Yeah, it's getting mixed reviews here, too... here being my house. The lack of overt songishness is bugging people. Its not the kind of record you can really treat as sonic wallpaper, really; at least not at first. It demands your focus, but doesn't then provide you with any specifics to say Aha! to. It's so passionately ambivalent that those who require a map to their own emotions are i think first intimidated and then bored by it. Many people have become so used to being manipulated by their entertainment- so hectored by obviousness that when presented with a musical terrain such as this, an emotional Rorshach test without
cues or landmarks that they feel cheated. But this is one of the areas where for me the magnificence of the album lies. Its deeply felt, without imposing it's specific feelings on the listeners. It leaves you to draw your own conclusions about the feelings that it stirs in you. And freedom, as we all know, is not for everyone. Which is probably a good thing, for if it was, who would do our dirty work?
And yes, i enjoyed OK Computer, but on nowhere close to the same level. I have high but as yet unsatisfied hopes for Travis, and I havent yet heard Coldcut. i'm going to the record store tomorrow though, and i'll
buy their record.
Yrs,
David Baerwald
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Yeah, it's getting mixed reviews here, too... here being my house. The lack of overt songishness is bugging people. Its not the kind of record you can really treat as sonic wallpaper, really; at least not at first. It demands your focus, but doesn't then provide you with any specifics to say Aha! to. It's so passionately ambivalent that those who require a map to their own emotions are i think first intimidated and then bored by it. Many people have become so used to being manipulated by their entertainment- so hectored by obviousness that when presented with a musical terrain such as this, an emotional Rorshach test without
cues or landmarks that they feel cheated. But this is one of the areas where for me the magnificence of the album lies. Its deeply felt, without imposing it's specific feelings on the listeners. It leaves you to draw your own conclusions about the feelings that it stirs in you. And freedom, as we all know, is not for everyone. Which is probably a good thing, for if it was, who would do our dirty work?
And yes, i enjoyed OK Computer, but on nowhere close to the same level. I have high but as yet unsatisfied hopes for Travis, and I havent yet heard Coldcut. i'm going to the record store tomorrow though, and i'll
buy their record.
Yrs,
David Baerwald
cues or landmarks that they feel cheated. But this is one of the areas where for me the magnificence of the album lies. Its deeply felt, without imposing it's specific feelings on the listeners. It leaves you to draw your own conclusions about the feelings that it stirs in you. And freedom, as we all know, is not for everyone. Which is probably a good thing, for if it was, who would do our dirty work?
And yes, i enjoyed OK Computer, but on nowhere close to the same level. I have high but as yet unsatisfied hopes for Travis, and I havent yet heard Coldcut. i'm going to the record store tomorrow though, and i'll
buy their record.
Yrs,
David Baerwald
