Satanstoenail
My Larpstyle determines my Derpstyle
Been cranking some vintage Midnight Oil lately after a post in non-metal reminded me of them the other day.
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Often times, the idea of indie folk, and folk music as a whole, either brings to mind bands like lame, mellow-dramatic and over bloated bands like Bright Eyes, hillside violins, Bob Dylan or the stripped down genius and sincerity of singer-songwriters like Elliott Smith or, to a more far-removed to moder times but equaliy excellent example, Leonard Cohen and Nick Drake. Phil Elevrum has always managed to make his music sit in-between both being a full band style sound or with isolationist intamency, with The Microphones he made some pretty damn good fuzzed-out folk rock, and with his new project under the banner of Mount Eerie, he has made some pretty somber, acoustic sounding music that resides next to early Elliott Smith records and other “basement recording” artists.
Written sometime between 2002-2003 in a cabin in Norway, Dawn: Winter Journal is a fully-developed and finely executed album. Almost every track provides a suitable advancement to the emotional concept of the album. Songs like "It Wasn’t The Hunting" display Elevrum’s solemn intensions about his trip to Norway, and the feelings of sadness that rooted the reason for the trip.
Elverum’s also has seemed to become rooted in shorter, and to-the-point songs that don’t drift or meddle in useless song-segments that do not aid to the overall sound and composition of the song. An obvious example of this development of this idea can be seen in simple and heartbreaking chord progressions and vocal melodies of “With My Hands Out,” where Elverum’s aching nostalgic vocals mix perfectly with the somber and simple guitar lines. “Voice in Headphones” blends a mid-pace beat with an even more simplistic chord progression with more simple vocal lines over it. After repeated listens it won’t be hard to find some boring aspect in the repetitiveness of the songs. This certainly is not an album to listen to start-to-finish; mix it up and play it with your ow tracklist version, the result is much more rewarding.
When Elverum is dipping his fingers in more complicated playing, he takes time to craft songs like “Great Ghosts” that show more depth, deeper skill and technique but never get in the way of making the song listenable. The song goes from necessary movements where tension is presented and resolved, both with vocals and guitars. Eleverum’s lyrics continue to walk the path on “Great Ghosts” that a majority of the rest of the album walks, taking the road that makes a point of showing the emotional depth that he encountered in his trip to Norway and the feelings of despair he dealt within the trip. It is here where Eleverum showcases exactly how well-off he is in his song-writing skills
The songs walk a thin line the divides the albums tone between somber and hopeless as one side of the duality and the other being optimistic and rising above the ashes of the emotional fire that seems to be the influence of this record. While some may find his lyrical attempts to be ridden with sadness and extreme longing, there is a slight sense of hope and light at the end of the tunnel, both a lyrical and melodic level.
Seriously?That review is really poorly written, and the fact you actually typed "mellow-dramatic" almost makes me want to put you on my ignore list again.
That review is really poorly written, and the fact you actually typed "mellow-dramatic" almost makes me want to put you on my ignore list again.
That review is better than anything you have written. I don't see how it is poorly written either. Omni, Omni, Omni.
I can actually spell and form coherent sentences, not to mention that I don't invent words. Your review is written in a heavily redundant, convoluted fashion and also happens to contain cringe-worthy phrases such as "mellow-dramatic" and "acoustic sounding music." Not to mention that your approach to writing in this instance is awkward and not at all suited to a review.
To add on to what Omni is saying. Did your English teacher ever cover how to write a critique or review?