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The Pitchfork 500: Our Guide to the Greatest Songs from Punk to the Present | 
| Creators: Scott Plagenhoef, Ryan Schreiber
Publisher: Fireside
Category: Book
List Price: $16.00
Buy Used: $9.41
You Save: $6.59 (41%)
Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 14934
Media: Paperback
Pages: 208
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9 x 8 x 0.6
ISBN: 1416562028
Dewey Decimal Number: 781.6609
EAN: 9781416562023
ASIN: 1416562028
Publication Date: November 11, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
FROM THE BRAIN TRUST BEHIND PITCHFORKMEDIA.COM -- THE WEBSITE THE LOS ANGELES TIMES DECLARED "AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THE IPO D GENERATION'S LEXICON, A MUST-READ" -- A FRESH GUIDE TO THE 500 BEST SONGS OF THE PAST THIRTY YEARS.Named the "best site for music criticism on the web" by The New York Times Magazine, Pitchforkmedia.com has become the leading independent resource for music journalism, the place people turn to find out what's happening in new music. Founded in 1995, Pitchfork has developed one of the web's most devoted followings, with more than 1.6 million readers monthly who tune in for daily reviews, news, features, videos, and interviews. In The Pitchfork 500: Our Guide to the Greatest Songs from Punk to the Present, Pitchfork offers up their take on the 500 best songs of the past three decades. Focusing on indie rock (Arcade Fire, the Shins), hiphop (Public Enemy, Jay-Z), electronic (Daft Punk, Boards of Canada), pop (Madonna, Justin Timberlake), metal (Metallica, Boris), and experimental underground music (Suicide, Boredoms), it features all-new essays and reviews written with the sharp wit and insight for which the site is known. Kicking it off in 1977 with the birth of punk and independent music, The Pitchfork 500 runs chronologically, with each chapter representing a distinct period and offering a narrative of how the musical landscape of the day influenced its artists. The book opens with David Bowie, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Kraftwerk, and Brian Eno, the "art-rock godfathers" who set the tone and tenor for the next thirty years, and wraps up in the present, when bands connect with new audiences through social networking sites and prime-time TV placements -- and when a single mp3 can turn a niche indie artist into a global sensation. Sidebars like "Yacht Rock," "Runaway Trainwrecks," "Nanofads," and "Career Killers" call out some far-from-classic musical trends and identify the guiltiest offenders. Modernizing the music-guide format, The Pitchfork 500 reflects the way listeners are increasingly processing music -- by song rather than by album. These 500 tracks condense thirty years of essential music into the ultimate chronological playlist, each song advancing the narrative and, by extension, the music itself.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 have you written about 500 songs from the last 40 years?! December 2, 2008
Erik Calcott (Canyon Lake, CA)
Preface: I am a 40 year old music fan who prefers the "indie" stuff, so I've long been a reader of Pitchfork. Like any review site, however, all ratings are subjective opinion and shouldn't be interpreted as gospel.
That said: This is a great book. I have learned a lot about the back-stories, relevancy, and/or even hidden meanings about some of my favorite songs. Mostly, however, it's turned me on to songs I had never heard. This book doesn't only cover "alternative" or "indie" music, it runs the gamut. (Although, as the years progress, there is more of a slant towards their niche.) For anyone who likes music, this is worth picking up. You'll find yourself re-listening to, no - re-hearing songs for the first time. (How's that for pretentious.) Of course you won't agree with every selection, but it is a worthwhile collection of substantial tunes. Well done.
Finally: It's funny to me that people don't see the irony of giving poor reviews to a book of compiled reviews. It's not the opinion that matters, it's that there are opinions.
 Interesting and informative November 17, 2008
Visitor Q (New York)
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
I found this book to be very insightful and it is a good conversation piece for when friends come over and see it on the table. It has helped a great deal when it comes to making mix CDs for people. I don't agree with all the songs listed in the book but for the most part I do and I have found some interesting tracks from this book.
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