It is not that I don’t agree that Kanye West and Vampire Weekend released great albums, I agree and both albums made my top 20 albums of 2014, it is that Pitchfork is meant to be the world of independence and edge and Rolling Stone the world of mainstream and classic and that they share the same two top albums, wherever else they may go, and really, the consensus of opinion in a music world simply overwhelmed with artists not just on PF and RS but everywhere is overwhelming.
My top five of 2013 includes three albums I haven’t seen on any list anywhere and one that appears around the #20 mark here and there… and Yeezus. Of my top ten albums, five appear on no one elses I’ve seen, and I’m not an experimental guy, I’m not NPR, I am not dealing with electronic composers working in a world Of Steve Reich Superstar, my taste is essentially pop music in its many transmissions.
But I listen to stuff I’m given by people and not by labels and publicists, I follow my ears, and if what I wanted was to take place at coronations all year long, than that’s exactly what I would do. I don’t see teenagers favorite bands listed here, Fall Out Boys and the Wonder Years had huge years but you can’t tell it from the rock writing world. Maybe they don’t care or maybe they don’t hear enough. Kevin Jenkins released one of the soul records of the year, where is it on all these lists lack lockstep soldiers of opinion: West, Vampire Weekend, My Bloody Valentine, Daft Punk: everywhere you look there they are.
We are not in a world where 5,000 albums a year are being released,w e live in a world where 50,000 records a year are being released. If we all like the same albums, doesn’t it suggest we aren’t doing are jobs: listening to enough stuf..
Mainstream critics break a handful of bands a year, Chvrches and Savages seem to fit the bill in 2013; got it, let’s all agree they are good bands, right? Now what, what do we do with this info?
This isn’t the same as it ever was, there might be a consensus over a spectacular album, Beyonce will garner praise as a mainstream masterpiece whenever it might be released, but after that it was open season. Especially since rock writers are not really tied to labels for product any more.
2013: can’t we all just carry on, as the stench of album fixing permeates the mainstream.