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December 19, 2006

Pitchfork's Top Albums Of The Year

Most of you probably figured Pitchfork's Top Albums list would feature some combination of Joanna Newsom, The Hold Steady, and TV On The Radio in the top three slots (at least based on their nine-point-whatever scores). Well most of you are wrong! But, aside from a hindsight bump-up to the #1, the Forkers were mostly true to their initial assessment on the year's records. Mostly.

50. Booka Shade - Movements
49. Ellen Allien & Apparat - Orchestra Of Bubbles
48. The Long Blondes - Someone To Drive You Home
47. Matmos - The Rose Has Teeth In The Mouth Of A Beast
46. M. Ward - Post-War
45. Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out Of This Country
44. The Pipettes - We Are The Pipettes
43. Sonic YouthRather Ripped
42. Mastodon - Blood Mountain
41. The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
40. Tapes 'N Tapes - The Loon
39. Fujiya & Miyagi - Transparent Things
38. J Dilla - Donuts
37. DJ Drama & Lil Wayne - Dedication 2
36. Brightblack Morning Light - Brightblack Morning Light
35. Herbert - Scale
34. Girl Talk - Night Ripper
33. Mission Of Burma - The Obliterati
32. Lupe Fiasco - Food & Liquor
31. Danielson - Ships
30. Belle And Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
29. Lily Allen - Alright, Still
28. Cat Power - The Greatest
27. Califone - Roots & Crowns
26. Hot Chip - The Warning
25. Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds
24. Peter Bjorn And John - Writer's Block
23. Yo La Tengo - I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass
22. LCD Soundsystem - 45:33
21. Be Your Own Pet - Be Your Own Pet
20. Man Man - Six Demon Bag
19. T.I. - King
18. Destroyer - Destroyer's Rubies
17. The Thermals - The Body, The Blood, The Machine
16. Beach House - Beach House
15. Sunset Rubdown - Shut Up I Am Dreaming
14. Tim Hecker - Harmony In Ultraviolet
13. Phoenix - It's Never Been Like That
12. Band Of Horses - Everything All The Time
11. Junior Boys - So This Is Goodbye
10. Scott Walker - The Drift
09. Boris - Pink
08. Grizzly Bear - Yellow House
07. Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury
06. Liars - Drum's Not Dead -
05. The Hold Steady - Boys And Girls In America
04. Ghostface Killah - Fishscale
03. Joanna Newsom - Ys
02. TV On The Radio - Return To Cookie Mountain
01. The Knife - Silent Shout
Now the slackers among you have a handy to-do list for your next torrent-trading session! Get out there and work that bandwith.

Posted at 9:39 AM
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180 Comments

Of course, Ben Kweller didn't release an album in 06.

Wait...

Posted by: Britunes at 12/19/06 9:52 AM | Reply
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Artists that Pitchfork seemed to fall out of love with over the course of the year:

Islands
Neko Case

I was wonderfully surprised by Pitchfork's #1. An inspired choice, even if it's not my personal top album (that would be Sunset Rubdown).

Posted by: McNutt at 12/19/06 9:53 AM | Reply
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Predictable and safe, but a good list nonetheless. None of the top ten are undeserving of that honor; although I personally can't stand listening to Drum's Not Dead, I realize it had a significant impact on the year in music.

Posted by: C.A. at 12/19/06 9:54 AM | Reply
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overall i think it's actually a great, very accurate list. 2006 was a great year for music and this list reflects it well... it's not pretentious as p-fork tends to get, and listing Silent Shout as number 1, might be the most spot-on they have ever been. it truly is a perfect, groundbreaking album and i'm so happy to see it getting the recognition it deserves.

Posted by: jp at 12/19/06 9:56 AM | Reply
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The Crane Wife is WAY too low on the list. should be at least in the top 15.

Posted by: 3 Red Squares at 12/19/06 9:56 AM | Reply
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The list is fine, although I'm befuddled and disappointed that Neko is nowhere to be found and that "Rubies" is only at 18. I'm cool with The Knife at #1; wouldn't have been my pick, but they justify it well. What burns my ass, however, is The Holdy Steady at #5. This is more than a case of sour grapes, this record just isn't any good. And it's funny, I read the reviews and synopses of all the albums on the list and they all make sense or are pretty convincing and then I read the blurb for "Boys and Girls in America" and I think that all powers of critical thinking have vanished from Chicago. Intentional or not, the music is banal. And the lyrics, regardless of whether Finn is or is not romanticizing the beer-soaked ennui of our youth, lack any sort of consequence or gravity; much like his beloved--and equally immature--novel "On the Road." I "get" the record and can accept it for what it is, but then to hear all these platitudes and high rankings makes me lose some faith in Pitchfork. Okay, that's enough Sitek for one morning.

Posted by: Josh at 12/19/06 10:02 AM | Reply
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I, too, am a bit surprised about no Neko Case. I love that album with all of my chubby little heart.

I'll never understand the appeal of that Scott Walker album. Boooooo-urns.

The other surprise for me is Phoenix in the top 20. Don't get me wrong, it's a fun album...but seriously?

Posted by: Kyle at 12/19/06 10:06 AM | Reply
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Yes the crane wife is WAY too low. Pitchfork's pathetic love em and leave em routine is getting so predictable you could sync it up to my roomate's schedule of judgementless 'liberated' rut-rutting.

Posted by: dannygutters at 12/19/06 10:06 AM | Reply
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thank f'ing god they didn't put The Crane Wife in the top 20. the decemberists are pansies.

top 10 picks were pretty solid (even though i don't like the Hold Steady that much, it's definitely a good album...just ain't my thing). i would have put sunset rubdown in the top 10 though. It's good to see Liars, Scott Walker, and The Knife get their dues.

Posted by: John at 12/19/06 10:15 AM | Reply
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Shocked, SHOCKED by number 1. I was really hoping to avoid that album this year.

Good point on the falling out of favor for Neko and the Islands. Those are both among my fifteen favorite albums of the year.

It's a really good list and does what the best Pitchfork list do best: validate some of my opinions, challenge others and gives me a list of albums that I need to go hunt down.

I would have paid ten bucks to Ryan Scheiber to have Ghostface get number 1.

Posted by: carson at 12/19/06 10:17 AM | Reply
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Either Pitchfork or you guys have #14, the Tim Hecker album, reversed in terms of artist / album title.

Posted by: Ben at 12/19/06 10:21 AM | Reply
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I guess I just don't quite get how they came up with Silent Shout as the best album of the year. Maybe my eyes are deceiving me but I think at least half of their writers did not even include the album on their top 25 lists. Very few actually put it in their top 5. So how does it become the best of the year?

Posted by: will at 12/19/06 10:31 AM | Reply
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man man at 29 owns.

but im not suprised that the islands record isn't on here. it's a subpar album that hits really well upon first listen, but gets worse and worse with repeat listenings.

and also.. destroyer at 18? didn't that get like, a 9.1 or something?

Posted by: nick at 12/19/06 10:39 AM | Reply
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What's the deal with the Knife? I gave that record a few listens but I heard nothing groundbreaking at all. The melodies are third rate and the overall aesthetic has been done countless times. Are they better seen than heard?

Posted by: Chuck at 12/19/06 10:41 AM | Reply
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Will, your eyes are deceiving you. It is everywhere, including near the top, of the individual lists. Look again. It was clear from looking at the individual lists that it would come down to the Knife and Cookie Mountain.

Posted by: npopp at 12/19/06 10:48 AM | Reply
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i'm happy to see fujiya & miyaji on there just above the decemberists and tapes and tapes.

seeing the knife at number one isn't surprising, cause they like wear masks and are like swedish and stuff.

Posted by: aj at 12/19/06 11:03 AM | Reply
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theres not a record there that i can stand until #21. everything higher is over-pretentious indie.

Posted by: annie onymous at 12/19/06 11:03 AM | Reply
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oh annie! having trouble with all the over -pretentiousness in teh world, Be Your Own Pet must wash it all away for you


haha

Posted by: oh annie at 12/19/06 11:10 AM | Reply
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Justin Timberlake? Every time I've heard his name this year, it's made me more and more depressed that he is still making hit records, and now here he is in the top 25 of a supposed indie rock website. God, the people who write for Pitchfork must be even bigger pussies than I thought.

Posted by: Flem at 12/19/06 11:14 AM | Reply
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Justin Timberlake beats the Decemberists? Can't be

Posted by: Julie at 12/19/06 11:28 AM | Reply
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newsflash. the decemberists aren't that good.

second newsflash: people have different taste, some people even like radio pop.

Posted by: newsflash at 12/19/06 11:33 AM | Reply
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If this list says anything about the state of music in '06.. then I'm clearly out of touch with the indie elite over at Pitchfork (and everywhere else for that matter..).

Let us discuss the top 5:

5. The Hold Steady - Hasn't anyone figured out that they sound like some second rate bar band from New Jersey?! Anyone.. anyone? Completely flaccid and uninvolving. How much did Vagrant pay out to Pitchfork, The Onion, et. al to get such recognition for such drivel?

4. Ghostface Killah - I don't listen to rap (unless it's Kool Keith) so I can't really comment. Probably better than the top 3 left though..

3. Joanna Newsom - Now, this is one one that tickles me. Knock, knock Joanna - you can't sing! Stay away from it. Not only that.. but your "music" doesn't even provide an interesting counterpoint to your horrible voice. Anyone can set up some string arrangements and blast poetic narratives that run 10+ minutes over them. Does that make it any good? - well no. It's just really annoying. The only reason all the indie snobs even like her is because they want to get into her pants.

2. TV On The Radio - What can say? I live IN Williamsburg and still can't get these guys. By the way.. the guy(s) can't sing (noticing a pattern here?..). I mean.. I guess the music is *ok* and all but nothing really revolutionary. But when they sing.. it just drives me up the wall. The arrangments are clumsy at times and there's no emotional core to the proceedings at all. It's just there and floats until you feel the rise of vomit emitting from your stomach.

1. The Knife - HAHAHAHA! This is what an abandoned Vince Clarke solo, avant-garde, throw-away album would sound like. I mean.. I love the retro new-new wave as much as the next guy.. but seriously what does this all mean? I can only imagine that this group elicits coma-inducing sleep live. I haven't seen a picture of this group but I'll put down 1 million that the chick is super-hot (see Newsom, Joanna). Third rate beats tossed out by the Human League twenty years ago is now P-fork's "Album of The Year". Oh!.. and the chick can't sing.

Posted by: austin at 12/19/06 11:40 AM | Reply
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Aside from the Neko Case and Xiu Xiu snubs, this is probably the best year-end list PFork has put out in a while. I'm actually sort of impressed.

Posted by: V at 12/19/06 11:42 AM | Reply
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The Decemberists are where they belong as far as I'm concerned, only because of "The Perfect Crime #2" is one of the worst songs I heard this year.

"It was the perfect, the perfect, the perfect, the perfect, the perfect....", okay, we get it.

Also, Destroyer should have been in the Top 10.

Posted by: David at 12/19/06 11:43 AM | Reply
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Mastodon: the metal band that Pitchfork allows its indie army to like.

Posted by: Paul O at 12/19/06 11:43 AM | Reply
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yeah, I like to like music outside of the realm of "hype" and "machine" and "keeping up with the cool kids." this is an absolute shit list-- roughly 30% of the top ten deserve such a rating. the rest? just cool kids picks. generally forgettable pap that won't make it past the end of Jan. 2007 if they've made it this far at all.

i know. i must not be complex enough to understand complex bullshit music. here's hoping this indie thing dies down soon and the cool kids can move on to their next flavor of the week so the rest can go enjoying music irregardless of them like we've always done.

Posted by: Blah at 12/19/06 11:50 AM | Reply
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I'm pretty sure The Knife at #1 validates my intuition that Pitchfork has jumped the shark.

It's not exactly predictable, but it's not really surprising either- which basically sums up that Web site lately.

And yeah, The Clipse album...totally derserving. Seriously....seriously.

Posted by: Jay at 12/19/06 11:52 AM | Reply
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The Hold Steady hate on here is amusing (but then I find the occasional Decemberists, TV on the Radio, Sufjan, etc. hate on here amusing, too - maybe some of you hang out with too many hipster superfans or something). If you don't get why Boys and Girls in America is a great rock album, then you probably don't get why Born to Run, London Calling, Tim, or Sticky Fingers are, either. Creating something amazing does not always require reinventing the wheel - sometimes it means taking what you've got and just making one that rolls really fucking well.

Posted by: d at 12/19/06 11:58 AM | Reply
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ISLANDS IS THE BEST ALBUM FOR HEADPHONES THIS YEAR IT SUFFERS IN THE STEREO BUT STIIL COMEONE ITS SHOULD BE THRE , THERES BARLEY ANY PITCFORK WE LOVE CANADA THIS YEAR SPENCER KRUG AND JUNIOR BOYS ARE VERY LONELY

Posted by: MATHEW at 12/19/06 12:06 PM | Reply
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ISLANDS IS THE BEST ALBUM FOR HEADPHONES THIS YEAR IT SUFFERS IN THE STEREO BUT STIIL COMEONE ITS SHOULD BE THRE , THERES BARLEY ANY PITCFORK WE LOVE CANADA THIS YEAR SPENCER KRUG AND JUNIOR BOYS ARE VERY LONELY

Posted by: mathew form canada at 12/19/06 12:07 PM | Reply
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LOUD NOISES!

Posted by: Justin at 12/19/06 12:11 PM | Reply
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you can put the hold steady on at a party with people who don't know the first thing about "indie music" and they have a great time. It was by the far the "funnest" record of the year, and it finally gave the non-cardingan-wearing-living-outside-of-williamsburg set something to enjoy when drinking a few beers.
"he likes the warm feeling but he's tired of the dehydration " - line of the year ...

Posted by: joe at 12/19/06 12:19 PM | Reply
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austin's response is hilarious. weiiiiirdo.

Posted by: ben at 12/19/06 12:19 PM | Reply
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i'm not a Decemberists fan but i understand why people like them. But i'm on board with the "wtf" side of the Hold Steady. I just cant picture people listening to them years from now, as far as I'm concerned they're the Hootie and the Blowfish of underground rock music.

Posted by: Goon at 12/19/06 12:20 PM | Reply
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The Neko Case thing discredits the whole list. And honestly, since no one else is saying it, The Strokes should be on all these lists...at least in the top 50 people, come on.

Why is Justin Timberlake included...is it me or does he stick out like an immature, dorky, white kid...wait...he doesn't, weird.

Oh yea, D, don't compare the Hold Steady's album to Born to Run or Sticky Fingers...and what's Tim?

Posted by: J at 12/19/06 12:21 PM | Reply
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where's final fantasy?

Posted by: Seth at 12/19/06 12:21 PM | Reply
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jesus, Neko fans are insane. She didn't make the list. DEAL. Just because your beloved alt country crooner didn't make the pitchfork year end list doesn't make the list any more or less valid.

So insane

Posted by: jesus at 12/19/06 12:27 PM | Reply
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D, it's not that we don't like "Boys and Girls In America" because it's not "revolutionary", but because it's musically uninspired. The albums you mentioned (Born To Run, London Calling, Tim, and Sticky Fingers) are great because the melodies on a lot of the songs are classic. The melodies on "Boys and Girls In America" just don't measure up.

Posted by: Chuck at 12/19/06 12:31 PM | Reply
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Third newsflash: Of course some people like radio pop; it's the most popular music on the planet.
Fourth newsflash: If you didn't notice this like ten years ago, Justin Timberlake sucks. Did Pitchfork just recently discover cocaine or something? They seem to be going through some "we're trying to be ultra-egalitarian" phase, as if liking this kind of bullshit makes them young, fun-loving, and not snobby. Really, though, since not even the freshman sorority girls at my college like this shit any more, Pitchfork looks old and pathetic.

Posted by: Flem at 12/19/06 12:34 PM | Reply
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okay question what are your favrite albums in the headphones this year mine are
1. Islands(it has the youth quality of the Jesus and Mary Chains Psychocandy)i saw them live im bias
2. Tv on the radio(just insanity right?so good)
3. Band of Horses (it made my winter)
4. Danielson( that albums needs to be controlled with headphones)
5.Peter Bjorn and John(with headphones you realy apriciate the shoegazing)

Posted by: mathew form canada at 12/19/06 12:38 PM | Reply
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hold steady really is great. It's rock and roll, something that most of the latest indie generation doesn't really understand. Pop, sure, but rock? nah. IF sonic youth and neutral milk are our stones and boss, then we're gonna miss something about this. The hold steady are the new 'faces', which is a huge compliment.

suprised about the knife. Not really anything else.
I really do wish, however, that an album that I wasn't familiar with made it into the top 10. I know this shit! bah. It's like knowing your christmas presents before christmas.

Having that said, they missed these:

Bonnie "Prince" Billy - The Letting Go
Bob Dylan - Modern Times
Tom Waits - Orphans
Annuals - Be He Me
My Morning Jacket - Live
Calexico
The Roots - Game Theory
Beirut - G.O.
among others....

Oh, and JT deserves to be on the list. If you are to pretentious to see good music when it is good, then you are really missing out. If you're too good for the artist himself, credit Timbaland, who is the main reason it IS good in the first place.

Posted by: Bill Mullally at 12/19/06 12:39 PM | Reply
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another album i guess they fell out of love with - Subtle - For Hero: For Fool

Posted by: Goon at 12/19/06 12:40 PM | Reply
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stereogum thinks it's so cool because it waited to publish the gummy award results until AFTER pfork posted its top albums. way to make the hipsters wait, gum. indie rock hotties, wahoo.

Posted by: yoma at 12/19/06 12:41 PM | Reply
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yay the knife at number 1!!

Posted by: claire at 12/19/06 12:45 PM | Reply
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Fascists!

Posted by: Boone at 12/19/06 12:48 PM | Reply
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First, why is M. Ward so low? I say top 10 at least. Second, where's Secret Machines and Final Fantasy?

Posted by: Kev at 12/19/06 12:49 PM | Reply
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Figurines should've been on this and any other list. It's a magnficent record!

Posted by: S. Hove at 12/19/06 12:53 PM | Reply
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And what about Danielson's Ships?
I was certain it would go far higher on their list, not only because it deserves to, but also since it did get one of the highest grades year-round.
Guess its a classic case of "either you love it or you hate it", that ends up with a mediocre ranking when averaged.

Posted by: Tikka at 12/19/06 1:00 PM | Reply
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i was semi-hoping they'd reverse their mixed opinion of BITTER TEA, which remains in my top five, by the time this list was released. alas. and i like FOX CONFESSOR enough for myself *and* pitchfork, so i'm not too upset about that, either.

pretty good in general -- this list is one of the few i've seen that achieves a true democracy between indie rock and Other Stuff, and it's equally nice that they don't spend half of each capsule asserting their diversity of taste. my biggest complaint is that YS is too low. 8)

as far as timberlake goes, I'm convinced "my love" would be one of the year's most popular songs around here if it were released by an underground Scandinavian act (it's just too bad about "sexyback".)

Posted by: mike at 12/19/06 1:05 PM | Reply
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uhhh, where the fuck is Panic! At The Disco, Fall Out Boy, and My Chemcal Romance!?!? They should be the top three albums!

Posted by: Elmer Hedberg at 12/19/06 1:05 PM | Reply
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kev, the new secret machines was mostly awful.

Posted by: carson at 12/19/06 1:07 PM | Reply
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I think I only own like 5 of the top 20 albums. I am so not indie.

Posted by: Stephen at 12/19/06 1:10 PM | Reply
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And what about Danielson's Ships?
I was certain it would go far higher on their list, not only because it deserves to, but also since it did get one of the highest grades year-round.
Guess its a classic case of "either you love it or you hate it", that ends up with a mediocre ranking when averaged.

Posted by: Tikka at 12/19/06 1:13 PM | Reply
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the knife is the most inane bullshit i've ever suffered.

Posted by: dallas at 12/19/06 1:13 PM | Reply
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Here are some others not mentioned yet that are worthy of inclusion:

Scritti Politti - White Bread Black Beer
Loney, Dear - Sologne
Lambchop - Damaged
Espers - II
Thom Yorke - The Eraser

Posted by: drake at 12/19/06 1:21 PM | Reply
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They sure did blow a lot of wind up Greg's (Girl Talk) skirt to throw him all the way down at 34.

Posted by: Alicia at 12/19/06 1:22 PM | Reply
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yep. list is standard safe-ground predictable. for all the e-jizz, what happened to Beirut?

Posted by: e at 12/19/06 1:27 PM | Reply
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This year kind of sucked for music, huh? I more or less agree with Pitchfork, which is kind of depressing, because I don't even love any of the top albums of this year. Like? Yes. Hell, I've listened to so much Ghostface this year people have stopped calling me a pretentious indie asshole and started calling me a wigger, but whatever, my point is... Um.. Let's hope 2007 doesn't suck quite as hard. Deal?

Posted by: matt at 12/19/06 1:28 PM | Reply
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I can't figure this out!!???! Rolling Stone has Dylan at #1 and Red Hot Chili Pepers at #2... while P4ork has the Knife and TV and Radio?

So which is it? Which list is right!!??!!!

Posted by: Jojoba at 12/19/06 1:28 PM | Reply
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yep. list is standard safe-ground predictable. for all the e-jizz, what happened to Beirut?

Posted by: e at 12/19/06 1:28 PM | Reply
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was it just me or was tapes n tapes released in 2005???

Posted by: tj at 12/19/06 1:30 PM | Reply
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I totally agree, Annie, 'cause Clipse and Ghostface Killah are so damn indie it makes me want to puke, what with their mopish haircuts and guitar-drenched sound. Two words: Pre. Tentious.

I love Joanna Newsom, but think Ys is an over-rated album. I hope her career survives the hype.

Posted by: nathan at 12/19/06 1:30 PM | Reply
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oh give it up islands boy. without alden, nick is just another unmemorable popster. Oh, and "rough gem" has some of the most annoying lyrics ever.

Posted by: dylan at 12/19/06 1:31 PM | Reply
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That's what they do Alicia.

They only really "like" music when it's in their best interest to do so.

Posted by: Jay at 12/19/06 1:31 PM | Reply
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was it just me or was tapes n tapes released in 2005???

Posted by: tj at 12/19/06 1:33 PM | Reply
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I would rather have someone slowly rip off my fingernails than have to listen to Scott Walker.

Posted by: rosemary at 12/19/06 1:38 PM | Reply
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Yo, i'm sorry but how did Kingdom Come not make the top ten. That is obviously the best album of the year, with Mission of Burma a close second. TVOTR wishes they were rappers. The Hold Steady are worse then AC/DC. Joanna Newsom needs a drummer and people to tell her that 15 minute songs about animals sung in a voice that sounds like an asphyxiated meerkat being raped is not how you are supposed to make music. Oh yeah and what about Nas?

Posted by: Furman P. Slothra at 12/19/06 1:39 PM | Reply
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yea, I think Tapes n Tapes was released in fall (winter perhaps?) 05. What about Sound Team? I won't even go there with Fox Confessor. I hate the Knife. HATE THEM. they make me want to stab someone. and Joanna Newsom, god if anyone was overrated.

Posted by: liz at 12/19/06 1:39 PM | Reply
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Pitchfork hates a few things:

1. Albums that make them feel like they're being looked down on by the more respectable, better-educated, generally smarter NPR crowd.

2. Albums that would be popular even without Pitchfork support.

3. Hip hop that doesn't match their conception of authenticity.

That, I think, explains most of their picks, snubs, and underrankings. Destroyer, the Decemberists, and Neko Case make them feel looked-down-on. The Hold Steady and Liars make them think that assholes who spend all their time getting drunk listening to dance-punk are the real smart ones. The Knife owes them for U.S. success, and Clipse owe them for hipster success. And every rap album that isn't 90% about coke is like way fake!

Posted by: aeroman at 12/19/06 1:40 PM | Reply
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I can't entirely respect any list of 50, that does not include Bitter Tea... or Orphans for that matter. what the fuck. also, Fab Four Suture was pretty awesome... I love Pitchfork, but this list sucks.

Posted by: vreen at 12/19/06 1:41 PM | Reply
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I'd rank these higher: M. Ward, Camera Obscura.

Missing: Beirut. Witch.

No Gnarls Barkley on the list is also kinda surprising.

Posted by: tk. at 12/19/06 1:44 PM | Reply
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if tapes n tapes was released in 2005 you would have stopped hearing about those bores by now.

Posted by: dannygutters at 12/19/06 1:45 PM | Reply
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clearly missing from the list -

tom waits - top 20, easily

bob dylan - it's not the #1 album of the year like rolling stone says, but it deserves at least to be in the top 30 of this pitchfork list

neko case - great album, the best of her career, easy top 30-40 on here

xiu xiu - solid album, deserves top 50 placement

... and more commentary forthcoming!

Posted by: z at 12/19/06 1:48 PM | Reply
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Oh no they didn't put The Knife at no 1? And no El Perro del Mar?!...Shit...

Posted by: Tyronne at 12/19/06 1:50 PM | Reply
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Maybe you have to see the hold steady live...

Posted by: Bill at 12/19/06 1:52 PM | Reply
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Major snubs IMHO:
Fiery Furnaces
Graham Coxon
Howe Gelb (possibly best album of the year)
The Walkmen
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
oh, and I lurve Asobi Seksu

Posted by: Faz at 12/19/06 1:58 PM | Reply
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Hey EVERYONE! Lighten the fuck up! Here's how I use pitchfork: If I already like a band, I'll listen to them regardless of what rating pitchfork gives it. If I find a certain review interesting I'll listen to it and depending on my tastes, I'll buy it (I just found out I don't like Sunset Rubdown, sorta like the Knife, and really want the Liars' album). Let pitchfork like what they like. Who cares if a band you like isn't on the list. It's not your list! It's theirs, and they can put on it whoever they please. So if your fave band is on the list, appreciate your band's placement and move on.

Posted by: Eric at 12/19/06 1:59 PM | Reply
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"Oh yea, D, don't compare the Hold Steady's album to Born to Run or Sticky Fingers...and what's Tim?"

That last question reveals a LOT.

Posted by: d at 12/19/06 2:05 PM | Reply
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I love how posts that critisize a certain band on the list are followed up by insults that the band or pitchfork staff are pussies,pansies, etc.. Since when did indie rock kids become jackass jocks from 90's highschool?

Posted by: crc at 12/19/06 2:09 PM | Reply
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dear matthew. please calm down and proofread. you will sound more credible and less like a spanish child screaming for his mother after being abandoned behind the melon booth at a dirty farmer's market.

Posted by: matty ice at 12/19/06 2:15 PM | Reply
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What a shit list. I'm not saying there's not some good stuff on there, but they're being ridiculously neglectful. Thanks for reminding me why I want to beat my head against a brick wall everytime I read Pitchfork.

Posted by: Matthew at 12/19/06 2:15 PM | Reply
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This is what really stands out for me - the too high, too low, and just right albums on the P'Fork list that i feel like mentioning -

TOO HIGH ON P'FORK LIST...
• Joanna Newsom - good ambitious album, but it doesn't deserve #3 this year (although i expected it higher) - i'd put it in the top 20 or so
• Liars - this album tried to be everything that Scott Walker did better, and it deserves to be somewhere in the top 50, but #6 is just ridiculous
• Band of Horses - a boring blog-hyped rehash of Mercury Rev/Flaming Lips/My Morning Jacket styled rock music - wistful, achy, and full of reverb - but it's an imitator nonetheless, and should be MUCH lower here
• Man Man - a boring Tom Waits rehash for hipsters who cannot appreciate the real thing, and speaking of Waits, where the fuck is he on the list?? this would be 10x better if Man Man swapped spots with Orphans, the latter taking the place entirely of the former :O :O !!!
• Cat Power - it's alright, but too weak an album for top 30 placement... maybe deserves 40-50
• TAPES N TAPES - jesus christ, fuck off already, bloggers - P'fork did well to exclude Beirut, Midlake, Cold War Kids, Birdmonster, Sound Team, etc. but really fucked up with this one :(

TOO LOW ON P'FORK LIST...
• Junior Boys - it's a top 10 album, guys, come on!
• Belle and Sebastian - the best album of their career, EASILY, and deserves to be in the top 20 this year, it's a perfect pop record
• Yo La Tengo - awesome album, could be higher possibly - but i guess it's alright where it is... maybe.
• Mission of Burma - i was surprised this made the list at all, but it's in my top ten and deserves better here.

THE GLARING OMISSIONS...
• Tom Waits - like i said earlier... top 20 release this year, no question
• Bob Dylan - a shadow of his former albums, but it's a top 30 album on this list, sorry Dylan hating hipsters! :)
• Neko Case - the best album of her career deserves to be top 30-40 here
• Xiu Xiu - a solid album, should be in the 50 at least..!
• Loose Fur - leagues better than the first album in '03, and another top 50 omission
• Beth Orton - a beautiful album that is getting snubbed by the lists this year, and a good top 50 record overlooked

P'FORK PLACEMENT JUST RIGHT...
• The Knife - this was a deadringer for #1 after i saw their placement on p'fork's top 100 songs list - two songs in the top 20, plus the #2 song of the year (behind timberlake) - so it was predictably the top album this year, but was correct nonetheless
• Scott Walker - great album! and i'm really glad to see this sneak into the top 10, right where it should be
• Tim Hecker - i was really surprised this made it to #14, but that's fucking awesome - perfect placement for a great record, thanks p'fork!
• The Thermals - glad this made it up there, it's an excellent album :)
• Califone - great placement, love the record
• Sonic Youth - solid album, not their best, but it's still a great Sonic Youth album and hardly disappointing - and it deserves its spot here.

Posted by: z at 12/19/06 2:25 PM | Reply
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