Pitchfork's Top 500 tracks of the decade.

jill_valentine

Pitchfork counted down what they reckoned were the top 500 tracks of the Naughts.
http://pitchfork.com/p2k/


Just to save us some time -

1) We don't need to debate the merits of Pitchfork, it's role as a tastemaker, how much hipsters suck, or the general futility of making lists of songs.

2) Yes, I know there's still a year left in this decade.

Anyway, the top 20:

• 20. The Walkmen - The Rat
• 19. R. Kelly - Ignition (Remix)
• 18. Hercules & Love Affair - Blind
• 17. Annie - Heartbeat
• 16. The Rapture - House of Jealous Lovers
• 15. The Knife - Heartbeats
• 14. Jay-Z - 99 Problems
• 13. LCD Soundsystem - Losing My Edge
• 12. OutKast - Hey Ya!
• 11. Gnarls Barkley - Crazy
• 10. Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
• 9. Animal Collective - My Girls
• 8. Radiohead - Idioteque
• 7. Missy Elliott - Get Ur Freak On
• 6. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps
• 5. Daft Punk - One More Time
• 4. Beyonce & Jay-Z - Crazy in Love
• 3. M.I.A. - Paper Planes
• 2. LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends
• 1. OutKast - B.O.B

Never got the fuss over MIA. Although I applaud Pitchfork's ongoing attempt to acknowledge pop as a valid musical genre, or at least pay the idea lip service, I think the picks they made and their placements were a bit frustratingly arbitrary. Get Ur Freak On's a good song, but there's no way it's better than Crazy.

Some interesting omissions, as always. One genuinely surprising one being Radiohead's There There, which I thought was a shoe-in. LCD Soundsystem's All My Friends was a surprise to see so high - I expected Losing My Edge to come in higher - but All My Friends is a damn near-perfect song, so I can't complain.

Opinions?

larrykinney

Pretty interesting...

I like Pitchfork. The list is kinda unusual in not having many guitar based/alternative songs. I wouldn't be a huge fan of any of them. I like the album the Outkast song is from, though.

(Just looking at the top 500, there was some excellent songs, a good decade for music overall IMHO) :pac::pac:

lordgoat

Interesting list, glad to see some of thebetter pop songs on it too. I'd agree with you on the LCD song choice and Missy Elliot placing. Well i can't stand her so i'm a bit biased. Also not sure why Heartbeats is there either.

0ubliette

pitchfork is a pretentious site with pretentious reviews for pretentious tossers

lordgoat

0ubliette wrote: »

pitchfork is a pretentious site with pretentious reviews for pretentious tossers

No more of this.

thorbarry

jill_valentine wrote: »

• 20. The Walkmen - The Rat

What a song

loyatemu

i've thrown the top 20 together as a spotify playlist:
http://open.spotify.com/user/shweeney/playlist/5hVis39Oi1EMVAkYgJg3tk

the arcade fire track isn't on spotify, and the Knife track is a live version...

its an interesting list, the only ones I'd really agree with as definitive 00's tunes would Hey Ya and Crazy.

Frankiestylee

I don't tend to frequent Pitchfork, but I always got the impression they'd be too cool to include such pop songs... must say I'm quite impressed that they did.
Before I opened the thread I had a load of songs swimming in my head, but now that the pandora pop box is open... I'm sure there are a few tunes out there that are Missy Elliott beaters.

Nice list though, must have a look at the other 500 (and give Ignition a spin since it's obviously cool again )

jill_valentine

It's kind of amusing to me that it's now trendy to harsh on Pitchfork. Seems ironic how things have come full circle.

Thinking about it, Radiohead's Idioteque is a great song, but a left-field choice, even from their catalogue.

Jim

jill_valentine wrote: »

Never got the fuss over MIA.

Straight To Hell is always good.

Bubs101

I completely forgot how good Ignition by R. Kelly was before reading that list a few days ago and now I can't stop. No real complaints about the list, B.O.B is a great shout for number 1 but Pitchfork have been licking Lil' Wayne's balls now for a good decade and I just find it fishy that since the backlash only one of his songs gets in the top 100. Had this list been released before he turned from flavour of the month I think we would have seen him feature far more

Also, leaving out Tribute and On a Boat smacks of musical snobbery by ignoring comedy tracks no matter how amazing and overlooking you are the blood is criminal

jill_valentine

Bubs101 wrote: »

overlooking you are the blood is criminal

Holy hell, yes.

I feel like Bat For Lashes should have been given a shout, too, but Sufjan most definitely and I am by no means a fan of his.

heebusjeebus

jill_valentine wrote: »

2) Yes, I know there's still a year left in this decade.

Isnt '9 the last year of a decade? Same as 1999 was the last year of the 90's.

TheBandit

Jazuz, that's a shocking list altogether

Aridstarling

Hmmm... Seems a little too eager to play it safe, a little too un-pretentious. Really I would have a very, very different list to that altogether. Idioteque is about the only one I'd agree with being in the top 20. And All My Friends too.