Sophie "It's Okay To Cry"

[maitake]

here are some things both the press and people here are saying about why this album is good or is worth listening to or w/e. I don't hate it as music i guess but it seems completely not worth any one's time

 

1. People are saying it's "experimental" and "like autechre" etc. well fine but it's certainly several levels below anything we've already had (autechre or otherwise) and it's not adding much to the discussion of experimental electronic music. as salv said it also sounds bad.

 

2. It's somehow experimental or challenging pop music conventions. "sprawling and beautiful, while still keeping the disorienting, latex-pop feel of her fascinating production technique" i think is what pitchfork said. lol. again this is well-tread territory and I don't see sophie adding anything new that is worth more than a cursory listen. Ultrademon / Lily is probably wondering why she isn't the one making the headlines. Seapunk is much better than this. Chatroom with Enya is better than this entire album. 

 

3. I saw two trans hipster friends post on their instagram story about how this album "is life-changing!!! no one else makin music sounds like thISS!! clapping hands emoji" and so forth. fair enough. They are engaging with music they probably wouldnt pay attention to and enjoying it. While an annoying IDM pedant like me would take issue with their claims of uniqueness I won't begrudge them liking sophie. but just because that artist is also in your marginalized minority and then just saying "I LOVE THIS" is generally lame and obvious. lvl 1 woke status. this approach makes it harder to distinguish actually liking something for yourself or doing it for social media likes. diminishes the art's impact imo. (this is a SWM take)

 

so in short, i see no reason to listen to this album at all

 

 

who gives a fuck?

[dr lopez]

the people in this thread talking about this album dipshit

[maitake]

god forbid people just like some music without thinking about all of that mental masturbation

[maitake]

i bet you're the kind of guy that overthinks taking a shit and becomes constipated

[modey]

I hear parallels between Sophie and Autechre for sure, in terms of sound design. They both have the same crispness, and some similar plastic-y sounds (at least when Ae used Elektron gear). I realise that it's hard to look past the application of that sound design in Sophie's case, but I think both artists are good at making otherwordly, abrasive yet pleasing sounds.

 

For what it's worth I do prefer her older stuff (BIPP, HARD, VYZEE etc) in terms of sound design and general aesthetic, but there are some fkn awesome tracks on this new album.

 

 

god forbid people just like some music without thinking about all of that mental masturbation

this tbh

 

i bet you're the kind of guy that overthinks taking a shit and becomes constipated

fucking lol

[Hk47]

i bet you're the kind of guy that overthinks taking a shit and becomes constipated

This is totally me...

But to be fair... Me taking a shit is a BIG deal...

=P

[Ivan Ooze]

1. Saying that an album is shit because it gets hyped and a bunch of 'hipsters' praise it but not your cool friends, is pretty lame

 

2. talking shit about an album that you haven't even given a decent listen or repeated listenens is stupid

 

3. There is nothing wrong with the production, it's supposed to sound like that, the drums smack you in the face, the vox and synths make your head pop off and the bass blows your nuts off

 

4. autechre was def an inspiration, just listen to 'pretending' and 'not okay', who the fuck cares if its not autechre level, noone is on their level

 

5. it's a very varied and exciting album if one would just take some effort to listen to it a few times but hey, who in the hell wanna do that these days

 

6.

Edited July 26, 2018 by Ivan Ooze

[Real Human Bean]

I'm an intellectual and after skipping through this album I've concluded that it contains sung hooks & pop tropes.

0/10

[hello spiral]

Span was not wrong about the treble. Holy shit

[roasty]

 

I hope she figures out the mastering situation cuz the album sounds like trebly dogshit

 

The high freqs on this album are ear piercing. Maybe some people are disagreeing in this thread because their ears can't catch frequencies that high anymore. Just for safety, please don't play this album around your dogs and other pets

 

 

I too found Sophie required some cutoff

[hello spiral]

 

 

I hope she figures out the mastering situation cuz the album sounds like trebly dogshit

 

The high freqs on this album are ear piercing. Maybe some people are disagreeing in this thread because their ears can't catch frequencies that high anymore. Just for safety, please don't play this album around your dogs and other pets

 

 

I too found Sophie required some cutoff

 

 

[Ivan Ooze]

lol

[KovalainenFanBoy]

who gives a fuck?

seriously who the fuck discusses music on a music forum? unbelievable

 

(also lol @ cutoff)

Edited July 26, 2018 by span

[purlieu]

so in short, i see no reason to listen to this album at all

 

 

Enjoying the songs and the production. 

 

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy in-depth discussion, but it doesn't matter how much you care to intellectually justify something, it doesn't change how you instinctively respond to how it sounds. 

[eugene]

i appreciate what lopez said and like about half of the songs on the album. plz rate this opinion.

[Lada Laika]

i bet you're the kind of guy that overthinks taking a shit and becomes constipated

flol

[Zephyr_Nova]

i appreciate what lopez said and like about half of the songs on the album. plz rate this opinion.

 

6.4/10, recommended for those who appreciate succinct, unprovocative opinions.

[dr lopez]

 

this is what i want to hear when i listen to this album while reading write-ups. but sadly it's from a different album, by a different artist 3 years ago. I listened to both albums today and the sophie did grow on me but the HH has a much more noticeable song structure and tonality than the sophie tracks. tonality, melody, song structure - those are certainly things I would associate with "pop" more than just cuing "ae aeffects" on the monomachine with embarrassing superficial lyrics about your face and shopping over the mix. it's becoming clear that as long as you market yourself as "pop," or even worse "subverting pop," that you'll get much more press than if you don't, no matter what your music actually sounds like. this same kind of shit happened with the opn release. "IT'S POP!! IT'S NEW POP" wtf do people think pop music actually is? 

[Zephyr_Nova]

 

 HH has a much more noticeable song structure and tonality than the sophie tracks. tonality, melody, song structure - those are certainly things I would associate with "pop" more than just cuing "ae aeffects" on the monomachine with embarrassing superficial lyrics about your face and shopping over the mix. it's becoming clear that as long as you market yourself as "pop," or even worse "subverting pop," that you'll get much more press than if you don't, no matter what your music actually sounds like. this same kind of shit happened with the opn release. "IT'S POP!! IT'S NEW POP" wtf do people think pop music actually is? 

 

Sophie is definitely classifiable as pop.  The key elements for pop music is having an easily recognizable hook or chorus, and usually adhering to a fairly conventional song structure (verse/chorus/vesre/chorus/bridge/chorus or a slight variation thereof).  The few songs I've heard of hers so far do adhere to that.  Holly Herndon's a lot less conventional with her song structures, and her hooks are less obvious.  Def more in the experimental realm, with occasional pop aspects.  Sophie's more in the pop realm with some experimental aspects (though that's only judging from maybe 3 tracks I've heard).  OPN does have a couple tracks on the new album that fit the pop formula.  Black Snow for instance.... don't recall the names of the others, but they're in there.

 

That faceshopping track's actually pretty sweet.  Maybe I'll give the album a proper listen through.  I just stopped listening because the first track seemed boring and not particularly well written.  Very odd choice for an album opener... usually I expect those to announce what the album/artist is about.

[drome]

 

HH has a much more noticeable song structure and tonality than the sophie tracks. tonality, melody, song structure - those are certainly things I would associate with "pop" more than just cuing "ae aeffects" on the monomachine with embarrassing superficial lyrics about your face and shopping over the mix. it's becoming clear that as long as you market yourself as "pop," or even worse "subverting pop," that you'll get much more press than if you don't, no matter what your music actually sounds like. this same kind of shit happened with the opn release. "IT'S POP!! IT'S NEW POP" wtf do people think pop music actually is?

Sophie is definitely classifiable as pap.

Fixed Edited July 26, 2018 by drome

[Real Human Bean]

The lyrics on 'Oil of...' are quite interesting, they deal with body augmentation, technology, existence/consciousness not tied to a human body, dysmorphia, social media, authenticity, identity, metamorphosis/transformation etc. etc.

I love Platform but comparing HH to Sophie is an odd move as they're coming from different angles.
HH came from a choral/churchy background then into academia and uses accessible 'pop' to bring her message and heady ideas to more people whereas Sophie comes from a 80s pop/dance/wedding dj background, listened to a bunch of IDM and experimental stuff growing up and was influenced to incorporate cutting-edge production into the most visceral, accessible bangers possible.

2 of my favourite albums of the past 5 years but apples and oranges m8.

[vertsk8er419]

NEWEST BOP!! it's a CHARLI XCX track and yes it's poduced by SOPHIE...

 

 

 

lyrics are for the girls and the beat is for the guys, a lil sumthin for everybody! this is Pop, that classic Madonna sound with high fidelity trancey beats to boot, and i'm OK with it!!!!

[auxien]

^Good catch on the Madonna lean in that track.

 

"IT'S POP!! IT'S NEW POP" wtf do people think pop music actually is?

Charli XCX tracks produced by Sophie, apparently.

[purlieu]

Ah fucking hell that's great. I've really enjoyed every single she's dropped recently, hoping that the rumoured album is actually coming along. Great production job on it too.

[maitake]

Ah fucking hell that's great. I've really enjoyed every single she's dropped recently, hoping that the rumoured album is actually coming along. Great production job on it too.

 

i see no reason to listen to this album at all