According to Pitchfork the website, Pitchfork the music festival‘s lineup is a 7.8 out of 10. The average rating comes from an analysis of Pitchfork’s critical appraisals of albums for each artist on its 2015 festival lineup. (Three of the 46 acts had no album reviews and therefore no numeric Pitchfork ratings: Vic Mensa, Sophie, and A.G. Cook.)
Some other mildly intriguing findings:
The strongest overall days of Pitchfork are Friday and Sunday, each with a 7.9 average; Saturday is the weakest day with a 7.6 rating.
Saturday headliner Sleater-Kinney is the most acclaimed act, with a brag-worthy 8.9 average. They’re followed closely by Panda Bear, who played last night, and Sunday evening outfit Run the Jewels, each with muscular 8.8 averages.
Day one headliner Wilco has more Pitchfork reviews (11) than any other 2015 festival act—not including the recently dropped Star Wars, which hasn’t been reviewed. Jeff Tweedy can hang his cowboy hat on his band’s solid 7.3 Pitchfork average.
Four artists’ averages fall under a 7.0. Bringing up the rear is Illinois folkster Ryley Walker with a 6.2 Pitchfork average. But that “average” isn’t exactly fair considering it’s based on one review, a lukewarm assessment of Walker’s 2015 album Primrose Green. Two other low-ranking artists on the lineup were hampered by mild reviews of debut albums: Chicago fave Jimmy Whispers (6.4), who is playing as I type this sentence, and Future Brown (6.5), scheduled to take the stage at 2:30 today. The mercurial Ariel Pink, whose output as Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti was also considered in our analysis, has a justifiably shaky 6.9 average. He plays at 4:45 today.
For more fun with Pitchfork’s numerical rating system, check out our festival guide “cage matches,” in which the site’s ratings help solve time slot conflicts, including a couple of today’s clashes: Vic Mensa vs. Sleater-Kinney and Parquet Courts vs. A$ap Ferg.