The New York Times named Pitchforkmedia.com "the best site for music criticism on the web."
It's become The Rolling Stone for Generation Txt. The site gets over 1.5 million readers monthly and now they have moved into physical media with the publication of the coffee table tome, Pitchfork 500 - Our Guide to the Greatest Songs from Punk to Present.
Six editors and a whack of contributors, including Stuart Berman of Eye Weekly, detail the 500 best tracks beginning in 1977 with Bowie's Heroes and running chronologically to Panda Bear's Bros from 2006. It's a fine read and, like all lists, there are quibbles and a difference of opinion but what I find most startling is that no Canadians show up until Godspeed You Black Emperor and The New Pornographers in 2000. From there Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, Feist and Wolf Parade make the grade. But zippo, zilch, nada, no one, nothing prior to the new millennium.
Pitchfork is associated with underground indie bands so you should know that this is not some obscure music snob's best of. Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Justin Timberlake, Metallica, Smiths, Stone Roses, Billy Bragg, Kraftwerk, AC/DC, Duran Duran ... are included. Hip hop, pop, rave, many genres are represented but, alas, no Canucks. Not one of our multi-million record-selling millionaires, nor the bands held up as examples of how to succeed, get any cred in this book.
So what does that tell us?
That for most of rock 'n roll history, Canadians have not been at the cutting edge. The industry (major and indie) in this country has been feeding the world cheap Cancon versions of more adventurous artists, nothing more than pale imitations of what the rest of the world is buying. For the better part of 40 years, Canadians have contributed nothing to popular music other than more of the same. And that copycat mentality is still so prevalent today, even here in Durham region, with too many bands willing to be a second-rate Oasis or worse ... Nickelback wannabes. We have gotten to the stage where musicians in Canada are now imitating the imitators. No wonder the music industry is dying.
However the good news is that the trajectory of modern music has finally come around to the Great White North. Innovation has moved from Liverpool to Detroit to New York to Manchester to Seattle and now to Toronto and Montreal (and Guelph.) While many bands are still looking to Nirvana as an inspiration, they fail to see what those in the know know; that the best new music is being made here. Much of that music is being gathered under the Arts and Crafts record label and they are steering their bands away from the majors and their outdated business models. A and C do their own thing their way.
The world, from a reading of this indie 500 list, prizes Canadian sounds and not Canadians who sound like American or British bands. With so much music to choose from these days, authenticity is becoming the most valued element. Could it be that even the Yanks are finally cottoning on to what's been here all along; Canadian musicians whose influence and inspiration is Canada. Brilliant!
William McGuirk is a freelance writer and longtime Oshawa resident. He can be contacted at
wmacg@yahoo.com.
Recommend :
More Columns By Will McGuirk
The many talents of Wayne CarrascoA triple threat, that's what local hip-hop artist Wayne Carrasco is... a bona fide triple threat. Or a triple treat maybe. He is on his way to being a quadruple. His...
Get bent this weekend and celebrate the Summer SolsticeAnother great week in the DRockrock ahead. Rides Again, those mavens of melodic modern rock, make a rare appearance in Johnny Bs tonight while next Wednesday Tokyo's...
Catch Art in the Park, The SadiesLast fall I started a Facebook group called Local Music On Local Stages. Its purpose, at that time, was focused on having the Memorial Park Bandshell in Oshawa more accessible...
Musicians are art subjects in Station Gallery exhibitRichard Florida is the author of a number of books which all boil down to the idea that place matters. People used to move to where the jobs are but now jobs move to where...
Will's forecasting a drier summer, ideal for outdoor festivalsSo, I have to admit I'm suffering from festival envy. We do have a festival happening in Oshawa right at the moment, the Pitter Patter Festival, which takes place at the...
And the best Canadian song of all time is...NUMBER ONEBlue Rodeo -- Five Days In May "But I know my past you were there/ Everything I've done/ You are the one." There are no two in Canadian music who have...
Joni Mitchell 'gave birth to so many women'NUMBER TWOJoni Mitchell -- River "I wish I had a river I could skate away on." The solo female artist is an iconic form in this frigid country but they are neither...
A Canadian icon fills the No. 3 spotNUMBER THREEAmbulance Blues -- Neil Young "It's hard to say the meaning of this song." Young is the single most important artist this country has produced. He...
The Hip takes the No. 5 spotNUMBER 4Buck65 - Devil's Eyes/Devil's Eyes (Piano Version) With Buck 65 (Richard Terfry) it's not so much a question of where to begin as where to end. He is a...
Two legends take their place on the Top 10 Song's listNUMBER SEVENLeonard Cohen -- Hallelujah "And even if it's all gone wrong I'll stand before the Lord of Song with nothing more upon my tongue than Hallelujah."...