pitchfork is dumb (#34985859340293849494 in a series.)

yeah i figured that was most likely, that they didn't ever really graduate to the parent channel like dashboard did

next time i review a mewithoutyou record i'm gonna say they brought christian post-hardcore and its cultural associations to the mass audiences of mtvu

and they never had a string of hits like Jimmy Eat World

typing out these band names i am reminded of the above band's recent tweet warning young artists to consider the initialisms of their band names very carefully

Lol

where i was, Saves the Day didn't even feel like they were in the same universe of popularity as Dashboard and Jimmy...not even close

i think they were on the cusp. if they had something like "The Middle" or even "Sweetness" they would've been. I mean, Jimmy Eat World opened for Green Day & blink on that same tour I saw, STD were on second leg.

LOL'd at this awesome Kathleen Hanna quote: "I am voting because watching the Kavanaugh hearings was like having Fred Durst sing 'Nookie' into my face for 12 fucking hours."

https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/musicians-on-why-theyre-voting-in-the-2018-midterm-elections/

This is a well-written and interesting review (of 9-disc live release from a band that seems difficult to say something new or interesting about): https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/rem-rem-at-the-bbc/

yeah I lol'd at that Kathleen bit too

xp

no links to my mortal enemies itt

R.E.M.?

Taking Back Sunday, The Used, AFI, Unwritten Law were all more popular on rock stations.

Weird to read "a band whose legacy is largely undecided" about your all-time favorite band. I am decided.

For the Julia Holter one, I found the score of 8.2 confusingly low for a review that read like sheer impassioned accolades. I felt like something was left unsaid like a unspoken characteristic of the release that disqualified it from the top shelf and made it simply a perfect execution within the limits of it's sort instead of an absolute classic.

Think a long way upthread we were talking about how the score is not usually chosen by the reviwer, still seems crazy to me.

ah I see. I guess the scores are too narrative-bound to be kept off the leash of centralized control

that only really makes sense if you're going to get someone to write a review who agrees with whatever the narrative is though, when there's an obvious disconnect like that it feels really weird

in the olden days, some albums used to get very high scores without getting the editorial BNM.

here's an example: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/12454-the-59-sound/

the gaslit anthem

8.2 is the only score that seems to get both BNMs and non-BNMs these days

not sure what the difference is supposed to be since editorial decides both these days right?

I've always seen BNMs mostly given to records that may have some crossover appeal. Records that are very solid more strictly within their genre/style get the score but not the tag.

That's how I've always imagined the distinction.

Both Janalle Monae and this seemed like they very explicitly wanted to encapsulate what 2018 seemed like, and both surprisingly missed BNM, and though I can't really base it on anything it makes me think that Pitchfork wants to avoid looking like they give the tag out for extra-musical reasons. Which in both cases ends up meaning some of the most exciting music gets snubbed, but oh well.

the 8+ records that narrowly miss BNM are almost always more interesting to me than the ones they rave about

yeah, they collect them in the "overlooked records" feature, usually the best stuff is in there

no BNM for twin sister, no credibility

i really dont understand how mr twin sister were a way more hyped band in the indie press before they changed names and suddenly became the best band in the world instead of a just ok dreamy synthpop group

i guess part of that is they were briefly signed to domino, but it seemed like that came on the back of buzz around their early EPs?

They had a couple of early singles which I still count among my favourite releases of the decade, then the LP on Domino was a huge let-down, think that burned a lot of people out, don't think a hype band can become a hype band again.

BNM is one of the worst things about Pitchfork

no BNM for twin sister, no credibility

― ||||||||, Tuesday, November 6, 2018 2:29 AM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

re: ufo, blame Dr. Dre

twin sister album was a disappointment

though not giving BNM to the 2014 was a big oversight

Beer Helped Me Express My Identity—And Then I Stopped Drinking Beer

Nice of them to give Ian Mackaye a column

twin sister album was a disappointment

― flopson, Tuesday, November 6, 2018 7:13 PM (two days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

listen harder

Beer Helped Me Express My Identity—And Then I Stopped Drinking Beer

I thought this was a joke (should’ve known better)...

I think the beer narrative will be the defining literary mode of our time

twin sister album was a disappointment

― flopson, Tuesday, November 6, 2018 7:13 PM (two days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

listen harder

― princess of hell (BradNelson), Thursday, November 8, 2018 12:40 PM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The 2011 album? I could never get into it. Bad Street, Daniel and Kimmi In A Rice Field are ok I suppose, Saturdaysunday is legit bad.

I'm really into everything they've done before and since.

mr twin sister put out a new album a few weeks ago

i believe that’s what flops is talking about

Right. That one is great, so is the previous one. But we were talking about the 2011 LP when they were just called Twin Sister.

lol yeah when i made that very pendantic post i realized what you were talking about

I'm listening to it again now. Still really patchy, sounds like they were trying various producers who all didn't work in different ways. A few tracks are actually really good. But some real stinkers too.

I suppose I expected more from Latinx people. (Why do we always expect more of marginalized people? Must the onus always be on the oppressed to be engaged constantly in acts of critical resistance?)

(From the Morrissey article)

stop trying to make latinx happen

That's a real "who's we?" situation there xpost

I suppose I expected more from Latinx people. (Why do we always expect more of marginalized people? Must the onus always be on the oppressed to be engaged constantly in acts of critical resistance?) I expected, as society too often does, for Latinx people to walk, talk, and even rock in perfect parallel with their politics.

i don't mind latinx really anymore but i think the main problem w/ the piece is his assumptions that latinx people share some kind of common political or politicized identity or a shared experience of being marginalized & oppressed, or that latinx people would think morrissey's islamophobic comments are indicative of how he might feel toward his fans in latin america.

like cmon dude do you know that there are people of latin american origin who are one or more of the following
rich
racist
conservative
islamophobic
apolitical goths who just like the smiths

Not all languages are like English, and that's ok. I'm not convinced that English's relatively genderless grammar has resulted in a less sexist culture overall.

i think the main problem w/ the piece is his assumptions that latinx people share some kind of common political or politicized identity or a shared experience of being marginalized & oppressed

All "white" people are the same
All "black" people are the same
All "Latin" people are the same
All "Asian" people are the same