WELCOME TO TRIPTOWN

"Don't slow down, now... drive on through the crash..."

As far as reviews go, you can’t get much worse than customer write-ups. No matter how awful the album is, you’ll find a ton of borrowed praise and fanboy gushing. No party is guiltier of posting these five-star frenzies than Amazon. Once in awhile, however, you catch a review which is as detailed of their listening environment as the album itself. I recall reading a pretentious take on Adem’s Homesongs, which involved the writer and his love interest memorizing every lyric after a passionate romp in a parked car. I remember getting some solid advice against listening to Confusion is Sex while really drunk. These situational pieces of memory written by strangers have hung around the back corners of my mind far longer than any “ethereal”, “groundbreaking” write-ups that professional critics clone onto laptops day after day. Why don’t people write reviews the only way they ring true… from personal experience?

The authenticity of these reviews is in their testimonials: in short, the album in question TRANSCENDS! It takes you beyond any forty-five minute daydream and grabs a piece of you (be it your memory, your place in time or thought). Certain times of year, people or feelings become inexplicably linked to said album, therefore rendering any objective proclamations pretty fucking pointless. Instead of hiding behind surveyed objectivity, let’s talk anecdotes, ghost stories, first-listens and second chances. What’s magic and complimentary, what’s narcotic or fraught with perplexities? What trips the tripmeter?

* = not recommended
* * = average
* * * = recommended
* * * * = ESP-approved!
* * * * * = Triptown Classic

Until I think up a better grading system, Triptown
will abide the five-star parameter that Amazon and
so many customers abuse. These five stars - called
the Tripmeter - work a bit differently, classifying
albums from least to most transcending.

Contact me at triptown@gmail.com.
triptownsounds.blogspot.com