#21

I still scan pitchfork daily, mainly to click on albums of interest and see grades.

2 Likes
#22

Used to irk me that they never really wrote enough about hip hop*. Now they do, and it still irks me. Check it every couple of weeks or so, see what the 8+ reviews are and give them a spin on Spotify. Haven’t actually read one of their reviews in many years though.

*apart from Rollie Pemberton who I once met at The Salisbury pub in Harringay. Very random.

#23

Good:

Sunday classic reviews are great.

Some of the specialist writers are great. Philip Sherburne is one of my favourite music writers.

Bad:

The gossip column clickbait pop news does my head in.

The Best New Music thing used to pretty much guarantee a good/interesting record and now it’s very hit and miss.

1 Like
#24

Really can’t think of any better music reviewing website out there tbh.

1 Like
#25

A good review on pitchfork during my teenage years was how I discovered so many bands that I now love. I still check what they’ve reviewed daily but only ever actually read the review if its someone I’m really interested in. Never bothered with their content outside of reviews though, don’t really see the point.

1 Like
#26

Pitchthoughts

4 Likes
#27

I regularly read and enjoy the album reviews, zero interest in the rest of the site. It takes me almost exactly the same amount of time to read four reviews as to drink my early morning tea which is handy. I think the reviews are generally very well written although some writers seem weirdly wedded to the word “quotidian” which crops up more often than you’d expect.

1 Like
#28

Agree with all that but, the BNM although hit and miss most of the albums that are given it are normally for better or worse in nearly all the end of year list. So at the very least they should be paid attention to

1 Like
#29

I greatly enjoy this

3 Likes
#30

Equally informative and infuriating. I tend to check the reviews every couple of days or so and I’ve found out about a lot of gems over the years, and on the flip-side of that been annoyed by their flippant disdain for a whole slew of artists/regions/genres and the occasional mind-bogglingly shit review (or mediocre score) for a good album I’ve enjoyed prior to reading their attempts to taste-make.

#31

The first thing I do when I get on the train every morning is check their reviews page. Generally, if something gets an 8+ I’ll listen to it at least once. Found some amazing stuff on there this year - Aleksi Perala, Yves Jarvis, RAP, Caroline Shaw - that just wouldn’t have crossed my path otherwise. There is literally no other music website that covers the sheer volume of records, mainstream & not as they do, so as a one stop shop it’s flawless.

As others have mentioned many of the specialist writers there are second to none. Sherburne being the best example. Love the Sunday Review.

Try not to bother with the news as others have said, it’s very clickbatey. But sadly that’s the way of the world now. I do get irritated sometimes that it clearly has an agenda against certain artists, and I have noticed that the crossover into the multimedia behemoth it is now has diluted the sense of fun it used to have - and how an acts ability to sell the ‘brand’ affects the coverage they get. I don’t think they even try and pretend that’s not the case anymore.

Overall, I wish they’d do a lot of stuff differently, but I’d really miss it if it wasn’t there.

3 Likes
#32

U.2

3 Likes
#33

I think people overestimate the kind of influence it still has - a few years ago if an album got a bad or even mediocre review on the website it was game over.

The landscape has completely changed now and things like streaming and social media have really levelled the playing field for people to pick and choose things they want to dive into. Not having one publication completely dominating the conversation and dictating who gets a career is very healthy all round.

3 Likes
#34

Maybe. I certainly assumed the Times would be fucked using one but supposedly the much smaller number of subs keep it afloat. Obviously Pitchfork isn’t that size but equally it probably doesn’t have content that is nearly as costly to put together in terms of staff etc.

I think we know to whom you refer.

11 Likes
#35

BigAl is your name a homage to that bit in Skeelo’s classic song I Wish:

Hey, I wish I had my way
'Cause everyday would be a Friday
And you could even speed on the highway
I would play ghetto games
Name my kids ghetto names Little Mookie, Big Al, Lorraine

?

1 Like
#36

I have to admit, I think it’s a shame that it may not be long for this world.

Yeah, we all know the downsides, but I’ve found so much amazing stuff that I wouldn’t have otherwise through their reviews and, look, even when they’re wanky (and yes, some are insufferable) - it’s still a writer being paid to give serious consideration and a few hundred words to new music, and that feels like a good thing to me. Sometimes it’s actually really interesting to click on an artist from a scene you have no understanding of and receive context from around them. Some of the better reviews send me off to multiple new artists.

It’s been sad to see less interesting content, and also the vague demise of things like Best New Song. It does feel as though the site’s identity is eroding.

I would imagine, in common with all previously gleaming and now shabby-looking dotcom companies acquired by conglomerates, that there are a lot of empty desks in the office. If it goes behind a paywall, I hope something good will replace it, but being realistic - no one seems able to make the economics of online review sites (or news sites etc) work, and that means shitter stuff coming our way imo.

The world is not currently drowning in clear, well argued and well expressed critical thought.

1 Like
#37

Black Kids the last time this happened?

#38

Wow, Black Kids. Never really liked them at the time but just listened to ‘I’m not gonna teach your boyfriend’ on spotify and it made my heart actually ache for the awful indie discos of my youth.

Interestingly, the hyperbolic Best New Music review is still up for Black Kids’ EP but the album review (while still showing the 3.3 score) seems to have been removed. Maybe there isn’t room for those kinds of ‘slams’ in corporate culture…

#39

The review isn’t removed.It is a picture of two sad looking pugs with the word ‘sorry’ written over it.

Which is the sort of elitist bullshit that I kind of wish they’d go back to sometimes!

5 Likes
#40

Ha! I thought it was an error message because it couldn’t retrieve the review. Fuck. Of course I remember the Jet one…

1 Like