The published lists for 2010

[purple]

Pitchfork is fucking gay, and anyone who reads that shit simultaneously looks down at their dick to make sure it's not too small; they'll all grow up to be serial killers and shit. I mean, who the fuck is Deerhunter or Ariel Pink, the movie was better and get a name that doesn't sound like a pornstar, bitch. Everyone always be checkin' Pitchfork to reassure themselves that the shit no one else wants to hear is good, they might as well be checkin' their asshole to make sure they weren't abused as a child... I don't know, shit, what do you think max?

[maxperenchio]

Ha ha ha. "P4k" is complicated. We all know it isn't exactly what it was a few years ago. The fact that it has grown so influential kind of changed its function from the glue that held together a bunch of fractured indie scenes of bearded weirdos to a sort of lame authoritarian brand and sole taste-maker fraught with its own boring predictable tendencies. Don't get me wrong- as much as I, personally, am at odds with their narrow tastes and generally humorless nature, it's totally necessary that they maintain it for the sake of their brand. After all, they had the foresight to realize that helping break international acts like Arcade Fire and BSS in conjunction with paying attention to fringe local scenes would create a unified homebase for an essentially heterogeneous culture. Throw in some good reviews for select aggressively vapid mainstream hip hop to target some common white-guilt and keep things interesting, and you've got yourself an ideological force capable of attracting any girl with bangs.

Align yourself ideologically with brands like Urban Outfitters, and watch your little engine-that-could propitiously navigate to high school football parties and sorority houses everywhere! Before you know it you have Flunitrazepam-addled girls named Lauren and Tiffany arguing the merits of Karen O's stage banter, and screaming "That's Not My Name!" as they refill the cups. It's a genius operation they got over there; you'll always be successful if you successfully market non-conformity. And someone mentioned it before, if you have the Kanye-effect on yourside, where even your enemies are obsessively whispering about it, you have a very valuable power in your hands.

Anyways, I don't keep up with it anymore. I found that once I admitted I don't have cool or "correct" tastes everything got a lot easier and more fun. IMO their ideology generally sacrifices great songs for cool textures, very generally speaking (there are a lot of staffers there by now). And who the hell values them as an authority on urban music? That still slays me. I'll still read Allmusic.com in a heartbeat over P4k, but I will probably still follow their business ventures because it's interesting to me. At the end of the day my qualms with P4k aren't too different from my qualms with music criticism in general (bad English majors writing about MUSIC!) and I wish them the best. Vampire Weekend still sucks though.

[Mr. Shankly]

So here's another list and a You Tube channel worth checking out if you like under the radar stuff:


http://www.youtube.com/user/theneedledr...WE3o_6l-WA

[Wombi]

@Mr. Shankly. yeah I've watched some of that needle drop guy's stuff before and I don;t understand the appeal. He doesn't seem very insightful.

[cartoken]

for change, an electronic selection from Resident Advisor :

20. Prins Thomas - Prins Thomas [Full Pupp]
19. The Black Dog - Music for Real Airports [Soma]
18. Lindstrom & Christabelle - Real Life Is No Cool [Smalltown Supersound]
17. Peter Van Hoesen - Entropic City [Time To Express]
16. ASC - Nothing Is Certain [NonPlus+]
15. Darkstar - North [Hyperdub]
14. Bonobo - Black Sands [Ninja Tune]
13. Oneohtrix Point Never - Returnal [Mego]
12. Virgo - Virgo [Rush Hour]
11. LCD Soundsystem - This is Happening [DFA]
10. Matthew Dear - Black City [Ghostly International]
09. Mount Kimbie - Crooks & Lovers [Hotflush]
08. Scuba - Triangulation [Hotflush]
07. Four Tet - There Is Love In You
06. Pantha Du Prince - Black Noise [Rough Trade]
05. John Roberts - Glass Eights [Dial]
04. Actress - Splazsh [Honest Jons]
03. Shed - The Traveller [Ostgut Ton]
02. Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma [Warp]
01. Caribou - Swim [City Slang]

[Wombi]

http://features.metacritic.com/features...t-of-2010/

not sure if everyone has seen this (I'm sure a lot of you have) but it is very interesting to look at. It is Metacritic's (the review aggregator) collating of critic's top ten for 2010 and assigning a point system in order to rank the highest rated albums of the year. There is something like 80 lists taken into consideration so far, including the excellent one by Resident Advisor just mentioned..

[purple]

still haven't listened to Joanna Jewsom, Black Keys, Caribou, or Drake. I'm most surprised by Drake's appearance on several charts: is it really that good? I was not impressed at all by the singles from Drake...