 25% of what did make the list.

Odd Blood - Yeasayer
Public Strain - Women
El Camino - The Black Keys
Scandalous - Black Joe Lewis And The Honeybears
Smother - Wild Beasts
Yuck
WIXIW - Liars
Locked Down - Dr. John
Women - Rhye
Elania - Floating Points
My Woman - Angel Olsen - Her best in my opinion, including the new one.
The Order Of Time - Valerie June
Close Ties - Rodney Crowell
Persona -Rival Consoles - surprised Skee Mask's Compro beat this one out for second electronic inclusion from 2018.
Dogrel - Fontaines DC - my number 2 album in 2019 after Purple Mountains.


3. Surprise Inclusions I Loved Seeing and wholeheartedly endorse

There Is Love In You - Four Yet
Cerulean Salt - Waxahatchee
You Want It Darker - Leonard Cohen
Home, Like Noplace Is There - The Hotelier ( more for band getting an inclusion than the album itself)
Ravedeath 1972 - Tim Hecker
Does It Look Like I'm Here - Emeralds
Purple Mountains
Room 25 - Noname
Metamodern Sounds In Country Music - Sturgil Simpson
Painted Shut - Hop Along
I'm New Here - Gil Scott Heron
Go Tell Fire To The Mountain - Wu Lyf - Flash in the pan act, but enjoyed the album and their live set quite a bit.

4. Ugh - Albums I'd drop or drop way down in ranking in a heartbeat.

Blonde - No Issues with making list but feels like a 30-50 range album to my tastes.

Beyonce - way too high.

The Idler Wheel Excellent album, about 20-30 spots to high

A Seat At The Table - very good, just too woke preachy and too high.

Black Messiah (most overrated record of decade, D'Angelo gives hazy soul a new definition of hazy - nothing clear ever in his arrangements - hate Voodoo too, one of my top 10 all time most overrated artists - right there with the Grateful Dead, Queen, Oasis and The Smiths)

Have One On Me - I like Joanna Newsom and love Good Intentions Paving company but this album is so static and such a f***ing bore overall.

Burn Your Fire For No Witness - Solid record but Hate, hate hate the production on it. My Woman is so much better.

El Mal Querer - Along With No Pearl, my least favorite album of 2018 - I love flamenco music, I despise Rosalia's take on it.

We Got It From Here - Love We The People and a couple other tracks, rest of the album has never done much for me.

The Knife/Fever Ray inclusions - love Silent Shouts, and like Habitual/Plunge, but Karin's brand of creepy weirdness has been vastly overrated for a long time now and neither of her 2010 decade efforts were legitimately top 200 worthy.

Black Origami - I admire it's originality but listens don't come any tougher says the guy who adores Swans and Captain Beefheart.

Arca/Sophie - I pair these two together, as they are two hot contemporary producers I just do not mesh with at all, to Arca's credit, at least he's not completely unlistenable the way Sophie is 70% of the time, but I'm still turned off by almost everything he touches.

Tame Impala - Currents - No issues with Lonerism, and like Inner Speaker, but Currents is the most effete effort by a straight male act of the decade - it's level of testosterone draining wimpiness is insufferable and I know I am far from alone from the bands fans earlier who feel the exact same way.

Joyce Manor - Never Hungover Again - I like these guys, but this is the number 1 most puzzling inclusion on the entire list - nothing about this album is any way close to exceptional - nothing.

Disclosure - Settle - I know it belongs, but personally I can't stand these guys.

Panda Bear - Tomboy - Decent album just not top 200 worthy - PK4's Animal Collective fetishism strikes again.

Alabama Shakes - Sound & Colour - Like this album, big improvement on debut, but again, just not sure it's really top 200 worthy.

Sheer Mag - Uggh, talk about a deal breaker voice.

(Sandy) Alex G - DSU - one those yawny indie acts I've never been able to get behind.

Soccer Mommy - Clean - Like this one, but so many great intimate female singer songwriter albums this decade, sure with another 10 minutes effort I could name a dozen I feel are distinctly stronger than this - Julia Jacklin's Crushin' from this year definitely comes to mind, As does Valerie June's The Order Of Time, as does that sepia covered Patty Griffin album with "That Kind Of Lonely" on it, and I know there are more.
Art Angels (do like this quite a bit, but top-20, no fing way
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by prosecutorgodot »

All my favorites are below 100, so if I take off the first 1, then I have my preferred list. :D

Loving Cold Butterfly's rant.
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by Rocky Raccoon »

I personally don't care what did and didn't make this list, after all, opinions are like assholes, everyone's got one. What I object to is these lists coming out in October. How about we do the year-end lists first for 2019, and then worry about the decade?
That being said, they did pick the worst, in a relative sense, Parquet Courts album.
Last edited by Rocky Raccoon on Wed Oct 09, 2019 5:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by acroamor »

Rocky Raccoon wrote: Wed Oct 09, 2019 4:46 am I personally don't care what did and didn't make this list, after all, opinions and are like assholes, everyone's got one. What I object to is these lists coming out in October. How about we do the year-end lists first for 2019, and then worry about the decade?
That being said, they did pick the worst, in a relative sense, Parquet Courts album.
Going off that, I'm curious what the "unspoken" elements of their selection process looks like. I know they do solicit individual ballots much like Pazz and Jop, but unlike P&J, they're not transparent about how those function. My guess in this case would be that they got a lot of fans of the original Light Up Gold sound and a lot of fans of the newer Human Performance or Wide Awake sound, but not enough for either to place on their own, so they split the difference and attributed those ballots all to Sunbathing Animal eventhough comparatively very few people voted for it.

Similarly, I often feel with lists like this from Pitchfork and Rolling Stone especially that the last 1-5 spots usually go to projects that weren't actually voted in by sheer numbers, but "chosen-by-committee" choices made either to satiate the public or to support a specific niche thing beloved by the editors. I'd say that opening their songs list with Avicii's "Levels" would be a very clear example of this.
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by Chambord »

If I'd take this list seriously then I'd be thinking wow the 2010s really were the worst decade in music which is maybe not too far off but anyway can't wait for guitar music to become hip again so P4K can start filling their EOYs with bad indie rock bands it will be pure comedy gold the future is bright indeed yes i will stop.
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by Elder »

If it were just a Top 100 I would find this list very consistent with
a great hit compilation

But overall it looks like a joint list with RollingStone and NME critics

At the beginning of the decade it was easy to know which rock bands had the profile of P4k (Ariel Pink, Swans, Destroyer), NME (Arctic Mokneys, The 1975) and RS (Black Keys, Jack White) today apparently no longer

Very good this album they chose to represent Jenny Hval
I think James Blake's sound has had as much influence this decade as Charli XCX
Shame to ignore Ariel's Before Today
It's good to have artists like Jenny Hval, Grouper, Arca, Flying Lotus, Rosalía (These are the types of artists I want P4k to introduce me to)

Some good rock artists have lost place to teen rock bands on this list (The 1975 (2 albums), paramore, Snail Mail)

The great thing about P4k is that your lists always improve AM rankings.
Last edited by Elder on Wed Oct 09, 2019 1:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by Jackson »

Pitchfork has produced good and bad lists over the years (I'd put the Pitchfork 500 and their last albums of the 60s countdown in the good camp and their last albums of the 80s countdown in the bad camp). This one is just terrible to the point of lacking relevance.

My problems with it are:
- Came out several months too early. Would this really get fewer page clicks if it came out in December or January? Are they really going to remember to place an album like Ghosteen (just came out with an 8.8 score) in their 2020s countdown?
- Their individual year end lists are rendered irrelevant. It's one thing to incorporate fresh takes on albums that have aged well (or poorly) or to unearth things that were overlooked, but this essentially throws out all of their old lists. Remember their 2018 countdown from 10 months ago? Well apparently now Be the Cowboy (their #1 for 2018) is now worse than Some Rap Songs (their #7 for 2018). What has Rihanna's ANTI done to move up from #19 for 2016 to #12 overall for the decade? Are Run the Jewels not cool enough anymore? RTJ2 was their #1 album for 2014! Their unexplained changing takes on albums make this exercise incoherent
- The prioritization of R&B and rap over other genres is getting ridiculous. It has happened consistently on all of their recent lists (compare the recent 80s albums list to their previous one) and seems more like a desperate attempt to cross over to a more populist audience than a genuine reflection of the editors' tastes. For some reason (as others have pointed out), this love for R&B does not extend to Janelle Monae
- The ghosting of Swans is kind of ridiculous. Agree with the other takes on this thread, but even worse, they're inconsistent with who gets "cancelled." Cardi B and Rick Ross have both been charged with assault, for example, but that doesn't keep them out of this list

It's not all bad - there are some really cool albums that made the list, and some nice contrarian placements that I agree with. But taken as a whole this list does not reflect the decade in music as I experienced it.
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by charliepanayi »

They had Real Estate and Erykah Badu on the list too despite the assault allegations against Matt Mondanile and Badu being Kanye levels of insane in general. But consistency has never really been a thing for the music press (remember Consequence of Sound doing an op-ed saying they wouldn't put Brand New in their end of year list on moral grounds when 12 months earlier they'd put Michael Jackson as the greatest singer ever and had James Brown in the top 5?)

Someone mentioned Hadestown (which is great) and that the musical's success should have given it more attention. I'd argue it's the opposite, the success of the musical has made people forget it was ever an album to start with I think!
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by bootsy »

The last three posts: Wow is all I can say.
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by Nassim »

Never ever heard of Joyce Manor before so their album at #90 is a huge surprise.
Nice listening so far, though it might take me 5 years too before I see it as a top 100 album of the decade ;)
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by Chris K. »

Just for fun, the readers' poll results. I like this list better than the writer list.

Albums:

1. Kanye West: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
2. Kendrick Lamar: To Pimp a Butterfly
3. Frank Ocean: Blonde
4. Kendrick Lamar: good kid, m.A.A.d city
5. Frank Ocean: Channel Orange
6. Kanye West: Yeezus
7. Vampire Weekend: Modern Vampires of the City
8. Sufjan Stevens: Carrie & Lowell
9. Arcade Fire: The Suburbs
10. Lorde: Melodrama
11. Tame Impala: Currents
12. Bon Iver: Bon Iver
13. Radiohead: A Moon Shaped Pool
14. Beyoncé: Lemonade
15. LCD Soundsystem: This Is Happening
16. Joanna Newsom: Have One on Me
17. Tame Impala: Lonerism
18. Beach House: Teen Dream
19. David Bowie: Blackstar
20. Death Grips: The Money Store
21. Carly Rae Jepsen: E•MO•TION
22. Kendrick Lamar: DAMN.
23. Deerhunter: Halcyon Digest
24. Bon Iver: 22, A Million
25. Fiona Apple: The Idler Wheel...
26. Kanye West: The Life of Pablo
27. Beach House: Bloom
28. The National: High Violet
29. D’Angelo & the Vanguard: Black Messiah
30. Tyler, the Creator: Flower Boy
31. Daft Punk: Random Access Memories
32. The War on Drugs: Lost in the Dream
33. Solange: A Seat at the Table
34. Grimes: Art Angels
35. Father John Misty: I Love You, Honeybear
36. Fleet Foxes: Helplessness Blues
37. Danny Brown: Atrocity Exhibition
38. Beyoncé: Beyoncé
39. Car Seat Headrest: Twin Fantasy
40. Charli XCX: Pop 2
41. Kacey Musgraves: Golden Hour
42. Destroyer: Kaputt
43. Lana Del Rey: Ultraviolence
44. Taylor Swift: 1989
45. Grimes: Visions
46. Sun Kil Moon: Benji
47. Robyn: Body Talk
48. Jamie xx: In Colour
49. Swans: To Be Kind
50. Sufjan Stevens: The Age of Adz

Songs:

1. Kanye West: “Runaway” [ft. Pusha-T]
2. Frank Ocean: “Pyramids”
3. Kendrick Lamar: “Alright”
4. LCD Soundsystem: “Dance Yrself Clean”
5. Robyn: “Dancing on My Own”
6. Grimes: “Oblivion”
7. Tame Impala: “Let It Happen”
8. Kanye West: “Ultralight Beam” [ft. Chance the Rapper, The-Dream, Kelly Price, and Kirk Franklin]
9. Carly Rae Jepsen: “Run Away With Me”
10. Bon Iver: “Holocene”
11. Beyoncé: “Formation”
12. Kanye West: “POWER” [ft. Dwele]
13. Vampire Weekend: “Hannah Hunt”
14. Arcade Fire: “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”
15. M83: “Midnight City”
16. Lana Del Rey: “Video Games”
17. Frank Ocean: “Thinkin Bout You”
18. Mitski: “Your Best American Girl”
19. Kendrick Lamar: “King Kunta”
20. Kanye West: “Monster” [ft. Justin Vernon, Rick Ross, Jay-Z, and Nicki Minaj]
21. Lana Del Rey: “Venice Bitch”
22. Sufjan Stevens: “Should Have Known Better”
23. JAY-Z / Kanye West: “Niggas in Paris”
24. Daft Punk: “Get Lucky” [ft. Pharrell]
25. Kendrick Lamar: “The Blacker the Berry”
26. Solange: “Cranes in the Sky”
27. Kanye West: “Blood on the Leaves”
28. Frank Ocean: “Nikes”
29. Beach House: “Myth”
30. Kanye West: “New Slaves”
31. Radiohead: “Daydreaming”
32. Frank Ocean: “Ivy”
33. The National: “Bloodbuzz Ohio”
34. Lorde: “Royals”
35. Lorde: “Green Light”
36. Sufjan Stevens: “Fourth of July”
37. Kendrick Lamar: “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe”
38. David Bowie: “Blackstar”
39. Tame Impala: “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards”
40. Mitski: “Nobody”
41. Radiohead: “True Love Waits”
42. Charli XCX: “Track 10”
43. Vampire Weekend: “Step”
44. Future Islands: “Seasons (Waiting on You)”
45. FKA twigs: “Two Weeks”
46. Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti: “Round and Round”
47. Taylor Swift: “Style”
48. Lorde: “The Louvre”
49. Fleet Foxes: “Helplessness Blues”
50. Death Grips: “I’ve Seen Footage”
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by trevorandersen »

Chris K. wrote: Wed Oct 16, 2019 8:58 pm Just for fun, the readers' poll results. I like this list better than the writer list.
...
This is much better. Still think TPaB deserves top spot though.
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by charliepanayi »

Don't know why people think the readers album list is 'much better' than the writers list, it's almost exactly the same list aside from the readers not ignoring Sun Kil Moon/Swans
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by nquoid »

Chris K. wrote: Wed Oct 16, 2019 8:58 pm Just for fun, the readers' poll results. I like this list better than the writer list.
That top 6 is kind of hilarious (even if I love all those albums)
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by Chambord »

It is (almost) the same artists but definitely not the same list. The Suburbs top 10, Bloom and High Violet top 30 is much closer to reality :whistle:

And yeah the top 6 is surrealist art really tho I expected something like:

1. Kanye West
2. Kanye West
3. Kendrick Lamar
4. Kendrick Lamar
5. Frank Ocean
6. Frank Ocean
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by Jimoincolor »

I’m a bit disappointed with the omission of Floral Shoppe.
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by Kingoftonga »

For those interested, someone made a handy interactive chart comparing Pitchfork's Best of the Year lists with their Best of the Decade list.

https://roadtolarissa.com/pitchfork/
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by Jimoincolor »

They added this note:
Note: FKA twigs’ MAGDALENE and Angel Olsen’s All Mirrors, two albums released after the voting for this list took place, appear near the top of our Best of 2019 list. Had they been released earlier, they would have been included here.
So these two albums should be added unranked.
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

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How Indie Went Pop—and Pop Went Indie—in the 2010s
https://pitchfork.com/features/article/ ... mes-blake/
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by VacantJoy »

Dance Dance Revolution: How EDM Conquered America in the 2010s
https://pitchfork.com/features/article/ ... llex-zedd/
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by VacantJoy »

How Chillwave’s Brief Moment in the Sun Cast a Long Shadow Over the 2010s
https://pitchfork.com/features/article/ ... on-indian/
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Re: Pitchfork (US) - The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Post by VacantJoy »

Remembering the Weirdest Album Launch Stunts of the 2010s
https://pitchfork.com/features/article/ ... cade-fire/
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