Pitchfork Strikes Back

So I've already called your attention to this site, but here in this review for Tom Vek's We Have Sound, Sam Ubl of Pitchfork strikes out at their snarking of otherwise earnest enthusiasm.

Sam also calls attention to this article in the New York Times. The condescending tone the Times takes to Pitchfork and the bands involved with their Intonation Music Festival really pisses me off. Here's the most offending passage:

But it was hard not to think about what was missing, namely the swagger and ambition and hunger of musicians ready to take over the world, or at least the country.

To which, I must say "fuck that" and "fuck you". The Intonation Festival was a triumph for the bands that played there and also for the site that helped make it happen. Pitchfork has always been a fierce advocate for independent music and that scene has arrived at its heyday in part because of their efforts and the work of other sites of similar mindset. I don't think Pitchfork ever thought they'd be capable of pulling off something like they did that weekend when they first started. And I don't think any of the bands that attended would have ever thought they'd be playing to that size of a crowd. But together they made it happen. And on those couple days there in Chicago, they did take over the world.

I also took offense to this comment by the Times:

The Go! Team (8.7) somehow thrilled the audience with a supremely irritating set; imagine a British indie-pop version of the Black-Eyed Peas.

The Go! Team is not irritating; they are intolerably awesome. By which I mean to say that they put on one of the best shows of 2005. They brought more energy and outright fun to the stage than anyone else I've seen all year. You owe it to yourself to see them. Dates here.