Sean Watkins - Blinders On
|
Our Price: $17.98 Availability: Usually ships in 10 to 13 days Buy Used: from $1.94 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Blinders On
Free Music Review: Sean Watkins' very own "white album"
Hit: 5 Stars
Sean Watkins is really coming into his own -- and his own is something special and unique. This album plays out as an intensely personal journey into the mind of an extraordinary young talent. Watkins casts the rules aside. Little if anything on this album seems to have been formula packaged for radio play, but that doesn't mean the hooks are any less catchy or the stripped down ballads any less beautiful. Right off the bat, the album opens with with a wiggly, other-worldly sound that is unlike anything I've ever heard. Although it only lasts a second or two, it effectively says to the listener, "This is going to be different from what you've heard before. Shake the wax of status quo out of your ears." Like the Beatles did on their "white album" (and I don't use the analogy loosely), Sean plays the studio like a instrument for most of "Blinders On." The creativity and attention to detail that went into the production of this album will be thoroughly enjoyable to those who are attentive to the way songs "sound." At the same time, it will not be lost on even the most casual listener. Instead of the standard components of most songs today -- melody and lyrics -- with one or both components being quite weak, the tracks on this album are comprised of melody, lyrics, and production -- in equal parts and equally brilliant. I have followed Sean since Nickel Creek's early days, and it's amazing to witness such rapid artistic growth. I hope he can sustain it, because I can't wait to hear what he does next. Great job, Sean!Free Music Review: Glass half full
Hit: 3 Stars
If Bob Dylan alienated his core by strumming a strat, Sean gets periously close by going Nirvana. In so doing, it testifies that an absolute virtuoso on acoustic does not equate to the same level of excellence in the humbucker genre. Moreover, in contrast to the river of wonderful melody that spills out of the acoustic paired up with Sean's obvious vocal gifts, the electric tracks sound angry....even ticked off. Half empty is half full. I am all for exploration, but let's focus group it before full scale marketing. Free Music Review: Read the Hal Horwitz/Amazon review, and give it another listen--it's great.
Hit: 4 Stars
No, it's not always an easy listen, but few things that fall under the "avant garde" category are--and I'd say that most of this album easily does.
It's well-realized, innovative, and probably Watkins' best showcase yet. From electronica to twentieth-century-esque art music (there's a twenty-second excerpt of a string quartet, "Cammac"), Sean shows a new fluency and ease in the realm of pop music, an area he tried to break into with his last album, "26 Miles." It's a skillful record, and probably my favorite of his three solo works.
And as a final note, speaking of "Cammac"...I'm sorry to the first reviewer, but I'm also a "classically trained violinist"--and to call it simply "a muddy mess" is to disregard its artistic merit and display a complete want for acceptance of non-traditional aesthetics. (Try listening to some George Crumb, if you think this was a horrifying use of strings...).
Free Music Review: Hal Horowitz's review at the top is 100% accurate - forget the naysayers!
Hit: 5 Stars
I've listened to 'Blinders On' several times and I 'get' it. A lot of the people who've commented here apparently don't, and that's okay. After reading Hal Horowitz's review of the record, it's apparent that he enjoyed the same record I did.
Although 'Blinders On' can be easily digested in smaller portions, Watkin's latest is a very personal work that's best heard and understood in its entirety. It's all good, every little bit of it.
Free Music Review: Good album...
Hit: 4 Stars
I'd never heard of Sean Watkins (and never listened to any Nickel Creek albums) before I decided to check this out, but I was pleasantly surprised. There's some beautiful folk-ish stuff on this album and parts of it remind me of a (better) David Gray.
I'd have to say Andrew Liggitt's review below was pretty much spot on - I'd agree with pretty much all the critiques he made of each song though I'd give the album 3.5 rather than 3.
Favorite tracks: Starve Them to Death, Hello...Goodbye, Run Away Girl, and They Sail Away (this last one being my favorite on the album...just beautiful and eerie - the instrumental parts of this remind me of Jeff Beal's score for Carnivale).
More Free Music Notes:
1 2
1 2