Cat_food

I've played with these guys and seen them live a number of times and i really think they deserve more than a 5. Fair enough that listening to a whole album of songs featuring crescendos can become tiresome but it's just dynamics. I'm defending p*st-r*ck here too: some of the most enduring pieces of music (i.e. classical music) feature wide variations in dynamics throughout. The tendancy towards limiting dynamic variation is a modern trend, so maybe Broken Records are just trying to readjust the balance!

don't go down to sorrow!

that Cedric Bixler-Zavala's definition of 'pop' is very differnet from the average human's. Can't wait.

she came across as a pretentious little stage school dropout when I saw her at the Old Blue Last a year or so ago. I don't think I am being harsh because that seemed to be her intention - it seemed like an act. Since then I saw her at the Good Mixer on the Camden Crawl but nobody was listening by that stage. Anyway, she likes Rilo Kiley and Bright Eyes so fair play.

Making a record with a broad dynamic range is fine and it's less revolutionary than they seem to think (from what I heard them say in a Sandman interview)- most classical music and post-rock uses a wide variation in dynamics. I think they went for a 'lo-fi' feel that -for me- just doesn't suit their music.

However, they are absolutely sick so I'll forgive them!

but seriously dude, you need to consider your readership rather than just writing for yourself. The problem is that NOT everybody is a music critic- a music critic is critical of music where as many online/ zine 'music critics' are just seizing an opportunity to either showcase their writing abilities. That results in articles like this one which are a mess of uneccessary phrases and opinions completely unrelated to the release that's supposed to be being reviewed.

Nice use of alliteration on 'classless clones' and 'guitar goons' by the way.

...and by 'great' i mean to say 'f*cking useless'. At least you're honest by confessing to your own "blather" and "self-confirming narcissism" but most of the review was you sharing your thoughts about the effect of socio-economic factors on the music industry. Not everybody has listened to a release before reading a review of it, and for those who haven't the purpose of a review is to susinctly give the reader an idea of what it's like- why it's good/ bad/ what it's similar to. You've failed miserably. If you're not sure "how best to spend your time" then I think anybody who's read this article will be able to help you by ruling out music journalism.

Foals only use syncopation and polyrhythms really- no switching between complex time signatures

it ought to be accompanied by a metal soundtrack.