A review of Lindsay Zoladz’ Pitchfork review

There are two things we should say before we dig into this review.  First, ugh.  Second, Zoladz redeems herself from what could have been a solid 0 with some insightful commentary and uniquely interesting comparisons, like when she compares a song to ’80s mall-pop “star” Stacy Q.

Mostly, though, this review is tough to get through.  Terms like “digital interfaces” and “post-Internet” should get the old bullshit detector fired up, and by the time Zoladz gets to this gem:

Boucher spends most of Visions singing in a vaporous falsetto. She occasionally manipulates her voice (as on the steely, Transformers-jam “Eight”) but mostly she just loops it, layers it, and cloaks it in reverb; there are moments when what she’s doing doesn’t sound too far off from what Julianna Barwick’s music might sound like if she were interested in making a synth-pop record. The most common complaint I’ve heard of Grimes come from people wishing her songs were more structured or hooky, or that her voice was more “present.” But– never mind the fact that even the haziest moments on the record are anchored by melody– this diffuseness is one of Visions‘ most refreshing charms.

the detector’s needle snaps off.  Is cloaking your voice in so much reverb that it is hardly in the song, rendering all lyrics and possible meaning obsolete, a popular thing these days?  We hadn’t noticed.

Some day, people will look back on this trend the way George Harrison looked back on Phil Spector’s production of his landmark All Things Must Pass album, when he said — and we’re paraphrasing here — What the hell were we thinking with all that reverb?