Is this Paste review trying to make my head explode?

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I will transcribe, so your head can a-splode too.

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LITTLE BARRIE
WE ARE LITTLE BARRIE
***1/2

Little Barrie's debut is tough meat clinging to the bone. Without effects, ironic distance or fancy production, frontman Barrie Cadogan's guitar glides effortlessly between hottened-up blues riffs, rolling funk and expressive solos, twitching all around the beat and the soul koans of his vocals. Lewis Wharton's bass is less foundation than second level, cycling through clipped melodic phrases with a precision that ballasts the wanton guitar. Wayne Fulwood's drumming is the model of restraint, eschewing clutter in favor of a deep, fluid pulse, and his background vocals sound strikingly realistic--the rich, honest production preserves the sense of distance between the two singers. No smoke, no mirrors: A timeless confidence oozes from Cadogan's unprocessed licks and sizzling moan, and while the same pared-down, consistent groove that makes Little Barrie such an immediate grabber might play them out quickly, it's a tasty, gristly flavor of the month. --Brian Howe

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Now, Paste has some good writers, but c'mon now.

― Eppy (Eppy), Thursday, 26 May 2005 20:10 (twenty-one years ago)

URGH

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 26 May 2005 20:14 (twenty-one years ago)

Brian also writes for Pitchfork, I believe.

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 26 May 2005 20:14 (twenty-one years ago)

hottened is a good word

― mark s (mark s), Thursday, 26 May 2005 20:15 (twenty-one years ago)

I've read one issue of paste (the one with ben folds on the cover) and every single article in it made me long for infancy when the written word was a mystery

― kyle (akmonday), Thursday, 26 May 2005 20:17 (twenty-one years ago)

"Howe" did Brian get a job writing?

Eh?

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Thursday, 26 May 2005 20:26 (twenty-one years ago)

"soul koan"

my new band name.

― andrew m. (andrewmorgan), Thursday, 26 May 2005 20:28 (twenty-one years ago)

soul koan
"I want to hear everybody out there put their hand together."

― Ken L (Ken L), Thursday, 26 May 2005 20:30 (twenty-one years ago)

ha!

― andrew m. (andrewmorgan), Thursday, 26 May 2005 21:17 (twenty-one years ago)

This is magic! Little Barrie sound like 2.30 in the afternoon at the 1970 Isle of Wight fest so why not write in the style of that era as a gag. When I were a lad Charlie Murray wrote like this every week in t'NME. [If this is not a joke, it's not magic]
Are there any other writers out there consciously (or not) reviving outmoded styles?

― snotty moore, Thursday, 26 May 2005 23:27 (twenty-one years ago)

"If this is not a joke, it's not magic"

Part of me wants to amend this to my "favorite lyrics" post. A big part.

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Thursday, 26 May 2005 23:44 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't think it's a joke.

― Brooker Buckingham (Brooker B), Friday, 27 May 2005 00:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Either way, this record sounds effusively Bonnaroo.

― Brooker Buckingham (Brooker B), Friday, 27 May 2005 00:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Is it just me or does the review read like a winemaker's notes?

[randomly selected] "Aromas of violets and raspberries lead to a delicious core of plum, wild berries and spice. The flavors are endless on the palate, and culminate with refreshing acidity and a just a hint of structure building tannin on the finish. This wine is seamless and clean, shows wonderful purity of fruit and exhibits classic balance between its many fruit and structural components." [randomly selected, but if you're interested, Gary Farrell 2002 Russian River Pinot Noir]

― VegemiteGrrl (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 27 May 2005 03:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Winemakers notes aren't randomly constructed though. Those seemingly strained descriptions reflect the components of the wine. Aromas of violets and raspberries' is just a more user friendly way of saying 'aromas of the chemicals which are most familiar as the dominant smell of violets and raspberries'. I could guess that was a Pinot Noir by that detail alone.
But, yes, this presumptuous review, comparable to a fine Welsh burgundy, is like a bad wine writer, piling irrelevant simile on strained metaphor etc. Malcolm Gluck perhaps...

― snotty moore, Friday, 27 May 2005 08:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Is it just me or does the review read like a winemaker's notes? ---- hahaha...

i wonder if he wrote some 800 word review but was told he only gets 150. seems like he just took one sentance from each paragraph and made them lumber under the weight of simile and cheap metaphor.

― b b, Friday, 27 May 2005 12:59 (twenty-one years ago)

that's basically what i do. hopefully i'm not as wince-worthy. most of the time.

― Sean M (Sean M), Friday, 27 May 2005 13:33 (twenty-one years ago)

But, yes, this presumptuous review...is like a bad wine writer, piling irrelevant simile on strained metaphor etc.

Your right...it's more like a bad wine writer, than just a winemaker's notes in general. I think it was his horrible similes more than anything that caught my attention.

― VegemiteGrrl (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 27 May 2005 22:11 (twenty-one years ago)

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