Master Hunter is particularly grating.

I was besieged by emails from angry fans after I gave this record a 6/10 review in my local paper

Yeah, I'm curious too.

Album Rating: 3.0

Not much to tell beyond that. I do album reviews for my local paper, and typically get no more than 5 email responses per week. The week I wrote about this I got 23 from angry Laura Marling fans alone. "She's so young/talented" "I'd like to see you do better" etc etc. It wasn't even that negative a review!

Weird, was your review publicized somewhere beyond the paper? I guess I'm also asking about the scope of the paper.

Album Rating: 3.0

Not that I know of. Maybe it got brought up on a message board or twitter or something. That's

probably what's happened actually, it's a pretty small paper.



I'm just amused I got a retaliation from Laura Marling fans as opposed to Tulisa/Chris Brown/will.i.am

or anything else I've written far worse about.

Those are the typical responses. Irrelevant of course. 6/10 scores always seem to be treated as negative scores despite usually being "good". I mean look at the shitstorm that's blowing now cos anthony fantano gave BoC a 6/10.

Album Rating: 3.0

Yeah exactly. You never get any remotely positive feedback when you're dealing with the general public anyway.

How did you get that position for the local paper?

Album Rating: 4.5

possibly AotY. at least top 3 so far.

Album Rating: 3.0

@fish. I did some work experience there a few years ago, and they wanted more music content so they kept me on.

Do you get paid at all? Not that it'd be much.

Good review Jacob, but I feel like you use quite a few vague, Pitchforkian statements here that sound nice but don't really say much to me. A lot of people dig that style, and it's difficult to pull off well (and you've done so). I'll link you to some things I'm talking about when I get on a computer, but it's not really my cup of tea.

Very possible Will, I've been experimenting with style recently so I wouldn't be surprised to hear that.

Anyways, now that I'm at a comp, here's some of what I'm talking about:

The record begins with bursts of blissful ascension, the notes within lingering in the air long after they’ve been played-- so that when an eerily familiar succession of notes cracks through the surface in the final song’s cessation, it’s both comforting and meaningful.

especially the "blissful ascension" part

The album's sewn together tightly by these recurring ideas, ready to fall into disarray the instant they’re dismantled.

And when the motifs fade, Laura Marling longs for them. The album becomes uncomfortably tense, lacking any sort of lasting appeal. Songs that have evident meaning, ballads like “When Were You Happy?” drift by like spiritless tumbleweeds, rumbling between the album’s pockets of vitality in aimless fashion.

(this last one especially)

The songs are resoundingly indifferent,

those were the big ones for me. Just my two cents, and the rest of the review is stellar (especially the last paragraph).

You've caught quite a few things I was myself unsure about (re: the "ascension" part. I ended up editing that part endlessly, and I feared something had been lost in translation.) Thanks a ton for the discerning eye, Will-- as you know, it always helps to have a second brain look over things.

There are also a few spots here while I could certainly afford to cut a few words, haha. Out of curiosity, though, what in particular do you not care for in the last phrase? The "The songs are resoundingly indifferent," bit?

I guess it doesn't strike me as "standard" that songs can be indifferent - maybe "indifferent" isn't the right word? It's like saying "DA SONGS DON'T CAYURR" and that makes little sense to me. Like, how can a song have a feeling like "indifferent?" The music isn't really sentient, at least not on this level.

Lmao, I wish music said that! But yeah, that does make sense. I might change the verb, to where it isn't that the songs "are" indifferent, but that they "come across as" indifferent. I think that would make the change that you're talking about.

That would be a lot better IMO. Of course, this is just personal preference, so it's really your call.

Album Rating: 3.5

First album I heard of her. Although this does lack really defining/outstanding moments I do like her voice and flow.

But the first four tracks!