Seeing as we have another thread on Altered Zones I suppose it's good timing to talk about P4k.

Is it just me or did it used to be more smarmy, pretentious and wilfully obscure? Maybe my music tastes have just shifted a bit but a lot of last year's purported albums of the year - as well as '08 and '07 to a lesser extent - were ones given a load of P4k love. Y'know: Grizzly Bear, The xx, AnCo, Dirty Projectors, Phoenix. There was a fairly interesting Village Voice essay written about the Pitchfork-isation of acclaimed music; or at the very least an alignment of general consensus and P4k. And it seems as if this year will be no exception: The National, FlyLo, Sleigh Bells, Beach House, LCD, Big Boi etc.

From a personal perspective, I was never quite on the same wavelength as P4k five years back but now I find it, alongside DiS, informing a massive amount of my listening. I know some will say it shouldn't matter, and that I should enjoy what I enjoy (which I do) but it holds a stronger influence on me than ever. I don't wanna feel like P4k's bitch but it's looking like that at times.

Seems like a lot of mockery and dismissal of the site has faded as well. So has it become less leftfield in the past few years, or has the mainstream started to appreciate the same kind of music, thus leading to an increased tastemaker status?