Pitchfork's Top 50 albums of 2010

[falafel]

I think most years a top 10 jazz list can easily include 3-4 Zorn albums and probably 5+ albums from the Tzadik label.

Zorn puts out 3 to 4 albums a year?

[MartyFunkhouser]

Zorn puts out 3 to 4 albums a year?

If a light year yes, in years that he is recording more he puts out substantially more albums.

In 2004 he released 9 albums from his 50th Birthday Celebration alone. All of these were live albums with various groups that he is a part of or just groups that he composed the music for. I'm counting both the stuff he plays on and the stuff that he has composed.

I think one count is that Zorn has composed, record, or appeared on 400 albums.

http://home.arcor.de/nyds-exp-discogs/zorn.htm

[Surfah]

as long as one pretends to like animal collective, they will be golden.

Agreed. I have tried. And tried. And tried. I don't get it. It hurts my ears. Seriously.

[marsupial]

What? No My World 2.0?

[falafel]

Agreed. I have tried. And tried. And tried. I don't get it. It hurts my ears. Seriously.

Time to get some new ears. MPP is a great album. MG took a chance on a young Cubs fan on CB on night and introduced me to it and I've been grateful ever since.

[Surfah]

Time to get some new ears. MPP is a great album. MG took a chance on a young Cubs fan on CB on night and introduced me to it and I've been grateful ever since.

Meh. It's far too disjointed for me. I like music. Not sounds.

[MartyFunkhouser]

Meh. It's far too disjointed for me. I like music. Not sounds.

So based on this discussion, I decided to try to listen to this album. I'm not seeing how it is disjointed and just sounds. Seems pretty normal to me, but I'm not a good judge. I'm liking what I am listening to right now.

[old_gregg]

So based on this discussion, I decided to try to listen to this album. I'm not seeing how it is disjointed and just sounds. Seems pretty normal to me, but I'm not a good judge. I'm liking what I am listening to right now.

For my untrained ear, it's tough for me to do much more than focus on one harmony. MPP is so profoundly dynamic that it has to be the sole object of consciousness to even be approached. My ADD precludes that.

Edit: I guess that brings up an interesting question. How do you all listen to music? Sitting in a chair? Doing other stuff?

[Surfah]

So based on this discussion, I decided to try to listen to this album. I'm not seeing how it is disjointed and just sounds. Seems pretty normal to me, but I'm not a good judge. I'm liking what I am listening to right now.

MPP is their most melodic and ear-friendly album. I am admittedly basing my feelings on this album from everything else I have heard from AC which probably isn't fair. Still, I have not made it through MPP all the way through in a single sitting. And to be honest I have stopped trying. I don't understand the enormous praise some have heaped on it with such accolades as one of the best of the decade and most important of the century. I think that's an indictment on the music that is being released now.

[BoylenOver]

For my untrained ear, it's tough for me to do much more than focus on one harmony. MPP is so profoundly dynamic that it has to be the sole object of consciousness to even be approached. My ADD precludes that.

Edit: I guess that brings up an interesting question. How do you all listen to music? Sitting in a chair? Doing other stuff?

Usually sitting down while "working", but sometimes driving or doing stuff around the apartment.

I love MPP, and while I'm not going to take a dump on anyone's tastes/preferences, I don't understand why it's a struggle. But there are plenty of bands/albums that are enjoyed here (Gaslight Anthem's "American Slang", for one) that I can't get into.

[Surfah]

Usually sitting down while "working", but sometimes driving or doing stuff around the apartment.

I love MPP, and while I'm not going to take a dump on anyone's tastes/preferences, I don't understand why it's a struggle. But there are plenty of bands/albums that are enjoyed here (Gaslight Anthem's "American Slang", for one) that I can't get into.

Right it's just not my thing. I don't necessarily get experimental. Avant garde really in any media isn't something that tickles my tummy. Now, Gaslight Anthem? I freaking love them. So there you go.

[MarkGrace]

I love MPP, and while I'm not going to take a dump on anyone's tastes/preferences, I don't understand why it's a struggle. But there are plenty of bands/albums that are enjoyed here (Gaslight Anthem's "American Slang", for one) that I can't get into.

Same. Surfah's comments have made very little sense to me, and it's not just because I like the album and he doesn't. For example, when UtahDan explains why he doesn't like Kid A, I get what he's saying. The songs aren't sing-y song-y enough for him, and he's right, they're very non-traditional sort of songs. So I get where's he coming from, even if I don't necessarily understand why he'd look at songs so narrowly.

When Surfah makes comments like "disjointed" and "I like songs not sounds," I'm just left puzzled. And the one that made me almost fall out of my seat was the "I don't know, I guess I just like pop music too much." That just drew a serious wtf? from me. Not that he has to like it, of course he doesn't. And if it's not his thing, it's not his thing, and I totally get that. I've just struggled to make a connection between his observations and the actual music.

Whenever I would read these comments, I would wonder if he grabbed the wrong Animal Collective album, because I could see where those comments would make sense elsewhere. And now that he says part of his comments are based on other records, it makes some sense.

I'm not a huge AC fan. Prior to MPP the stuff I liked boiled down to half of Sung Tongs, half of Strawberry Jam, and Panda's solo record Person Pitch. But to me MPP is just another thing. The songs are straight forward, approachable, and very traditional while managing to be completely non-traditional. Ha. But seriously, easily defined and catchy melodies, choruses, hooks, bridges, etc. -- to me it's all just classic pop, and I would have a tough time finding songs from last year that I would consider more pop than things like My Girls and Bluish. There are a million moving parts, to be sure, but they're all moving as one whole, which is what makes the thing so damn thrilling. Then you get the textural complexity and other worldy harmonies that are just so incredible. Damn, it's just a fascinating record.

The package is a bit more esoteric, but don't kid yourself, you boil this thing down to its essence and you've got a Beach Boys style pure pop record. If Brian Wilson were a musician in the contemporary era (not that he's not a musician right now, but you know what I mean), he'd be Panda Bear. Seriously, go grab SMiLE right now and play something like Vegetables or Mrs. O'Leary's Cow. Shit is out there for its era (not the year it was released, but the year Wilson was recording it -- but even for 2004 that stuff is pretty odd).

[old_gregg]

Same. Surfah's comments have made very little sense to me, and it's not just because I like the album and he doesn't. For example, when UtahDan explains why he doesn't like Kid A, I get what he's saying. The songs aren't sing-y song-y enough for him, and he's right, they're very non-traditional sort of songs. So I get where's he coming from, even if I don't necessarily understand why he'd look at songs so narrowly.

When Surfah makes comments like "disjointed" and "I like songs not sounds," I'm just left puzzled. And the one that made me almost fall out of my seat was the "I don't know, I guess I just like pop music too much." That just drew a serious wtf? from me. Not that he has to like it, of course he doesn't. And if it's not his thing, it's not his thing, and I totally get that. I've just struggled to make a connection between his observations and the actual music.

Whenever I would read these comments, I would wonder if he grabbed the wrong Animal Collective album, because I could see where those comments would make sense elsewhere. And now that he says part of his comments are based on other records, it makes some sense.

I'm not a huge AC fan. Prior to MPP the stuff I liked boiled down to half of Sung Tongs, half of Strawberry Jam, and Panda's solo record Person Pitch. But to me MPP is just another thing. The songs are straight forward, approachable, and very traditional while managing to be completely non-traditional. Ha. But seriously, easily defined and catchy melodies, choruses, hooks, bridges, etc. -- to me it's all just classic pop, and I would have a tough time finding songs from last year that I would consider more pop than things like My Girls and Bluish. There are a million moving parts, to be sure, but they're all moving as one whole, which is what makes the thing so damn thrilling. Then you get the textural complexity and other worldy harmonies that are just so incredible. Damn, it's just a fascinating record.

The package is a bit more esoteric, but don't kid yourself, you boil this thing down to its essence and you've got a Beach Boys style pure pop record. If Brian Wilson were a musician in the contemporary era (not that he's not a musician right now, but you know what I mean), he'd be Panda Bear. Seriously, go grab SMiLE right now and play something like Vegetables or Mrs. O'Leary's Cow. Shit is out there for its era (not the year it was released, but the year Wilson was recording it -- but even for 2004 that stuff is pretty odd).

maybe i'll give it another go

[Surfah]

Same. Surfah's comments have made very little sense to me, and it's not just because I like the album and he doesn't. For example, when UtahDan explains why he doesn't like Kid A, I get what he's saying. The songs aren't sing-y song-y enough for him, and he's right, they're very non-traditional sort of songs. So I get where's he coming from, even if I don't necessarily understand why he'd look at songs so narrowly.

When Surfah makes comments like "disjointed" and "I like songs not sounds," I'm just left puzzled. And the one that made me almost fall out of my seat was the "I don't know, I guess I just like pop music too much." That just drew a serious wtf? from me. Not that he has to like it, of course he doesn't. And if it's not his thing, it's not his thing, and I totally get that. I've just struggled to make a connection between his observations and the actual music.

Whenever I would read these comments, I would wonder if he grabbed the wrong Animal Collective album, because I could see where those comments would make sense elsewhere. And now that he says part of his comments are based on other records, it makes some sense.

I'm not a huge AC fan. Prior to MPP the stuff I liked boiled down to half of Sung Tongs, half of Strawberry Jam, and Panda's solo record Person Pitch. But to me MPP is just another thing. The songs are straight forward, approachable, and very traditional while managing to be completely non-traditional. Ha. But seriously, easily defined and catchy melodies, choruses, hooks, bridges, etc. -- to me it's all just classic pop, and I would have a tough time finding songs from last year that I would consider more pop than things like My Girls and Bluish. There are a million moving parts, to be sure, but they're all moving as one whole, which is what makes the thing so damn thrilling. Then you get the textural complexity and other worldy harmonies that are just so incredible. Damn, it's just a fascinating record.

The package is a bit more esoteric, but don't kid yourself, you boil this thing down to its essence and you've got a Beach Boys style pure pop record. If Brian Wilson were a musician in the contemporary era (not that he's not a musician right now, but you know what I mean), he'd be Panda Bear. Seriously, go grab SMiLE right now and play something like Vegetables or Mrs. O'Leary's Cow. Shit is out there for its era (not the year it was released, but the year Wilson was recording it -- but even for 2004 that stuff is pretty odd).

Re-read my follow-up to Funk.

[MarkGrace]

Re-read my follow-up to Funk.

I didn't get anything additional on a second reading. Was I supposed to?