Best Album Rated 0.0 by Pitchfork Media Upon Its Initial Release

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Previously: Best Album Rated 10.0 by Pitchfork Media Upon Its Initial Release

Now, by popular demand...

listing their 0.0 albums would be way more interesting

― the british must pay for this (HI DERE), Friday, June 11, 2010 9:21 AM (47 minutes ago)

Poll Results

OptionVotes
The Flaming Lips - Zaireeka 48
Sonic Youth - NYC Ghosts and Flowers 30
Liz Phair - Liz Phair 14
Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Remastered Hits 12
Francisco Lopez - Untitled #104 11
Black Kids - Partie Traumatic (briefly rated 0.0 due to "a regrettable computer error") 5
Travis Morrison - Travistan 5
v/a - This Is Next: Indie's Biggest Hits Volume 1 4
Kiss - Music from the Elder 4
Robert Pollard - Relaxation of the Asshole (theoretically received both a 10.0 and 0.0 rating) 3
John Frusciante - Smile from the Streets 3
Jet - Shine On (*technically* rated as a monkey drinking its own piss... but if that's not a 0.0, what is?) 1
Kiss - Peter Criss 1


ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Friday, 11 June 2010 15:17 (fifteen years ago)

Good luck to all, and I certainly hope I didn't miss anything. It was pretty difficult to dig up most of these... a lot of the older ones are no longer archived on the site.

ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Friday, 11 June 2010 15:19 (fifteen years ago)

zaireeka will win this at an absolute canter

Mark Ronson: "Led Zeppelin were responsible for hip-hop" (acoleuthic), Friday, 11 June 2010 15:19 (fifteen years ago)

I'm not one to pile on Pitchfork, bc like who fucking cares, but wtf

used to bull's-eye Zach Wamps in my T-16 back home (will), Friday, 11 June 2010 15:20 (fifteen years ago)

plz nobody give ilxor any more ideas

iatee, Friday, 11 June 2010 15:20 (fifteen years ago)

NYC Ghosts WTF?

President Keyes, Friday, 11 June 2010 15:20 (fifteen years ago)

I fancy hearing that Francisco Lopez one. But "Music From the Elder", even more so.

I am utterly and abjectly pissed off with this little lot (Tom D.), Friday, 11 June 2010 15:21 (fifteen years ago)

Why bother trashing some 1/4 century old Kiss albums?

President Keyes, Friday, 11 June 2010 15:21 (fifteen years ago)

NYCGAF for me

Worth waiting for the fannypunch at 4.02 (stevie), Friday, 11 June 2010 15:23 (fifteen years ago)

plz nobody give ilxor any more ideas

I thought of this myself, but wasn't planning to run it until the 0.0 discussions really took off in the other thread.

ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Friday, 11 June 2010 15:24 (fifteen years ago)

congrats?

iatee, Friday, 11 June 2010 15:25 (fifteen years ago)

??

ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Friday, 11 June 2010 15:25 (fifteen years ago)

Feel free to leave the thread if you're not happy with it.

ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Friday, 11 June 2010 15:25 (fifteen years ago)

Zaireeka? Fuck me... I take it all back... Pitchfork sucks.

And that's arguably Sonic Youth's worst album but 0/0, what a bunch of cock.

Duran (Doran), Friday, 11 June 2010 15:29 (fifteen years ago)

But... like I say... meaningless without the text.

Duran (Doran), Friday, 11 June 2010 15:30 (fifteen years ago)

zaireeka reviewer was all 'fuck finding 4 cd players 0/10' iirc

twat

Mark Ronson: "Led Zeppelin were responsible for hip-hop" (acoleuthic), Friday, 11 June 2010 15:32 (fifteen years ago)

didn't m4rk r1chards0n write a 33.3333333333 about zaireeka?

gay sauna manthems (LOLK), Friday, 11 June 2010 15:32 (fifteen years ago)

Voted Liz Phair. There are some great songs on that record. I've never heard Zaireeka and I understand that it's not like anything else the Flaming Lips have done, but I also don't really like anything else the Flaming Lips have done.

kkvgz, Friday, 11 June 2010 15:34 (fifteen years ago)

tbf f finding 4 cd players 0.0

i once saw chippy vela has a good game, honest... (a hoy hoy), Friday, 11 June 2010 15:34 (fifteen years ago)

I've never heard Zaireeka and I understand that it's not like anything else the Flaming Lips have done

Not true. It's not that far off "The Soft Bulletin".

I am utterly and abjectly pissed off with this little lot (Tom D.), Friday, 11 June 2010 15:36 (fifteen years ago)

That's what I liked about Zaireeka, is finding 4 CD players – you'd have to invite friends over so they'd bring their CD players, so listening to it basically meant INSTANT PARTY. And the rare kind of party where everyone just sits on a couch & listens quietly to an album, together in a room. The experience of it was very fun. I think the favorite time I listened to it was when my friends & I each drove a car out to the foothills & parked the cars in a circle & opened their doors, and laid on the ground looking at the stars.

Maybe the reviewer didn't have any friends.

breaking that little dog's heart chakra (Abbott), Friday, 11 June 2010 15:37 (fifteen years ago)

^^^this post. i've heard it properly once, with friends, at school, and the experience was a delight, from the carrying of hi-fis to the frantic pressing of play buttons and then the music, the delirious music, a treat for giddy teenage minds...

Mark Ronson: "Led Zeppelin were responsible for hip-hop" (acoleuthic), Friday, 11 June 2010 15:44 (fifteen years ago)

the mixdown isn't the same

Mark Ronson: "Led Zeppelin were responsible for hip-hop" (acoleuthic), Friday, 11 June 2010 15:44 (fifteen years ago)

yeah, MAKE THE FUCKING EFFORT. not all of life should be as easy as searching for an mp3 in your itunes library.

Worth waiting for the fannypunch at 4.02 (stevie), Friday, 11 June 2010 15:46 (fifteen years ago)

I've not heard a proper "mix" of Zaireeka, but have no interest in doing so. It is great precisely because of the imperfections and unique experience that comes with hearing it a bit differently each time, through new stereo equipment, synced as closely as possible but never really quite perfect.

ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Friday, 11 June 2010 15:48 (fifteen years ago)

nyc ghosts is good

nakhchivan, Friday, 11 June 2010 15:49 (fifteen years ago)

Here's my I just bought Zaireeka! listening experience.

Mark G, Friday, 11 June 2010 15:51 (fifteen years ago)

"The Elder"! GREAT album :)

Tied Up In Geir (Geir Hongro), Friday, 11 June 2010 16:21 (fifteen years ago)

voted Travistan, very flawed record that still has some really good songs

some dude, Friday, 11 June 2010 16:36 (fifteen years ago)

i think the Travistan rating is probably the most dick-ish move Pitchfork has ever pulled.

tylerw, Friday, 11 June 2010 16:39 (fifteen years ago)

Black Kids - Partie Traumatic (briefly rated 0.0 due to "a regrettable computer error")

iirc this was actually kind of funny

rugged and unrelenting (even brutal) (HI DERE), Friday, 11 June 2010 16:41 (fifteen years ago)

Where is the BTO review?

I think "Free City Rhymes" is one of Sonic Youth's best songs BTW.

Sundar, Friday, 11 June 2010 16:43 (fifteen years ago)

here's my morning challop: BTO is better than radiohead

tylerw, Friday, 11 June 2010 16:49 (fifteen years ago)

i think the Travistan rating is probably the most dick-ish move Pitchfork has ever pulled.

Definitely... from a Wired article a couple of years back:

Chris Dahlen, a Pitchfork contributing writer and an IT worker who resides in New Hampshire, is a good example. If he hadn't found Pitchfork after college, his career as a writer might have ended at his school paper. "I didn't know anyone at the local alt-weekly, so I just didn't write for several years," he says.

Dahlen is the author of one of Pitchfork's most memorable – and notorious – reviews. In a September 2004 write-up of Travistan, the solo debut of Travis Morrison (former frontman of the Pitchfork-approved art-punk group the Dismemberment Plan), Dahlen gave the album a score of 0.0, declaring that it "fails so bizarrely that it's hard to guess what Morrison wanted to accomplish in the first place."

According to Josh Rosenfeld, the cofounder of Barsuk Records (which released Travistan), the effects of Dahlen's review were immediate and disastrous. Several college radio stations that had initially been enthusiastic said they wouldn't play it. "One indie record store even said that they wouldn't carry it because of the Pitchfork review," Rosenfeld says. "Not because they heard it – because of the review."

Becky Facelift, Friday, 11 June 2010 16:49 (fifteen years ago)

I think the most dick-ish move pitchfork has ever pulled was actually getting people to listen to the disemberment plan

iatee, Friday, 11 June 2010 16:51 (fifteen years ago)

They can flat blow me on this one. 'Zaireeka' is fantastic! Its too bad it got so much "hype" due to the 4-disc gimmick because that is one mindblower krautish psych excursion. There are plenty of "mixed-down" versions floating around & I would strongly suggest seeking that out if you can't swing the 4 CD players (or don't want to).

ImprovSpirit, Friday, 11 June 2010 16:52 (fifteen years ago)

I'm really disappointed. I can't find the Francisco Lopez review either.

Sundar, Friday, 11 June 2010 16:53 (fifteen years ago)

The most dick-ish move pitchfork has ever pulled was convincing dismemberment plan it didn't exist.

kkvgz, Friday, 11 June 2010 16:54 (fifteen years ago)

Sorry, that was horribly formed.

kkvgz, Friday, 11 June 2010 16:55 (fifteen years ago)

...and, poof! Just like that they were gone...

The whine that winks back at you (KMS), Friday, 11 June 2010 16:57 (fifteen years ago)

regrettable computer error

This will be my new generic work excuse (when I return to work).

The whine that winks back at you (KMS), Friday, 11 June 2010 16:58 (fifteen years ago)

dismemberment plan was awesome you twats

cutty, Friday, 11 June 2010 17:09 (fifteen years ago)

Sorry, regrettable computer error!

The whine that winks back at you (KMS), Friday, 11 June 2010 17:14 (fifteen years ago)

BTO forever

i don't always play indie, but when i do, i prefer xx (m bison), Friday, 11 June 2010 17:24 (fifteen years ago)

links to all of these review writeups?

Bastards of Young Dro, Friday, 11 June 2010 17:26 (fifteen years ago)

"I think the favorite time I listened to it was when my friends & I each drove a car out to the foothills & parked the cars in a circle & opened their doors, and laid on the ground looking at the stars."

you should sell this memory to volkswagen! i can see it already.

scott seward, Friday, 11 June 2010 17:30 (fifteen years ago)

lsd lsd lsd lsd lsd lsd

ian, Friday, 11 June 2010 17:31 (fifteen years ago)

I saw Travis Morrison on tour for that album. It was a fun show. He had four keyboardists on stage, most of whom were cute, peppy girls. What's not to like?

breaking that little dog's heart chakra (Abbott), Friday, 11 June 2010 17:41 (fifteen years ago)

yeah that lineup of the band was fun. the live arrangements of those songs that the D Plan did before breaking up, and that his solo bands did after, were probably better than the versions on the album overall.

some dude, Friday, 11 June 2010 17:43 (fifteen years ago)

It was funny, actually – when I went to see the Dismemberment plan at Kilby Court in SLC, I told him I lived in Boise. He said, "I've played at the Neurolux in Boise before, it's terrible. All these sad dudes who have permanent seats on the bar saying things like, 'I used to babysit for Doug Martsch.'" Then, when I saw Travis Morrison play his solo tour in the Neurolux, I told him I'd talked to him at his show in SLC, and had enjoyed both shows. "Oh man, Kilby Court, that place is the worst. All these people who think they're cool standing in the same spot every night, like they own the place, drinking Utah beer."

breaking that little dog's heart chakra (Abbott), Friday, 11 June 2010 17:46 (fifteen years ago)

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/7342-nyc-ghosts-flowers/

The NYC G&F review boils down to "New Yorkers are pretentious fuckwads / Chicago Rules!" challops

Sonic Youth's umpteenth album wads everything we hate about New York into one convenient tissue. The only thing missing is the Mets. Sonic Youth remind us that white New Yorkers still grow soul-patches and goatees, wear berets and Rastafarian caps, dine on grilled tofu in an emulsification of goat butter and kumquat, and watch Dutch documentaries about fisting, thinking it's original, intellectual, or influential.

shugazi (herb albert), Friday, 11 June 2010 17:52 (fifteen years ago)

Sonic Youth easy, still really love that album. Probably nowhere near my Top 5 SY albums, but soooo much better than Pfork sez.

he's always been a bit of an anti-climb Max (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 11 June 2010 17:56 (fifteen years ago)

hahaha! i LOVE that sonic youth review. that's the first time i ever read pitchfork. my brother e-mailed me that review.

scott seward, Friday, 11 June 2010 17:58 (fifteen years ago)

brent was a force of nature, eh

Mark Ronson: "Led Zeppelin were responsible for hip-hop" (acoleuthic), Friday, 11 June 2010 17:58 (fifteen years ago)

Is there a good place to learn about Chicago indie? Up until this morning, I thought Pavement was from there. Now all I know is Smashing Pumpkins and Liz Phair.

Who are these beef hot-dog eating fucks?

kkvgz, Friday, 11 June 2010 17:59 (fifteen years ago)

i mean his description of new yorkers is a parody of a cliche and i always found it really funny. i am a brent d. fan. probably the only rock critic on the internet who ever made me laugh.

scott seward, Friday, 11 June 2010 18:00 (fifteen years ago)

Fuck, Silkworm.

kkvgz, Friday, 11 June 2010 18:02 (fifteen years ago)

I gotta say his Lateralus review was more or less the first music crit I read and in my early days of reading internet criticism I would look for his reviews coz I associated them with lolz

Mark Ronson: "Led Zeppelin were responsible for hip-hop" (acoleuthic), Friday, 11 June 2010 18:02 (fifteen years ago)

wtf @ francisco lopez

All small bassoons have at one time or another been called fagottino (crüt), Friday, 11 June 2010 18:07 (fifteen years ago)

Is there a good place to learn about Chicago indie? Up until this morning, I thought Pavement was from there. Now all I know is Smashing Pumpkins and Liz Phair.

Who are these beef hot-dog eating fucks?


tortoise and albini

gay sauna manthems (LOLK), Friday, 11 June 2010 18:50 (fifteen years ago)

That's what I liked about Zaireeka, is finding 4 CD players – you'd have to invite friends over so they'd bring their CD players, so listening to it basically meant INSTANT PARTY. And the rare kind of party where everyone just sits on a couch & listens quietly to an album, together in a room. The experience of it was very fun. I think the favorite time I listened to it was when my friends & I each drove a car out to the foothills & parked the cars in a circle & opened their doors, and laid on the ground looking at the stars.

Maybe the reviewer didn't have any friends.

― breaking that little dog's heart chakra (Abbott), Friday, June 11, 2010 3:37 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^otm

Also BTO! assuming its greatest hits, how is that 0.0???

I also like NYC ghosts a lot more than i'm supposed to, never got the hate

m@tt h (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 11 June 2010 18:53 (fifteen years ago)

yeah, is that BTO like one of those let's re-record our old hit or something? because if it's not, wtf Pitchfork?

used to bull's-eye Zach Wamps in my T-16 back home (will), Friday, 11 June 2010 18:56 (fifteen years ago)

hits

used to bull's-eye Zach Wamps in my T-16 back home (will), Friday, 11 June 2010 18:56 (fifteen years ago)

plz nobody give ilxor any more ideas

_______________________________________________

I thought of this myself, but wasn't planning to run it until the 0.0 discussions really took off in the other thread.

i see great things in the future for poll-threads like this.

  • best album rated 0.1 by pitchfork media upon its initial release
  • worst album rated 0.1 by pitchfork media upon its initial release
  • best album rated 0.2 by pitchfork media upon its initial release
  • worst album rated 0.2 by pitchfork media upon its initial release
  • best album rated 0.3 by pitchfork media upon its initial release
  • worst album rated 0.3 by pitchfork media upon its initial release
and so on.

Daniel, Esq., Friday, 11 June 2010 18:59 (fifteen years ago)

i wonder what the lowest rating they've given that isn't 0.0.

i mean, i don't really wonder but you get me

goole, Friday, 11 June 2010 19:00 (fifteen years ago)

Oh good heavens.

ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Friday, 11 June 2010 19:00 (fifteen years ago)

i wonder what the lowest rating they've given that isn't 0.0.

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/6516-feel-no-fade

ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Friday, 11 June 2010 19:01 (fifteen years ago)

There's probably a poll on ILM somewhere about 1 star Rolling Stone reviews.

pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Friday, 11 June 2010 19:08 (fifteen years ago)

The 1st track off of NYCGAF is probably the best thing SY did in the latter part of their career. Album should have gotten a 1.0 at least.

dlp9001, Friday, 11 June 2010 19:11 (fifteen years ago)

As people upthread say: What was 'wrong' with the BTO album?

Mark G, Friday, 11 June 2010 19:42 (fifteen years ago)

I don't care for them at all but I still think the whole Black Kids thing was ultra dickish.

Simon H., Friday, 11 June 2010 19:50 (fifteen years ago)

I think the favorite time I listened to it was when my friends & I each drove a car out to the foothills

Don't let certain people in the suburbs thread read this!

he's always been a bit of an anti-climb Max (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 11 June 2010 19:59 (fifteen years ago)

the pollard stage banter record is pretty entertaining

Save Ferris' It Means Everything knocked my socks off (latebloomer), Friday, 11 June 2010 20:07 (fifteen years ago)

"Zaireeka" is still the best thing the Lips ever did and one of the most amazing albums of all time.

Adam Bruneau, Friday, 11 June 2010 20:26 (fifteen years ago)

someone poll all the ilxor threads

akontenderizer (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 11 June 2010 20:34 (fifteen years ago)

way too early for that. think of all the forthcoming ilxor poll threads that haven't yet been born, yearing to be free, that couldn't even be included in such a poll of polls.

Daniel, Esq., Friday, 11 June 2010 20:38 (fifteen years ago)

someone poll all the ilxor threads

If I do this, would I have to include the "Best ilxor Poll" poll in the poll -- since it would be an ilxor thread?

ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Friday, 11 June 2010 20:55 (fifteen years ago)

This one's classic:

LOUDEST TNV ALBUM POLL OOP COBAIN VIVIAN GIRLS EMO KBD REATARD TERMBO L@@K!!!!

ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Friday, 11 June 2010 20:57 (fifteen years ago)

Music that has been used to torture: Pick the *MOST* torturous!

ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Friday, 11 June 2010 21:01 (fifteen years ago)

Ron Asheton vs. Florian Schneider

Which recent headline made you sadder to hear?

Stooges Guitarist Ron Asheton Dies
Florian Schneider Leaves Kraftwerk

Ron Asheton vs. Florian Schneider

ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Friday, 11 June 2010 21:02 (fifteen years ago)

TS: Mandy Moore vs. Ryan Adams

ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Friday, 11 June 2010 21:03 (fifteen years ago)

go outside

goole, Friday, 11 June 2010 21:03 (fifteen years ago)

From the BTO review:

Those who still cling to BTO-- and you know who you are-- are usually dorky minivan types who think rock and roll is about having your friends over for beer and barbecue. Let me say on behalf of the world's young people that all you people truly suck. Even in your retro phase there's nothing remotely charming or rocking about you. Here's hoping that next T-Bone you eat leaves you choking on your own excess. Die! Die! Die!

President Keyes, Friday, 11 June 2010 23:19 (fifteen years ago)

Black Kids - Partie Traumatic (briefly rated 0.0 due to "a regrettable computer error")

That's a pretty big "whoops"

Cunga, Friday, 11 June 2010 23:23 (fifteen years ago)

are usually dorky minivan types who think rock and roll is about having your friends over for beer and barbecue.

hmm...i don't have a minivan, but beers and BBQ are a good a reason as any for rock n roll to exist

m@tt h (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 11 June 2010 23:27 (fifteen years ago)

"the worlds young people" disagree

underwater, please (bear, bear, bear), Friday, 11 June 2010 23:39 (fifteen years ago)

Wow that BTO review actually made me angry. Lol.

he's always been a bit of an anti-climb Max (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 11 June 2010 23:44 (fifteen years ago)

just wait til bill magill sees it

pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Friday, 11 June 2010 23:45 (fifteen years ago)

"Zaireeka" is the clear winner in this one for me. Now I have the urge to round up some CD players... I don't think I've listened to it in about five years. The inconvenience of listening to "Zaireeka" is actually one of my favorite things about it (aside from, y'know, the actual music on it) -- it's an album for special occasions. You can't just throw it on while you're doing the dishes.

Am I misremembering things, or did they run a news item that was along the lines of "The New Sonic Youth Album Totally Blows" on the day of "NYC Ghosts & Flowers"' release?

spastic heritage, Saturday, 12 June 2010 01:02 (fifteen years ago)

That Francisco Lopez disc is fucking fantastic. It's a 40-minute collage of samples from death metal records, mixed so it sounds like four or five bands are playing simultaneous but not matching blast beats all around you. Totally huge and brain-grinding; I own it and play it a couple of times a year.

Born In A Test Tube, Raised In A Cage (unperson), Saturday, 12 June 2010 01:15 (fifteen years ago)

the Zaireeka review was super bullshit because the reviewer even admitted that he didn't try to listen to it as designed and just played the 4 discs individually

some dude, Saturday, 12 June 2010 01:36 (fifteen years ago)

i guess that was already pointed out, but still

some dude, Saturday, 12 June 2010 01:38 (fifteen years ago)

can someone post the whole bto review; i can't find it

call all destroyer, Saturday, 12 June 2010 01:39 (fifteen years ago)

Bachman-Turner Overdrive
Remastered Hits: The Best of...
[Chronicles/Mercury]
Rating: 0.0
Having already secured his place in rock and roll history with the Guess Who (at one time one of the biggest bands in the world), large-bearded guitarist Randy Bachman decided sometime in the early 70's that he had some yah-yah's to bust out. Enlisting the help of some of his brothers and the prodigal talent of one similarly large-bearded C.F. Turner, he formed the mighty, large-bearded Bachman-Turner Overdrive. FM Radio was never the same again.

Gone was the winsome pining and slightly rebellious edge of the mustachioed Burton Cummings, and absent was the abject mistrust of The Man. The self-referential analysis of Canada-U.S. geo-political discourse, as typified in "American Woman," was left behind in the Guess Who's sunburnt dust. The culture of communal dissent was replaced by one of self-reliance, as typified by the subdued, salsa-tinged number "Looking Out for #1."

BTO took the roll out of rock and packaged it in a drag-strip-ready, nuts-and-bolts package that sold tons of records (and later, a host of Time-Life retrospective packages). Regardless of the similarity and soulless chops of songs like "Takin' Care of Business," "Hey You," and "Four Wheel Drive," this band succeeded in helping all members of the band settle down in the suburbs, stacked with mutual funds and a lifetime supply of boat shoes. Life wasn't so easy for the BTO boys, though. Drummer Robbie Bachman, just a young pup during BTO's heyday, once complained about how the "pressures of fame" really dragged him down in those frenzied early days.

Those who still cling to BTO-- and you know who you are-- are usually dorky minivan types who think rock and roll is about having your friends over for beer and barbecue. Let me say on behalf of the world's young people that all you people truly suck. Even in your retro phase there's nothing remotely charming or rocking about you. Here's hoping that next T-Bone you eat leaves you choking on your own excess. Die! Die! Die!

-Samir Khan

Evan, Saturday, 12 June 2010 02:57 (fifteen years ago)

The self-referential analysis of Canada-U.S. geo-political discourse, as typified in "American Woman,"

okay guys

tahrek (crüt), Saturday, 12 June 2010 03:25 (fifteen years ago)

http://scienceblogs.com/isisthescientist/strunk%20and%20white.gif

tahrek (crüt), Saturday, 12 June 2010 03:26 (fifteen years ago)

Taking Sides: Pitchfork saying dorky minivan types cling to their BTO v.s. BHO saying dorky minivan types cling to guns and religion.

Cunga, Saturday, 12 June 2010 03:28 (fifteen years ago)

"Takin' Care of Business" is dumb, but damn, damn fun!

Adam Bruneau, Saturday, 12 June 2010 03:44 (fifteen years ago)

Relaxation of the Asshole does not really do what it says on the tin.

The whine that winks back at you (KMS), Saturday, 12 June 2010 04:22 (fifteen years ago)

That's not an unreasonable description of the lyrics to "American Woman", actually, given the time period ("I don't want your war machines/I don't need your ghetto scenes/Coloured lights can hypnotize/Sparkle someone else's eyes"). The Guess Who's nationalism was very important, esp as it was still rare at the time for a Canadian artist to achieve international stardom while remaining and recording in Canada.

Sundar, Saturday, 12 June 2010 04:30 (fifteen years ago)

Yeah that's probably the least objectionable part of the review tbh.

Simon H., Saturday, 12 June 2010 07:30 (fifteen years ago)

It's still an overblown turn of phrase, though.

The whine that winks back at you (KMS), Saturday, 12 June 2010 12:46 (fifteen years ago)

Liz Phair.

Filmmaker, Author, Radio Host Stephen Baldwin (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 12 June 2010 12:50 (fifteen years ago)

True: I've never read a Pitchfork record review. Also true: I'm very distraught over this BTO hate.

clemenza, Saturday, 12 June 2010 13:34 (fifteen years ago)

If only BTO was able to self-referentially analyze Canada-U.S. geo-political discourse at the same level as the Guess Who, really takes the roll out of the rock.

The whine that winks back at you (KMS), Saturday, 12 June 2010 13:46 (fifteen years ago)

the liz phair album has some great songs but turns ghastly in the last third or so. I can see why Travistan would be corny for some but I still love it. Zaireeka's wack in mixdown form and the parties I went to for it consisted of "1...2..4!3..." someone yelling "fuck!" and trying again. said parties would have been better without that. nyc g&f is pretty rough going if you pay close attention.

da croupier, Saturday, 12 June 2010 13:53 (fifteen years ago)

If only BTO was able to self-referentially analyze Canada-U.S. geo-political discourse at the same level as the Guess Who

You're forgetting "Hey You":

You realize now
You should have tried now, oooh
The music's gone now
You lost it somehow
Hey you, sha-la-la-la
Hey you, sha-la-la-la
Wooo, sha-la-la
Wooo, sha-la-la

A decade-plus later, they're still brooding about the botched Bay of Pigs invasion.

clemenza, Saturday, 12 June 2010 13:56 (fifteen years ago)

Admitting you went to zaireeka parties is the new "I wore mascara and out aquanet in my hair"

akontenderizer (Whiney G. Weingarten), Saturday, 12 June 2010 14:39 (fifteen years ago)

Take out the crappy poetry and NYC Ghosts & Flowers stands up with Murray Street as one of the best in SY's modern period. That's how I feel about it anyway.

wronger than 100 geir posts (MacDara), Saturday, 12 June 2010 14:50 (fifteen years ago)

all pitchfork reviews (maybe all reviews everywhere) should end with "Die! Die! Die!"

tylerw, Saturday, 12 June 2010 15:08 (fifteen years ago)

That SY record's opening track alone elevates it above the 0.0 the writer gave it, but this thread is kinda as pointless as a 0.0 is. 0.0 is just a "statement score" that signals more about the writer than the record. The same way I can't see a record any record really deserving a 10.0 -- even as a Wilco stan, I wouldn't even give Yankee Hotel Foxtrot a 10.0 -- I can't really see any record deserving a 0.0. Even for like, fucking Jet, it's all, "Okay, at least you showed up in the studio and strummed your guitar, even if what you produced is nearly irredeemable."

ksh, Saturday, 12 June 2010 15:36 (fifteen years ago)

Like writing your name on the test.

Brad Nelson (BradNelson), Saturday, 12 June 2010 16:22 (fifteen years ago)

all pitchfork reviews (maybe all reviews everywhere) should end with "Die! Die! Die!"

― tylerw, Saturday, June 12, 2010 3:08 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

Seconded.
Also, Samir is a Canadian and we all hate BTO.
And that Liz Phair record is actually good.

◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝ (Ówen P.), Saturday, 12 June 2010 17:03 (fifteen years ago)

nyc g&f is pretty rough going if you pay close attention.

title track remains totally inspirational, especially the black-noise climax

Worth waiting for the fannypunch at 4.02 (stevie), Saturday, 12 June 2010 17:58 (fifteen years ago)

http://polaroidsofandroids.com/images/news/2007-12-30-best-albums/die-die-die.jpg

Evan, Saturday, 12 June 2010 18:16 (fifteen years ago)

I've never liked BTO, but that review was a bit over the top. Calling for the death of a demographic group in a screed full of piss-ant generalizations, even in jest, is the kind of negative crap the world can well do without.

ImprovSpirit, Sunday, 13 June 2010 00:49 (fifteen years ago)

Who wants to come over for beer & BBQ? Listen to BTO and Chapterhouse's "Die Die Die" just out of spite.

Elvis Telecom, Sunday, 13 June 2010 01:06 (fifteen years ago)

Beer & barby w/friends and listening to rock n roll sounds pretty great to me? WTF @ that guy.

dead flower :( (Pashmina), Sunday, 13 June 2010 01:31 (fifteen years ago)

i have to vote for Flaming Lips. around this time i saw them do some crazy show with the audience and a bunch of tape recorders.

Boo Radley (Bee OK), Sunday, 13 June 2010 02:05 (fifteen years ago)

I wish I had seen a Boombox Experiment. They did do a show here where the audience got to use wireless headphones.

ImprovSpirit, Sunday, 13 June 2010 04:36 (fifteen years ago)

i went to that. couldn't really hear the headphones over the band, still fun though.

|8 l) u_u (bnw), Sunday, 13 June 2010 04:43 (fifteen years ago)

man love to ImprovSpirit no disrespect intended but how could anybody not like BTO unless they were kneejerking against dadrock or w/e - Randy Bachman is a goddamn genius imo

get your bucket of free wings (underrated aerosmith albums I have loved), Sunday, 13 June 2010 05:25 (fifteen years ago)

None taken. The thing is, I kinda AM "Dadrock". BTO sorta bored me from jump; nothing BTO did was as interesting as what Bachman had done with Guess Who. It was like he'd become a pudgy dork goofing on simplistic recycled rock riffage with the edginess & creativity removed, achieving a MOR rock sound that had lighters waving back & forth by the millions. (Likewise, Burton Cummings was in the process of transforming into a Canadian Barry Manilow who was more like Bill Murray's lounge singer parody on SNL than the under-rated rawk belter he had been.) Its cool though. BTO helped launch many a career for folks in cover bands who could easily reproduce their hits in jukebox-like fashion to get the high-school dances, frat parties & (later) oldies bars in high gear.

Its one of those things. FWIW, I never liked Foghat either.

ImprovSpirit, Sunday, 13 June 2010 06:11 (fifteen years ago)

Re: Strunk & White: I get it.

B'wana Beast, Sunday, 13 June 2010 07:29 (fifteen years ago)

I kind of hate "Takin' Care of Business" TBH. I have to assume that Samir's had to hear it as much as I have. Still, "Let It Ride" > 0.0.

Sundar, Sunday, 13 June 2010 09:22 (fifteen years ago)

Who would you really rather spend an afteroon with, the guys with the BBQ blasting some BTO or some i-net indie rock nurd who slags on BTO and their fans in the burbs?
I'd bet the guys in the burbs would probably have even better weed. Ragging on BTO is like making fun of your uncle.

earlnash, Sunday, 13 June 2010 14:20 (fifteen years ago)

listened to NYC Ghostse & Flowers last night and damn Free City Rhymes is sublime. the album as a whole leaves me cold, which is due to O'Rourke's clinical digital production more than anything else.

No one is too good for this album; it is better than all of us. (herb albert), Sunday, 13 June 2010 15:28 (fifteen years ago)

lifetime supply of boat shoes.

confusing BTO w/Jimmy Buffett? anyway thanx new for the screen name

lifetime supply of boat shoes (m coleman), Sunday, 13 June 2010 15:41 (fifteen years ago)

NYC Goatse & Flowers?

Mark G, Monday, 14 June 2010 09:23 (fifteen years ago)

NYCGAF is my favourite SY album. No joke.

Jeff W, Monday, 14 June 2010 10:37 (fifteen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

System, Wednesday, 16 June 2010 23:01 (fifteen years ago)

Zaireeka

sofatruck, Thursday, 17 June 2010 00:41 (fifteen years ago)

the bto review really puts it in perspective how much beards took over indie rock

it's hard out here for a special snowflake (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 17 June 2010 01:01 (fifteen years ago)

poor lil samir didn't know what hit him i bet

it's hard out here for a special snowflake (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 17 June 2010 01:01 (fifteen years ago)

I've only heard of four of these and out of those four Zaireeka wins by light years. The listening party we had in Limehouse town hall in '07, complete with a showing of Fearless Freaks on a projector afterwards, is one of my favourite musical memories.

Background Zombie (CharlieNo4), Thursday, 17 June 2010 07:30 (fifteen years ago)

Voted for Zaireeka, if only b/c the one time I actually listened to it in its entirety was such a memorable experience. I was living in a college rental house w/ eight others at the time & the top floor was basically like a 10x10' landing/hallway w/ a bedrooms off of each corner of the square. Each kid had at least a boombox in their room, if not a full-blown cabinet set-up, so coordinating the discs was actually pretty easy & effective. We just set up some chairs in the landing & had four perfect channels of sound coming at us from each corner.

After this, our spirit of audio-visual adventurism was running at such a fever pitch that we ended up conducting the Dark Side/ Wizard of Oz experiment later that very night!

Tempted to vote for BTO, if only as a revolt against that review - It was published before pf started covering more general-title reissues, so literally the only reason it exists at all is so that some douchebag English major could feel temporarily superior to his douchebag accountant brother-in-law. If the same album were reviewed today, it would get a 6.5-7.7 like everything else.

the one corey (Pillbox), Thursday, 17 June 2010 08:29 (fifteen years ago)

Come on guys. If you'll look in your hearts, you'll see that only ONE of those albums can be the absolute best. Only ONE of those albums has the BIGGEST HITS in indie rock. Only ONE of those albums is WHAT'S NEXT. I think you see where I'm going with this.

Parenthetical Grillz, Thursday, 17 June 2010 14:07 (fifteen years ago)

Guys.

Parenthetical Grillz, Thursday, 17 June 2010 14:09 (fifteen years ago)

The Frusciante review:

John Frusciante: Smile From the Streets You Hold
0.0

Seriously now. Frusciante used to be the guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers and there've been all sorts of rumors and probably some truths about crazy-ass drug abuse, insanity and his all-out disappearance. Smile For The Streets You Hold would easily have to be the easiest cd to hate that I've ever heard, but hidden between the disturbingly twisted and tortured vocals there are a few gems.

Occasionally a riff emerges from the noise with the perfect clarity of a single snowflake, only to melt into the tumult again. Lyrics that are beyond scream, his voice shattering to bits in mid- incomprehensible verse, alongside sweet, feeling guitar melodies. Hard shit. Looking into someone's soul without sunglasses.

I saw a Frusciante BB somewhere filled with believers hailing him as a genius, as an inspiration, as true unrecognized genius. People wanted to know if River Phoenix had done the vocals on Height Down. An artist somewhere tells us that "John is no more mad than this message is a coatrack. He is simply a genius." Another says: "No words have taught me more than the ones coming from John Frusciante's mouth." Let's agree that it's fringe - way, way out there. I'm giving it a 0 % because you'll have to call this one on your own, sorry.

Becky Facelift, Thursday, 17 June 2010 14:16 (fifteen years ago)

I likes me some BBQ now. ;-) Maybe I'll have a BBQ & beer throwdown for i'net nerds where we put some Rolling Stones, Ramones & VU on random play. Either that or I'll DJ the BTO BBQ. We could play a bunch of Free (better guitarist & WAY better singer), Lynyrd Skynyrd (better guitarists, better singer), Allman Bros. (WAY (!!!) better guitarists, better singer), Rolling Stones (do I have to say it?), the Who (WAY better songs, WAY better singer, better guitarist, WAY WAY WAY better rhythm section)... BBQ > BTO. LOL!!

ImprovSpirit, Thursday, 17 June 2010 15:06 (fifteen years ago)

it would only seem fair to add Andrew WK's first album to this list too. It got a 0.8 or something ridiculous. It might as well have gotten a 0. I would vote for that album.

Vanilla Douche (res), Thursday, 17 June 2010 19:16 (fifteen years ago)

on the whole, the 0.0's look more fun to me than the 10.0's

champs like us, baby we were born to stunt (m bison), Thursday, 17 June 2010 21:54 (fifteen years ago)

relaxation of the asshole was pretty disappointing. really sad, actually. even the part where he tries to give the underage kid a beer was like "ahh ugghhh"

hobbes, Thursday, 17 June 2010 22:32 (fifteen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

System, Thursday, 17 June 2010 23:01 (fifteen years ago)

Okay, who's the clown that voted for Jet? Haven't SBed anyone in a loooong time.

he's always been a bit of an anti-climb Max (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 17 June 2010 23:02 (fifteen years ago)

wasnt me

pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Friday, 18 June 2010 00:03 (fifteen years ago)

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/3543/shaggy.jpg

ksh, Friday, 18 June 2010 00:09 (fifteen years ago)

I think Boy with the Arab Strap was originally a 0.0

oɔsıqɐu (nabisco), Friday, 18 June 2010 00:19 (fifteen years ago)

(IIRC it came with a review arguing, along some logic I will never be able to even conceive of following, that it was some kind of mind-boggling and reprehensible drop in quality from If You're Feeling Sinister)

oɔsıqɐu (nabisco), Friday, 18 June 2010 00:21 (fifteen years ago)

Wikipedia sez 0.8., but archive.org ain't working right now

ksh, Friday, 18 June 2010 00:24 (fifteen years ago)

oh, my bad! I just remember being extremely confused by the idea that anyone would listen to Sinister, then get Arab Strap and be like OMG WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED

oɔsıqɐu (nabisco), Friday, 18 June 2010 00:39 (fifteen years ago)

Interesting that Relaxation of the Asshole was 3x more popular as a 10.0

Parenthetical Grillz, Friday, 18 June 2010 17:24 (fifteen years ago)

Btw. I thought Pitchfork was a website. So why all those pre-internet age albums?

Tied Up In Geir (Geir Hongro), Saturday, 19 June 2010 00:35 (fifteen years ago)

Btw.

I am an old guy, and I prefer the late 90s. (Matt P), Saturday, 19 June 2010 00:46 (fifteen years ago)

Between the whites

Higuain in the Membrane (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 19 June 2010 00:48 (fifteen years ago)

"If only BTO was able to self-referentially analyze Canada-U.S. geo-political discourse at the same level as the Guess Who"

Every day is an endless train
You've got to ride it to the end of the line
Be a troubleshooter
Blow the bad luck away
And you will make it to your station on time

And you'll find out every trick in the book
That there's only one way to get things done
You'll find out the only way to the top
Is looking out for number one

I mean you
Keep looking out for number one

Every night is a different game
We gotta work for our fortune and fame
Success is a ladder take a step at a time
And the people will remember your name

Yes i found out all the tricks of the trade
That there's only one way that you'll get things done
I found out the only way to the top
Is looking out for number one

Every day is an edless train
But i ride it to the end of the line
I'm a real troubleshooter
And i blow it away
Know what's gonna get me mine

I found out every trick in the book
And that there's only one way to get things done
I found out the only way to the top
Is looking out for number one

I mean you
Keep looking out for number one

And that's us
Keep looking out for number one

That's me
I'm looking out for number one

scott seward, Saturday, 19 June 2010 00:53 (fifteen years ago)

my all time fave bto song, by the way. one of my favorite songs of the 70's. top 100 probably.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4_0Pt3HAR8

scott seward, Saturday, 19 June 2010 00:54 (fifteen years ago)

It may not self-referentially analyze Canada-U.S. geo-political discourse at the same level as the Guess Who but "Takin' Care of Business" trenchantly details the soul-crushing, repetitious nature of capitalist wage-slavery:

You get up every morning
From your alarm clock's warning
Take the 8:15 into the city
There's a whistle up above
And people pushin', people shovin'
And the girls who try to look pretty

And if your train's on time
You can get to work by nine
And start your slaving job to get your pay
If you ever get annoyed
Look at me I'm self-employed
I love to work at nothing all day

The whine that winks back at you (KMS), Saturday, 19 June 2010 04:13 (fifteen years ago)

Cherry Red (through its Esoteric Records label) will also reissue the first two Aphrodite's Child albums. Both excellent late 60s psych pop albums that deserve to be available again.

Tied Up In Geir (Geir Hongro), Saturday, 19 June 2010 10:36 (fifteen years ago)

Sorry wrong thread.

Tied Up In Geir (Geir Hongro), Saturday, 19 June 2010 10:40 (fifteen years ago)

two years pass...

Posted this on the Pitchfork thread, but maybe here is a better place. Brent DiCrescenzo humblebrags:

https://timeoutchicago.com/arts-culture/15974586/%E2%80%9Ci-gave-sonic-youth-a-0-0-rating-on-pitchfork-%E2%80%9D

Chewshabadoo, Saturday, 12 January 2013 09:04 (twelve years ago)

maybe belongs more on the guy fieri thread

brimstead, Saturday, 12 January 2013 09:09 (twelve years ago)

It couldn’t have been more Manhattan art scene had it been Jean-Michel Basquiat reading slam poetry over John Zorn’s ringtones. Come to think of it, that’s basically what it sounds like. I hated its clichéd New Yorkishness.

Sometimes i feel the exact same way about Sonic Youth and Thurston. I just looked up a random NYC-era show on youtube and it starts with TM saying "Maybe we should send this next song out to the dear Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Thelonius Monk..." i just had to LOL

Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Saturday, 12 January 2013 17:16 (twelve years ago)

Like oh dude you forgot Duke Ellington, Harry Smith, Lou Reed, Neil Diamond, etc

Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Saturday, 12 January 2013 17:18 (twelve years ago)

Thurston should have gone all Rollins on dude. DiCrescenzo actually has the cover of Kid A as his fb profile pic. barf

If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Saturday, 12 January 2013 18:23 (twelve years ago)

That Stones thing is interesting. I always thought e.g. "Incinerate" reminded me a bit of the Stones.

EveningStar (Sund4r), Saturday, 12 January 2013 19:06 (twelve years ago)

it always seemed like kind of a given to me that Thurston loves the Stones tbh

trey songza (some dude), Saturday, 12 January 2013 19:33 (twelve years ago)

Is "Stones" about the Stones?

jaymc, Saturday, 12 January 2013 19:45 (twelve years ago)


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