The Chronicles of Patrick

hootowlchipette:

Normal: Stop staring at me! I hate you all!

Listeng to Owl City: Life is beautiful and so am I *throws glitter everywhere*

(via awaketotakeintheview)

Just yesterday I was ecstatic to find out about a little hoot owl movement that’s going on right now, asking for musical and artistic Owl City fans.  

Basically whoever runs the blog http://hootowls.tumblr.com/ is getting a bunch of people to do covers of each of Owl City’s songs, and then will compile them and somehow get them to Adam.  It’s such an incredible idea, and they’re even having entries be given along with a description of why you picked the song/what it means to you.  

I’ve dreamed about getting to do something like this!  There’s a group of Lights fans called the Lights Army who do crazy, fun, incredible things for her like this, and I’ve always wished there was something we could do for Adam.  And now the opportunity has arisen!

So I reserved the right to do a cover of “The Real World” from All Things Bright and Beautiful.  I’ve learned the guitar part, and I can sing it okay, so now I just need to record the instrumental and figure out a nice way to spruce it up a bit, you know, make it a really good cover with lots of love.  The deadline is like sep. 12 I think, so look forward to that I guess!  I’ll of course share the cover on my various blogs n’ things.  

     I don’t think I’ve ever bought a pop album.  I can’t think of any other time.  For me the previous Owl City albums do not count at all, because for me Owl City has always been his own special and distinct genre all on his own.  The Midsummer Station is something very different to come from the mind of our beloved Adam Young, but rest assured despite concerns of “selling out” or loss of charm and style, this Owl City album should satisfy any fan, and will also appeal and I think be know to a much larger fan base.  It’s still Owl City, and it’s still beautiful.  

     The Midsummer Station feels like it’s title, it feels like a really great summer.  It’s got a crazy amount of energy, and passion, and dreams all squeezed into its 11 (or 12) tracks.  Personally, I’ve been using it to bike around town, it’s such perfect traveling music, wether that be physical travel or a departure for the imagination.  There are a lot of songs about love, a few about inner demons, and a nice faithful amount of what I consider to be truly quintessential Owl City songs.  

     There are certainly a lot of very pop influenced tracks to the album though.  Although of course that’s what Adam was going for with this one.  At first the idea sort of upset me, but hearing the finished product I’m totally down with it.  With songs like Gold and Take It All Away, Adam definitely accomplished his goal of capturing magic with a more simple pop song.  And that’s okay!  These tracks might not be my favorites, but they’re still great to listen to, have amazing production, and keep the magic and energy of the album alive and going.  Even in more simple songs like these, the lyrics still manage to be inspirational and beautiful, and sometimes very silly or funny as well (specifically I’m Coming After You).  

     Actually it seems that Adam’s verses are just as well written and imaginative as always, while sometimes his choruses seem to be a little less creative.  Or maybe not quite that, but (and I’ve already used this word way too much) but simpler.  What I mean by that is, sometimes a chorus will sound lyrically like it could fit in with a more common type of music.  But then there are really surprisingly deep tracks as well, most notably the duo that is Embers and Silhouette.  Embers seems like a bit of a departure from Adam’s usual style, being very direct in its message with its uplifting and motivational lyrics.  And Silhouette feels so deeply personal and heart-wrenching that I can’t listen to it without becoming very sad and tired.  There is a broad range of content present on this record, which I really appreciate and enjoy.  In my opinion, a great record will take you through a story, through a range of emotions and events and thoughts and opinions.  

     That’s the thing with this record, you have to look at each song, as well as the record itself as a whole, for what it is and what it was intended to be.  Sometimes the songs are meant to be concise or blatant.  Sometimes they’re a little more out there.  Somes songs might not make much sense or even be disappointing at first glance, but rest assured that each was made exactly how the artist intended them to be, and all mean something special to him.  But that’s what I really appreciate about this record, that the good, classic feel of Owl City is still absolutely present in a big way.  Tracks like Metropolis, Dreams and Disasters, Dementia, and Shooting Star are perfect examples.  Metropolis may be one of my favorite Owl City songs of all time actually.  Even just the beginning, “Oh oh, I can’t even take it in.”  Says so much to me.  

     I think that’s what’s very important about this album, not the specific sounds, or the slightly more “mainstream” lyrics, but the actual feel of the thing.  I mean listening to this album, it still feels like Owl City.  Updated, yes, but still Owl City.  I still feel called to adventure, slightly melancholy or apathetic at times, there is a need for solitude, a need for love, and a single thread of hope running through it all.  It’s excellent really.  This record proved that Adam can still try new things, even after all the crazy things he’s done before, experiment in style both musically and lyrically, and not only still make a great record, but still make a record that stays true to himself and Owl City.  

     This is definitely the most different album Adam has written, but unexpectedly (at least to me) it totally worked!  I’ll be always excited to see where he steers Owl City off towards next.  If I were to give it a rating, this album is a solid 4.5/5 for me.    

Usually I have some idea of what I’m going to wear the next day, so the night before I grab my clothes and chuck then on a chair or the floor or whatever so I’ve got them all ready for tomorrow.  Last night I knew I wanted to wear my brown cargo shorts and black Owl City space record shirt, somehow apparently magically anticipating the release of The Midsummer Station.  How perfect?!

Honestly, I had almost forgotten the release date was today just because I’ve been so darn busy the past 2 days.  But now that it’s here, I’m so crazy stoked!  I remember waiting until midnight to download All Things Bright and Beautiful when it came out, then listening to it immediately and loving every second of it.  Now TMS is all downloaded and ready to go, all that remains is to listen.  

I think I’ll go sit up on my roof to enjoy this album.