Scott Irvine
11/04/06, 06:07 AM
Owen - At Home With Owen
Released November 7th
Polyvinyl Records
Hats off to you, Mike Kinsella. It was bad enough you kept me on edge for a year or two with American Football, but lately your acoustic-ly overpowering pout fests have given me reason enough to employ your "at every angle" relationship examinations on the school campus. Though less profoundly musical than American Football, your work with Owen has yielded more relevant, tongue-in-cheek pieces. Your boy next door vocals and ability to pick up any instrument and make it sound pretty has only furthered your legend. How long then, Mike, will you give us with At Home With Owen before we regret not seeing your intimate live performance or truly appreciating your genius when it was right in front of our eyes?
Personable, witty, and just a little bit love struck, Mike throws a wrench in the gears of interaction-less acoustic monotony. Incorporating accounts of various relations, quips are thrown and analogies are down-to-earth. Charmingly steady singing is to be expected and eaten up at every forlorn verse and chorus.
Lyrics, as said before, are Kinsella's distinct back-pocket diary jest and gloom. Though, clearly, they show Mike has moved on from his vulnerable, open-armed stance seen on The EP, unsympathetic disposition on I Do Perceive, and themes revolving around "moving on" on No Good For No One Now. Generally, throughout At Home With Owen, you'll find traces of acceptance; dealing with what you've got and acting on it appropriately. Mike deals with friendships resembling more the proverbial cul-de-sac, begging, "Dead beats and dead friends/My god/When will it end?" in the track "Windows and Doorways". Even going so far as to deal with an issue Owen's fans are all too aware of, Mike bases the album's closer, "One of These Days", on his father's recent passing and Kinsella's desire to "get a job that actually pays".
Instrumentation wise, the same stripped-down guitar plucks, moody background atmospherics, and subtle rhythm section still apply. Those familiar with Mike's love for everything melodious shouldn't expect much different; humble and delightful, harmony has never sounded more engaging, yet oh-so tranquil. "The Sad Waltzes of Pietro Crespi", the album's best track, utilizes a character from the novel 100 Years of Solitude as a metaphor for Mike's anguish amid a spherical guitar line that swings fluently into a graceful piano saunter. "Use Your Words" finds a rather spunky bass and its entourage of mellow violin backing, piano one-handers, et all trailing a somewhat lingering, upbeat lead.
The whole stream-like calm in which the album follows its course plays into how Owen perfectly illustrates a serene landscape of desire and devotion. All eight songs will sound disturbingly connected in a way, accenting and almost playing off of each others' well-defined harmony. Lyrics of tumultuous relationships somehow coincide with this relaxed acoustic archetype, fitting comfortably in between cheated vocals and the helpless atmosphere such disdain creates emotionally and musically. Owen has truly created something special.
So, in essence, Mr. Mike Kinsella, you've not only crafted a stunningly beautiful acoustic work of art, but you've given me hope that artists that may not sell 400,000 can shape music into something pure again. Something that is timeless and almost relevant on all levels. Change not your musical aptness, but instead your contempt for the economic sacrifice you are making to dismiss every trendy influence and play honest acoustic-rock. That, Mr. Kinsella, is what makes you legendary in my book.
Matt Pond, PA, Onelinedrawing, Elliot Smith, American Football, The New Amsterdams
Released November 7th
Polyvinyl Records
Hats off to you, Mike Kinsella. It was bad enough you kept me on edge for a year or two with American Football, but lately your acoustic-ly overpowering pout fests have given me reason enough to employ your "at every angle" relationship examinations on the school campus. Though less profoundly musical than American Football, your work with Owen has yielded more relevant, tongue-in-cheek pieces. Your boy next door vocals and ability to pick up any instrument and make it sound pretty has only furthered your legend. How long then, Mike, will you give us with At Home With Owen before we regret not seeing your intimate live performance or truly appreciating your genius when it was right in front of our eyes?
Personable, witty, and just a little bit love struck, Mike throws a wrench in the gears of interaction-less acoustic monotony. Incorporating accounts of various relations, quips are thrown and analogies are down-to-earth. Charmingly steady singing is to be expected and eaten up at every forlorn verse and chorus.
Lyrics, as said before, are Kinsella's distinct back-pocket diary jest and gloom. Though, clearly, they show Mike has moved on from his vulnerable, open-armed stance seen on The EP, unsympathetic disposition on I Do Perceive, and themes revolving around "moving on" on No Good For No One Now. Generally, throughout At Home With Owen, you'll find traces of acceptance; dealing with what you've got and acting on it appropriately. Mike deals with friendships resembling more the proverbial cul-de-sac, begging, "Dead beats and dead friends/My god/When will it end?" in the track "Windows and Doorways". Even going so far as to deal with an issue Owen's fans are all too aware of, Mike bases the album's closer, "One of These Days", on his father's recent passing and Kinsella's desire to "get a job that actually pays".
Instrumentation wise, the same stripped-down guitar plucks, moody background atmospherics, and subtle rhythm section still apply. Those familiar with Mike's love for everything melodious shouldn't expect much different; humble and delightful, harmony has never sounded more engaging, yet oh-so tranquil. "The Sad Waltzes of Pietro Crespi", the album's best track, utilizes a character from the novel 100 Years of Solitude as a metaphor for Mike's anguish amid a spherical guitar line that swings fluently into a graceful piano saunter. "Use Your Words" finds a rather spunky bass and its entourage of mellow violin backing, piano one-handers, et all trailing a somewhat lingering, upbeat lead.
The whole stream-like calm in which the album follows its course plays into how Owen perfectly illustrates a serene landscape of desire and devotion. All eight songs will sound disturbingly connected in a way, accenting and almost playing off of each others' well-defined harmony. Lyrics of tumultuous relationships somehow coincide with this relaxed acoustic archetype, fitting comfortably in between cheated vocals and the helpless atmosphere such disdain creates emotionally and musically. Owen has truly created something special.
So, in essence, Mr. Mike Kinsella, you've not only crafted a stunningly beautiful acoustic work of art, but you've given me hope that artists that may not sell 400,000 can shape music into something pure again. Something that is timeless and almost relevant on all levels. Change not your musical aptness, but instead your contempt for the economic sacrifice you are making to dismiss every trendy influence and play honest acoustic-rock. That, Mr. Kinsella, is what makes you legendary in my book.
Matt Pond, PA, Onelinedrawing, Elliot Smith, American Football, The New Amsterdams