I’ve never been shy to spew the occasional Pitchfork hate, more so because of the ubiquitous nature of the site’s influence and how it represents the yuppie-ization of my beloved underground scene than because I have a problem with the writing or the people doing it. I was pretty interested, for many reasons, in how P4k would respond to Radiohead’s In Rainbows - clearly it would have overall approval, but how would the monster of collective hipster opinion convey that without sounding trite? I was looking for something clever, a la the JET review from 2006, and I sort of got it. Without further ado, my review of their, um, review of In Rainbows:

Cool kids everywhere are a little lost today without the numeric instant-opinion that usually accompanies a record review on Pitchfork. Without being able to translate “8.7 means they really like it” into “so I must really like it, too,” readers are forced to actually…read Mark Pytlik’s review before they realize that clicking on the red question mark next to the blank boxes that would normally hold the rating brings up a tongue-in-cheek series of insider jokes and finally, the rating (it’s a 9.3). Lucky for readers - the review is a good (and relevant) read.

Pytlik, who in the past several months has had the duty and honor of weighing in on Kanye West’s, Bjork’s, and M.I.A.’s releases, is a master of making the record review personal. He opens with the memories of record release days, when we would set our alarms and collect all the change from between the couch cushions and head down to the brick-and-mortar record store to stand in line with other music fans. The eagerness to collect our purchases and go home to open the sonic goodness, knowing that all of those other fans we’d just stood in line with were doing the same thing. Pytlik points out that even before hitting PLAY on In Rainbows, Radiohead have us back those whimsical jitters of anticipation, because there were no advanced copies, no pre-release reviews, no leaking to file sharing sites. Could any band do this? No way, but Radiohead could and did and Pytlik’s reminder of the consideration that went into this album is key to understanding its reach and significance.

The review’s dissection of the album itself is calculated but gentle, acknowledging that the 2006 tour left many wondering if Radiohead had tired of its almost constant evolution and quest to reinvent itself as a band with each subsequent record. Pytlik’s pure, childlike joy in being able to report that the opposite - that In Rainbows is, in fact, “brilliant” - makes his writing practically leap off the page and only enhances the experience of deciding for one’s self where exactly this album will stand in a lineup of the rock genre’s most important.

To you, Mark Pytlik: 9.3.

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