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Originally posted by Mr.Natural:
Pitchzombie. That's a good one. All in all, it's got to be a good thing that they bump up sales for indie artists, and it's not like these people were going to be thinking for themselves anyway, right?

To be honest, I'm a bit of an Erlezombie myself. Anybody get that one?

Steven Thomas Erlewine, I presume?

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Originally posted by philosopherEric:

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Originally posted by Il Mago:

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Originally posted by philosopherEric:

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Originally posted by RavingLunatic:
Ah, I think I know what better method of review you guys are thinking of: wait and see how Pitchfork rates it, look at the Metascore, and then come up with "your" opinion of it.

That's a nice play. If the shoe fits...for some. Nobody on these Forums, of course.

It's impossible to avoid 100% of the time. Universal acclaim is what it is. I trust a metascore because it weighs many different reviews, not just one. I like P4k because they were the website that introduced me to the most new music.

It is impossible to be 100% objective unless you didn't go online and just walked into record stores and randomly picked albums off the shelves. Not all of us have enough money to do that, so we want to make sure we get the best value.

No, I don't judge an album before listening to it, but it is extremely difficult to avoid the influence completely. If a friend of mine bought the K-Fed album, I would not be able to listen to it 100% openly because I know it has a 15 metascore. If you want to avoid those influences completely, then why bother coming here in the first place?

I was mostly joking. But if I ran a predominately-indie record store, I'd like to test my "Pitchzombie" theory. I'd put oddball records (not endorsed by P4K) out under a banner that says "Pitchfork recommends..." and see how many indie kids gobble them up without a thought.

Seriously, I'm surprised that indie stores don't have a Pitchfork section. Put all of the P4K recommendations up front and watch your profits soar!!!

Funny you should say that! There's an independent record store here in Tampa called Vinyl Fever that has a small "Pitchfork's Best" section near the front. I never asked if that helped sell records but its been up for a year or so. There doesn't seem to be a big indie faction in this city either, considering no indie-like act comes even close to touring this city (or Florida for that matter).

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Originally posted by philosopherEric:
I was mostly joking. But if I ran a predominately-indie record store, I'd like to test my "Pitchzombie" theory. I'd put oddball records (not endorsed by P4K) out under a banner that says "Pitchfork recommends..." and see how many indie kids gobble them up without a thought.

Seriously, I'm surprised that indie stores don't have a Pitchfork section. Put all of the P4K recommendations up front and watch your profits soar!!!

Ha! That's a funny idea! You could put up albums like this: P4K Recommends!

or This: P4K's "hottest new import!"

If you could actually get the phonie hipsters to buy into this, it would be something special. Who owns a record store here? Do it!

That Manowar link was EXACTLY what I had in mind. Nicely done.

I can almost see the tears spewing from behind the black-framed glasses onto the thrift-store sweater of some trust-fund indie kid now as "Metal Daze" or "Master of the Wind" comes blaring over their iPod.

"Huh? This doesn't sound like Neutral Milk Hotel AT ALL...I'm scared! Mommy!!!"

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Funny you should say that! There's an independent record store here in Tampa called Vinyl Fever that has a small "Pitchfork's Best" section near the front. I never asked if that helped sell records but its been up for a year or so. There doesn't seem to be a big indie faction in this city either, considering no indie-like act comes even close to touring this city (or Florida for that matter).

Funny you should mention THAT. I have a Vinyl Fever where I live, too (Tallahassee, FL) and it doesn't have one of those sections. Of course, all the P4K recommended stuff is usually in stock and readily available.

And underground acts go to Florida all the time. Club Downunder in Tallahassee alone, through Florida State's college radio station, gets a hefty amount of indie tour traffic. Yo La Tengo and Of Montreal alone are coming in the next few months in addition to the Rapture and so on.

Orlando's Social, Will's Pub and Backbooth have great underground music going through there. Tampa is bigger on metal and goth and big arena shows, of course.

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Seriously, I'm surprised that indie stores don't have a Pitchfork section. Put all of the P4K recommendations up front and watch your profits soar!!!

Actually, Cheapo Records in Minneapolis and at least two stores in Madison do have such a thing, for what it's worth.

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Originally posted by philosopherEric:
But if I ran a predominately-indie record store, I'd like to test my "Pitchzombie" theory. I'd put oddball records (not endorsed by P4K) out under a banner that says "Pitchfork recommends..." and see how many indie kids gobble them up without a thought.

You’re probably right, but it isn't surprising to have some newer gatekeepers develop as older ones -- e.g., Rolling Stone and NME -- lose their edge. There's just too much new music, and all of it so easily and immediately available, to sift through everything without some guidance (unless you have unlimited time and patience or are in the music industry). Pitchfork writers, I think, have pretty good taste, even if the writing on their web site is sorely lacking, so it's a pretty good recommendation source.

Gatekeepers and information filters are hardly restricted to the music industry. Critics review literature and film, political parties crystallize (i.e., over-simplify) issues for easier digestion, Sunday-morning political roundtables on television filter information, and so forth. And there's nothing necessarily insidious about it (even though it often has pernicious effects in practice): I mean, we're all here as fans of METACRITIC, a review-aggregation site.

Obviously, it's a problem when people unthinkingly parrot any critic's or review source's opinions. But relying on Pitchfork (or Popmatters, Stylus, CMG, TMT, or any other review source, for that matter) to help recommend new music to you doesn't make you a zombie, even if you wind-up liking most of the stuff they recommend and come to rely on their recommendations.

I use most of the above mentioned websites to find out about new bands/albums, with P4K being the one I usually go to first. For me, if I see a band's name popping up all over the place, I might download a song or two, or if I'm listening to a CD and notice their name pop up on satellite radio, then I'll click over and check it out. I make decent money, but I don't know that any of us have the means to go buy every album that gets a good review from a "cool" website, and while there are many bands that I love, most of the stuff I try out I don't really like. Thus, I don't consider myself a "Pitchzombie", however some might exist I suppose?? Overall, I consider sites like Pitchfork a plus, as the number of bands/albums that I now love which I never would have known of far outnumber the albums I bought based on a high score that I didn't really care for (again, I'd say this is because my screening process usually goes beyond just the review).

U2 of course. I'm one of the few indie kids that loved the last two albums to death.....Shins/LCD were highly anticipated by me, but now they've leaked.

Ted Leo, Postal Service, Radiohead, Arcade Fire, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Modest Mouse, Voxtrot (debut album....although I'm worried after hearing a lot of their recent material in their show).....

That's a strong bunch of releases that I'm certain will see the light of day in '07

I just heard about the possible U2 release in '07. I don't think they'll actually get it out that year, but more power to 'em if they do.

I love practically everything they've done, even "Pop" and "Zooropa". Norman Mailer once said, "To truly love a writer, you have to love him at his worst." Kind of how I feel about U2. I love them at their worst.

RZA - RZA Presents: Afro Samurai
Pharoahe Monch - Desire
RJD2 - The Third Hand
Lauryn Hill - Call Me Ms. Hill
Common - Finding Forever
Immortal Technique - The Middle Passage
Kanye West - Graduation
Nas - The Lost Tapes 2
Sa-Ra Creative Partners - Black Fuzz
Rakim - Seventh Seal
The Jill Scott,Portishead,Massive Attack and Bloc Party releases as well.

If I get even half of them I'll be both happy and frankly shocked.

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Originally posted by Yay!:
I just heard about the possible U2 release in '07. I don't think they'll actually get it out that year, but more power to 'em if they do. I would be VERY happy to get a new U2 record in 2007. I really like "Window in the Skies" from the new singles comp, although the Skids cover ("The Saints Are Coming") was not so hot.

I love practically everything they've done, even "Pop" and "Zooropa". Norman Mailer once said, "To truly love a writer, you have to love him at his worst." Kind of how I feel about U2. I love them at their worst.

I always like to hear people who, like myself, are unapologetic in their love for U2.

Here's something on the possible 2007 release:

"With its monster-selling Vertigo tour complete, U2 is ready to reinvent itself, frontman Bono said during a BBC Radio interview earlier this week. "Our band has certainly reached the end of where we've been at for the last couple of albums," he said. "I want to see what else we can do with it, take it to the next level; I think that's what we've got to do."

Asked by interviewer Jo Whalley if that might mean a move away from rock'n'roll, Bono replied, "We're gonna continue to be a band, but maybe the rock will have to go; maybe the rock has to get a lot harder. But whatever it is, it's not gonna stay where it is."

He went on to reveal he'd like U2 to explore compositions featuring just voice and acoustic guitar. "I would like to do a couple of tunes in that direction, with just a lot of space around the voice," he said. "I'd like to strip things down; that's something I'd be very interested in at the moment."

U2 is expected to get busy in the studio after the New Year, with an eye on releasing a new album before the end of 2007. Bono said casual fans were the target for the recently released compilation "U218 Singles," which also includes two new songs."

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Originally posted by RavingLunatic:
Nah, actually I couldn't tell you much. I just remember that about a month ago I heard it and thought it was boring and then I deleted it from my computer. I didn't even like a single song.

Boring? Hmm, I find it incredibly rich and diverse, and one of the most compelling records I've heard recently. If this is boring, what do you do for musical excitement??

Been lurking here awhile, finally had to speak my mind. Thanks to all for some great music suggestions and have a rockin' new year.

mssr. c.

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Originally posted by Yay!:
I love practically everything they've done, even "Pop" and "Zooropa".

I like U2 as well. I thought Zooropa was great, and never really understood why it got slagged. "Lemon," "Stay," and others are solid excellent U2 songs.

But I didn't really dig All That You Can't... or ..Atomic Bomb very much. I do agree with Bono that they should change direction. They returned to their roots in some ways with those last two albums, which may be why I was disappointed. I'd love to hear them change radically, not just in a Pop kind of way but in a Kid A kind of way.

J. Tillman's got a new limited edition CD-R coming out in February. It's called Cancer and Delirium. This guys is one of my top 3 favorite artists going right now, so I'm really excited about this. 2007 is looking like a monster year.

I was surveying the release dates for stuff in January, and there are at least a half-dozen cool releases due out:

The new Sloan record, getting a US release on YepRoc
The career-spanning Paul Weller box, Hit Parade, also on YepRoc
The Crowded House 2-cd farewell concert

The new Shins record, the record by The Good, The Bad and the Queen (Damon Albarn, Paul Simonon, Pete Tong, Tony Allen).

The US release of Mew's Frengers.

A new one, on Merge, from David Kilgour.

Lots to make me excited about 2007.

I'm excited about the new Patty Griffin disc. I've read a couple rave reviews, both saying that it's her best yet. I loved Impossible Dream, so I'm expecting good things.

The new Of Montreal album.....

OH. MY. FREAKING. GOD.

Eric: '' [T]he record by The Good, The Bad and the Queen (Damon Albarn, Paul Simonon, Pete Tong, Tony Allen).''

Is this the same Tony Allen who was the phenomenal drummer for Fela Kuli's Afropop band? If so, what do The Good, The Bad and the Queen sound like?

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Originally posted by Daniel, Esq.:
Eric: '' [T]he record by The Good, The Bad and the Queen (Damon Albarn, Paul Simonon, Pete Tong, Tony Allen).''

Is this the same Tony Allen who was the phenomenal drummer for Fela Kuli's Afropop band? If so, what do The Good, The Bad and the Queen sound like?

Same guy.

I've only heard a song, but the combination of Albarn's Britpop experimentalism, Simonon's punk background, Tong's tenure in the Verve and Allen's time in Fela Kuti's band makes it, at the very least, an interesting proposition. And it was produced by DangerMouse.

Pitchfork had a link to the first single, "History Song."