Customer Reviews

At Home With Owen

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mike Kinsella, for now, has simultaneously the most catchy and technically-apt post-emo songs out on the national scene, between this release and his last release, I Do Perceive (which I honestly can't chose between). If you had an emo-stage back in the late 90s when emo still had some steam (with bands like Get Up Kids, Modest Mouse, At the Drive-In, The Promise Ring, Sense Field, and Sunny Day Real Estate), Owen may appeal to your developed tastes now. If you are into those talented few emo bands now but would like to insert some more talent into your music player and would like to retain some of that feeling of youthfulness in your music but can't palate the pathetic display of emotion (or would like to offset the occasional display with some badassery), Owen may be the fit for you. Very sincere in comparison to his brother's work, but like his brother, Mike keeps the music varied and hip. If you haven't heard any of Owen previously, I recommend downloading Bad News (from At Home with Owen) and Playing Possum for a Peek (from I do perceive).

Wonderful album. Wish I could download his first as I'm sure its great. Guess I'll have to stick with a CD.

I enjoy the music of Mike Kinsella's one-man-band Owen, even if I didn't this is an easy CD to enjoy. With plenty of intricate layers of guitar, among other elements, to feed the ears of any listener. My taste in music spans a wide horizon, and I wouldn't try to compare this to the work of The Mars Volta, or other bands with tremendously different styles, being that would be ridiculous and nearly impossible to do rationally, but this is a very good album.

Owen, or Mike Kinsella really, has come out with another beautiful, catatonic album. It really breaks no new ground, but improves steadily upon Owen's formula. The results of this are perfectly layered guitar tracks; drums that hit at just the right times; and vocals wrapping the whole mess to give each song an ethereal sound. All of the instruments are played with the adroit sense of a mature musician - not some chump looking for a medium to dump his relationship problems on other people (even if he actually intends to do that). Oh, and the production is very good as well.

Fittingly, the lyrics on this album do not stray much from his previous work. I've always found his writing to be decent, but honest and not at all irritating or attention-grabbing. It is just like having a conversation with a good friend - nothing poetic, but feeling is still conveyed. To me, they always seem to supplement the music very, very well.

Immediately upon hearing it I tend to go into an unproductive swoon. This is definitely not the kind of music you would want to have come up during a work-out session. I find that I can best appreciate the music - it definitely mood-altering music - while having a beer at the end of the day or while on a long drive.

Final word:
If you like slow, meditative, self-reflecting music then you will really like this album. The sound clips above don't do this album justice; he has a myspace page and a purevolume page where you can listen to entire songs and get a better idea.

Owen sounds like the name of a band, but closer inspection reveals that Owen is in fact one man -- Chicago's well-known Mike Kinsella. A multi-instrumentalist who has worked with well-known indie rock bands like Joan of Arc and Maritime, Owen is Mike's way of holding artistic direction over his own work. Owen's fourth full-length album is thoughtful and creatively structured; it's further evidence that Mike doesn't need other people to craft an album worth listening to. But one problem is that tracks on At Home With Owen may be improvements, but are they mind-blowing? No. Nevertheless, fans of Mike Kinsella will not be disappointed, and the album is definitely one that suits a foggy day in the country.