97-463: " Air War " is a single by Crystal Castles . It was released on 17 December 2007 by Trouble Records as a 7" vinyl. An earlier version of the song was released in July 2006 as the B-Side to "Alice Practice" on Merok Records. The lyrics are from the 1922 James Joyce novel Ulysses in Chapter 11: Sirens. The cover art gathered public interest because of the odd picture of Ethan Kath and Alice Glass with ice cream cones as heads. An official video
194-432: A paywall by the end of the year. It abandoned experiments with Pitchfork paywalls following criticism from readers. In 2020, Condé Nast laid off the executive editor Matthew Schnipper and the features editor and union chair Stacey Anderson. In 2022 and 2023, Pitchfork had about three million unique visitors a month, down by about 36% from 2021. On January 17, 2024, Wintour announced that Pitchfork would merge with
291-452: A skeleton crew continuing its mission, and said he was pleased with the work it had published since the announcement. On July 2, 2024, Pitchfork named Mano Sundaresan, the founder of the music blog No Bells , as the new head of editorial content. Sundaresan denied that Pitchfork was "going away", and said he aimed to adapt it to modern media and cater to more specialized audiences. That October, five former Pitchfork writers launched
388-617: A "distinguished digital property that brings a strong editorial voice, an enthusiastic and young audience, a growing video platform and a thriving events business". Kaskie said "our needs and wants were converging", and that Pitchfork needed capital and expertise to expand its publication and festivals. The sale boosted Pitchfork's value to advertisers. Pitchfork relocated to the Condé Nast offices in One World Trade Center , Manhattan. Previously, Pitchfork 's independence had been
485-428: A CD-R containing 70 instrumental tracks, for which she then recorded vocals on 35 tracks. The group's second album , released variously as Crystal Castles , Crystal Castles (II) , and simply (II) , was released on May 24, 2010. With the release of their second album, their music became more aesthetic and more sharply focused, mixing synth pop and loud rock sounds with increasing skill. In April 2010, an early mix of
582-469: A Facebook post, Alice Glass announced that she was leaving Crystal Castles, that the band was finished, and that she intended to pursue a solo career. Crystal Castles' manager assured fans that the band would continue without her. On April 16, 2015, Ethan Kath released a new Crystal Castles track, " Frail ", featuring a new vocalist named Edith Frances. The song was accompanied with a caption by Kath, wishing Glass well but stating that she did not appear on
679-423: A U.S. Festival Tour during Spring 2016. They were included in the announced lineup for the 79 Cents event at SXSW, a concert showcase organized by Tumblr to highlight women's income disparity. In an interview with The Verge , Glass stated her opinion that Kath was not a suitable person to be performing at a feminism-centric event. Shortly after, the band was removed from the lineup. In July 2016 they released
776-578: A better singer and who would put up with a lot worse than [she] would". After discovering that Kath had done similar actions towards other women, Glass felt it was her responsibility to come forward. Glass would disavow her work with Crystal Castles and asked fans to cease their support of the band. Crystal Castles' musical style was described by reviewer Jack Shankly as "ferocious, asphyxiating sheets of warped two-dimensional Gameboy [ sic ] glitches and bruising drum bombast that pierces your skull with their sheer shrill force, burrowing deep into
873-456: A consistent content strategy, and packaging a love of music in a compelling way", according to its founder, Alex Young. The critic Carl Wilson said Pitchfork drove a "feeding frenzy about band discovery" in North American music journalism, with publications vying to discover new acts. In the 2000s, Pitchfork was credited with "making or breaking" musical careers, a phenomenon known as
970-548: A critical review. Itzkoff argued that the obtuse and confrontational style was part of the Pitchfork business model and made their reviews memorable. He suggested that the writers' lack of training or experience, and the fact that they worked for low or no pay, created a sense of authenticity and undermined the authority of traditional media. Schreiber conceded that Pitchfork had a reputation for snobbery, but said its writers were "really just honest, opinionated music fans". In
1067-444: A difference to social causes. In July 2010, Pitchfork launched Altered Zones , a blog aggregator devoted to underground and DIY music . In 2011, Pitchfork relocated to Brooklyn , New York. On May 21, Pitchfork announced a partnership with the website Kill Screen , in which Pitchfork would publish some of their articles. Altered Zones closed on November 30. On December 26, 2012, Pitchfork launched Nothing Major ,
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#17328452750101164-425: A gap in the market for faster-moving publication that emphasized new acts. Pitchfork could publish several articles a day, greatly outpacing print media. New technologies such as MP3 , the iPod and the file-sharing service Napster created greater access to music, and music blogs became an important resource, creating further opportunity for Pitchfork. The contributors Mark Richardson and Eric Harvey said this
1261-469: A key aspect of its image. Schreiber said it would continue to have "creative independence". The acquisition triggered concern; the New York Observer wrote that was a "death knell for indie rock". The Condé Nast chief digital officer, Fred Santarpia, was criticized when he said the acquisition would bring "a very passionate audience of millennial males into our roster". The Atlantic connected
1358-537: A limited-edition quarterly publication of about 10,000 copies of each issue, printed on glossy, high-quality paper. About two thirds of the content would be original, with the remaining reused from the Pitchfork website. The International Business Times likened the literary aspirations to The New Yorker and the Paris Review . The Pitchfork Review ended after 11 issues in November 2016. As of 2014, Pitchfork
1455-491: A moving car, torn her hair out and lied about the nature of her rib injury. Kath had at several points gone against doctor's orders and made her perform when she was suffering from a concussion. Kath also held onto Glass' passport and controlled her finances, preventing her from having her own cell phone or credit card until a couple of years before she left. Glass also mentioned that if she ever thought of leaving Crystal Castles, Kath would threaten to replace her with someone "who's
1552-410: A new means for listeners to discover music. Pitchfork staff conflicted with Condé Nast over its attempts to monetize Pitchfork Music Festival by making it into a "luxury" experience. Santarpia left Condé Nast in 2018, leaving Pitchfork under the purview of Anna Wintour , the chief content officer. Two former Pitchfork staffers told The Verge that Wintour did not care about music or understand
1649-474: A number, these albums were given fixed scores. In the 2000s, Pitchfork reviews were criticized as pretentious, verbose and inaccurate. Itzkoff wrote that Pitchfork was overwrought and sometimes hard to understand, with an abundance of adjectives, adverbs and misused words. Shaer identified examples of "verbose and unreadable writing ... dense without being insightful, personal without being interesting". In City Pages , Thomas Lindsay wrote that its prose
1746-442: A reliable source of recommendations. Without the limitations of print media, Pitchfork was able to champion emerging independent acts that major print magazines, which had to sell millions of copies every year, could not. Schreiber felt the magazines were "not even trying to discover new music ... Publications used to take more chances on artists, putting bands on the cover that they thought deserved to be there." He said Pitchfork
1843-471: A review or $ 40 for a feature. In 2004, following staff tensions about Schreiber's advertising income, Pitchfork started paying writers from their first articles at a slightly improved rate. That year, Pitchfork published a positive review of the debut album by Arcade Fire , Funeral . The album became a bestseller and is cited as the first major example of Pitchfork 's influence on independent music, attracting coverage of Pitchfork from outlets such as
1940-526: A signature 10-point scale with punitive zeal." Schreiber said the site's early period "was about really laying into people who really deserved it", and defended the importance of honesty in arts criticism. In 1999, Schreiber relocated Pitchfork to Chicago. He estimated that Pitchfork had published 1,000 reviews by this point. Around the turn of the millennium, the American music press was dominated by monthly print magazines such as Rolling Stone , creating
2037-621: A song by Lo-bat called "My Little Droid Needs a Hand", released under a Creative Commons license. Another track called "Love and Caring", samples the kick and snare from Covox's "Sunday". Crystal Castles toured and performed at numerous festivals around the world to support the album, including Ireland's Oxegen Festival, the All Points West Music & Arts Festival in New Jersey, Coachella Valley and Music Festival in Indio, California ,
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#17328452750102134-464: A statement issued to Pitchfork through his attorney, where he called the accusations "pure fiction" and said he was consulting with his lawyers as to his legal options. However the band cancelled the rest of their North American tour in light of Glass's accusations. Crystal Castles has since been inactive, having not released any new material, performed any concerts, or even provided any updates on its own status since prematurely ending their tour. It
2231-475: A time when music has proven to be one of our culture's most beautifully progressive spaces". In The Guardian , Laura Snapes wrote that Pitchfork had provided a vital "leading example" and doubted that specialist music journalism could survive without it. She lamented the job losses, saying that Pitchfork had been one of the last stable employers of freelance music writers. Schreiber said that commentators were "premature to eulogize Pitchfork ", as it retained
2328-641: A variety of locations including an abandoned church in Iceland , a self-built cabin in northern Ontario , a garage behind an abandoned drug store in Detroit , as well as Paul Epworth 's London studio. Of the experience, Kath said, "I recorded most of the record in the coldest winter in decades in a church without heat in Iceland. It was so cold that when I listen back I can hear myself shivering. I chose it because it felt right". In December 2009, Kath gave vocalist Alice Glass
2425-561: A website that covered visual arts, which closed in October 2013. Pitchfork launched a film website, The Dissolve , in 2013. It closed in 2015, citing "financial challenges". In 2017, Kaskie said he remained proud of The Dissolve and that it was "a huge success from the creative and editorial, design and everything else". In 2013, Pitchfork won the National Magazine Award for general excellence in digital media. That year,
2522-486: A whole and gave it a score of 6.8. The music blog Idolator ran a feature asking readers to guess which lines came from Pitchfork reviews and which were fabricated. In 2010, the writer David Shapiro started a Tumblr blog, "Pitchfork Reviews Reviews", which reviewed Pitchfork reviews and assessed their arguments. It attracted more than 100,000 followers and a profile in the New York Times . Spencer Kornhaber of
2619-701: Is credited with popularizing acts such as Arcade Fire , Broken Social Scene , Bon Iver and Sufjan Stevens . Pitchfork relocated to Chicago in 1999 and Brooklyn , New York, in 2011. It expanded with projects including the annual Pitchfork Music Festival , launched in Chicago in 2006; the video site Pitchfork.tv and book, The Pitchfork 500 , both launched in 2008; and a print publication, The Pitchfork Review , published between 2013 and 2016. In later years, Pitchfork became less antagonistic and more professional in style, and began covering more mainstream music and issues of gender, race and identity. As of 2014, it
2716-405: Is one of the most influential music publications to have emerged in the internet age . In the 2000s, Pitchfork distinguished itself from print media through its unusual editorial style, frequent updates and coverage of emerging acts. It was praised as passionate, authentic and unique, but criticized as pretentious, mean-spirited and elitist, playing into stereotypes of the cynical hipster . It
2813-628: The Atlantic described Pitchfork as the most influential music publication to emerge in the internet age . Itzkoff, a former editor for Spin , described the Spin staff checking Pitchfork regularly: "If it was lavishing attention on a new band, we at least had to ask ourselves why we weren't doing the same: by then, our value as a trustworthy and consistent filter had waned." The online magazine Consequence of Sound emulated Pitchfork early on, "especially as it came to creating an editorial voice, developing
2910-649: The Los Angeles Times . The contributor Jess Weiss said the review "changed everything". By 2005, Pitchfork was attracting around one million readers a month, with an annual revenue of around $ 5 million. That year, Schreiber said he was uninterested in selling Pitchfork: "It would change into the antithesis of the reason I started it. This is something I am so in love with—this is my entire adult life's work." By 2006, traditional music media, such as print magazines, music video channels and radio stations, had declined or changed focus, but music listeners still sought
3007-645: The Alice Practice EP grew rapidly. Several limited-edition 7-inch vinyl singles followed in 2006 and 2007 on various independent labels, including two on London's Trouble Records. In February 2008, Kath said his aim was to "...make the most annoying sounds ever [for Alice to] scream over and then we'll try to open for Melt Banana ". On March 18, 2008, Lies Records collected most of the vinyl singles and released them on CD and 12-inch vinyl for their debut eponymous album titled Crystal Castles , along with many previously unreleased tracks and three songs recorded for
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3104-502: The Flaming Lips , NYC Ghosts & Flowers (2000) by Sonic Youth , Liz Phair (2003) by Liz Phair and Shine On (2006) by Jet . The Jet review consisted entirely of a video of a chimp urinating into its own mouth and was widely shared. The authors of the Phair and Sonic Youth reviews later changed their opinions and apologized to the artists. In Slate , Amos Barshad cited
3201-873: The Iceland Airwaves festival. Over Halloween, they played a gig in LA that involved Alice Glass wrecking the drum kit. They supported Blur on the first of two comeback shows in Hyde Park, London in July 2009. They also performed at the 2009 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee. Back in Toronto, Crystal Castles performed at the Sound Academy as part of the Time Festival . The band began recording their second album in
3298-568: The " Pitchfork effect". In 2006, the Washington Post described Schreiber as an "indie-rock kingmaker" and wrote that "an endorsement from Pitchfork ... is very valuable, indeed". Megan Jasper, the CEO of the record label Sub Pop , said favorable Pitchfork reviews would boost sales and that it became normal for indie rock bands to sell 100,000 records, exceeding expectations. Poorly reviewed albums made no impact. After Pitchfork awarded 9.7 to
3395-399: The 2000s, Pitchfork was criticized for focusing on music made by white men. In its early years, its staff comprised almost entirely white men. In 2007, the rapper M.I.A. criticized Pitchfork for assuming that her album Kala had been produced entirely by the male producer Diplo . Another Pitchfork writer described the error as "perpetuating the male-led ingenue myth". M.I.A. and
3492-471: The 2001 Tool album Lateralus consisted mostly of a list of the equipment used by the drummer. Some reviews consist only of single images or videos, implying the record is beneath critical analysis. Shaer wrote in 2006 that Pitchfork typically triumphed acts it had "discovered" and attacked beloved legacy acts and bands popular on music blogs. Some believed that Pitchfork deliberately waited for excitement to build around an act before dismissing it with
3589-940: The Heineken Open'er Festival in Poland, and the Reading and Leeds Festivals in England. They headlined a Vice magazine tour across the UK in November 2007, and the 2008 NME New Noise tour across the UK. Crystal Castles performed at the Glastonbury Festival in June 2008, where the on-stage antics of Glass, including climbing the rigging and stage-diving, led to the organizers curtailing their set. Crystal Castles played five dates with Nine Inch Nails in August 2008. The band also played Connect 2008 and
3686-645: The Trail of Dead and Wilco . According to Harvilla, a perfect score given to an album on release "qualifies as a seismic event for the rock-critic universe as a whole". Some reviews experimented with the score system. The 2005 Robert Pollard album Relaxation of the Asshole received a simultaneous 10 and 0; the review for the 2007 Radiohead album In Rainbows , which allowed fans to pay what they wanted to download, allowed readers to enter their own score. After Pitchfork changed its content management system to require
3783-606: The album leaked, prompting the label to release prior to the originally-planned date of June. The album was moderately successful charting in the UK at number 48, the US at number 188 and number 25 in Australia. The first two singles were " Celestica " and " Baptism ". The third single, " Not in Love " featuring Robert Smith from the Cure , became the band's highest-charting single at that time. To support
3880-981: The album, the band played the Latitude Festival , Glastonbury 2010 , RockNess 2010 , the Pohoda Festival in Trenčín , Slovakia , the Exit Festival in Novi Sad, Serbia , the Emmabodafestivalen in Emmaboda, Sweden, BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in Wales, and the 2010 Estrella Levante SOS 4.8 in Murcia , Spain. Crystal Castles did a Full-Length UK tour in November 2010, and headlined Hard Festival 2010. In January 2011, Alice broke her ankle and had to perform some shows on crutches, but
3977-573: The band Black Kids as the most infamous example of Pitchfork "at its most deleterious". Pitchfork 's review of their debut EP, Wizard of Ahhhs , boosted the Black Kids' career; however, it collapsed when Pitchfork gave their debut album, Partie Traumatic (2008), a score of 3.3, with a review consisting entirely of a photograph of two frowning dogs and a frowning emoticon . Plagenhoef said Pitchfork later became more cautious in publishing negative reviews, as they were no longer "little guys on
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4074-759: The band headlined the Shockwaves NME Awards Tour 2011 in the United Kingdom alongside Magnetic Man , Everything Everything and the Vaccines . They also performed the 2011 Ultra Music Festival in Miami , the Danish music festival NorthSide Festival in Aarhus, Australia's Big Day Out festival and Bestival , alongside the Cure whose vocalist, Robert Smith, contributed to Crystal Castles' new version of " Not in Love ",
4171-576: The band in October 2014, citing personal and professional reasons, and was soon replaced by Edith Frances. Three years later, during the band's 2017 tour, Glass accused Kath of sexual misconduct during her time in Crystal Castles, causing the remaining tour dates to be cancelled. Crystal Castles has since been inactive, having provided no updates on new material or performances after Glass's allegations. Ethan Kath (born Claudio Palmieri) met Alice Glass (born Margaret Osborn) in Toronto, Ontario, when she
4268-577: The band's June 9 performance at Parklife 2012 was uploaded to YouTube, boasting the first appearance of new song " Plague ", which was released as the album's first single on July 25. On September 26, the band released second single " Wrath of God ". The band performed on the Main Stage of Reading and Leeds Festival 2012. They also appeared at Electric Picnic 2012 in Ireland and The Parklife Weekender in Manchester. Crystal Castles toured North America in
4365-566: The band's well-known songs. The caption was soon removed, but Glass responded by calling Kath's statement "manipulative" and said she helped shaped the band's aesthetic from the very beginning. On July 2, 2015, another new song, " Deicide ", was released. Crystal Castles' first live performance with the new vocalist was on November 27 at Soundswild Festival in Johannesburg, South Africa. The band played two sold-out shows at London's Electrowerkz on February 23–24, 2016, and soon followed this with
4462-721: The brain like a fever." In a 2008 review for the BBC, Sophie Hammer wrote that to listen to Crystal Castles "is to be cast adrift in a vortex of deafening pain without a safety net. [... You get] the feeling you could do anything in the world, but that nothing would ultimately mean anything." Touring members Pitchfork (website) Pitchfork (formerly Pitchfork Media ) is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis . It originally covered alternative and independent music , and expanded to cover genres including pop, hip hop, jazz and metal. Pitchfork
4559-558: The collection. As Kath had declared, some of the tracks, including "XXZXCUZX ME", were deliberately designed to be grating. This eponymous debut album was included in NME ' s "Top 100 Greatest Albums of the Decade" list at number 39. In mid-2008, Pitchfork and the Torontoist blog published stories about Crystal Castles' use of Trevor Brown 's artwork without his permission. The image, depicting
4656-420: The comedian David Cross to write a list of his favorite albums. Cross wrote that he was surprised by the invitation, citing several insulting Pitchfork reviews of his comedy albums, and instead wrote a "withering and absurdist" article titled "Albums to listen to while reading overwrought Pitchfork reviews". In 2007, the satirical website The Onion published a piece in which Pitchfork reviewed music as
4753-722: The comment to a 2014 Nielsen report that found that millennial men were heavy music listeners and were more interested in streaming services than other demographics. In 2012, a Pitchfork poll asking readers to vote for their favorite music found that 88% of respondents were male, and statistics recorded by Quantcast in 2015 found that 82% of Pitchfork readers were men, most aged 18–34. Schreiber responded on Twitter that women were "a huge part of Pitchfork's staff and readership" and that Pitchfork aimed to reach "all music fans everywhere". On March 13, 2016, Pitchfork launched its first new design since 2011. That October, Pitchfork had 4.1 million unique visitors, up from 2.7 million
4850-501: The contributor Nate Patrin said Pitchfork had become "what publications like the Village Voice used to be in terms of letting writers go deep without feeling pressured to talk down to readers", with long-form articles and documentaries. By 2017, according to Bloomberg , its reviews had become "as erudite as those of the music magazines that Pitchfork had all but eclipsed in influence". The critic Ann Powers wrote in 2024 that "in
4947-621: The debut album by Arcade Fire , Funeral (2004), it became the fastest-selling record in the history of Merge Records . Other acts whose careers were boosted by Pitchfork in the 2000s include the Dismemberment Plan , Clap Your Hands Say Yeah , Modest Mouse , Broken Social Scene , Bon Iver and Sufjan Stevens . Schreiber said they wanted to create a roster of artists whom people discovered with Pitchfork and became associated them. The managing editor, Scott Plagenhoef, downplayed their influence, saying Pitchfork merely "accelerated
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#17328452750105044-450: The duo decided to re-form for a formal release. The pair picked their stage names together, with the name "Crystal Castles" pulled from a line in the cartoon She-Ra: Princess of Power : "The fate of the world is safe in Crystal Castles." Alice Practice became the band's first limited vinyl release in 2006. After miming the song on the British television series Skins , demand for
5141-468: The end of the 2000s, Pitchfork had become influential in the music industry, credited for launching acts such as Arcade Fire and Bon Iver . Employees at record labels and record stores would use it to anticipate interest in acts. It was also attracting large sponsors such as American Express and Apple . The influence of Pitchfork on music careers declined around the turn of the decade, as streaming and social media fractured audiences and reduced
5238-473: The end of the 20th century, which were publishing content about Star Wars , nu metal and pop punk. He characterized the Pitchfork voice as that of the outsider mocking the mainstream. In The Verge , Elizabeth Lopatto wrote that early reviews were unpolished and sometimes unprofessional, and "brash, sometimes bizarre, often typo-ridden", but that this distinguished Pitchfork from traditional media and made it fun to read. Pitchfork contributors said it
5335-453: The fall of 2012 with old collaborators HEALTH . The album (III) was released on November 7. During recording of their third album, Kath decided to forgo the use of computers, and ditched their old synthesizers and keyboards. They also recorded each track in one take. This gave their new recordings a significantly different sound, less practised and more original. "Sad Eyes" was the album's third single, released January 2013. "Affection"
5432-513: The following decade, Pitchfork shifted its editorial range and style. It began running news and features alongside reviews, coming to resemble a more conventional music publication. It also diversified from indie rock to cover mainstream music including pop, rap and metal, and began covering issues of gender, race and identity in music, influenced by movements such as MeToo and Black Lives Matter . Schreiber said that "our tastes broadened with age and experience", and that Pitchfork could make
5529-515: The grand tradition of rock criticism, joining the ranks of imperious and opinionated writers". Schreiber described the reviews of one early Pitchfork writer, Brent DiCrescenzo, as dense with dialogue and pop culture references, "exploring outlandish scenarios". Pitchfork 's style changed in the 2010s as it broadened its scope and audience, shifting to poptimism . The contributor Craig Jenkins said Pitchfork had needed to change its "walled-in" perspective, and that it had been "antagonistic toward
5626-689: The impression of a "forward-facing, vibrant title". Unlike other music publications, which typically assign scores out of five or ten, Pitchfork uses a decimal scale of 0.0 to 10.0. The system has drawn mockery as arbitrary and overprecise. DiCrescenzo described it as "knowingly silly", and in 2021 Pitchfork wrote that it was an "admittedly absurd and subjective" signature element. Schreiber said he liked its absurdity and how "it felt kind of scientific without any actual science to it". Early reviews used percentages rather than decimals. By 2021, Pitchfork had published more than 28,000 reviews. Pitchfork reviews do not represent an editorial consensus but
5723-458: The internet. Schreiber announced his departure on January 8, 2019, saying he wanted to "keep pushing boundaries and exploring new things". The Los Angeles Times said the departure came at a time of "existential change" for the media industries, citing the rise of streaming services and social media and the downsizing of many major music publications. That month, Condé Nast announced it would put all its publications, including Pitchfork , behind
5820-481: The journalistic form and temperament of the time". While it was widely mocked, it boosted Pitchfork 's profile. Schreiber said he understood the review would make Pitchfork subject to ridicule, but "wanted Pitchfork to be daring and to surprise people". In 2001, Pitchfork had 30,000 daily readers. In 2004, Pitchfork hired its first full-time employee, Chris Kaskie, formerly of the satirical website The Onion , to run business operations. Kaskie later became
5917-704: The last night of Oxegen 2011 in Ireland, and Moogfest in Asheville, North Carolina . Crystal Castles won the John Peel Award for Innovation at the Shockwaves NME Awards 2011, an award that recognizes an act who possesses a pioneering spirit and uncompromising approach to music. At the end of the summer, Rolling Stone named Crystal Castles icons of 20 Years of Lollapalooza . In March 2012, Crystal Castles announced their relocation to Warsaw , Poland, to begin recording their third album. A fan's video of
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#17328452750106014-533: The men's magazine GQ , resulting in layoffs. The merge drew criticism and triggered concern about the implications for music journalism. Pitchfork was created in February 1996 by Ryan Schreiber, a high school graduate living in his parents' home in Minneapolis . Schreiber grew up listening to indie rock acts such as Fugazi , Jawbox and Guided by Voices . He was influenced by fanzine culture and had no previous writing experience. Schreiber initially named
6111-509: The men's magazine GQ . Staff including Patel were laid off, leaving around a dozen editorial staff, including some working on multiple Condé Nast publications. Max Tani of Semafor reported that the remaining staff were "depressed and embarrassed" by the merge. One writer who was laid off, Andy Cush, said "there was this real sense of despair ... about ever having a place to do the kind of work you feel like you're good at and that you're interested in again". As of that month, Pitchfork had
6208-419: The most daily active users of any Condé Nast publication. Journalists reacted with sadness and concern for the future of music journalism. Tani and The Washington Post 's Chris Richards expressed disgust that Pitchfork , once independent and provocative, would be absorbed into an establishment men's magazine. The music critic Ann Powers wrote that the merge felt "like a highly conservative move at
6305-532: The music site Hearing Things , which aims to "capture the original independent spirit" of Pitchfork . In November, Pitchfork announced that it had canceled Pitchfork Music Festival but would continue to produce events and "create spaces where music, culture, and community intersect". Pitchfork's unusual, passionate and stylized reviews differentiated it from the more scholarly and formal style of print magazines such as Rolling Stone . The critic Steven Hyden said it offered an alternative to music magazines at
6402-436: The music, playing into stereotypes of the cynical hipster . In 2018, the music journalist Robert Christgau described the early years of Pitchfork as "a snotty boys' club open to many 'critics' ... Too many amateur wise-asses and self-appointed aesthetes throwing their weight around." Many scathing early reviews were by Brent DiCrescenzo, who wrote lengthy reviews that rarely addressed the music. For example, his review of
6499-507: The need for gatekeepers. Streaming services began to fulfill Pitchfork 's function of helping new artists find audiences, and independent music criticism moved to podcasts and YouTube . Declining music industry revenues reduced advertising spending, and Pitchfork faced competition from advertisers such as Facebook . According to the Los Angeles Times , "The internet era that birthed Pitchfork 's blend of saucy writing, outre tastes and massive popularity [was] by and large over." Over
6596-953: The opinion of the individual reviewer. Writers who did not want to use their names, or failed to include bylines with their submissions, were credited as Ray Suzuki, similarly to the filmmaker pseudonym Alan Smithee . In The Ringer , Rob Harvilla wrote that a 10.0 from Pitchfork "carries all the historical weight of five stars in Rolling Stone or five mics in The Source ... with its maddening and theoretically precise approach to decimal places, such that an ocean of feeling separates an 8.1 from an 8.9". Pitchfork has awarded perfect scores to more than 50 albums, most of them in its "Sunday Reviews" feature, which publishes retrospective reviews of classic albums. Artists who have received perfect scores on release include Radiohead, Fiona Apple , Kanye West , Bonnie "Prince" Billy , And You Will Know Us by
6693-514: The past decade Pitchfork had nurtured many of the best and most influential writers working today". She felt that "great music writing messes with productivity by creating a space to slow down and really immerse in someone else's creative work ... The best writing at Pitchfork or anywhere reflects that process and is as variegated as the human experience itself." In 2015, The Guardian credited Pitchfork for pioneering design techniques that combined print design and technical innovation to create
6790-589: The president and co-owner. Pitchfork 's first professional editor, Scott Plagenhoef, was hired shortly afterwards. Kaskie and Plagenhoef are credited for turning Pitchfork into a professional operation. It began to scale quickly, investing in the more money it made, the more resources it had for reviews and articles. As of 2004, Pitchfork had eight full-time employees and about 50 freelance staff members, most of whom worked remotely and co-ordinated through phone and internet. Writers were unpaid for their first six months, after which they could earn $ 10 or $ 20 for
6887-478: The previous October. With Schreiber aiming to make it the world's best repository for music content, Pitchfork began creating videos and retrospective articles, covering classic albums released before its founding. Kaskie announced his departure from Pitchfork in May 2017. He had been frustrated by his diminished role under Condé Nast and Pitchfork 's reduced autonomy. On September 18, 2018, Schreiber stepped down as
6984-479: The process". After Pitchfork awarded 0.0 to Travistan (2004), the debut solo album by the Dismemberment Plan singer Travis Morrison , his solo career effectively ended. Years later, Morrison described the experience as "frightening and awful". Schreiber said he felt bad for him, but that it was important for Pitchfork writers to be honest. Other albums to receive 0.0 include Zaireeka (1995) by
7081-408: The rapper Chief Keef was arrested for violating a probation sentence by using a rifle in a promotional video by Pitchfork . Staff later described the episode as a low point and an example of how Pitchfork mishandled hip-hop artists. In December, Pitchfork launched The Pitchfork Review , a quarterly print journal focused on long-form music writing and design-focused content. Pitchfork planned
7178-495: The singer Björk argued that this was part of a wider problem of journalists assuming that female artists do not write or produce their own music. In 2024, the Pitchfork contributor Andrew Nosnitsky argued that hip-hop, not indie rock, was the "defining music" of his generation, but that Pitchfork was viewed as the defining music publication for "purely mechanical and straight-up white-supremacy reasons". Pitchfork has attracted multiple parodies. In 2005, Pitchfork invited
7275-493: The singer Madonna with a black eye , was used as the band's logo. The issue was resolved after the band bought the rights to use the image from Brown. In one of Kath's earliest unreleased demos, he incorporated a sample without permission; years later his record label discovered the track and uploaded it to the label's MySpace page without Kath's permission, and without credit to the original sampled song. The track, "Insectica" (CC vs Lo-Bat version), uses clips chopped out of
7372-577: The single "Char" and announced the twelve-track album Amnesty (I) set for release on August 19 through Fiction Records. Also announced was a world tour starting in September 2016, including their first appearance in Hong Kong at the Clockenflap Festival on November 27, 2016. In 2017 a followup album, Amnesty (II) , was in the works. Following the success of their world tour, a North American leg
7469-407: The size of their biggest show ever. That's the goal, man. To put fucking Titus Andronicus in front of 10,000 people." In April 2008, after acquiring the live music show Juan's Basement , Pitchfork launched Pitchfork.tv , a website displaying interviews, music videos and feature-length films. In November, it published a book, The Pitchfork 500 , covering the preceding 30 years of music. By
7566-398: The stuff that the average person would be appreciating". Plagenhoef felt that the inflammatory "stunt reviews" were limiting, and wanted Pitchfork to be seen as trustworthy and thoughtful. Snapes said some had lamented the change, suggesting that it made Pitchfork "a less specific proposition". However, she felt it reflected modern music consumption and found it heartening that Pitchfork
7663-436: The top editor. He was replaced by Puja Patel, who had worked at Spin and Gawker Media , as editor-in-chief on October 15. Schreiber remained as a strategic advisor. He said he later realized that Condé Nast did not understand Pitchfork and had unrealistic expectations of its performance. Patel came under pressure to cut costs amid declining traffic from social media, and competition from streaming platforms, which offered
7760-743: The website Turntable , but changed it after another website claimed the rights. The name Pitchfork was inspired by the tattoo on the assassin Tony Montana in the film Scarface . Schreiber chose it as it was concise and had "evilish overtones". The first review was of Pacer (1995) by the Amps , and the record store Insound was Pitchfork 's first advertiser. Early Pitchfork reviews focused on indie rock and were often critical. The Washington Post described them as "brutal" and "merciless", writing: "The site's stable of critics often seemed capricious, uninvested, sometimes spiteful, assigning low scores on
7857-459: Was a Canadian electronic music group formed in 2006 in Toronto , Ontario, by songwriter-producer Ethan Kath and singer-songwriter Alice Glass . Crystal Castles was known for their chaotic live shows and lo-fi melancholic homemade productions. They released many limited vinyl singles between 2006 and 2007 before releasing four studio albums between 2008 and 2016. Glass announced her departure from
7954-470: Was able to take risks as it was not interested in appeasing bands, record labels or advertisers. In 2006, Pitchfork had 170,000 daily readers and was publishing five album reviews a day, with six full-time employees. Schreiber said that Pitchfork was able to sustain paid freelancers and eight employees, though they were "always cutting it close". He said he had attracted interest from investors, but wanted to retain control and that journalistic integrity
8051-401: Was also announced for 2017. On October 24, 2017, Glass published an official statement that detailed events of Kath subjecting her to sexual, physical and mental abuse during her time in Crystal Castles. She alleged that these patterns of abuse began when she started recording with Kath and continued to escalate until her eventual departure from Crystal Castles. Kath responded the same day in
8148-551: Was an important part of Pitchfork 's early popularity, as music fans could share and listen to recordings while reading daily updates. In 2000, Pitchfork ' s 10.0/10.0 review of the highly anticipated Radiohead album Kid A , written by Brent DiCrescenzo, generated a surge in readership and was one of the first signs of Pitchfork becoming a major publication. One of the first Kid A reviews published, it attracted attention for its unusual style. Billboard described it as "extremely long-winded and brazenly unhinged from
8245-481: Was facing mounting financial problems, and Kaskie spent the year attempting to find funding. On October 13, 2015, the American mass media company Condé Nast announced that it had acquired Pitchfork . At this point, Pitchfork had about 50 employees, with editorial and video production staff in Brooklyn and advertising, sales and development staff in Chicago. The Condé Nast CEO, Bob Sauerberg, described Pitchfork as
8342-464: Was florid and sometimes impenetrable, and contained factual errors. Similar criticisms came from Rob Harvilla of the East Bay Express and Claire Suddath of Time . Responding to criticism in 2006, Schreiber said he trusted his writers' style and opinions. In its early years, Pitchfork was criticized as mean-spirited and elitist , and for publishing reviews that do not meaningfully discuss
8439-536: Was his priority. In August 2006, an internal Pitchfork server containing promotional copies of hundreds of albums was hacked, including the forthcoming Joanna Newsom album Ys . In the mid-2000s, Pitchfork expanded its operations. In 2006, it launched the annual Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago. The first Paris Pitchfork Music Festival was held in 2011. Kaskie said it was exciting to see acts Pitchfork had championed playing to large crowds: "We start to see these bands playing in front of audiences 10 times
8536-680: Was immediately divisive among music fans. In the Washington Post , J. Freedom du Lac described Pitchfork as entertaining, "hilariously snarky" and "occasionally even enlightening". The Los Angeles Times writer August Brown described it as "raucous, passionate, sometimes blinkered but always evolving". In Slate , Matthew Shaer wrote that the best Pitchfork reviews were "cagey, fierce, witty and graceful". The journalist Dave Itzkoff described Pitchfork reviews as "defiantly passionate and frustratingly capricious" with an "aura of integrity and authenticity that made such pronouncements credible, even definitive, to fans ... insinuating themselves into
8633-450: Was in his mid to late twenties. With Kath using his fame in Crystal Castles and Kill Cheerleader to get in contact with them at a young age, the alleged victims stated that he took advantage of their naivety and supplied them with drugs and alcohol in order to coerce them into sexual acts. Glass later gave an interview with The Guardian and further elaborated on Kath's behavior towards her, commenting that he had thrown her phone out of
8730-474: Was in the 10th grade and he was 10 years her senior. Kath had already found a small bit of fame in Toronto's music scene, having made appearances on local television with his previous band, Kïll Cheerleadër . A couple of years later, Kath asked Glass to record vocals over tracks he had been working on since 2003. The sessions resulted in the track " Alice Practice ", which was shelved for six months. After being posted online, this track garnered attention and
8827-481: Was made in 2006, but the producer threw out the video due to its cover art leaking onto the Internet. The video shows Kath and Glass walking in the street with ice cream cone heads and giving people melting ice cream. It ends with Ethan and Alice entering an interdimensional portal and turning into ice cream cones. The video features a demo version of the song "Air War". Crystal Castles (band) Crystal Castles
8924-422: Was receiving around 6.2 million unique visitors and 40 million pageviews every month, with an expected annual revenue growth of 25 to 40 percent. Its primary revenue came from advertising. According to the media analytics firm Comscore , Pitchfork had 2.47 million unique visitors that August, more than the websites for Spin or Vibe but fewer than Rolling Stone 's 11 million. By this point, Pitchfork
9021-418: Was receiving around 6.2 million unique visitors every month. The influence of Pitchfork declined in the 2010s with the growth of streaming and social media . In 2015, it was acquired by the mass media company Condé Nast and moved to One World Trade Center . The Pitchfork president, Chris Kaskie, left in 2017, followed by Schreiber in 2019. In 2024, Condé Nast announced plans to merge Pitchfork into
9118-802: Was released as the fourth single in April 2013. A planned fifth single, "Telepath", did not materialize. More tour dates were announced in early 2013. This included a return to Australia to play the Big Day Out , and traveling to Colombian for the 2013 Estéreo Picnic Festival in Bogotá D.C. Following the North American leg of their headlining tour, the group performed as the opening act for Depeche Mode on The Delta Machine Tour , performing in Phoenix, Mountain View, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Dallas, and Houston. In October 2014, via
9215-471: Was released in November 2008 as advertisement of " Toshiba Product Technology: Time Sculpture". The one-minute-long video was directed by Mitch Stratten . The video shows an empty room which features people making repeated movements. The advertisement was released to promote Toshiba's high-definition television upscaling technology in the United Kingdom . An original music video was not released. The video
9312-620: Was revealed after Glass' accusations that the band's longtime manager James Sandom no longer worked with the group. Kath sued Glass for defamation, but his suit was dismissed by the court. On December 21, 2017, Police Constable Allyson Douglas-Cook of the Toronto Police Service confirmed that Kath (real name Palmieri) was the subject of a currently open Sex Crimes unit investigation. In an interview with The Daily Beast , Glass and four other women came forward alleging that Kath had sexually preyed on them when they were teenagers and he
9409-443: Was reviewing a variety of genres and artists. Under Puja Patel, who became the editor in 2018, Pitchfork covered more female, non-binary, queer and non-white artists. Pitchfork also switched to a more professional style. The editor Amy Phillips illustrated this by comparing her coverage of the announcement of two Radiohead albums, years apart; the first was excitable, whereas the second was more professional and factual. In 2014,
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