I know that everyone is sick to death of these end of year lists, but seeing
this list absolutely thrilled me. There are some truly fantastic tracks represented here. What's most interesting about this though is how revealing it is of the positive nature of internet music criticism. If you didn't already know, Pitchforkmedia.com, a late 90's homegrown rock crit site, has been THE ultimate indie bastion for at least the past five years. Now you might be tempted to immediately write this off as just another in a long line of irrelevant music fan sites filled with failed rock journo wannabes, but Pitchfork has grown into a highly influential, indie tastemaking powerhouse. Pitchfork is the most representative music publication for underground indie kids, just like Spin is for college alt-rockers, Rolling Stone is for middle age rockists still obsessed with the 60's and 70's, and NME is for fans of British guitar bands. Note the article
here. Unfortunately, from the beginning, Pitchfork has always embraced the same old tired, traditional indie rules and biases.
Pop music is "manufactured", therefore it is artistically vacant. Pop music is derivative and is neither groundbreaking or experimental. Rock is more "authentic", because the artists write their own songs and play their own instruments. Pop music is emotionally trite. You can only enjoy pop inronically or as a guilty pleasure. Hip-hop and dance music as genres are musically inferior to rock. It was a formula that worked for them, because that's exactly what their readership believed and wanted. While Pitchfork continued to gain in popularity and readership,
ILM (as I've mentioned before), a kind of music think tank, sprang up in 2000, frequented by pop friendly music geeks, under the radar musicians, and critics of varying experience. It was here that a sort of philosophical line was drawn in the sand between the Pitchfork endorsed indie snob club and the wider encompassing, backlash stimulated, pro-pop view. Being a message board, ILM never has and never will carry nearly the same kind of influence over record buyers that these review sites do, but I'll be damned if there's ever been a bigger hotbed for music analysis than ILM 2000-2003. While Pitchfork continued to reinforce outmoded musical stereotypes to its readers, ILM began to push its agenda in the most subversive way possible. Through reason alone, some Pitchfork writers began to grudgingly accept that yes, musical styles beyond rock and bedroom electronica can be stimulating, emotionally moving, intelligent, and most importantly, fun. A couple years ago, Pitchfork quietly revamped their Best of 90's album list, finally acknowledging that hip-hop actually did exist in the 1990's and there was more to music than Pavement. As Pitchfork's writer base continued to turn over, more and more new hires were either ILMers or ILM influenced, paving the way for their singles section, which frequently *gasp* REVIEWS SONGS PLAYED ON THE RADIO. Today, I think we see the end result of this gradual transformation, the shedding of the old willfully close-minded critical process for one that just seeks good music, no matter who makes it or how it's consumed. Two years ago, it would have been a complete impossibility for artists like Christina Milian, Big & Rich, Rachel Stevens, Kylie, Beyonce, Britney Spears, or Annie (#1!) to make a Pitchfork top 50 singles list. And just read the write ups...some are just straight up apologies for past irrational pop hate. There's even a brief mention of Girls Aloud (they didn't actually place though, WTF), who are the epitome of manufactured pop. So why is all of this a big deal? Because like I said above, Pitchfork has a massive indie readership, many of which still believe that rock is inherently superior to other genres. Pitchfork endorsing this level of expanded music appreciation is probably one of the only ways to validate this viewpoint to many of these people. It's changing ideas from the inside. And while some may think all this is pretty trivial, I have to say, I feel invigorated by the possibility that someday, open-minded acceptance of all forms of art becomes the standard, not the exception.
(Or considering the short term, I'm elated that
Anniemal is probably guaranteed a stateside release now, so I won't have to pay obscene import prices to get it. It's the album I've listened to the most out of any this year, and is probably the one that makes me the happiest as well. "Heartbeat" is indeed grand, but there are a plethora of truly wonderful songs on this album, including the Richard X produced "Me Plus One" and the sonically nervous "Greatest Hit". "Helpless For Love" is a total melodic tour-de-force, what with that gorgeous free falling vocal during the chorus and the way that cute, squeaky synth follows every spoken line, as if to translate in hamster language. The Norwegian accent goes a long way in songs like "Anniemal", where an otherwise inane lyric like "bring out the Anniemal, inside of you!" suddenly becomes the greatest thing ever. Perhaps the biggest highlight is the seven and a half minute wistful disco pop number "Come Together", which surprisingly, given the stiff competition, is probably the pinnacle of songs with that namesake. Really, this is an absolute must have album if there ever was one.)
Big nuts for EA. I wasn't really ever a fan of the other franchises, so the real big news here is this.
All football fans will be left with are Madden, NFL Street, and a new unannounced football management game that is in the works from, you guessed it, EA Sports."All of our data shows that there is a huge market for manager-style games," said Jeff Brown, Director of Corporate Communications for Electronic Arts, "and you could see a new type of football game from EA."
Can you imagine? Realistic player contracts, in depth year round player scouting, real time draft day dealings...Madden franchise mode turned up to 10. And if they somehow fully integrated this with Madden and NCAA... Oh wow.
Weird occurrence of the week:
They just played Pulp's "Monday Morning" during college football highlights for the BCS selection show.
Besides the gameplay, here is why Tekken is the best fighting game series ever.
Translated Tekken 5 Profile For
Roger Jr.:
Roger Jr. is a second generation Kangaroo genetically engineered created for military purposes. The 1st Roger was born at the Mishima Financial group’s biotechnology laboratories where they designed animals for practical military use under the control of Kazuya Mishima. After competing in the King of Iron Fist 2, Roger Sr. eagerly awaited the birth of Roger Jr., parents and child lived quietly and happily together. But Roger Sr. suddenly disappeared one day, leaving his wife and child behind. Someone had taken him away. The timing of the King of Iron Fist Tournament 5’s announcement couldn’t have been a coincidence. Roger Jr., believing he knows his fathers whereabouts, instinctively hops into his mother’s pouch determined to participate in the tournament.
You won't be finding genetically engineered kangaroos in Street Fighter, Virtua Fighter, DOA, or Marvel vs. Capcom vs. SNK vs. Veggietales...
