How good am I at listening to music?
Pitchfork just published The 100 Best Indie Rock Albums of All Time (archive). As we know, Pitchfork is the premier expert on what music is worth listening to. Since I’ve been keeping a weekly playlist since 2023, I wanted to know how many of those 100 albums have made it onto one of my playlists at least once.
I checked all 152 weeks (2,261 tracks) against the list, matching on artist and album.
19 out of 100.
| # | Album | Track(s) | Week(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pavement – Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain | “F*****g Righteous”, “Gold Soundz” | 2024 week 33, 2024 week 36 |
| 5 | Neutral Milk Hotel – In the Aeroplane Over the Sea | “King of Carrot Flowers, Pts. 2 & 3” | 2026 week 37 |
| 6 | Silver Jews – American Water | “Random Rules”, “The Wild Kindness” | 2024 week 5, 2024 week 25 |
| 13 | Cat Power – Moon Pix | “Metal Heart” | 2025 week 4 |
| 14 | Guided by Voices – Bee Thousand | “I Am a Scientist” | 2025 week 4 |
| 15 | Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot | “Jesus, Etc.” | 2025 week 39 |
| 16 | Minutemen – Double Nickels on the Dime | “#1 Hit Song”, “Two Beads at the End” | 2023 week 5, 2024 week 40 |
| 24 | Low – Double Negative | “Always Trying to Work It Out” | 2023 week 2 |
| 25 | Songs: Ohia – The Magnolia Electric Co. | “The Big Game Is Every Night” | 2025 week 6 |
| 32 | Geese – Getting Killed | “Getting Killed”, “Islands of Men” | 2025 week 39, 2025 week 41 |
| 36 | Belle and Sebastian – If You’re Feeling Sinister | “Get Me Away from Here, I’m Dying” | 2023 week 15 |
| 45 | Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning | “Poison Oak” | 2024 week 36 |
| 49 | The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses | “I Wanna Be Adored”, “She Bangs the Drums”, “This Is the One” | 2024 week 14, 2026 week 31 |
| 53 | Alex G – House of Sugar | “Gretel” | 2023 week 13 |
| 58 | Waxahatchee – Saint Cloud | “Fire” | 2025 week 1 |
| 72 | Titus Andronicus – The Monitor | “A More Perfect Union” | 2025 week 4 |
| 89 | Father John Misty – I Love You, Honeybear | “Holy Shit” | 2025 week 7 |
| 93 | Wednesday – Rat Saw God | “Quarry”, “Turkey Vultures” | 2025 week 21, 2025 week 39 |
| 96 | My Morning Jacket – Z | “Off the Record” | 2026 week 4 |
Five of the top 16 made it, including #1. 2025 week 4 was apparently a good week, with three albums from the list. The Stone Roses got the most tracks, with three songs across two weeks.
Close, but not quite
For another 29 albums, the artist has been on a playlist, just with a different album:
- Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation (#3). We had the Anagrama EP.
- Elliott Smith – Either/Or (#4). We had XO and New Moon.
- Yo La Tengo – Painful (#8). We had four other albums.
- Modest Mouse – The Lonesome Crowded West (#12)
- Sufjan Stevens – Illinois (#18). We had Carrie & Lowell and Javelin.
- Arcade Fire – Funeral (#19). We had The Suburbs.
- Built to Spill – There’s Nothing Wrong With Love (#22)
- Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest (#23)
- Interpol – Turn on the Bright Lights (#26)
- R.E.M. – Murmur (#27)
- Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City (#29)
- Stereolab – Switched On (#31)
- Bon Iver – Bon Iver, Bon Iver (#35)
- Dinosaur Jr. – Beyond (#37)
- Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam (#38)
- The Shins – Chutes Too Narrow (#40)
- Girls – Album (#41)
- The Flaming Lips – In a Priest Driven Ambulance (#42). We had four other albums.
- Spoon – Kill the Moonlight (#47)
- Big Thief – Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You (#50). We had five other albums, just not this one.
- The Hold Steady – Separation Sunday (#55)
- Kurt Vile – Wakin on a Pretty Daze (#57)
- Deerhoof – Apple O’ (#60)
- Parquet Courts – Light Up Gold (#70)
- Mac DeMarco – Salad Days (#78)
- MJ Lenderman – Boat Songs (#79)
- Liars – Drum’s Not Dead (#88)
- Angel Olsen – My Woman (#90)
- The White Stripes – De Stijl (#92)
That leaves 52 albums that have never come up at all, so we have some listening to do.