Lol

yeah if this exchange was contrived then I'd understand hating it but it seems very off-the-cuff, yet goes to great depths. obv it's not great as a structured review but there's plenty of great points strewn throughout. I rarely have conversations about music that manage to be this thoughtful, yet elated with (what seems to be) genuine excitement. there's a couple of ehh lines maybe but I appreciate that ali didn't really pare things down too much.

Album Rating: 4.5

if anyone had anything worth saying they wouldn't be doing it on sputnikmusic.com



an observation not directed toward anything or anyone in particular

worth saying or worth reading?

if there's any satisfaction at all in saying it then obv it's worth saying, self-indulgent or not

Album Rating: 3.5

I think this review (and a lot of others) is testament to there being space for meaningful discussion round these parts. Trust these two writers to prove that.

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

What Johnny said [2]

yeah anthracks your own post disses you

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

"im an INTJ"



Who cares? lol

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

My AP Psych teacher back in high school used to mention how he was a member of MENSA a lot

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

I should hope so lol



he is a teacher

Such a sweetly sung melody too. Song has some of the best hooks here.

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

great read, great album.

Album Rating: 3.5

so many words! but some big names so i guess it's time to sit down with some cocoa

Album Rating: 3.0

" So yes, Wiesenfeld overexerts himself with the vocals, but I liken the effect to that spark when you realize a person is divulging one of their passions. It’s an invigorating feeling."



goddammit u two fucking insightful bastards.

Album Rating: 3.0

"Totally. That's why I'm irked by some of the reactions to "Human Bog," that it's being held up as as an emotional apex in a record that's "lacking emotion." That's a strange reading to me because it's clear that it’s meant to give purpose to the vibrancy of the rest of the music."



love this too. even though Human Bog is my favourite song so far, i couldnt call it the emotional apex of the album. i love what you guys were saying about how it adds gravity and context to the rest of the album and reaffirms its concepts though.





"Will has talked a little about the record being written in part as if world-building, which is wonderfully on-brand for the nerd he posits of himself on his Twitter and other places, and so it makes sense that he would introduce that idea out the gate. Not only that, but he begins the record with the word "Man" and then constructs this fanciful retreat from this world to find a better one, which suggests a newfound confidence in not only making queer music but finding and replicating the joy there"



nice



honestly if i brought up every single highlight in this review that got me excited i'd break the page

glad you're finding it insightful and hope it makes you enjoy the record more :>

getting a fly-on-the-wall vibe reading this while coffee-ing and listening to the album again. you're both great and this review is well worth the time i had to put into it

Album Rating: 3.0

ok so i kinda slowly read through this bit by bit while listening to the album once again to kind of make the most of your comments. this was overwhelmingly comprehensive. my struggle with the album the whole time is that as much as I didn't find it hard to 'get it' from a conceptual perspective, but for an album like this I think that that is an overly-simplistic summation. What I couldn't find was the bridge to finding a way to relate to and bask in such a strong, expressive, and transporting queer album. it was easy with Cerulean, but was also an element that I think affected my over-all understanding of Obsidian too. So reading such a genuine and authentic take like this was very helpful for me and kind of gently led me in the right direction.



Its troubling to feel emotionally alienated from an artists music who has written some of the most personal songs i've ever heard and I think that that is actually important to observe. I agree that a lot of the criticisms towards this album (in line with 'annoying', 'emotionally lacking' etc) have been presented from an inappropriate angle, like theres some kind of mental roadblock or imaginary line in the sand for straight men like myself for how far into this kind of exploration we can travel and still relate emotionally to the content. which is equal parts asinine and understandably reflexive, not intentional.



comes back to your takes on Human Bog and it being heralded as the stand-out by types who felt a little left behind with this album. i guess i thought this album was queer in a way that doesn't work for me but i'm glad I asked "why the fuck not?" and had you two to help me put together the missing pieces

Album Rating: 3.0

album ended literally the moment i submitted that comment.

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

Cerulean wasn't honestly all that queer though, even if it's musically a better album