Pitchfork

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D-Tes

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You've pretty much answered your own question without me having to do a thing. AllMusic Guide is a fine place to start looking around; they aren't perfect, but at-least they don't piss on music from certain eras while glorifying everything that happens to exist in a certain niche. And no, it doesn't kill someone to look through Pitchfork as long as you don't let their reviews go to your head.

In my case, my dad handed me some Pink Floyd a few years back and I just started YouTube-ing around after liking what I heard, along with spending hours just buzzing about on ITunes for obscure groups and artists which wouldn't be caught dead on radio. During those times, I forced myself to listen to stuff that didn't automatically please me in order to understand what drew others to a particular kind of music, and I found that there was actually quite a lot to like indeed.

It also helps that my uncle Dan used to do a lot of touring with various banRAB back in the 60's through the 80's. He's a killer pianist and keyboardist, so I learned to appreciate musicianship just from listening to him whenever I went to visit. Hell, he even met with Frank Zappa once, which is pretty sweet.

And yes, this forum is a great place to broaden one's musical tastes. Last.fm doesn't hurt either.

PS: I never asked to be a herald of anything, and I dislike elitism as much as anyone else. I just don't understand people's constant unwillingness to never try anything outside their worthless comfort zones and rely on the tastes of people around them to compensate for their lack of trying. I can't control what others listen to, but there's nothing wrong with showing them a door of possibilities at the very least.

It's like you are walking back to your car from grocery shopping while multiple people drive by you with their windows wide open, each and every one blaring the same ****ty gangsta-rap as the guy behind them. Ever wonder what would happen if one of them switched to classical instead?
 
I don't think they're trying to prove anything. A lot of indie fans are also into hip-hop so it just kind of makes sense to include it in with indie reviews.
 
THANK YOU SO MUCH

had you not brought this to my attention i would have continued regarding their highly publicized but never criticized reviews as gospel.

perchance you could start another thread as to whether or not fire is still burning hot when one's hand is placed betwixt its flames?
 
I saw them live having not heard anything by them. They were all right but didn't really grab me. Plus they were followed by Liars!
 
Half a decade or more ago, I'd agree with that, but their writing has vastly improved in the past few years. It's still stylized somewhat and obviously they're appealing to a particular crowd, but the reviews have gotten a lot more relevant and some of the articles are actually really interesting.



That's the thing... for all the talk I hear about people like that, I don't think I've ever actually met one. Anyone I've ever come across who's even given a s--t about the subject has said something more along the lines of:



Which is why Pitchfork hate (actually a lot of "hipster" hate in general) kind of strikes me as the worst sort of elitism: the presumption of some kind of automaton, trend-slave culture spoken as though the speaker were above it all. That's sort of the thing about culture--it's inevitable, we're all part of it, it just manifests differently for different people.

I dunno. I'm not accusing anyone of that (at least not anyone here--I can think of some people I know in the so-called real world)--just musing aloud (or in text, I suppose).
 
There are albums they've pretty much taken a dump on that I really like. Just goes to show all reviews should be taken with a grain of salt, no matter the source.
 
I don't read Pitchfork or for that matter, the music press in general. To be honest, i don't see the point. I'm capable of forming my own opinions and so the opinions of others, especially faceless strangers I know nothing about don't matter to me one little bit.

However, even from my limited exposure to Pitchfork I do wonder why they publish reviews such as these. That Audioslave one for a start is an absolute joke. It may be a fairly novel idea, but giving me some info on the album and maybe an opinion might at least make the whole concept of a review a worthwhile one.
 
This. It's a conspiracy maaaaan, it's mainstream music's back-up plan to catch the kiRAB who want to actually explore and be different. Punk, Reggae, rap, hip-hop- it's all been eaten by the opiate culture, by which I mean they have been durabed down, striped of meaning, and made popular. I don't really think it's a conspiracy, maybe were just sick of conflict. =/ I sure would rather listen to Lady GaGa, myself, then some political song, maybe if it was a really good quality political song...
 
How now brown cow!!!

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If that's your criticism of Pitchfork, it's really the entire music magazine culture that you don't care for (Pitchfork is simply the most successful entity at exporting that culture to the web). Music magazine culture has been, for decades, about pissing on music from certain eras and genres and glorifying others. They are attempting to be taste-makers, and you can't do that by saying, "Everything is valid, you can find something to appreciate in all music." You have to be exclusionary of a lot, to create an approved body of work to unify your audience around.

Pitchfork is simply carrying on the tradition of NME, Melody Maker, Spin, MOJO, etc.
 
(Don't Fear) The Reaper was released in 1976 and not in the 77-79 bracket that they put in. The crazy fools. I have never used Pitchfork and I don't seem to have any trouble sourcing good music.
 
Getting reviewed on Pitchfork means exposure for new artists. Word of mouth works at a slow pace but once you've hit pitchfork your record/digital sales go up higher. BanRAB still want recognition and Pitchfork is a springboard for some.
 
I completely agree, the album is a perfect 10 in my mind too, but that doesn't take away from it being one of Pitchfork's funniest reviews.
 
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