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Pitchfork Media: The 50 Best Albums of 2008

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Kevtones

Member
Karma Kramer said:
Alright now I feel embarrassed. Whats "Logos?"

I was simply referring to Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel. Which I think might be my personal album of the year.


It was the second Atlas Sound record (according to Bradford) that was leaked along with Weird Era Cont. when Bradford's mediafire account got hacked. It has less intimate soundscapes and more uptempo songs on it but it meshes really well and ends up being more personal (at least in feeling, to me). I know its around...
 
Kevtones said:
It was the second Atlas Sound record (according to Bradford) that was leaked along with Weird Era Cont. when Bradford's mediafire account got hacked. It has less intimate soundscapes and more uptempo songs on it but it meshes really well and ends up being more personal (at least in feeling, to me). I know its around...

Hmm interesting

I can't wait to hear it.
 

Rollersnake

Neo Member
For once I'm actually a little bit grateful to Pitchfork as I've listened to almost no new music this year, and this gives me a place to start. I've heard none of their top 50, aside from the parts of Everything That Happens Will Happen Today that Byrne played when I saw him back in October.

The key is not to take lists like these too seriously. I don't care who you are, you will not completely agree with any of them unless you wrote it yourself, and every critic/collective of critics has an agenda to push.
 

Kevtones

Member
Mutagenic said:
Stereogum.com is decent.

Is there a mastered version of Logos, or will he even bother?


Not that I know of, although that makes it even more impressive. Which reminds me I need to snag the master Weird Era Cont. one of these days (I have it on vinyl but I need it electronically).

Karma Kramer said:
Hmm interesting

I can't wait to hear it.


Definitely available. If I remember correctly, after the second leak 'catastrophe', Bradford said it may get released at some point. He also said it may never come out as well and he might just start on the third album.


Judging by his seasonal approximations for each album (Let the Blind = winter, Microcastle = fall), I'm beginning to sense it might become a spring release...
 
pjberri said:
I don't think Cut / Copy or M83 deserved to be in the top 10, either. I'm tempted to say the same about Vampire Weekend, too.

A couple of great singles on an album does not necessarily make a great album, Pitchfork.

Have you even listened to the Cut Copy/M83 albums? Both of them are completely solid. IMO they're much better than Hercules and if anything that album shouldn't be in the top 10.
 

Kitsuné

since when does a fox need an accent aigu?
Shaneus said:
Cut Copy makes the top ten, but The Presets' Apocalypso doesn't get a fucking mention?!?
Are you serious? :lol
I mean, Apocalypso isn't that bad, but it definately isn't top 50-worthy.
I know they can kick some ass live, but their album isn't half as solid as In Ghost Colours is.
 
Kitsuné said:
Are you serious? :lol
I mean, Apocalypso isn't that bad, but it definately isn't top 50-worthy.
I know they can kick some ass live, but their album isn't half as solid as In Ghost Colours is.

The Presets are amazing live. I saw them on tour with Cut Copy. One of the best shows I've seen this year!
 

Kevtones

Member
kitchenmotors said:
Have you even listened to the Cut Copy/M83 albums? Both of them are completely solid. IMO they're much better than Hercules and if anything that album shouldn't be in the top 10.


I just can't seem to find a song on that album (involving Antony) that I can really get into. Some of the other tracks are great, but as a whole there are too many ones I'm not into. For the record, I loved I Am A Bird Now.
 

Haruspex

Banned
Pitchfork isn't hip enough for my musical tastes, I'm already on the beach when the Pitchfork wave breaks.

They really understand their target market shall we say...
 
DanDeschain said:
Nice!!!! I own 1 of those albums! I'm hip and "in the know!!!" Pitchfork has the worst taste in music.

And what would your top albums of 2008 consist of? Please, tell me because if there are a ton of albums I missed in 2008 that are excellent, I want to know. Most of the albums on their list are deserving of their praise.
 

Calcaneus

Member
X26 said:
I must just not get music, because fleet foxes is just so dull, boring, and folksy to me
Most "good" indie music sounds like that to me. I've given up trying to get into it, and I just listen what sounds good regardless of critical acclaim or word of mouth.
 

nitewulf

Member
BrandNew said:
bookmarked hype machine and cokemachineglow, thanks
popmatters is really good too, albeit they have more mainstream stuff in their lists. but visit the website and you'll see comprehensive year end top lists by genres, even, Electronic, World-Music, Jazz...they put a lot of work into the lists.
 

nitewulf

Member
Calcaneus said:
Most "good" indie music sounds like that to me. I've given up trying to get into it, and I just listen what sounds good regardless of critical acclaim or word of mouth.
well, that's just the folk/alt-country stuff though, which i dont like either. but there are great guitar pop, dance, synth pop, electro stuff like keren ann, the organ, junior boys etc. "indie" isnt just one genre or anything...pick out the stuff you like...
 
kitchenmotors said:
And what would your top albums of 2008 consist of? Please, tell me because if there are a ton of albums I missed in 2008 that are excellent, I want to know. Most of the albums on their list are deserving of their praise.

My 2 favs for the year are Opeth - Watershed and Cynic - Trapped in Air. Give them a shot, I'm sure you will love them.
 

Midas

Member
Haruspex said:
Pitchfork isn't hip enough for my musical tastes, I'm already on the beach when the Pitchfork wave breaks.

They really understand their target market shall we say...

:lol
 

Zilch

Banned
I'm disappointed that many of my fav albums of the year didn't even get on the honorable mentions list but it is really childish to complain about year end lists just cuz your favorite bands/albums aren't on there or cuz you don't know any of the bands/albums on there (hint: you aren't the target demographic).
 

Zilch

Banned
X26 said:
I must just not get music, because fleet foxes is just so dull, boring, and folksy to me

Maybe your perspective has been twisted and poisoned by mainstream music's ever-increasing focus on huge, ham-fisted melodic hooks, soaring, drowning-in-melisma vocals and bloated, too-perfect-to-be-real production?

Besides how can anything be "too" folksy? ;)
 

Timber

Member
Cosmic Bus said:
Sound Fix has pretty solid lists for psych and eclectronic/ambient albums, even if the rest of their categories are, to my taste, mostly cringe-worthy. About half of Popmatters' electronic list is good (if a bit hard to take seriously with Girl Talk present) and their metal choices get a thumbs-up.
These are great lists, thanks!

That Krallice album is perhaps my favourite metal album of the year so far. I haven't seen it mentioned much elsewhere. Good stuff.

giga said:
I like fleet foxes, but bon iver's album was better.
besides being both 'folksy', i don't think they're all that comparable. it's a band effort vs. a singer-songwriter affair. and besides, some folks would argue that bon iver was 07 :)
 

giga

Member
Timber said:
besides being both 'folksy', i don't think they're all that comparable. it's a band effort vs. a singer-songwriter affair. and besides, some folks would argue that bon iver was 07 :)
being folk was my comparison. ;) fleet foxes just started to fall apart for me after the first half of the album. couldn't say the same for for emma, forever ago.
 
PowderedToast said:
Pitchfork is terrible and don't deserve this attention.

Oh you are just so edgy.

Seriously, why can't some of you just stick to your own tastes and sources? Pitchfork is for its own area of music, you don't have to take it at face value.

Fuck you guys get so fuckin' sandyvaged about this shit.
 

Timber

Member
it should be mandatory for people who post once just to bitch about something to post their own year-end lists. watch half of them be adamant metalheads, the other half fans of coldplay and dave matthews band. OR they could actually have some excellent, refined tastes. but if they did they'd be showing them off by now :)
 

Juice

Member
Mutagenic said:
Pitchfork is often maligned for their elitism of music. While aiming to maintain their 'hip' status, they tend to come across as contradictory, stuck-up, and downright nauseating. However, P4K can be used as a valuable tool for finding obscure and overlooked gems. A glance over their latest list, the best of 2008, proves once again I haven't heard all there is to hear this year.

Excellent summary of Pitchfork. It was probably four years ago I decided to stop reading it altogether and just peruse through their albums of the year.
 

PowderedToast

Junior Member
Timber said:
it should be mandatory for people who post once just to bitch about something to post their own year-end lists. watch half of them be adamant metalheads, the other half fans of coldplay and dave matthews band. OR they could actually have some excellent, refined tastes. but if they did they'd be showing them off by now :)
I can't even believe this post. :lol
 

PowderedToast

Junior Member
OK here's my end of year list, guys.

1. Grouper - Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill

That's the only record I've heard all year that I've enjoyed enough to remember. I don't pay much attention to new releases, one because it's difficult, and two because there's so much music that I still haven't heard that I don't have time for new stuff. It's also nice to discover relatively new releases by myself, oblivious of the hype attached to them. I dislike Pitchfork because it's bad writing. They basically encompass everything I dislike about the music journalism; the awful trends, hype trains, endless hyperboles etc.
 

Zilch

Banned
PowderedToast said:
I can't even believe this post. :lol

I guess Timber left out the sect that has all those flavor-of-the-month, copycat emo/pop/punk bands. If that describes you, just wait til Absolutepunk puts out their year-end list. :D
 

giga

Member
PowderedToast said:
OK here's my end of year list, guys.

1. Grouper - Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill

That's the only record I've heard all year that I've enjoyed enough to remember. I don't pay much attention to new releases, one because it's difficult, and two because there's so much music that I still haven't heard that I don't have time for new stuff. It's also nice to discover relatively new releases by myself, oblivious of the hype attached to them. I dislike Pitchfork because it's bad writing. They basically encompass everything I dislike about the music journalism; the awful trends, hype trains, endless hyperboles etc.
Ok, so you dislike PF because of their writing--so do many others (including me). That doesn't make their list bad. People shouldn't be complaining unless they've listened to and hated all 50 albums on the list.
 

PowderedToast

Junior Member
Timber said:
then please indulge us instead of continuing to not contribute to this thread
I wasn't laughing at what you assumed my taste was, it was more the fact that you were ready to judge me from my taste.
 

Timber

Member
PowderedToast said:
That's the only record I've heard all year that I've enjoyed enough to remember.
amazing

you've heard one single album and yet you think yourself qualified enough to comment in this thread, just because of your grudge against a website

despite not having heard any of the albums on the list

amazing

PowderedToast said:
I wasn't laughing at what you assumed my taste was, it was more the fact that you were ready to judge me from my taste.
I'm actually judging you from your shitty posting ;)
 

PowderedToast

Junior Member
giga said:
Ok, so you dislike PF because of their writing--so do many others (including me). That doesn't make their list bad. People shouldn't be complaining unless they've listened to and hated all 50 albums on the list.
I suppose it's off-topic to complain about Pitchfork themselves when this thread is about their list in particular and not the site itself. But then even if I did disagree with Pitchfork's list, (which I don't, having heard hardly any releases this year) I wouldn't complain about that. It's the ulterior motive behind their choices that irritates me.

Anyway I'm probably off-topic here. I haven't heard enough to be in this thread, I suppose.
 

Zero Hero

Member
I must be getting old because I haven't heard a single song from any of those albums. :lol

"You crazy kids and yer 'rock' music!"
 

PowderedToast

Junior Member
Timber said:
amazing

you've heard one single album and yet you think yourself qualified enough to comment in this thread, just because of your grudge against a website

despite not having heard any of the albums on the list

amazing
Well I never criticised the list, I criticised the site itself. It is kinda off-topic I admit.

Great album, though, right?

Timber said:
I'm actually judging you from your shitty posting ;)

Don't take this to heart, unless you work for Pitchfork.
 

Chamber

love on your sleeve
trancekr said:
I really don't get the love for Vampire weekend.

Maybe not my type of music. Sigh.
I thought it was pretty terrible myself.

Thanks to whoever posted that Sound Fix list though.
 
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