Album Rating: 4.8

Hawks you need to jam Harrod and Funck - Live, might be my goat folk album

Album Rating: 4.5

Will do bro!

Album Rating: 4.8

excited to hear your thoughts (:

Album Rating: 4.0

"even on better oblivion community center though i just can't help but feel like conor is absolutely carrying her"



I came into that album never listening to Conor before and I think Phoebe carried him

Just to set the record straight, they both carry that album into the arms of aimless boring tedium

Album Rating: 4.0

It is aimless and boring isn't it?

Album Rating: 4.5

Man, "Georgia" grew on me so much

Album Rating: 4.8

It wasn't the first or second one that clicked for me here, but it's far and away the best song here and one of my all-time favorites

Album Rating: 4.0

But... Smoke Signals. God, I want an album of Smoke Signals, it has the most magical atmosphere perhaps ever.

Also, I can't believe it's been almost two years since this came out.

she needs to release her golden hour, i want an album of motion sickness

Album Rating: 4.8

WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT RATING BLUSH

proud of my only contribution to this thread

Album Rating: 4.0

"she needs to release her golden hour, i want an album of motion sickness"

Yes. Or that. That song stands out so much here. Got one of my friends who doesn't really like folk or indie music into it.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT RATING BLUSH"

: ' (

Album Rating: 4.8

What happenedddd ):

Album Rating: 4.0

Album stopped feeling genuine to me, for whatever reason. What I loved about the progression of the album and its not-so-subtle serial killer thread is what I hate about it now: it feels too calculated at times. Which is what I don't like about Turn Out the Lights at times, too. Eschews the personal (to some extent) -- the genuine and (at times) self-destructive -- for the sake of narrative cohesion and/or a sort of broader "message"; I think I prefer the albums that just go for it, like Sprained Ankle. Once an audience arrives, there's a feeling of responsibility that I think kills the music a little bit. I think a notable counterpoint would be Common Holly, to be honest; I don't think she's quite as good a song-writer as Phoebe (yet), though she's someone who manages to... I don't know, I guess own that sadness and mould it into something quite deliberate, but no less earnest.

In that, I'm projecting intention, of course, which is fraught. But I think it's evidenced in the music, esp. in comparing Julien's two albums. TOTL is still fantastic song-writing, but the way it's packaged feels too deliberate to me for the kind of music she writes. Likewise, Smoke Signals and Motion Sickness are two beautiful sides of that kind, and the rest of the album exists in some awkward intermediate, I reckon.

Album Rating: 4.0

"TOTL is still fantastic song-writing, but the way it's packaged feels too deliberate to me for the kind of music she writes"



what does this mean, exactly? are people not allowed to have genuine emotion in tightly structured songs?

Album Rating: 4.0

No, it's not the structure of the songs, it's the structure of the album. Second person in Claws in Your Back (which is best JB song, I think) ends up transposing Julien's personal experiences with the auience's. It's the reason Hurt Less and Even precede it, I think -- brings out a sense of the communal, and in doing so kinda brings in and welcomes the audience into the hurt (and, hopefully, recovery).

Just to be clear: there's nothing wrong with it, people should be allowed to do it, it's good and admirable and it's what I loved so much about the album in the first place. But I'd rather make the connection myself, I don't think it needs that awareness of self. It's a highly personal critique, I don't mean to sound prescriptive.

Album Rating: 4.8

Hmmmmm, I think this is one of the most genuine albums I've ever heard

Then again, I've never really appropriated authenticity with personal enjoyment or quality

But yes, Claws in Your Back is JB's best song (;

Album Rating: 4.0

Genuine might be the wrong word, it sounds like a moral claim. I'm not sure what it is.

Album Rating: 4.0

I totally understand what he's getting at, the second half of this record kind of sucks to be honest. "Smoke Signals" and "Motion Sickness" do a lot of heavy lifting, but if I can go the rest of my life without hearing "Killer" or "Would You Rather" or "You Missed My Heart" I'll be fine.