Owl City - Ocean Eyes
I am that far out of the bubble that I hadn't heard of this guy til I listened to the album and then clocked the MySpace (good lord, HOW many fans?! Who are you?!?) Hence wasn't prepared for the sheer amount of bile most people have towards him.
I simply chose it because I have a weird 'thing' about owls. They're just lovely :)
That aside, ratings are, for me, the nightmare part of the review. I have my struggles with writer's block like anyone else, but then categorising whatever strange metaphors or analogies or whatever I have said to try and sum up others' music into a number out of ten seems almost impossible to me. The editor of the FourOhFive kept telling me off for never putting ratings at the bottom of my reviews. The thing is, I'm okay with writing about something. People can take away what they want from that, and why else would we write it? For instance, the guy who comments that I didn't mention the Postal Service was the one who really got to me because they're the band someone made me a CD of way back when young gentlemen used to make me CDs *Miss Havisham Moment*, and the CD was actually a mix of Death Cab, who I subsequently adore and whose albums got me through a large part of my dissertation, and The Postal Service, who I have since never listened to. They're now on the listen list!!!! I imagine they'd work well as a light side salad to my current many-many-coursed banquet that is getting in to Bob Dylan.
Anyway, yes, I never really got in to Postal Service, so on that comparison fell short. It was akin to getting an essay back and being told about the book I hadn't read which I definitely should have done to write the essay. Possibly demonstrative of my approach to life... but temporality is one of those things I am sadly subservient to. (Yes of course the reviews are trying to replace the hole in my life left by no longer flinging myself into essay writing as an endless attempt to receive recognition and approval....)
I'M DIGRESSING.
I like reviewing music a lot but if all people can do is argue about the ratings I'm sorely disappointed. Owl City is pretty middle-of-the-road pop, but for that week proved an incredible tonic to the dour mood I was in. The singles are constantly on the majority of radio stations and are holding up well in the face of it: I'm not defending mass opine but the playability of the record, which for me is generally what counts. So I gave it a six out of ten because the majority of the album, once you had passed the three listens which I usually allow myself to get a handle on the music, makes your ears feel like they are bleeding syrup as your mind turns to candyfloss. Except that some tracks make me feel really, really good instead. Perhaps that was my main mis-step: I wrote the review in a fairly objective tone, knowing the audience of that website, but when it came to that bloody '... out of ten', my own emotional involvement stepped in and said 'This guy is terrible, but he actually really cheered you up.' Presumbly because he does sound like Death Cab and other bands whose twee-ness is something I quietly appreciate at the right moments.
Equally, I am gratified that those that have commented seem to have listened to the music before dismissing it, but would have wanted more of a response to my actual writing. I suppose the lack of argument with the review itself speaks of a general consensus, and the strong response to the rating thus proves that... I'm really bad at equating numbers with reality? It's been a learning curve at least, I don't think any of my reviews have provoked comment before. I might just start fucking with people to engender more debate.
And Owl Eyes was a strangely welcome counter to the huge amount of 'coolness' I am constantly swimming in living here in Brighton. I would not replace a single one of my friends for all of the Nazi gold in Switzerland, but sometimes I think I'll never be able to keep up with whether I'm hearing the Decemberists' version or the Joanna Newsom version, whether it's noise music as a statement or just plain bad, how many of Tom Waits' albums I know, how many Radiohead album covers I recognise, how many Leonard Cohen lyrics I remember........
Fuck it all, let's put the Dum Dums on really, really loudly.
Anyway, yes, I never really got in to Postal Service, so on that comparison fell short. It was akin to getting an essay back and being told about the book I hadn't read which I definitely should have done to write the essay. Possibly demonstrative of my approach to life... but temporality is one of those things I am sadly subservient to. (Yes of course the reviews are trying to replace the hole in my life left by no longer flinging myself into essay writing as an endless attempt to receive recognition and approval....)
I'M DIGRESSING.
I like reviewing music a lot but if all people can do is argue about the ratings I'm sorely disappointed. Owl City is pretty middle-of-the-road pop, but for that week proved an incredible tonic to the dour mood I was in. The singles are constantly on the majority of radio stations and are holding up well in the face of it: I'm not defending mass opine but the playability of the record, which for me is generally what counts. So I gave it a six out of ten because the majority of the album, once you had passed the three listens which I usually allow myself to get a handle on the music, makes your ears feel like they are bleeding syrup as your mind turns to candyfloss. Except that some tracks make me feel really, really good instead. Perhaps that was my main mis-step: I wrote the review in a fairly objective tone, knowing the audience of that website, but when it came to that bloody '... out of ten', my own emotional involvement stepped in and said 'This guy is terrible, but he actually really cheered you up.' Presumbly because he does sound like Death Cab and other bands whose twee-ness is something I quietly appreciate at the right moments.
Equally, I am gratified that those that have commented seem to have listened to the music before dismissing it, but would have wanted more of a response to my actual writing. I suppose the lack of argument with the review itself speaks of a general consensus, and the strong response to the rating thus proves that... I'm really bad at equating numbers with reality? It's been a learning curve at least, I don't think any of my reviews have provoked comment before. I might just start fucking with people to engender more debate.
And Owl Eyes was a strangely welcome counter to the huge amount of 'coolness' I am constantly swimming in living here in Brighton. I would not replace a single one of my friends for all of the Nazi gold in Switzerland, but sometimes I think I'll never be able to keep up with whether I'm hearing the Decemberists' version or the Joanna Newsom version, whether it's noise music as a statement or just plain bad, how many of Tom Waits' albums I know, how many Radiohead album covers I recognise, how many Leonard Cohen lyrics I remember........
Fuck it all, let's put the Dum Dums on really, really loudly.
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