Pitchfork's Top 20 Albums of the Decade

[Moonbeam]

I think the list is OK overall, but I prefer their list of songs.

I was following the list as it developed, and I was disappointed with the order of their top 20. Sound of Silver definitely belongs in the top 5. Franz Ferdinand's debut was shockingly low at number 101. Its cache has certainly dropped over the past 5 years, it seems.

That said, I'm happy that these were included:

188. M83- Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts
167. Annie- Anniemal
124. PJ Harvey- Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
113. LCD Soundsystem- LCD Soundsystem
107. Justice- Cross
92. Björk- Vespertine
77. Missy Elliott- Miss E... So Addictive
67. The Flaming Lips- Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
24. Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Fever to Tell

That said, Timberlake has no place on a list of good music, much less ahed of Vespertine. I also think Anniemal should swap places with Robyn. Overall, it's a decent list, I suppose!

[teodor_matz]

Hahaha Marshall Mathers LP at like 120 or something, it's at least ten times better than Kid A.... I mean Em is really the greatest poet of the last 20 years and Thom Yorke is just some sad little guy being sad and using some funny sounds....

[telefunker]

[The Tourist]

How are Pitchfork's hip-hop picks terrible? Supreme Clientele, The Blueprint, Stankonia, Boy in da Corner,etc, are all extraordinary albums that deserve their recognition, and are pretty much universally acclaimed by everyone. This list represents a hugely significant amount of great music, and anyone who hasn't heard most of this list has turned a deaf ear towards important modern music. Lets stop with the unwarranted hipster discrimination.

[joannajewsom]

Supreme Clientele and Stankonia are good. Ghostface is one of my favorite rappers, but the Pretty Toney album and Fishcale are not that good. The Blueprint and both Kanye albums are mediocre; the Clipse is borderline meh; Lil' Wayne, T.I. and Cam'ron and Kanye's Graduation are weak-- that Purple Haze album is one of the worst hip-hop albums I've ever heard, and I've heard hundreds, but they rank it higher than the Marshall Mathers LP. Every Doom and Edan album should be on a list over the garbage they put on there. T.I. but no Primitive Plus? Boy in da Corner and Original Pirate Material failed to impress me, but I'll admit to UK hip-hop just not being my thing. Where's Vaudeville Villain and Beauty & the Beat, two of the best hip-hop albums of all-time, lyrically and musically.

This is coming from someone whose first musical experiences were with hip-hop. Been listening to it since I was 6. I'm not one of these casual hip-hop listeners who'll throw on some contemporary mainstream hip-hop every now and then in between their indie albums, thinking they know hip-hop. It's not unwarranted discrimination. Pitchfork doesn't know hip-hop. It's not a hip-hop site; they merely dabble. I wouldn't say that they should stick to what they know; they can review whatever they want, but they don't know hip-hop. You can tell their hip-hop knowledge is limited because they have like 5 artists with multiple entries. If there is one genre in which I would claim to be an expert, it would be hip-hop, and I stand by my opinion on those albums.

I've heard a good deal of modern music. You really can't think the majority of those albums are important.

[RFNAPLES]

What's good on the Pitchfork list:

18. Late Registration - Kanye West
17. LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver
13. Outkast - Stankonia
12. The White Stripes - White Blood Cells
7. The Strokes - Is This It?
5. Jay-Z - The Blueprint
4. Wilco - Yankee Foxtrot Hotel
1. Radiohead - Kid A
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by RFNAPLES
Bubbling Under The Top 100 Greatest Mus...y RFNAPLES

[The Tourist]

Lol nice reply, I was pleasantly surprised; however you may find my rebuttal underwhelming. Pitchfork knows hip-hop, which is reflected in their individual reviews of albums ( like Vaudeville Villain and Beauty & the Beat, which both got great reviews, and are also albums I thought should have made the list). Their end of the decade list may not highlight this notion of understanding hip-hop, since its a general consensus from multiple people containing those few who have no inherent knowledge of hip-hop, while covering multiple genres. The list created fairly advocates many different styles of music and represents the hip-hop section strongly. From your hip-hop elitist viewpoint, and combining your apparent hatred for hipsters, I could see why you would think they just threw in generally liked rap albums to seem cool and knowledgeable. I like the albums they chose and if you don't agree wholeheartedly that's just semantics and doesn't warrant a total omission of worth. Kanye totally rocks my world, and I think RFNAPLES will back me up on this one. And while I don't want to have a debate over the connotations of "important", I really think the majority are and suggest you listen to a lot of the albums on this list. Purple Haze was pretty lame though.

[RFNAPLES]

And I thought it was a joke: "This is coming from someone whose first musical experiences were with hip-hop. Been listening to it since I was 6." Could it have been an elitist statement or perhaps a child prodigy’s delusion? I find it hard to believe that any 6 year older would understand much about hip-hop: lyrics, music or rhythms.
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by RFNAPLES
Bubbling Under The Top 100 Greatest Mus...y RFNAPLES

[joannajewsom]

Nice rebuttal. Point taken on the good reviews for those good albums. However, they were written some 4-6 years ago, by-- I checked-- people who aren't even listed on their current staff page. I actually used to like their taste in hip-hop a few years ago, but things/staff have obviously changed, which I think is reflected by the recent list and the absence of great hip-hop albums. I'm not a big follower of their site, but I have noticed a change in their overall taste in hip-hop, which has become overwhelmingly commercial in the past 2 or 3 years. Admittedly, the problem with making statements like "Pitchfork doesn't know hip-hop" is that Pitchfork isn't one person, and there may very well be one or two people there who do know hip-hop. It's too bad that that's not reflected on this end of the decade list. If there really are some real hip-hop heads at Pitchfork in 2009, then their voices are being stifled by those who choose to put bland commercial rap on there. Referencing reviews from several years ago doesn't make a case for their knowledge of hip-hop, though. Overall, I would say that their current staff doesn't know hip-hop.

I still disagree on the merit of most of the hip-hop albums that made the list, and the notion that it represents the hip-hop section strongly. But that's another conversation. Kanye's lyrics have always been mediocre at best. His production made his first two albums interesting, but Late Registration was the last musically interesting album he's made. If you dig it, then you dig it. I don't, though.

I have heard a lot of the albums on there. I haven't heard the majority, but I have heard a good deal. Admittedly, most of the music on there-- Indie whatever it may be-- is not one of my favorite types of music.

I do hate hipsters, though. They have completely ruined the concept of irony.

[joannajewsom]