Impy's Annual Best-of-the-Year Point Distribution Tally Nonsense - Please Participate

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
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LoL at Pitchfork's "Let's try and be as obscure as possible" Top 50 and effort to throw in as many artists as possible who call themselves "Fuck" this and "Fuck" that. How bold!

Even the honorable mentions was full of no-namers, almost as if they made a concerted effort to avoid your Coldplay's, Kaiser's and Verve's.
 
LoL at Pitchfork's "Let's try and be as obscure as possible" Top 50 and effort to throw in as many artists as possible who call themselves "Fuck" this and "Fuck" that. How bold!

Even the honorable mentions was full of no-namers, almost as if they made a concerted effort to avoid your Coldplay's, Kaiser's and Verve's.

The Kaiser Chiefs are terrible in general. Viva La Vida was nice but derivative. The Verve's record was really solid but hardly their best work.

Fleet Foxes and TV On The Radio are hardly no-namers. I mean, come on, they've performed on Letterman.
 
Or maybe they just have a more diverse and acute range of taste than you do.

No.
That's the whole thing about Pitchfork, they have that style. They usually tend to favor more obscure, lesser known acts. You can see that when you look at its reviews. (I'm not sayin they will make a good review from an album cause it's from an lesser known band, but they tend to favor them, especially in those end-of-the-year lists.)

But yeah, they chose a famous artist to support, and that's Radiohead.

I read Pitchfork reviews usually, but there's times when the reviewr says so much crap, that I can't even finish reading (The Flaming Lips' Zaireeka, for example....and I don't even like this band. But the review is ridiculous.)
 
I don't have much beef with pitchfork, helps me find out about good small bands. Doesn't stop me liking the big ones either...but i've never liked Coldplay, and to be honest I can't think of a major album release that I like over these smaller bands. The Killers I enjoy and have liked since I was 16 but I wouldn't rank their album in my top 30. I like it but don't love it. Nick Cave is hardly a small act either, Dig Lazarus Dig placed well as did Kanye West. Lil Waynes popularity with Pitchfork I will never get, but anyway I prefer Pitchforks lists to any of the big publications end of year lists.

Don't always think their reviewers are the best or the most literate...but I do tend to find when they really like something it is usually genuinely decent. I often contrast reviews with another favourite reviewer of mine anyway before I check out so to speak.
 
It's an indie music website! Of course they favor smaller, obscure bands! But the point is that they aren't championing a bunch of shit over good music. Now granted everyone's not going to like every album on their list, but as it's made up of selections from their editorial/review group it probably represents a diverse assortment of taste under the umbrella of what they cover.

You want to see love for U2, Coldplay, Oasis, The Verve, whatever, go read Rolling Stone's website, where they kiss ass and give a positive, 3-stars or more review to almost every veteran act.
 
Fleet Foxes is stunningly good. Lovely album.

A part of me hates agreeing with Pitchfork, but it may just be my #1 of 2008 as well.
 
It's an indie music website! Of course they favor smaller, obscure bands! .

Well if Indie is their forte, why do they insist on reviewing Coldplay and Killers and co....just so that they can regurgitate anti-mainstream, tried, tested and failed anti-Chris Martin and anti-Noel Gallagher rants...
 
It's an indie music website! Of course they favor smaller, obscure bands! But the point is that they aren't championing a bunch of shit over good music. Now granted everyone's not going to like every album on their list, but as it's made up of selections from their editorial/review group it probably represents a diverse assortment of taste under the umbrella of what they cover.

You want to see love for U2, Coldplay, Oasis, The Verve, whatever, go read Rolling Stone's website, where they kiss ass and give a positive, 3-stars or more review to almost every veteran act.

No, I don't need to see any love for those bands, I know what I like and what I don't and don't really care for the opinion of a reviewer after I started like the band. Reviews are made to make me discover new stuff, and I even admit that Pitchork is quite useful to do that. But I think they favor maybe a little much those obscure bands.

Well if Indie is their forte, why do they insist on reviewing Coldplay and Killers and co....just so that they can regurgitate anti-mainstream, tried, tested and failed anti-Chris Martin and anti-Noel Gallagher rants...

That's almost my point, they have no reason to review those bands...they don't need Pitchfork, and Pitchfork doesn't need them.
The other one is....the extremly stupid reviews that show up from time to time on Pitchfork and that make me angry....a lot
 
That's almost my point, they have no reason to review those bands...they don't need Pitchfork, and Pitchfork doesn't need them.
The other one is....the extremly stupid reviews that show up from time to time on Pitchfork and that make me angry....a lot

Well, Pitchfork, to obtain the readership levels and advertising revenue it does, needs to review mainstream bands to increase their market share I suppose.

Pitchfork NEEDS Coldplay's and Killers and Keane's to ensure it's profitability. Still no excuse to be all anti-mainstream about it though.
 
I'm sorry people, but Pitchfork's top 10 was hardly "obscure" this year. We've had threads here for essentially every artist in the top 10 for months, does that mean we're all "as obscure as possible"? Actually, going through the entire list, I know for certain that I've seen threads or discussions on at least 32 of the artists in their top 50 here this year. Music is only "obscure" if you sit and wait for it to come to you. I've never understood how a list or an artist would be "less valid" just because someone doesn't know who that artist is yet. If that isn't the type of music you like, fine, don't pay any attention to it. Why get bent out of shape because they aren't going to review something mainstream favorably? I similarly wouldn't expect to see some of the artists I enjoy reviewed well (or at all) on Rollingstone or Spin, it's just how different circles work in the music biz. :shrug:
 
I'm sorry people, but Pitchfork's top 10 was hardly "obscure" this year. We've had threads here for essentially every artist in the top 10 for months, does that mean we're all "as obscure as possible"? Actually, going through the entire list, I know for certain that I've seen threads or discussions on at least 32 of the artists in their top 50 here this year. Music is only "obscure" if you sit and wait for it to come to you. I've never understood how a list or an artist would be "less valid" just because someone doesn't know who that artist is yet. If that isn't the type of music you like, fine, don't pay any attention to it. Why get bent out of shape because they aren't going to review something mainstream favorably? I similarly wouldn't expect to see some of the artists I enjoy reviewed well (or at all) on Rollingstone or Spin, it's just how different circles work in the music biz. :shrug:

Snap!!! I agree my friend. Obscurity is more like familiarity now-a-days. With the internet and downloads, I don't see how anyone could call any band obscure. The only thing that people can say is whether or not they are more or less familiar with the band.
 
I'm sorry people, but Pitchfork's top 10 was hardly "obscure" this year. We've had threads here for essentially every artist in the top 10 for months, does that mean we're all "as obscure as possible"? Actually, going through the entire list, I know for certain that I've seen threads or discussions on at least 32 of the artists in their top 50 here this year. Music is only "obscure" if you sit and wait for it to come to you. I've never understood how a list or an artist would be "less valid" just because someone doesn't know who that artist is yet. If that isn't the type of music you like, fine, don't pay any attention to it. Why get bent out of shape because they aren't going to review something mainstream favorably? I similarly wouldn't expect to see some of the artists I enjoy reviewed well (or at all) on Rollingstone or Spin, it's just how different circles work in the music biz. :shrug:


Shut up, bitch.
 
Pitchfork still reviews U2, Coldplay, etc., because it still falls under the realm of "alternative". You won't see them reviewing AC/DC, Nickelback, or the Dixie Chicks, stuff that's nowhere near the type of music they cover. But yet they will review Justin Timberlake because they think he's doing something interesting with music.

They also review alot of hip-hop, which isn't indie rock either, but still represents what they consider vital music being made.

The line is fuzzy, but once you know where it is, it makes sense.

I also doubt they get revenue from reviewing the big albums mentioned. That makes no sense. If they had banner ads, maybe.
 
Music is only "obscure" if you sit and wait for it to come to you.

Well, that probably describes the relationship with music for about 99% of the population.

It just depends on what you measure the music against I suppose. If you're talking about internet music discussion sites or just people who take a more active interest in music, then many of the bands on that list are probably not that obscure. But in terms of the much wider mainstream community, bands like Fleet Foxes are totally obscure.
 
^Not really...my dad knows Fleet Foxes, and White Winter Hymnal seems to be on heavy rotation at Topshop here in Belfast.
 
I finally finished my lists. Because they are formatted for my annual Facebook note, I'm posting just the lists and none of the pictures, video, or commentary.

Top Ten Albums of the Year:

1. TV on the Radio - Dear Science
2. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
3. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes and Sun Giant EP
4. Bon Iver - For Emma Forever Ago
5. Okkervil River - The Stand-Ins
6. Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak
7. Lisa Hannigan - Sea Sew
8. Man Man - Rabbit Habits
9. Shearwater - Rook
10. Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust

Honorable Mentions
Beck -Modern Guilt
Coldplay - Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends and Prospekt's March EP
Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
Girl Talk - Feed the Animals
Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple
Hercules and Love Affair - Hercules and Love Affair


Top 15 Songs of the Year

1. My Morning Jacket - "Touch Me I'm Going to Scream Pt. 2"
2. Okkervil River - "Lost Coastlines"
3. TV on the Radio - "DLZ"
4. Kanye West - "Street Lights"
5. Brendan Canning - "Chameleon"
6. Bon Iver - "Skinny Love"
7. Fleet Foxes - "Mykonos"
8. Hercules and Love Affair - "Hercules Theme"
9. TV on the Radio - "Family Tree"
10. Conor Oberst - "Cape Canaveral"
11. Fleet Foxes - "Drops in the River"
12. Death Cab for Cutie - "Bixby Canyon Bridge"
13. Jenny Lewis - "Acid Tongue"
14. The Watson Twins - "Just Like Heaven"
15. Shearwater - "Rooks"


Biggest Disappointments

Ryan Adams & the Cardinals - Cardinology
Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs
The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely
Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst




Shows of Consequence


April 15 – Feist - Stubb's - Austin
May 3 – The Raconteurs - Stubb's - Austin
May 11 – Wilco - Stubb's - Austin
May 18 – Radiohead - Starplex - Dallas
June 17 – Death Cab for Cutie - Nokia Theatre - Grand Prairie
July 2 – Fleet Foxes - Mohawk - Austin
August 24 – My Morning Jacket - Stubb's - Austin
October 30 – TV on the Radio- Stubb's - Austin
November 8 – The National - Waterloo Park - Austin
 
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