Pitchfork's 200 best albums of 2010-2019: How many do you own?

[Snoopy8]

3 minutes ago, metal beat said:

So Snoop.  Do you have Daft Punk? 

Not yet!  

[metal beat]

Just now, Snoopy8 said:

Not yet!  

 

Don't!!   Its electronica for dummies 

[Phill451]

I think it is a solid list worthy of discussion. I’m approaching grumpy middle aged man status, but I have some of these on vinyl and have at one stage or another streamed many of them. Kanye and Beyoncé aren’t my thing and may not be yours but they are certainly worthy of inclusion. Open minds and ears never hurt anyone.

[Snoopy8]

34 minutes ago, metal beat said:

Don't!!   Its electronica for dummies 

Have to start somewhere!  Either at top of Discocogs list or even Tron: Legacy movie!   

 

And I thought being open minded meant anything, including for Dummies material!  

[Dilettanteque]

3 hours ago, Snoopy8 said:

In comparison with Pitchfork's list with 1, I am flooded with 8!  Wow!   

Hmmm...53 in the Discogs selection.  Nearly 2x Pitchfork.  I know my demographic.

Edited October 29, 2019 by Dilettanteque

[mrbuzzardstubble]

What I find amazing is that nearly all the great albums of the last decade come from the U.S.A and U.K. Virtually nothing from Africa, the Middle East, India,Asia,Sth America and little from Europe, particularly East Europe. I'm glad they don't have a movie list. 

[t_mike]

5 minutes ago, mrbuzzardstubble said:

What I find amazing is that nearly all the great albums of the last decade come from the U.S.A and U.K. Virtually nothing from Africa, the Middle East, India,Asia,Sth America and little from Europe, particularly East Europe. I'm glad they don't have a movie list. 

What's wrong with comics and robots?

[analog brother]

it's all subjective.

i have more music which is not on any list. 

these lists are just based on popularity and sales anyway.

most music i'm into flies under the radar, and doesn't sell in much volume, so doesn't really matter.

i'm just glad i can buy the music i like at the same price as the normal stuff.

[cafe67]

12 hours ago, Snoopy8 said:

I was not surprised to learn that I had only 1 album (taytay's Red) in Pitchfork's 2010's list.  Was curious to find out what the other decades looked like e.g. 70s

https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/5932-top-100-albums-of-the-1970s/

It did not look good when I saw Pink Floyd DSOTM at #70, no Eagles Hotel California.  What was even more shocking was that I did not know many of the Artists!  , let alone know the album's.

 

A similar grim picture for the 80s

https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-200-best-albums-of-the-1980s/

I did not know 3 of the top 10 artists!!!

 

It is clear that the persons who compiled the Pitchfork's lists have different music tastes to mine.  Oh well, back to living under my rock!  

 

Oh dear they even managed to turn the 80’s into shite , considering whAt the early 80’s  brought in hardly any synth groups , no 4ad groups other than Cocteau twins and (yawn) pixies ...still I managed more on that list then the ****fork list 

 

Tom Tom Club
808 state 90

Durutti column Vini Reilly

New order Technique

 

Roxy music Avalon

Cure The Head on the Door

Beastie boys Licensed to Ill

Eno Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks

Cocteau twins Blue Bell Knoll

TFF  Songs From the Big Chair

Blue Nile Hats

Eno/Byrne My Life in the Bush of Ghosts

Banshees Juju

Husker Du Zen Arcade

Julee cruiseFloating Into the Night

  Vangelis Blade Runner 

Talkng g heads Stop Making Sense

 

Kate bush The Sensual World

Cocteau twins Treasure

Talk talk Spirit of Eden

new order Power, Corruption & Lies

Kraftwerk Computer World

Joy Div Closer

cure - Disintegration

talking heads Remain in Light

Kate bush Hounds of Love

 

1970’s discogs

 

kraftwerk The Man-Machine

PF - The Dark Side of the Moon

Talking heads - Fear of Music

Joy div - Unknown Pleasures

kraftwerk- Trans-Europe Express

 

gave up on the discogs 200 list, more of same rubbish 

Edited October 29, 2019 by cafe67

[t_mike]

1 hour ago, analog brother said:

these lists are just based on popularity and sales anyway.

That's no excuse to use when putting your name to a BEST list, otherwise we could say that McDonalds are our finest eating establishments.

[analog brother]

yes,  they may not be our best establishments, but they are our 'favourite' by far.

that's why i don't eat there.

they are big business, just like the internet....actually i don't remember seeing any 'the internet' albums on the list? 

 

why aren't there any gryphon products in the absolute sound or stereophile product of the year lists???

i thought they were amongst 'the best', but it seems the mags don't agree.

[metal beat]

2 hours ago, analog brother said:

yes,  they may not be our best establishments, but they are our 'favourite' by far.

that's why i don't eat there.

they are big business, just like the internet....actually i don't remember seeing any 'the internet' albums on the list? 

 

why aren't there any gryphon products in the absolute sound or stereophile product of the year lists???

i thought they were amongst 'the best', but it seems the mags don't agree.

 

James.   You know the answer to that question.   Up to earlier this year Gryphon did not have a USA distributor for over 20 years.   Hard for US magazines to review something that does not exist in their country.

[JukKluk2]

Pitchfork '70's 37/100

Pitchfork '80's 37/200

Discogs 20/200

 

Can't love, or even be aware of, everything.

[analog brother]

12 hours ago, metal beat said:

 

James.   You know the answer to that question.   Up to earlier this year Gryphon did not have a USA distributor for over 20 years.   Hard for US magazines to review something that does not exist in their country.

 

yes, yes, now i remember.

still, that would have made them pretty underground in the u.s., just like some of our music that would never appear on lists! 

[emesbee]

Lists of 'best' albums? Who decides what is 'best', and by what criteria? None of this takes musical tastes into account, nor can it. As far as I am concerned, lists of 'best' albums are irrelevant and unimportant. They are probably just attempts to drum up sales.

 

[Snoopy8]

49 minutes ago, emesbee said:

Lists of 'best' albums? Who decides what is 'best', and by what criteria? None of this takes musical tastes into account, nor can it. As far as I am concerned, lists of 'best' albums are irrelevant and unimportant. They are probably just attempts to drum up sales.

Of course they are attempts to drum up sales. People shouldn't take them so seriously, especially when they are comfortable with their own musical tastes. 

[mrbuzzardstubble]

1 hour ago, emesbee said:

Lists of 'best' albums? Who decides what is 'best', and by what criteria? None of this takes musical tastes into account, nor can it. As far as I am concerned, lists of 'best' albums are irrelevant and unimportant. They are probably just attempts to drum up sales.

 

I think you're right. Before today I thought Ariana Grande was a drink from Starbucks.

[Demondes]

2 hours ago, emesbee said:

Lists of 'best' albums? Who decides what is 'best', and by what criteria? None of this takes musical tastes into account, nor can it. As far as I am concerned, lists of 'best' albums are irrelevant and unimportant. They are probably just attempts to drum up sales.

 

Sometimes I think a popular vote list next to a critics best list is interesting.

 

its interesting to see why things were missed on the popular list; were they not poppy enough, failed to get picked for release, crowded marketplace etc.

 

if I think back to the 80s when I was in my teens; Commercial FM radio was extremely guilty of playing a small number of artists in high rotation.  The point isn’t that the music played was necessarily bad or great, but what great music slipped through the cracks due to the limited attention span and the record company and commercial radio symbiotic relationship.

 

To further the earlier restaurant analogy, the critic will avoid listing McDonalds but occasionally will engage in belly button gazing.  So I think dual lists can neutralise the dodgy picks on each.
 

[Snoopy8]

3 hours ago, mrbuzzardstubble said:

I think you're right. Before today I thought Ariana Grande was a drink from Starbucks.

Sadly, though no fault of her own, she hit the headlines last year when a suicide bomber killed 23 people leaving her concert in Manchester.

Edited October 31, 2019 by Snoopy8
Grammar

[Juzbear]

The list is interesting, but it reflects Pitchforks general focus on American-centric post rock, singer songwriters, and alternative music, with crossover to hip hop and r’n’b in recent years. There is very little if any guitar rock/metal and little mainstream pop. Not much from outside the USA. One may say that reflects the quality of the music, but if you look at the music from previous eras that have lasting appeal, there are more popular bands- dire straits, Beatles, Eagles-  than fringe bands like velvet underground, captain beefheart, etc. Not to mention that the misic scene in the UK is not dead yet.

[Monty]

Cheers @metal beat I like music lists. They make me think about what I like, don't get, don't know.

 

Different lists, one a critics' choice, the other a popular choice.  Not sure if one is better or more balanced than the other. They both cover similar ground: English language pop and not much else. The Discogs list has a more mainstream rock flavour. Possibly more blokey? The Pitchfork list has a stronger American slant. More R&B and hip-hop and indie. Quite a bit I don't recognise at all. There's a fair bit of overlap between the two, especially higher up the ratings.  I have 37 from the Discogs list and 33 from Pitchfork on CD or LP or download. I've streamed some others.

 

For what it's worth, triangulating both lists plus my collection gives these:

 

Beyonce Lemonade

D'Angelo Black Messiah

PJ Harvey Let England Shake

Leonard Cohen You Want It Darker

Vampire Weekend Contra

LCD Soundsystem This Is Happening

Vampire Weekend Modern Vampires of the City

Courtney Barnett Sometimes I Sit...

Kamasi Washington The Epic

A Tribe Called Quest We Got It From Here...

Fleet Foxes Helplessness Blues

Frank Ocean Channel Orange

The National High Violet

War On Drugs Lost in the Dream

Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly

David Bowie Blackstar

Daft Punk Random Access Memory

 

I think a few of these are a bit overrated/over hyped, but generally it's a pretty solid set of albums.

[k3here]

I got a grand total of 16.

 

flicking through this list I started to think worst decade for music since the 40's. Streaming/downloading has perhaps killed the radio star or made it more difficult to find quality.

 

Or I am just getting old and happy to buy 50/40/25th anniversary issues . 

[mrbuzzardstubble]

No Bernard Herrmann. I don't think so.

https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-50-best-movie-soundtracks-of-all-time/?page=5

[Andrews_melb]

I dont mind these lists, they help me branch into artists or types of music i dont normally go for. St vincent is one example from that list who is an artist i really like. Also ill own up to giving Lemonade by beyonce a spin. Mainly cause it had the drums from ‘when the levee breaks’ and jack white on her ‘dont hurt yourself’

 

No Alt-j is weird to me, i think they are fantastic and a modern enough band to be in Pitchforks radar. 

[mrbuzzardstubble]

Another list, this time from Album Of The Year (AOTY)

https://www.albumoftheyear.org/user/mastercrackfox/list/1295/200-best-albums-of-the-decade-2010-2019/