I try not to let other people's opinion affect me too much, whether it be a positive or negative one. I think as an artist, its best to avoid reading about other's perceptions of your work, because it ultimately will affect your future efforts. But, when I read Oliver Arditi's review of my latest album, I was struck at how much he seemed to want to capture his precise thoughts and ideas about more than what I do, but about recording and art in general. In short, I felt validated, which isnt bad for someone who revels in self-doubt 364 days out of the year. Here is an excerpt:
"I get the impression that Olds Sleeper’s kind of truth is the truth of experience; the physically apprehended truth of the body; the truth of sincerity, rather than the truth of argument. The truth of ramming a guitar’s signal through a cable so hard that it starts to bleed, rather than the truth of a ‘fidelity’ that denies the cable even exists; because it’s the ‘cable’, the mediating factors, that keep the lost and wounded characters in these songs in isolation from one another, even as it offers their only hope of connection, and the distortion we hear so liberally applied throughout New Year’s Poem is the ragged edge of their pain. I have rarely heard music that so economically and powerfully enacts a view of the world, and though it is a bleak one, it is not an unrealistic one, and it is not without its compensations. I’m raising a toast to the man who made these songs, although unlike one of his characters, I won’t be drinking it from shotgun shells."
I ve got to admit, it felt really good to read such a positive and expressive article written by a man who obviously took the time to listen to the album with a philosophical mind. He is a masterful writer, and IF you would like to read the entire article, you can find it HERE.
much thanks to everyone who has downloaded the album and taken the time to listen. It really helps me see the meaning in this compulsion I am pursuing.
thanks for stopping by,
Olds
"I get the impression that Olds Sleeper’s kind of truth is the truth of experience; the physically apprehended truth of the body; the truth of sincerity, rather than the truth of argument. The truth of ramming a guitar’s signal through a cable so hard that it starts to bleed, rather than the truth of a ‘fidelity’ that denies the cable even exists; because it’s the ‘cable’, the mediating factors, that keep the lost and wounded characters in these songs in isolation from one another, even as it offers their only hope of connection, and the distortion we hear so liberally applied throughout New Year’s Poem is the ragged edge of their pain. I have rarely heard music that so economically and powerfully enacts a view of the world, and though it is a bleak one, it is not an unrealistic one, and it is not without its compensations. I’m raising a toast to the man who made these songs, although unlike one of his characters, I won’t be drinking it from shotgun shells."
I ve got to admit, it felt really good to read such a positive and expressive article written by a man who obviously took the time to listen to the album with a philosophical mind. He is a masterful writer, and IF you would like to read the entire article, you can find it HERE.
much thanks to everyone who has downloaded the album and taken the time to listen. It really helps me see the meaning in this compulsion I am pursuing.
thanks for stopping by,
Olds
