Hey Everybody, It’s Time To Argue Over Pitchfork’s Best Albums List

noah | December 19, 2008 9:00 am

This is what you’ve all been waiting for, right?

THE GOOD: Nos. 50-41 would have made an awesome alternate-universe top 10, what with Marnie Stern, Ponytail, High Places, and Beach House all being within. Alas. THE BAD: I will not quibble with the No. 1 choice and the reasons for its placement being wholly attributed to its comforting throwback nature (“The threads of Brian Wilson’s intricate coastal pop, Appalachian folk, modern indie rock, Grateful Dead jams, and other influences are masterfully synthesized in the band’s harmonies and simply orchestrated but constantly shifting instrumental arrangements”… “pastoral tendencies”); instead, I will just chalk its absurdly high placement up to “yet another reason why this year needs to be put out to pasture ASAP.” THE WHAAA? Those who “follow” Pitchfork as a hobby probably won’t be surprised by any of the picks for the top 10—the fake ‘Fork top 10 posted by the NME earlier this week, which was reportedly based off the site’s highest-numbered reviews of the year, had a remarkable overlap with the real one. It even got No Age’s No. 3 ranking right! (The only album from the proposed top 10 that didn’t make the real one: Fucked Up’s The Chemistry Of Common Life, which came in at No. 17.)

1. Fleet Foxes, Sun Giant EP / Fleet Foxes 2. Portishead, Third 3. No Age, Nouns 4. Cut Copy, In Ghost Colours 5. Deerhunter, Microcastle / Weird Era Cont. 6. TV On The Radio, Dear Science 7. Vampire Weekend 8. M83, Saturdays = Youth 9. Hercules & Love Affair 10. DJ/rupture, Uproot 11. Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III 12. Lindstrøm, Where You Go I Go Too 13. Erykah Badu, New Amerykah Part I: Fourth World War 14. Air France, No Way Down 15. Crystal Castles 16. Vivian Girls 17. Fucked Up, The Chemistry Of Common Life 18. The Mae Shi, HLLYH 19. The Walkmen, You & Me 20. Fuck Buttons, Street Horrrsing 21. Kanye West, 808s & Heartbreak 22. Santogold 23. Hot Chip, Made In The Dark 24. Gang Gang Dance, Saint Dymphna 25. Titus Andronicus, The Airing Of Grievances

(26-50 are at the link.)

The 50 Best Albums Of 2008 [Pitchfork]