Pitchfork Review...Get Ready for some hate

[TFowl]

Yeah, he did a great job reviewing it..  Using "lol." In his review, comparing Jim James to Dave Matthews because he is on his label, and that reason only. Bullshit rhetoric in the first 3 paragraphs, and still managed to NOT find the time to review two of the songs on the album. (Aluminum Park and Remnants)

Stop with the bullshit and open your eyes, stop trying to be Mr. P.C. review guy.  

[The DARK]

This may be the worst review that I have ever read.

Worse still is the band's decision to ignore the perfect past incarnations of James' Orbisonian tenor-- easily MMJ's most appealing component and one of the more breathtaking instruments in modern rock. At best, his voice is sorely underutilized here; at worst, it's mangled beyond recognition.

Umm...mangled beyond recognition? He's always been able to do this with his voice, there aren't all that many effects on it this time around.

After listening to Urges, I wonder if My Morning Jacket might just be satisfied following in the footsteps of labelmates Dave Matthews Band: nestling into a comfortable niche and aiming for the Starbucks carousel with rootsy New Age romanticism.  

That made no sense whatsoever. Dabbling in funk and disco is not exactly a comfortable niche.

but I cringe thinking of an entire amphitheatre singing along to "peanut-butter pudding surprise" unless they're at a Ween show.

Looks like somebody forgot how to have fun.

Cool, but the title track, a lighter version of "Suspicious", neuters a righteous sentiment by burying it underneath a jammy funk pastiche.

Seriously, what do you have against funk???

The simultaneously effortless and calculated "I'm Amazed" is breezy and naïve enough to trigger the unconscious sing-along reflex, but the refrain ("Where's the justice?") is utterly ambiguous.

You seemed to praise ambiguity in just about every other review you've done.

Similarly, "Look at You" wastes a perfectly good pedal-steel on a goofy hybrid of the sensual and civic, praising "a fine citizen" as "such a glowing example of peace and glory," as if James were a state senator awarding citations to volunteers.

Come on now. Are those even the right lyrics? And if they are, do you really think they'd have such a shallow interpretation?

The strings trill, dramatically rising and falling on the loner's fantasy "Librarian", as James quietly crushes on, and quietly stalks, the female behind the desk, turned on by her listening to "Karen of the Carpenters" on AM radio. It sounds like a very well-produced Dan Fogelberg song, until James drops "interweb" on us like a sack of dirty socks.

Ah, Pitchfork, can't take lyrics that are outdated by 10 years but love ones that are outdated by 200? ::)

lol.

NO! BAD PITCHFORK!

[TFowl]

Also, great article from real student journalist who have had real training to write real material at one of the best journalism schools in the country had this to say about Internet reviews, citing Pitchfork specifically, and how obtuse and ridiculous the writing style is.

http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=50460&comview=1

Have you ever met one of those people, one of those "Oh my God, you're telling me you don't light candles in front of a Bob Dylan shrine in your dining room every night at 6 p.m." people?

It doesn't have to be Dylan. Believe me, I'm not out for him specifically. (I don't want an angry mob of stoners with big musical aspirations knocking down my door later today.) This artist could be interchanged with any iconic group or artist, such as The Stones or Led Zeppelin or Paris Hilton.

I know you know who I'm talking about. You've probably met them at some friend of a friend's party, and they were undoubtedly wearing a vintage-looking plaid button-up and Coke bottle glasses. These are the people who want to make you feel bad for not sharing a similar interest in who they view to be the musical equivalent of an orgasm.

And there are people like that for every form of media out there, not just music. I, for example, always seem to attract film students who think that I was born on the planet Zozar for never having seen a single "Lord of the Rings," "Star Wars" or "Harry Potter" flick. (I'd just rather watch "Legally Blonde" on TBS again, honestly.)

Anyway, these high-falutin' people are often the people who end up as reviewers for popular Web sites and magazines, and the problem is that they often create sentences like this:

"In a scene as self-reflexive as this, backlashes are the order of the day, but even still, there are signs – such as the increasing use of 'blog house' as an eye-rolling pejorative, recent records by Calvin Harris, Does It Offend You Yeah?, and Ghostland Observatory, and the parallel rise of Balearic-feeling dance as a worthy substitute – that this world might be slipping under the weight of its own ubiquity."

That's actually an excerpt from a review of the latest Cut Copy album featured on pitchforkmedia.com, a popular music Web site. It could just as easily have been a review on the latest Lunchables product or the soundtrack to "Bio-Dome." I mean, I'm sure there's a handful of people reading this who do understand more than 35 percent of that sentence. I am certainly not one of them. I am on the other side of that hypothetical fence, watching the "Rock of Love 2" season finale and eating non-organic vegetables.

[TFowl]

Yeah, most hilarious part of that review is the fact he tries to portait the new sound as trendy outright. stating Sec' Walking sounds like it could be in your local Von Maur... really now, COULD IT?  

The Dark, yeah I think the dude doesn't get that a lot of the songs are about a higher power of sorts, Look At You is a perfect example.  This song isn't about a Senator, It's about the lord up above.  Most songs on this album can easily put God in there as the major theme...  I'm an Atheist too and I know that... and don't care.

[mjkoehler]

Yeah, most hilarious part of that review is the fact he tries to portait the new sound as trendy outright. stating Sec' Walking sounds like it could be in your local Von Maur... really now, COULD IT?  

The Dark, yeah I think the dude doesn't get that a lot of the songs are about a higher power of sorts, Look At You is a perfect example.  This song isn't about a Senator, It's about the lord up above.  Most songs on this album can easily put God in there as the major theme...  I'm an Atheist too and I know that... and don't care.

I cannot stand pitchfork. I actually have to get a dictionary sometimes when I read their reviews as I can't understand half of what they are saying, and I have a college degree. Seriously, who they fuck talks like they write? You 2 are right, I just don't think the guy got it. Ditto on the religious leaning and when I heard Look At You the first time, that was exactly what I thought of.

I never ever trust pitchfork for reviews. That's why you should always read from several different sources. Your truth is somewhere in between. Or better yet, listen to the album and ignore the reviews until you've let the album soak in. I often wonder how many times some of these "writers" actually listen to the album before they write up a review.

[peanut butter puddin surprise]

I went to lunch just now and thought long and hard about this review.  This notion that MMJ should just regurgitate TTF/AD/ISM over and over again is ridiculous.  How special would those three records be if every record MMJ made sounded like them? How much of an audience would the band have after ten or twenty years of rehash?

I call it the NRBQ syndrome.  No hate on NRBQ, none at all, just a lot of their records start sounding the same after a while.  I firmly believe that Jim and co. are way too creative and special for all that.  I'm not lighting any candles at 6 p.m. or anything  :)

[primushead]

Not to mention that if they DID do that, pitchfork would rip them apart for doing, "the same formula as their previous three records."  

It's a lose-lose situation.

[tomEisenbraun]

Not to mention Fleet Foxes, a band that whether they want to admit it or not, has taken a large part of its sound from My Morning Jacket, they give this copy cat band's EP an 8.7 when I thought it was decent, but only had one really stand out song.  Then they ended up giving their newest album a 9.0... an album that is in NO FUCKING WAY as good as the earlier MMJ albums it steals from in many ways.  I mean they gave At Dawn a 7.1... an album that honestly is miles ahead of Fleet Foxes in song writing ability and overall quality.

[...]

I kind of expect this from them, especially when I saw that Fleet Foxes album getting a 9 when I remember, oh yeah they've never reviewed MMJ that highly.  THAT album is overrated.

Terrible. [/end rant.]

Look, I respect opinions, but at least work to get your damn facts straight. Fleet Foxes aren't a fucking copycat band and won't ever be. Does Robin Pecknold sound like Jim? On first listen, yes. How many times did you spin this album? Once, twice? Maybe three times? The comparison died about two times through Sun Giant for me. Maybe it takes longer for others who are intent on pigeonholing these guys into a Jacket rip-off.

How have they ripped off from Tennessee Fire or At Dawn or It Still Moves, pray tell? I'm trying hard in my mind to think of a moment in their full-length that struck me as not original, not distinctly Fleet Foxes' sound. The beginning of "Ragged Wood" has a distinctly M. Ward vibe to it, but it doesn't just copy--it takes a good sound and good feel and creates its own atmosphere around it, taking that classic M. Ward rhythm section and morphing it into something all their own.

In all honesty, I think Fleet Foxes' self-titled full-length gets a much better rating than any Jacket album because it's concise and one hell of a powerful declaration from a brand new band. The Tennessee Fire is *gasp* not very noteworthy as a debut album in the sense that it doesn't just smack you in the face with "oh wow" most of the time. It does, however, have those moments in it that just floor you. Fact of the matter is that it's not concise, it doesn't have the greatest flow in the world, and it takes some time to get into. Do you disagree?

Once again, I'll reiterate: Robin Pecknold sounds nothing like Jim if you'll just listen. His voice carries tones and rasps that are signaturely his, and phenomenal for a barely 21-year old. Jim's voice was hardly so full in comparison on TTF. That's not me hating Jim--that is the truth of the difference between their vocal development. If I'm wrong, please point it out to me. But I'm pretty sure Jim's voice didn't really pick up it's full footing until At Dawn, and it feels like he's pushing more towards a low tenor, high baritone as the years grow--especially after hearing them live, it feels like he's losing some headroom with it.

Robin on the other hand is very much a low tenor and has a much easier time hitting that upper chest voice range, opting not to take himself too high in it, which is fair. It takes balls to go for I Think I'm Going To Hell heights, especially when your voice really isn't meant to go that high naturally. That'll wear a man out, but damn does it translate onto an album. That said, listen to "Innocent Son", "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song", or "Oliver James"--tell me you can't hear him playing the beautiful subtle aspects of his own voice there.

Copycat my ass--this guy can write and sing, and it's genuine as hell, and it's giving Evil Urges a run for its money on my favorite album of the summer.

[songdiver]

If the people who reviewed these albums spent more time actually listening, I think they might have something worth reading.  I can picture these critics putting the cd in their stereos and taking notes on a piece of paper rather than sitting back, smoking a joint, and taking in the music before they come to conclustions.  These people are robots with no connection to human emotion, and have no ability to really feel music the way we do.  I don't have time to review music like these drones because I actually listen to albums several times so that I can capture the meaning.  

In short, these people don't like music.  These are the same types of people that work for most major record labels, they don't like music, they use and abuse music to make a name for themselves or to make money.  Or in the case of pitchfork, they give good ratings to the bands that will be their buddies so that they can feel hip.  Fuck these people.  Music isn't supposed to be hip or cool, it is supposed to bring joy and make you feel good and make you feel a connection with the core of human emotion.  

[TFowl]

I disagree man, sorry.  Fact is they do sound like MMJ, if you would have read my post I didn't ever say it was exact.  However, they are riding the coat tails of the sound MMJ made successful and has just now started to really get many bands mimicking it.  I've listened to the album several times and I can say that it definitely is different, but it's still a band taking their sounds from another because of recent trends in the music world.

Also, I disagree fully and think Tennessee Fire is a much better album.  I also think nothing sounded like Tennessee Fire at the time it was made, but several things sound like Fleet Foxes.  The reason is because it is once again cool to add reverb to your vocals, folk rock is once again cool, plaid and beards are once again cool.  MMJ was doing all of that before it was cool in todays music and have since moved on to bigger, different sounds.   From the way you are defending Fleet Foxes it's obvious you loved that album, which is fine, but to act like its this new unique sound just because you cum when you hear it is ridiculous.  Sorry.

Fleet Foxes are nothing more then a trend follower, that does not make their music bad, but it hardly makes it creative in the way MMJ was when they wrote their early material.

[blueskyink]

This is in response to the crazy rant about Fleet Foxes, I agree with you saying that Robin doesn't sound like Jim especially after the initial listens but claiming they are extremely original just doesn't cut it for me.  The more I listen to them (and its quite it bit since I picked up the vinyl release of the full length and ep last week) the more I hear influence from CSN(Y), touches of Beach Boys (harmonies), and other 60's & 70's folk acts.  They really aren't doing anything new, they are just re appropriating things from the past and I might add, doing a good job of it.

I believe that I read in an interview with Robin that he said he should probably not use reverb again on his vocals in response to all the criticism he has received for sounding similar to Jim.

[DavidCrosby]

...I just read that review.....pretty much they hate everything that isnt Deerhunter (not that I dont like that band too though)......it is a crock of shit that they can just rip that record to shreds......honestly though, who didnt see it coming.....

[dlee]

typical of pitchfork...

[getinthevan]

it's giving Evil Urges a run for its money on my favorite album of the summer.

Copycats or not, it's a damn good album.

[TFowl]

it's giving Evil Urges a run for its money on my favorite album of the summer.

Copycats or not, it's a damn good album.

But is it better than At Dawn?  That is the MMJ album I think it takes from the most...

I could even pick out songs that sound like At Dawn songs.

[tomEisenbraun]

it's giving Evil Urges a run for its money on my favorite album of the summer.

Copycats or not, it's a damn good album.

But is it better than At Dawn?  That is the MMJ album I think it takes from the most...

I could even pick out songs that sound like At Dawn songs.

Go for it. I really would like to hear your input because I haven't really gotten that vibe from any of them as of yet. I could maybe hear Oliver James being a bit like something, but at the same time, it's really its own song.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

[TFowl]

I'll use songs from any MMJ to make it easy.

Meadow Lark - It Smashes Down easily comes to mind, maybe even hopefully.

tiger mountain pleasant song - Bermuda highway, don't need to say much else.

he doesn't know why  - death is the easy way

blue ridge mountain - sounds like hopefully too

oliver james - sounds like one in the same or i needed it most in the sense its a low acoustic muddle of just the singer and his guitar completely, no other effects, long out winded sound with repeats several times tons of reverb.

quiet houses - lowdown, just more acoustic and less catchy.

I could go on and will if you want me to.  just ask.  

It's a little harder though because MMJ actually brings the rock more often and has much more eclectic variety throughout their albums, unlike the fleet foxes s/t.




In fact listening right now and comparing it sounds even more like At Dawn/ISM type mmj, just less rockin for the most part, more acoustic and more hymnal sounding, that's their large differences.

Again, I like fleet foxes, but I'm sorry they just really seem to be following the new reverb folk rock trend MMJ made successful. Watch how many more bands pop up sounding the same way too, nothing wrong with it, its just not original.  To be honest I kind of like it because I love that type of sound and hope it never goes away but thats how music works, trends come and go and the bands die with them for the most part.   I am only saying all of this because I hate how people try to defend fleet foxes and make it seem more original then it actually is just because they enjoy it. That and I cannot stand that fleet foxes is using MMJ sounds and getting better reviews then MMJ did from these bullshit critics back 6 years ago.

[petemoss]

I think the offensive 'LOL' was more in relation to the crackberry and interweb speech. If you look at the context it is pretty obvious.
That being said, the reviewer was a total douche.
That being said, I can see where he was coming from.
That being said, some of his arguments are not totally invalid.
But he is still a douche.

lol.

[BH]

Now I think the dude sounds like Jim quite a bit (at times) but I don't see the connection to the music at all.

I went to the Black River for vacation this past weekend and listened to the full length about seven times sitting in a lawn chair "down by the river".  So sweet.  On one day, I had to go back to the cabin to lay my son down for a nap and gave my old man my ipod and told him to listen to the fleet foxes.  Later on when I saw him, he said, "You have got to burn that Fleetwood Fox for me!"   ;D  It reminded him of Simon and Garfunkel.

[TFowl]

Also, they could pass for any trendy indie kid clique across the U.S.



Doesn't mean they follow trends in their music at all though, AT ALL.

People compare band of horses to MMJ too, but I think they sound much less like MMJ musically.