shakahislop
Well-known member
Dove into the pitchfork top 100 on another flight today (well not all of it its 7 hours long). I enjoyed it more as I got drunker I’ve got to say, but it took four whiskeys, some of the anthemic stuff felt more aligned with my mood as a result, and there was a really good extended house/techno tune about Marseille (Marseille is the most conceptually perfect place in Europe so they were onto a winner before I even heard the tune).
As I’ve already said in this thread, computers are everywhere. Everything is tight, even the stuff which is based on a guitar or a bass or whatever is processed and quantized. There’s a ton of detail in the beats and the rest of the production, and vocals are almost uniformly processed, all kinds of effects, panning in one ear, close-mic’d whispers, multi-tracked, screwed up and screwed down pitches, vocals starting on the right side with one set of effects and ending on the left side with a different set of effects, almost none of it sounds like someone singing or rapping in a room. There are also an absolute fuck ton of random sounds buried in the mix of a lot of tunes, super maximalist production. Beats are everywhere but no drumkits. All of this stuff is computer music first and foremost. It’s quite amazing how comprehensive it is. It’s a bit reminiscent of the 80s I think in that respect, though I’m sure I’m not the first person to point that out.
Heavy basslines don't seem to be popular at the moment. Loads of really deep punishing bass drums though, all over the shop. There’s one pretty good tune by Hagop Tchaparian which has a techno intensity and most importantly has thumbnail art of someone stakeboarding on the Williamsburg bridge.
Lyrically the most striking thing is the number of lyrics about how good your own pussy is. Five years ago I thought that kind of tune was amazing, real progress, but I’ve got to say I’m pretty sick of it by now. Although it is still striking and definitely not boring. With the exception of sexual politics (there’s a pretty good electro tune about sexualization of teenage girls), politics is entirely absent.
There’s some soft rock on it, the kind of smack bang in the middle of the road thing with a tinge of country that I would have expected pitchfork to shy away from. Actually there’s a country-americana thing going on throughout the pitchfork top 100, things like Big Thief, Angel Olsen, Plains, that I suppose has always been an influence running through the kind of stuff they cover. Probably if you’re in the US fiddles and that kind of thing, those country signifiers, have completely different semiotics, maybe represent a different set of allegiances. I did like alt-country back in the day but the stuff here sounds more like the pop-country with some of the southern edges shaved off.
I was surprised by how shit it was overall. It’s a good exercise for realizing how good the music I actually listen to normally is though. Overall the pitchfork selection it feels quite identity-less, taken as a whole. It’s the middle of the road of various not particularly innovative genres plus some rap. So exactly what you’d expect. Except that they really don’t seem to be interested in indie rock any more. Maybe no-one is now. Even the arctic monkeys tune on there doesn’t sound anything like indie. There’s a lot more rap than there is indie, without exaggeration. Good riddance.
As I’ve already said in this thread, computers are everywhere. Everything is tight, even the stuff which is based on a guitar or a bass or whatever is processed and quantized. There’s a ton of detail in the beats and the rest of the production, and vocals are almost uniformly processed, all kinds of effects, panning in one ear, close-mic’d whispers, multi-tracked, screwed up and screwed down pitches, vocals starting on the right side with one set of effects and ending on the left side with a different set of effects, almost none of it sounds like someone singing or rapping in a room. There are also an absolute fuck ton of random sounds buried in the mix of a lot of tunes, super maximalist production. Beats are everywhere but no drumkits. All of this stuff is computer music first and foremost. It’s quite amazing how comprehensive it is. It’s a bit reminiscent of the 80s I think in that respect, though I’m sure I’m not the first person to point that out.
Heavy basslines don't seem to be popular at the moment. Loads of really deep punishing bass drums though, all over the shop. There’s one pretty good tune by Hagop Tchaparian which has a techno intensity and most importantly has thumbnail art of someone stakeboarding on the Williamsburg bridge.
Lyrically the most striking thing is the number of lyrics about how good your own pussy is. Five years ago I thought that kind of tune was amazing, real progress, but I’ve got to say I’m pretty sick of it by now. Although it is still striking and definitely not boring. With the exception of sexual politics (there’s a pretty good electro tune about sexualization of teenage girls), politics is entirely absent.
There’s some soft rock on it, the kind of smack bang in the middle of the road thing with a tinge of country that I would have expected pitchfork to shy away from. Actually there’s a country-americana thing going on throughout the pitchfork top 100, things like Big Thief, Angel Olsen, Plains, that I suppose has always been an influence running through the kind of stuff they cover. Probably if you’re in the US fiddles and that kind of thing, those country signifiers, have completely different semiotics, maybe represent a different set of allegiances. I did like alt-country back in the day but the stuff here sounds more like the pop-country with some of the southern edges shaved off.
I was surprised by how shit it was overall. It’s a good exercise for realizing how good the music I actually listen to normally is though. Overall the pitchfork selection it feels quite identity-less, taken as a whole. It’s the middle of the road of various not particularly innovative genres plus some rap. So exactly what you’d expect. Except that they really don’t seem to be interested in indie rock any more. Maybe no-one is now. Even the arctic monkeys tune on there doesn’t sound anything like indie. There’s a lot more rap than there is indie, without exaggeration. Good riddance.
