The Needle Drop (Anthony Fantano)

Music
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What happened in here, 50 new replies

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I think Ruffers listened to some music

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New needle just dropped

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omfg it’s only just dawned on me that The Needle Drop is a reference to playing a vinyls :man_facepalming:

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Same. Never seen a review of his

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Hold on.

I always assumed it was a reference to the ‘needle drop’ in films, meaning a bit that goes off the charts good because the director (usually Martin Scorsese) chose to accentuate it with a banger.

Anyway I don’t mind Fantano at all, but for years now I’ve been watching the vids to see what’s out and what sort of thing it is, but closing before the score as that feels arbitrary and I generally disagree with him on that bit.

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It’s probably just what you said though because what he does has nothing to do with films.

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But that in itself is a reference to a needle dropping on a record (I assume!?) so yeah but it’s the same thing :slight_smile:

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I don’t think this is quite right! I have a passing knowledge at best as do many people I know. Haven’ta clue about his taste. Don’t know a lot about his taste I think he’s another example of fame being linked with being online a lot.

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I guess i shouldve clarified to mean within the online music space.

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Yeah sorry, dunno why I bothered to comment to be honest, just grumpy!

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all scores are silly and arbitrary, but smaller ranges are actually sillier than bigger ones

(I don’t mind Pitchfork’s)

also the idea of perfection is silly, adding to the silliness of smaller ranges

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IMHO 10 doesn’t indicate perfect when it comes to reviews. I interpret it as ‘this is one of my all time favourites’ if 10 is on the scale - it should be used

Perfecetion in a subjective matter doesnt exist

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Fantano definitely acknowledges all the above tbf, the flaws of a numbered system, the choice to use the 10 at times

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Funny imo

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Music for divorced kids :joy:

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I hope everyone is still being nice about Anthony in this thread

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“The parents of society” :grinning:

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I agree with this point, and @littlebirds articulated it well above too.

I had more of an issue with blanket dismissal of his reviews at all. He’s not for everyone but he definitely has his strengths.

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All opinions again but for me Pitchfork’s system is the worst (current) example. For two reasons:

  1. I’ve not got the stats, but they only give out scores of 9.0 very rarely, whereas albums in the 8.0-8.9 are reasonably frequent. I just think this gives off the impression that those really high ratings are reserved only for canonically brilliant albums…which fits with Pitchforks idea that they are somehow arbiters for what is considered “good” music

  2. Not sure if it’s still the case (or even if was always just a rumour), but someone told me the scores were worked out as averages from more than one staff member. Just don’t think that works as a concept, especially when they then have to pair that score with one writer’s written opinion.

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