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The Top 100 Albums of the 80s (Pitchfork Mag)

 
 
Saveloy
12:13 / 21.11.02
Online music mag Pitchfork have listed what they believe to be the top 100 records of the 1980s, complete with helpful wee review for each LP. Here's the intro:
"It's said that the 1980s are responsible for the worst fashion, fads, and music of any decade of the 20th century. But as we see the decade recycled and updated with post-millennial minimalism, it's becoming clear that the 1980s had more to offer than we've given them credit for. As the calendar left the classless earthtones and polyester of the 1970s behind, musicians looked to the future for inspiration in new genres. With this feature, Pitchfork seeks to prove that, amidst the smooth-jazz of Kenny G, the vanilla soul of Hall & Oates, and the white-trash hair-rock of Warrant, lay a revolution in sound. It is to the vision and perseverance of many of these artists that we owe the roots of hip-hop, synth-pop, and most notably for this publication, alternative and indie rock. Respect is due."
And here's the list:

The Top 100 Records of the 80s

We all know that these lists mean nothing yadda yadda yadda, but whaddya think anyway? Got anything to say about the music of the 80s in general?
 
 
Spatula Clarke
14:50 / 21.11.02
musicians looked to the future for inspiration in new genres

90% of them being guitar-based groups, apparently. Funny; I thought the real innovation in the 80s took place in genres other than rock.

I must have dreamed Into the Dragon, too.
 
 
Cop Killer
15:59 / 21.11.02
The stuff on there is either stuff I already own or shit that I will probably never buy. There was so much fun music in the 80's, so how come there's so little fun music on the list?
 
 
No star here laces
17:16 / 21.11.02
An easy answer to all these questions is that people who write for Pitchfork are pasty little runts with unpleasantly lonely sex lives and an unhealthy obsession about shite indie music. They are therefore allergic to fun and their opinions on music should be ignored.

After all, their review of the Andrew WK album just read "SHITE".

How wrong can you be?
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
17:53 / 21.11.02
"Allergic to fun" - well said.

Lyra's right. Pitchfork is one of the least credible publications in any currently existing media - there's no point taking them even a tiny bit seriously.

By the way, the Andrew WK said more than just "SHITE" - it was actually this warped, pained interior monologue in which the writer was trying to talk himself out of enjoying the music because he was convinced that it was ALL THAT IS EVIL AND WRONG IN THIS WORLD. It's piss-poor journalism, but it's a pretty amazing thing to read in a car-crash sort of way.
 
 
Seth
19:18 / 21.11.02
How about we make our own list with our own reviews? We each get a set number of nominations. Doesn't have to be a hundred strong... we could limit ourselves to five or ten nominatins each.
 
 
Spatula Clarke
20:10 / 21.11.02
I like.
 
 
The Return Of Rothkoid
21:06 / 21.11.02
Collaborative, christmassy zine thing? With voting for, say, ten reviewers, rather than thousands of albums? Could be inneresting; the crossovers would force rethinks etc...
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
21:52 / 21.11.02
Hmmm. I think some kind of collaborative thing could be cool, but invariably best-of lists are not.
 
 
Spatula Clarke
22:04 / 21.11.02
True, but it could be turned into something similar to the abortive Barbelith recommends... threads, albeit on a much smaller scale. As long as it's not just a list...
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
03:02 / 22.11.02
More precisely, what are you proposing, Mr. Dupre?
 
 
Seth
04:55 / 22.11.02
Whatever happened to that Most Barbelith Albums List we spent ages putting together?
 
 
Saveloy
07:07 / 22.11.02
A big thumbs up all round for the Pitchfork list then? Heh heh.

I like the sound of the Barbelith Guide to Super Bouncy Whoop-Whoop Fun. Since it's been suggested as a sort of riposte to the Pitchfork list, should it be limited to music of the 80s? And just albums, or any sort of recording?
 
 
rizla mission
09:12 / 22.11.02
God, I hate this whole thing of splitting pop culture squarely into wholly seperate decades and then boiling them down to their most visible fashion trends and then assuming that anything *else* that happened within that 10 years (that's TEN FUCKING YEARS - a pop lifetime) is somehow freakish..

..that meme's just become completely all consuming thanks to shit polls like this one and shit compilations and so on.. it should be KILLED, stone dead, Grrr...
 
 
rizla mission
09:14 / 22.11.02
(though having said that, after a brief look at the list, I can't fault their taste I'm afraid.. :P )
 
 
Spatula Clarke
11:01 / 22.11.02
Whatever happened to that Most Barbelith Albums List we spent ages putting together?

Threads got deleted in a crash, attempts to revive the idea died. I lost the section that I was putting into order many moons ago, don't know about Riz or Flyboy.
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
11:27 / 22.11.02
Riz is correct. If someone has any idea on how to do a project like this that makes sense, yet is not at all anything like a list, please step up.

Perhaps a random selection of records with brief essays trying to explain what makes that recording "Invisible"? I don't know.
 
 
rizla mission
11:54 / 22.11.02
I've still got the list of 'Most Barbelith Albums' actually, but it's nothing more than a list of several hundred random ablums covering the musical tastes of the various people here really.. doesn't really reveal anything new..

If it's to be ressurected in some way, I quite like Flux's idea - maybe everyone who wants to take part could nominate one album that they think everyone else on Barbelith should hear, and then write a brief piece about why they think this is so..?

Could make a good thingy for the 'zine maybe..
 
 
Spatula Clarke
12:19 / 22.11.02
When we say "not a list", are we just talking about not ranking stuff? If so, running with the ideas in the last couple of posts, maybe this could be a 'Barbelith Essentials' piece (with a term other than 'essentials' - it shouldn't come across as a "you have to have heard these to post here" deal).

.. and then write a brief piece...

Yes. The 'Most Barbelith...' threads were flawed in that they included no justifications.
 
 
The Natural Way
13:10 / 22.11.02
Hmmm, might be a shit idea, might be a shit mag, BUT the things quite good tour guide around the eighties rock thing - a scene I'm relatively unfamiliar w/, really. So at the very least it's piqued my curiosity about a whole bunch of bands.....
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
13:28 / 22.11.02
Oh! I've got an idea!

How about we use this premise - each Barbelith member is to write about the cd that they'd give the rest of Barbelith for Christmas. It could be a regular album that's been released, or a mix cd/mix tape thing. They have to write something about why they're giving that record to Barbelith, and if it's a mix, they have to talk about why they chose each song. When we have a good number of responses, maybe we can make a minisite that can be part of the webzine.

We should set a word count, an approximate minimum and maximum, just to keep people from either being too terse or longwinded.
 
 
rizla mission
14:38 / 22.11.02
(actually, on second viewing I really think I like that Pitchfork list .. consists almost entirely of a)records I own and love and b)records I wish I owned and would probably love if I did..)
 
 
Spatula Clarke
20:19 / 23.11.02
I'm up for that, Flux. Anyone else?
 
 
The Return Of Rothkoid
00:39 / 24.11.02
How about a moderated thread, with postings like this? One album per person? Much like flux's idea...
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
04:46 / 24.11.02
I was thinking about it - I think it would be better if instead of regular albums it was about mixes, because everyone can talk about different things, and the selection of individual songs is more intimate and personal.

Thoughts?
 
  
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