I’m vulnerable to the cool new thing.
When a movie or album or performer is lavished with praise in all the “right” magazines and websites, I get a little antsy until I’m in the know. And more often than not, I agree with the chattering class.
In my defense, the critics are usually right, especially when there is near unanimous consent.
Still, I’m a little relieved on those rare occasions when I just don’t get the hype. You might think I’d feel uncomfortable, as if I’m missing some key piece of data that would help me see the light, but no.
Instead, I feel liberated, as if suddenly I’m the one with the enlightened point of view. I can see that In the Bedroom is a pretentious piece of crap, even as it racks up critics’ awards, because I know better than all of them.
That’s how I feel about Sufjan Stevens, the indie rock hero who wrote and recorded the piece of shit iTunes randomly coughed up as today’s SOTD. I’ve never made it through more than two minutes of any of this guy’s songs without reaching for the stop button. And yet he’s adored by the sort of people I usually agree with.
Oh, oh, it rots
Oh, oh, it rots
Oh, oh, it rots
[Verse 1]
Well I have known you
For just a little while
But I feel I’ve known you
I feel I’ve seen you
When the Earth was split in fives
And in your words, I
Should let it out, I
Would see it die
But I’m a watcher
I see it watch her
It’s in your afterlife
This is the Age of Adz
Eternal living
Oh, keep from trying
Oh, keep from caring
You are the life
We see you trying to
Be something else that
You’re not, we think you’re nice
The circumstances
Of what I thought, I
Could see it now
I wouldn’t be so
I wouldn’t feel so
But it’s a running wild
This is the Age of Adz
Eternal living
[Hook]
When it dies, when it dies
It rots
And when it lives, when it lives
It gives it all it gots
This is the Age of Adz
Eternal living
Oh, oh, it rots
Oh, oh, it gives it all it gots
This is the Age of Adz
Eternal living
[Verse 2]
And all reflections
I see your method
I see it all
And what about you?
And what about me?
Are we the lost of lost?
Don’t speak to soon, don’t
Be fruit o’ loom, don’t
Excite yourself
For what you see is
Not fantasy, it’s
Not what it gets, but gives
This is the Age of Adz
Eternal living
And all reflections
I see it mentioned
I see it all
The gorgeous mess of
Your face impressed us
Imposed in all its art
This is the Age of Adz
Eternal living
[Hook]
[Verse 3 – Each stanza two times]
When I die, when I die
I’ll rot
But when I live, when I live
I’ll give it all I’ve got
Gloria, Gloria
It rots
Victoria, Victoria
It lives in all of us
I’ve lost the will to fight
I was not made for life
[Outro]
Now I have known you
For just a little while
I feel I must be
Wearing my welcome
I must be moving on
For my intentions
Were good intentions
I could have loved you
I could have changed you
I wouldn’t be so
I wouldn’t feel so
Consumed by selfish thoughts
I’m sorry if I
Seem self-effacing
Consumed by selfish thoughts
It’s only that I
Still love you deeply
It’s all the love I got
Meet Me In Montauk 
While not your intention, by saying that you generally follow the herd of music critics most times yet revel in bucking them, you manage to sound more (musically) pretentious than the critics.😄
I have never discovered new music through critics, though you could argue I have indirectly through your recommendations and gifts to me. However, since you know my tastes, you are kind enough to only recommend and gift music you think I will like. I wouldn’t get, for examplea Morrisey or U2 album from you, critical praise and your personal admiration notwithstanding. Other than your recommendations/gifts, I tend to find music I like through radio play or perhaps a band’s appearance on SNL or some other TV appearance.
As for today’s song, it is, indeed, the type of pretentious musical masturbation that critics tend to adore and I tend to dislike. There are elements to the song I find somewhat compelling so I might not label it “shit,” but I am so turned off by the overproduction, that I too would hit the skip button.