as a huge Phil fan and someone who feels for his loss it doesn't make the album good. but I respect what he did here regardless tho I wont listen too much more probably

Album Rating: 4.5

Agreed with Asleep - this is very, very subtle. Not melodically or instrumentally showy but focused listening reveals a lot of detail. It's not a passive listen.

Album Rating: 4.5

No offense intended to anyone by boredom with this; but Asleep what do you find interesting or stunning about it musically? The guitars are basically just aimless noodling and there's very little more to it (I wish I was oversimplifying it but I'm not). You could argue it's a "statement" or something about how empty he is inside etc w/e, but this is so lo-fi that it is, in Phil's own words, barely music. I appreciate the lyrical work on some of these tracks, but as a musical album it falls extremely flat.



Also fwiw with regards to passive listens vs. intense detailed listens -- this morning was my fifth attempt to buy into this. Just not getting it.



Not important though; it clearly resonates with a ton of listeners here so I'm the odd one out and I know it.

Album Rating: 4.5

I find that in explicitly refusing to make this an artistic piece he more acutely captures the mourning experience than other works with a death narrative like Carrie & Lowell.

I like Sufjan's record but I have misgivings with how he depicts certain scenes, "The Only Thing" being the most glaring example. He's suicidal in a Holiday Inn and yet the vehicle for transferring that scene is a perfect little melody, deliberated rhythm, "masterful" songwriting. He aestheticizes an image of despair in a way that creates a disconnect for me. Elverum (in contrast) is willing to sacrifice the Song as an ideal to clinch what grief is really like. The negation of the artistic process ("death is real, it's not for making into art") or rather the attempt at negating it is the crux of what makes the record so impactful for me.

It's especially ironic that Sufjan said "this is not my art project, it's my life" when his record is the glossiest and most beautified of the bunch. Carrie and Lowell has a "manicured-lawn aesthetic" as Lewis once put it.

Album Rating: 4.5

^totally get this argument as a defense. My only rebuttal would be that in bypassing the songcraft process to better depict grief, is this even music? Elverum hardly seems to think so. To me, if expressing emotions in any recorded style constitutes a classic composition merely because of the presence and conveyance of emotion, then almost anyone could do the same.

Album Rating: 4.0

people have asked "is this even music?" every time an album questions what music can be



art is defined by the viewer. its effectiveness is dependent on how it sheds light on the human condition, and the skills by which is achieves this



you can argue that the album isn't very skillful, but you can't really say it doesnt shed light on the human condition when the album focuses almost solely on that, and the response reinforces that. but, you can argue that the album is clumsy and barren. i really can't argue with anyone who thinks the album is half-assed in some form. but it is art, and it is music

this is more musically pleasing to my ears than half of C&L tbh

Album Rating: 3.0

no question about that

Album Rating: 4.5

to each his own for sure

I just fail to hear what is musically pleasing about the same few strings being plucked aimlessly and with no additional structuring or songcraft

Album Rating: 4.0

idk but how it manages to do so much with so little is part of why i'm fascinated with it. no need to justify not liking it though tbh, if it's a 2 for you then .. at least you're being honest

Album Rating: 4.5

@Sowing Lucid and Johnny nailed how I feel to be honest. The albums musical and lyrical minimalism is entirely purposeful and, I feel, achieves its purpose spectacularly. Critiquing the album because it isn't as musically extravagant or complex as other emotional projects from recent years criticises the album for failing to achieve something it never intended to do (though you do acknowledge this) which I consider questionable, and is either an argument that you see and understand the subtleties that I'm taking about but that you don't find these appeal or emotionally engaging (a completely legitimate and understandable stance) or that you fail to see the subtleties and thus don't enjoy it (a less defensible stance, but again an understandable one)

Album Rating: 4.5

how it manages to do so much with so little is part of why i'm fascinated with it [2]. Worded my general stance far better and more succinctly than I could haha

hahaha are we seriously questioning if this is music for Christ's sakes

its just doesn't sound interesting in my ears musically. it's flat. think that was the point considering the context but I just dont really enjoy it. Phil falling off hard after ocean roar for me

Album Rating: 4.5

I like how Tinymixtapes argues the case in their review, that his approach "ensures we don’t get too absorbed by our own thoughts, that we don’t get overly seduced by its musicality lest we forget that 'death is real,' the album’s pseudo mantra."

The one demand Elverum makes towards the listener is "look at me" at the end of My Chasm; every songwriting decision is in service of centering his presence. That honestly makes the record unbearable to listen to, but when you do make eye contact it's hard to not see this as a masterpiece.

Album Rating: 4.5

Agreed, everything about the album places his grief front and centre in an unavoidable way that makes it the difficult and devastating listen that it is for me

Album Rating: 4.2

damn sowing went in with that soundoff

Album Rating: 4.5

I'm glad there is some dissenting opinion to be honest, helps facilitate discussion

Album Rating: 4.5

Lucid nailed it with that description

at least sowing's reasons for not liking this album makes more sense than coldplaz's

Album Rating: 3.0

what was his reason?



that he doesn't have the capacity to enjoy music that isnt shit?



if so agreed