convoluted bitching about the pitchfork list

pitchfork is culminating its decade retrospective with a "top 200 albums" list. i'm going to preface this rant by declaring that i usually like pitchfork's lists. the top 100 albums lists for the 70s, 80s, and 90s all seemed definitive: canonical, yet varied; representative of all the trends, currents, and narratives of that particular decade. i even readily agreed with their recent "top 500 tracks of 2000-09" list. but, there is something that bothers me about this albums list. and it's not just because several of my favorite albums of this decade have either been ignored or ranked already. perhaps it's an indication of the scattershot, disjointed nature of musical consumption in the aughts, or, [collar pull] perhaps it's because this decade really hasn't produced as many truly essential albums.

take, for example, vampire weekend at #51. a lot of people rag on it because it was made by a bunch of over-privileged, ivy-leagued cultural appropriators. the backlash it received after the hype cycle ran its course was unprecedented; people who championed the blue cd-r demo at the end of 2007 were dismissing and removing themselves from the band by the time pitchfork slapped a "best new music" label on the proper album in january. i actually like the album. it's innocuous, it's catchy, and it definitely was in heavy rotation in my household during the early months of 2008. but. #51 of the decade?

my point of contention may be the seemingly arbitrary, chicken with its head cut off rankings. pitchfork's other album lists are coherent and the rankings easily justifiable. this go-round contains some puzzlingly nonsensical choices. how does a tedious, retrograde, simpering wet fart of an album like bon iver's for emma, forever ago rank above, say, boredoms' vision creation newsun, which, as the blurb states, predicts the majority of the more experimental trends in 00's indie rock. yeah, i know this may be an example of "why did album x, which i think blows ass, rank above album y, which i think is awesome." but that reveals the problem with this list and maybe the decade as a whole: lack of consensus.

this strives to be a canonical list. but you can't establish a canon without consensus.

for a point of comparison, look at their '70s list. with the exception of the wall, i really can't argue against any those choices. and the rankings make sense. of course another green world is 90 ranks better than before and after science. even if it doesn't reflect my personal taste, of course the logical canonical ranking for wire albums is: 154 < chairs missing < pink flag. but, with the aughties list, there are at least five or six albums that i fucking despise, ten or so that i think are boring and inoffensive, and about thirty that i think are "good, not great or 'top 100 of the decade' worthy." and i can't say, even objectively that mclusky do dallas or change are really 90 ranks "less good" than funeral and white blood cells, or whatever is going to be in the top ten.

also, the populist pandering is really obnoxious. the original review of andrew w.k.'s i get wet - from the dude who created the site, no less - gave the album a 0.6 out of 10. but then it winds up at #144 on the list. as the review says, it's a lowest common denominator sewage treatment plant of an album. why fucking celebrate it?

maybe my griping is based on entirely on tiresome "why is x higher than y" and "where is z?" reactions but, i think some more distance is necessary before critics can contextualize the decade and form a valid consensus.

ANYWAY, predictions for top twenty:

20. kill the moonlight - spoon
19. sound of silver - lcd soundsystem
18. late registration - kanye west
17. the moon & antarctica - modest mouse
16. supreme clientele - ghostface killah
15. turn on the bright lights - interpol
14. silent shout - the knife
13. agaetis byrjun - sigur ros
12. yankee hotel foxtrot - wilco
11. is this it? - the strokes
10. merriweather post pavillion - animal collective
9. illinoise - sufjan stevens
8. since i left you - the avalanches
7. funeral - arcade fire
6. white blood cells - the white stripes
5. stankonia - outkast
4. discovery - daft punk
3. the blueprint - jay-z
2. person pitch - panda bear [should be #1!!!]
1. kid a - radiohead