Music News / Reviews

Ten years of a landmark album for me.

 

Not sure if this is the place, but Pitchfork proposed changing several of their review scores and explains why. It's mad corny imo; most of their reasoning boils down to "we were overhyped for this album and are disappointed it didn't have as much cultural impact as we'd hoped," or "we were being snobs but it turns out mainstream music culture loves this thing so we're falling in line."
 

Not sure if this is the place, but Pitchfork proposed changing several of their review scores and explains why. It's mad corny imo; most of their reasoning boils down to "we were overhyped for this album and are disappointed it didn't have as much cultural impact as we'd hoped," or "we were being snobs but it turns out mainstream music culture loves this thing so we're falling in line."


This is hilarious to me. It's Pitchfork explaining to me why I don't read Pitchfork reviews. They always seem like they want to be the "tastemakers" and this is just revisionist shite where they're trying to cover their mistakes. I mean, they've got a Grimes album on there from LAST YEAR! It's not like the zeitgeist has changed so much that it's "oh the times were different and we were different back then". The Kilo Riley is the best one to me. The review is "Written as a screenplay and cares more for their recent appearance on Dawson's Creek than the actual music". In a MUSIC REVIEW! Haha. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I'm happy Pitchfork exists because it is the highest form of satire I know. Even if (especially if) it's being completely earnest.


Also, I didn't see Jawbreaker - Dear You on that list, so either they have already changed their review of it, or they're still sticking to giving it a 2/10 and they're still high comedy. :ROFLMAO:
 
I've never been big into Pitchfork but the fact that the people who write the review are different from the people giving it a score makes it kinda dumb to me. I always got the impression that they score albums based on how they want to be perceived as a company instead of the music itself.
 
I've never been big into Pitchfork but the fact that the people who write the review are different from the people giving it a score makes it kinda dumb to me. I always got the impression that they score albums based on how they want to be perceived as a company instead of the music itself.
This was always the push-pull I had to square with Pitchfork when I read them more avidly. That grain of salt was always there: they knew their place as tastemakers and anointers of new talent, and that sword cut both ways. Over the last decade I've only paid mind to their Best New Music for the sake of discovering new music; I try to avoid the edge-courting of bad reviews and tepid 7.6s for albums I've been anticipating.
 

Not sure if this is the place, but Pitchfork proposed changing several of their review scores and explains why. It's mad corny imo; most of their reasoning boils down to "we were overhyped for this album and are disappointed it didn't have as much cultural impact as we'd hoped," or "we were being snobs but it turns out mainstream music culture loves this thing so we're falling in line."
This is absolutely brutal and unnecessary. Just stick to your guns. They don't even correct some of their more egregious reviews (say what you will about Kid Cudi's MOTM: End of Day, but it deserved much better). Why bother even going back and correcting some of these reviews? Nobody is going to remember they gave great scores to albums like Lucious Left Foot and Turn on the Bright Lights...people will remember more that you gave great albums a terrible score than good albums great scores.

EDIT: Also while they corrected TOTBL based on Paul's weird-ass lyrics and how much he sounds like Ian Curtis they didn't go back and correct their Antics review even though Paul's lyrics still by and large made no sense and he still sounded like he was channelling the ghost of Ian Curtis. Pointing out that they reviewed the album twice to much praise but NOW this new reviewer feels differently about the album is some weak shit.
 
Last edited:
That's why they went ahead and revised some great albums to have terrible scores!
For the most part it seems like they're bumping up albums they probably got a lot of flack for, while bumping down albums only a point or two. It's a really bizarre thing for sure. Like, did you just realize Discovery was a masterpiece, or are you still getting hate mail to this day about it and decided to rectify it?
 

The WarmTone™ is a fully automatic, modernized vinyl record pressing system. It is highly efficient, consistent, and capable of high quality output and yield.

$195K and ROI in 18 months.
 
Last edited:
The new album from Hand Habits is fantastic! I've listened to two of her previous records and liked them well enough, but this latest has grabbed me like few albums do on first listen. Subsequent listens solidify that view!



I'd say there's quite a bit of variety from song to song, with all of the different styles working very well. Somehow, different songs have me searching in my mind for the different artists they remind me of. It has taken me quite a while to figure this one out, but one of the better (so far!) songs on Fun House, "Concrete & Feathers," had me searching through shelves of records to read off a title/band that would spark a memory of what this song reminded me of. Finally figured it out! (but listening to both, Hand Habits prevails). Anyway, check out this album. It's even better than what you might expect, and better with every listen (I'm up to four....)




 
The new album from Hand Habits is fantastic! I've listened to two of her previous records and liked them well enough, but this latest has grabbed me like few albums do on first listen. Subsequent listens solidify that view!



I'd say there's quite a bit of variety from song to song, with all of the different styles working very well. Somehow, different songs have me searching in my mind for the different artists they remind me of. It has taken me quite a while to figure this one out, but one of the better (so far!) songs on Fun House, "Concrete & Feathers," had me searching through shelves of records to read off a title/band that would spark a memory of what this song reminded me of. Finally figured it out! (but listening to both, Hand Habits prevails). Anyway, check out this album. It's even better than what you might expect, and better with every listen (I'm up to four....)






It's also produced by SASAMI and reminds me quite a bit of her first album
 
The new album from Hand Habits is fantastic! I've listened to two of her previous records and liked them well enough, but this latest has grabbed me like few albums do on first listen. Subsequent listens solidify that view!



I'd say there's quite a bit of variety from song to song, with all of the different styles working very well. Somehow, different songs have me searching in my mind for the different artists they remind me of. It has taken me quite a while to figure this one out, but one of the better (so far!) songs on Fun House, "Concrete & Feathers," had me searching through shelves of records to read off a title/band that would spark a memory of what this song reminded me of. Finally figured it out! (but listening to both, Hand Habits prevails). Anyway, check out this album. It's even better than what you might expect, and better with every listen (I'm up to four....)





The physical is on it's way to me. I cannot wait!!
 
My local Radio Station had a listeners poll about the best Songs of 2021 and played the top100 all day long needles and Grooves rotm artist dota claimed spots #4 and #95 this year.
Here is the complete List as a spotify Playlist


Edit: the spotify list is missing
#23 SAULT - Bitter street
#47 Mick Jagger feat. Dave Grohl - Easy Sleazy
 
Last edited:
Back
Top