When I saw "Chewing Gum" at #11, I wondered why that track gets so much attention when "Heartbeat" (is it "My Heartbeat" or just "Heartbeat"? does anyone know? I see 'em both all the time) is the better tune? Then I saw #1.
I'm happy to see appearances by the Von Bondies, Phoenix, and Christina Milian -- but there's lots of stuff I'd like to download, too -- plus insightful commentary from ILXors like Mark P., David R., Dominique L., Mark R., and Scott P.
― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 16:24 (twenty-one years ago)
― Mickey, Tuesday, 21 December 2004 16:34 (twenty-one years ago)
― Bidfurd, Tuesday, 21 December 2004 16:36 (twenty-one years ago)
Spoken like a tru Brit: stuff all these ponced-up 'sociological' pseudo-explanations for musical stlye: it's all about the weather, innit.
― henry miller, Tuesday, 21 December 2004 16:38 (twenty-one years ago)
― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 16:42 (twenty-one years ago)
― henry miller, Tuesday, 21 December 2004 16:52 (twenty-one years ago)
― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 16:55 (twenty-one years ago)
so i am listening to the #1 single of 2004 according to pitchfork.it is not that good. curious.i don't knwo what was the #1 single but not that.ick.
― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 17:19 (twenty-one years ago)
― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 17:22 (twenty-one years ago)
― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 17:26 (twenty-one years ago)
― rollergrrl, Tuesday, 21 December 2004 17:54 (twenty-one years ago)
― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 18:03 (twenty-one years ago)
― The Lex (The Lex), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 18:13 (twenty-one years ago)
― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 18:21 (twenty-one years ago)
Me, today: "WHAT THE FUCK?"
― MC Transmaniacon (natepatrin), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 18:21 (twenty-one years ago)
OTM.
― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 18:27 (twenty-one years ago)
The Britt Daniel Remix of Interpol's "Slow Hands" should have replaced "Slow Hands" on the list. It's a MUCH better single.
― Matt Boch (Matt Boch), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 18:29 (twenty-one years ago)
Sometimes I think PFM pretends to like shit they really know is horrible just to show how truly ironic and indie they are by enjoying the anti-indie.
Of course!
It's funny to see indie kids all angry cos there isn't enough white guitar rock on Pitchfork's list.
― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 18:29 (twenty-one years ago)
― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 18:30 (twenty-one years ago)
― La Monte (La Monte), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 18:32 (twenty-one years ago)
― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 18:34 (twenty-one years ago)
― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 18:36 (twenty-one years ago)
I'm glad that everytime you go to Pitchfork for the next week or so, you'll see that Stina Nordenstam review in the corner (will she make the album list?! She was #23 on Stylus.)
― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 18:42 (twenty-one years ago)
― Riot Gear! (Gear!), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 18:46 (twenty-one years ago)
The single will be released on February 28th and will feature further heavyweight dancefloor mixes from Alan Braxe, Maurice Fulton and the wonderful Phones (featuring Maximo Park). Her highly anticipated debut album 'Anniemal' follows on March 7th on 679 Recordings.
― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 18:52 (twenty-one years ago)
I know they probably don't belong on a Top 50 singles list (the album, definitely; for the singles, probably not), but they deserve it more than a lot of the filler thrust on there. Comfortably Numb would have made sense.
― Atnevon (Atnevon), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 18:54 (twenty-one years ago)
― The Lex (The Lex), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 18:57 (twenty-one years ago)
Yeah, Atnevon - being one of the folks to mention the SS, I was surprised that they didn't get any love on the singles list (though they're in there by proxy via Kylie). I just assumed that "Laura" (or "MARY"!!!) would get some love - I think "Comfortably Numb" was a 2K3 single, so it wasn't eligible.
― David R. (popshots75`), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 19:00 (twenty-one years ago)
I agree with J Kwon. That song was being played really heavily around the same time that Rubberband Man came out, and it was a glorious, glorious week for people who like interesting percussion.
― David Allen (David Allen), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 19:04 (twenty-one years ago)
― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 19:07 (twenty-one years ago)
― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 19:11 (twenty-one years ago)
― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 19:16 (twenty-one years ago)
Britain's PlaylouderPlaylouder - Top 50 Singles of 2004http://www.playlouder.com/top50/2004/singles.html
― DJ Martian (djmartian), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 19:24 (twenty-one years ago)
― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 19:25 (twenty-one years ago)
― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 19:29 (twenty-one years ago)
― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 19:33 (twenty-one years ago)
ILX basically won the argument with Pfork. What's the problem?
Pfork: "I don't agree with you."
ILX: "Agree with me! Why won't you agree with me?"
Pfork: "I agree with you now."
ILX: "You agree with me too much! Disagree with me!"
― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 19:35 (twenty-one years ago)
― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 19:39 (twenty-one years ago)
― David R. (popshots75`), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 19:42 (twenty-one years ago)
Speaking of Heartbeats, The Knife didn't show up on Pfork's list.
― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 20:50 (twenty-one years ago)
― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 21:05 (twenty-one years ago)
Even worse is the fact that they mention Girls Aloud when talking about the great pop of 2004 (in the #1 blurb), but forget to put "The Show" (=best single of the year) anywhere in teh list.
― Koens (Koens), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 21:31 (twenty-one years ago)
― edward o (edwardo), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 23:26 (twenty-one years ago)
I think someone put "and" where they meant "but" and forgot an "awesome" after the "fucking"
― STOP WITH YOUR PTANS (natepatrin), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 23:27 (twenty-one years ago)
― cºzen (Cozen), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 23:42 (twenty-one years ago)
The Pitchfork list - 1) it's a good thing that they're copying ILM popist tendencies, 2) yeah there's stuf I don't like eg lack of Girls Aloud and presence of much bad indie, but 3) I love the entire top 5 without reservation, and any list which does that makes me pleased.
― The Lex (The Lex), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 23:46 (twenty-one years ago)
2. top ten for 'naughty girl' is kind of ridiculous
3. i hate myself for forgetting 'rubicon' (i thought it was 2003!!)
4. pitchfork circa-plagenhoef is a very different animal than it was 2-3 years ago. whether it's better or worse depends entirely on your tastes and biases, but i think people need to acknowledge the regime change before they go speculating on pfork's 'ironic' new pop stance.
― mark p (Mark P), Wednesday, 22 December 2004 01:34 (twenty-one years ago)
― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Wednesday, 22 December 2004 01:38 (twenty-one years ago)
These are my top two right now! although MIA may throw a spanner in the uber-popist works.
― The Lex (The Lex), Wednesday, 22 December 2004 01:40 (twenty-one years ago)
The Pitchfork list was fine--really it was fairly interchangable with the Stylus list, no more tokenist or "trying too hard" or anything like that. I think I like ours a bit more, but we didn't have Soulwax or Christina Milian, so it's a trade-off.
― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Wednesday, 22 December 2004 07:15 (twenty-one years ago)
― phil-two (phil-two), Wednesday, 22 December 2004 07:47 (twenty-one years ago)
― James Voytas, Wednesday, 22 December 2004 07:49 (twenty-one years ago)
Pitchfork released their Top 50 Singles of 2004 list today. To no one's surprise, it's ass. As a result, I'll use this forum to compose an open letter to Ryan Schreiber and the Pitchfork crew:
Dear Pitchfork,
I have read your most recent article in your fine publication entitled, "Top 50 Singles of 2004." While there are certainly some choice selections in there, I am a bit confused about what I can only hope are elaborate, haphazardly-coherent typos. I have proofread the article a dozen times now, and have compiled this list of discrepancies:
#39: Snoop Dogg [ft. Pharrell] - "Drop It Like It's Hot"Let's see, one of the most talentless rappers in the industry, who uses his distorted mug to hock Nokia phones (Nokia is the new Cripp, FYI), collides with the most mediocre and over-hyped producer in history. Yeah, as far as rap goes, it's a good thing you ranked this track higher than The Streets' "Dry Your Eyes." Mike Skinner's gritty narrative and organic basement beats can't possibly compete with a bunch of smacktards screeching "SNOOOOOOP!" ad nauseum.
#32: Belle and Sebastian - "I'm a Cuckoo [by the Avalanches]"As much as I love the Avalanches, Belle and Sebastian are just gay. That is all.
#31: J-Kwon - "Tipsy"Oh wow, a hip-hop song with a painfully uninspired beat and an MC who can't help but slur his shit-faced lyrics about getting drunk! And in a club, no less! This is why God created turn-tables.
#28: Big & Rich - "Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)"You have got to be fucking kidding me. This song is what happens when a bad Led Zeppelin rip-off and Honky-Tonk country have an 18-hour fuckathon. Not to mention the album cover looks like a local Ford Trucks commercial and Looney Tunes fused together inside of the Matrix.
#19: Usher [ft. Lil Jon & Ludacris] - "Yeah!"We were SO CLOSE to pushing Usher off the face of the planet forever. So damn close. He was dead and buried as far as anyone knew, so what is the one thing that can raise his lanky corpse from the dirt? You guessed it, a sociopathic alcoholic with Tourette's. I will lay it down right here and now for the record: an obnoxious 4-second sample repeated for five minutes while Dave Chappelle's fuck buddy screams like a maniac is not music. Crunk is not real, it's a figment of our imaginations.
#16: Gwen Stefani - "What You Waiting For?"Well, ska is dead, and the whole pseudo-hip-hop thing on "Rock Steady" didn't work out. Might as well sell your soul entirely and morph into a pop princess.
#07: Franz Ferdinand - "Take Me Out"A note to every dance-punk band ever: you are not Joy Division. Stop. Dance-punk is the new swing revival, only far less charming.
#03: Britney Spears - "Toxic"Why has it become hip to like music you're traditionally supposed to hate? Does this scheme eventually cycle back to a point where it's hip to hate the music you're supposed to hate? Pitchfork writer Rob Mitchum says that his usual disrespect for Britney's "music and persona" was because it was "laced" with "the red flags of hitting/slaving misogyny, leering pedophilia, and mannequin sexuality." (eg. "Hit Me Baby One More Time," "Slave 4 U.") Yeah, I think that warrants something a bit stronger than the notion of vague subtlety inherent in the word "laced." And you're right, this song is the new, more mature phase for Britney, signifying once and for all the end of her naughty jail-bait schoolgirl phase, ushering in the full-blown Amsterdam-approved whorehouse phase. What's a girl to do?
So you see, Pitchfork, I am very thankful to have you to show me the way to look fresh and "in" at frat parties. With this information, I will surely appear as though I "get it" from now on when sucking on the hose end of a beer bong. You truly are a beacon of hipsterness; the internet version of MTV2.
Rock on London!Jeremy Franchi
http://www.violenceistheanswer.org/2004/12/open-letter-to-pitchfork-media.html
(Before you condemn the whole blog keep in mind that, hey, I write for it too and don't share those views -- except for the Belle and Sebastian one.)
― David Allen (David Allen), Wednesday, 22 December 2004 13:21 (twenty-one years ago)
― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Wednesday, 22 December 2004 13:32 (twenty-one years ago)
― :| (....), Wednesday, 22 December 2004 13:38 (twenty-one years ago)
― C_Zar, Wednesday, 22 December 2004 13:42 (twenty-one years ago)
― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Wednesday, 22 December 2004 13:46 (twenty-one years ago)
― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Wednesday, 22 December 2004 14:05 (twenty-one years ago)
Yawn.
― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Wednesday, 22 December 2004 14:16 (twenty-one years ago)
I don't think it's making the Oxford-Am, Scott, but huge points for subtlety.
― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Wednesday, 22 December 2004 14:20 (twenty-one years ago)
Ott = OTM. This was the most predictable list yet! At least when the Rapture were #1 last year it was seriously WTF. There's not a hint of surprise.
X-Post
― blackmail.is.my.life (blackmail.is.my.life), Wednesday, 22 December 2004 14:49 (twenty-one years ago)
― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Wednesday, 22 December 2004 15:39 (twenty-one years ago)
― Frankenstein On Ice (blueski), Wednesday, 22 December 2004 15:40 (twenty-one years ago)
― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Wednesday, 22 December 2004 15:44 (twenty-one years ago)
― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 22 December 2004 16:56 (twenty-one years ago)
For once, it's nice to look at a list and think "yeah, that seems reasonable" rather than wanting to beat the writers/voters with sharpened sticks. Maybe that's just me.
― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Wednesday, 22 December 2004 17:35 (twenty-one years ago)
He'll get no argument from me.
― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Wednesday, 22 December 2004 18:58 (twenty-one years ago)
As of the Pitchfork list, it is not bad. I'm happy Big & Rich made it.
― chuck, Wednesday, 22 December 2004 19:05 (twenty-one years ago)
I'd be interested on your take -- it doesn't remind me of Royksopp much, to be frank, probably because her voice and the bass just sound more happening, as it were.
"Heartbeat" is good but you know, I still hum "Chewing Gum" a lot more.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 22 December 2004 19:10 (twenty-one years ago)
― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 22 December 2004 22:36 (twenty-one years ago)
― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 22 December 2004 22:47 (twenty-one years ago)
― Mr. Snrub, Wednesday, 22 December 2004 23:47 (twenty-one years ago)
― henrod eldrix, Wednesday, 22 December 2004 23:50 (twenty-one years ago)
― it's tricky (disco stu), Thursday, 23 December 2004 03:09 (twenty-one years ago)
― mysterious lurker, Thursday, 23 December 2004 05:40 (twenty-one years ago)
clarification Yancey - the tracks on the blog are the straight single versions but the yousendit ones* are mixed by you?
(*aka no good for dial-up peons)
(PS while on the topic of year-end mixes who do we have to fuck to get el mannion's splendid ultramix in higher than 64kbps?)
― kit brash (kit brash), Thursday, 23 December 2004 11:02 (twenty-one years ago)
This question is begging for an answer...
― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Thursday, 23 December 2004 12:55 (twenty-one years ago)
Matsumi Kanamori babbles incomprehensibly, squeaking appropriately monosyllabic words ("boobie", "rich", "party", "beauty")
― OleM (OleM), Thursday, 23 December 2004 16:05 (twenty-one years ago)
It's on Slsk, I thought.
― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 23 December 2004 16:32 (twenty-one years ago)
― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Thursday, 23 December 2004 16:41 (twenty-one years ago)