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Post by sickmouthy on Jun 11, 2009 14:10:15 GMT
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lana
Apparition
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Post by lana on Jun 11, 2009 16:00:39 GMT
No offense to Pitchfork, but they gave the Magic Position a higher rating than both Lycanthropy and Wind in the Wires.
And I hate their pretentious writing.
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Post by cometojoy on Jun 11, 2009 16:14:41 GMT
agreed with the pretentious style. the fact they slagged off blackdown and the sun is often out for being boring kind of makes me against it to begin with, but i just hate that review. i did like the idea of catharsis in t.s.i.o.o., though.
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Post by cmj on Jun 11, 2009 16:30:58 GMT
I think that's a good review.
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lana
Apparition
Posts: 47
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Post by lana on Jun 11, 2009 17:15:11 GMT
And it seems to me like the reviewer is criticizing "The Sun is Often Out" for not having a chorus. I don't know how anyone can say anything bad about that song.
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Post by oats on Jun 11, 2009 17:35:57 GMT
I thought that was a good review, although it's overwritten in places.
The last paragraph interests me. The reviewer states that Patrick has the ability to please his inner music critic, but too often ignores any sort of pleasure principle. Surely Patrick’s inner critic and idea of what is pleasurable are the same thing, how could it not be? He’s not intentionally making unpleasurable music. Also which pleasure principle is the reviewer referring too? His own? Perhaps there is a universal pleasure principle that I’m unaware of.
Personally I trust Patrick’s inner critic more than I do that of St. Vincent or Bat for lashes, of whom he praises for implementing humour and a sultry songcraft of which Patrick supposedly lacks in the Bachelor. Listening to the album I don’t understand how he came to such a conclusion myself as I hear examples of both, and although I like them both, in contrast to Patrick’s music I find Bat for Lashes and St. Vincent’s music tame, twee and a little too cosy.
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Post by scarredbyfallout on Jun 11, 2009 18:06:06 GMT
There was really only one thing that sort of rung true to me about that particular review. The chorus thing IS over-used, most notably at the end of Damaris (though i definitely have to disagree that Damaris is understated, if anything I've always felt that it's main fault is that's it's not understated enough). I'd like to know what exactly was the reviewer here expecting from The Bachelor, I got the impression that he'd heard TMP and judged the rest of Patricks wok based upon that. Hmmm...
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Post by batgirl on Jun 11, 2009 20:22:15 GMT
No offense to Pitchfork, but they gave the Magic Position a higher rating than both Lycanthropy and Wind in the Wires. And I hate their pretentious writing. That would be because the person who reviewed TMP liked it more than the people who reviewed WITW or Lycanthropy liked those records. That's how record reviews work. One man's pretentious is another man's "not talking to his audience as if they're idiots". This is sickmouthy posting from batgirl's account, btw. I think, also, that Ian was referring to his own "inner critic", rather than Patrick's, and also his own "pleasure principle"; I read that point as being that the album ticks a lot of superficial boxes that signify quality, but that, at the end of the day, Ian just doesn't like it all that much. Which is a very valid point, especially given that Ian backs up why he doens't like it with reasons. |
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lana
Apparition
Posts: 47
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Post by lana on Jun 11, 2009 21:11:40 GMT
That would be because the person who reviewed TMP liked it more than the people who reviewed WITW or Lycanthropy liked those records. That's how record reviews work. You don't say. I had absolutely no idea. |
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Post by Self Destruction on Jun 12, 2009 0:04:03 GMT
I never trust pitchfork reviews. They tend to review the artists image, as opposed to the album.
They've become very pretentious as well, I don't understand why people still care about Pitchfork, tbh
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Post by nwatts88 on Jun 12, 2009 1:33:30 GMT
I agree with the review too. I adore Patrick's music, but this album was a clear step down. For me, there are individual songs that are just stellar, and a few too many that I consistently skip. The previous three albums are just wonderful from start to finish (perhaps an exception would be Enchanted on tmp, but I don't dislike it as much as I do Battle or the grating lazy guitar in Oblivion). I won't go in to a serious review Pitchfork-style, but I generally agree with the reviewer.
Pitchfork's reviews can be great, they can also be laughably bad. They're only valuable as long as you take a bit of perspective in with you while reading. When they're talking about Brooklyn bands they're fantastic, because they really do know what they're talking about. The pretension starts when they assume the same level of authority over every music scene in the world.
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