5.0 out of 5 stars
BARR, 13 Mar 2008
By Dallin "Dallin" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Summary (Audio CD)
I first heard Barr on Kill Rock Star's web page, and thought that it was really annoying. After a while, however you can see where the lyrics are incredibly meaningful, and the songs are catchy in a way. Some songs can be a bit bland, but it's all a part of the art project Brendan Fowler created.
0 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
sometimes, i don't get art, 8 July 2007
By Elevate Difference "Elevate Difference" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Summary (Audio CD)
I can't listen to this record without thinking the word "self-indulgent." Imagine you are in a room with a piano, a bass guitar, a microphone and your thoughts. Nothing is written down. In fact, the lyrics and instruments stream out in paragraphs. You talk about your life, friends, family, text message conversations. You sometimes sing, but the rest is basically spoken word.
This about sums up Barr's (Brendan Fowler and Corey Dieckman) new release, Summary. What's important about this album is the lyrics. Fowler pushes the boundaries of what you can include in a song, but still keeps the songs relatively short. However, Barr pushes this stream-of-consciousness over a bland background of noise. While I appreciate the stripped down sound, it's hard to pay attention to a mind-bending lyric if I only hear the same note being played over and over again. Maybe I just don't understand the appeal, but this was a hard album to finish once. The best part? The second song is "The Song is The Single," and the lyrics tell all: "The song is the single and the single sucks/it never sounded good/it always sounded bad." I can appreciate their honesty.