Pixies, Pavement, Panda Bear: Indie Rock Artists Pick Their Favorite Albums

Pitchfork asked 23 indie rock insiders to name their favorite albums, and Pavement's 1992 debut "Slanted and Enchanted" landed on more ballots than any other record. The survey, published alongside Pitchfork's "100 Best Indie Rock Albums of All Time," collected top-five lists from artists, label founders and authors, split into pre-2000 and post-2000 picks.

Who answered the survey?

The respondents span four decades of indie rock. They include A. Savage of Parquet Courts, Lou Barlow of Sebadoh and Dinosaur Jr., Hamilton Leithauser and Walter Martin of The Walkmen, Neko Case, Marnie Stern, Mirah, and Karly Hartzman of Wednesday. Label voices include Laura Ballance of Merge Records and Superchunk, Slim Moon of Kill Rock Stars, Chris Jacobs of Sub Pop, Matthew McDermott of 4AD, and Ryan Schreiber, Pitchfork's founder. Authors Michael Azerrad, Simon Reynolds and Steven Hyden contributed, along with critic Anthony Fantano of The Needle Drop.

Each participant named five favorite records from before 2000 and five from after 2000. Pitchfork had earlier asked the same group to define indie rock, a question it described as a "noble effort."

Which albums came back again and again?

"Slanted and Enchanted" appears on three pre-2000 ballots: those of Chris Jacobs, Michael Azerrad and Randy Randall of No Age. The Jesus Lizard's 1991 "Goat" earned picks from both Hamilton Leithauser and Matthew Friedberger of Fiery Furnaces. Sonic Youth's 1988 "Daydream Nation" was chosen by Marnie Stern and Slim Moon.

On the post-2000 side, Destroyer's 2011 "Kaputt" drew selections from both Alasdair MacLean of The Clientele and Laura Ballance. The Strokes' 2001 debut "Is This It" appeared on the lists of Anthony Fantano and Hamilton Leithauser. Panda Bear's 2007 "Person Pitch" earned votes from Lou Barlow and Matthew McDermott, while Deerhunter's 2008 "Microcastle" was picked by Ryan Schreiber and Walter Martin.

The deepest catalogs reach back to 1980: The Cramps' "Songs the Lord Taught Us," the Wipers' "Is This Real?" and Young Marble Giants' "Colossal Youth" all anchor the pre-2000 lists. The newest picks look forward — Cindy Lee's self-released 2024 "Diamond Jubilee" and Adrienne Lenker's 2024 "Bright Future."

What do the lists reveal?

The ballots trace an informal lineage. Lou Barlow, whose Dinosaur Jr. shaped 1980s underground rock, selects My Bloody Valentine, Swans and Sonic Youth — then pivots to Animal Collective and Broadcast. Karly Hartzman, leader of the younger band Wednesday, picks contemporaries like MJ Lenderman's 2022 "Boat Songs" alongside Yo La Tengo's 1993 "Painful."

Pitchfork notes the survey accompanied its "100 Best Indie Rock Albums of All Time" feature and invited outside voices — people who, in the publication's words, "do not work at the Pitchfork office."

Some respondents broke format. Alasdair MacLean submitted a single choice, Destroyer's "Kaputt." Neko Case listed six pre-2000 picks. Matthew Friedberger included Paul McCartney's 1980 solo album "II" and Stereolab's "Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night."

Taken together, the ballots function as a working canon, assembled by the musicians who built the genre — one that keeps room for a cassette-era Liz Phair demo tape and a self-released 2024 album in the same breath.