Porter Robinson - SMILE! :D - Album Review

[@FlutterLights]

Thumbnail: 😀 First second: 😐

[@minkeymouce]

I'll always respect your negative reviews, even if I disagree with just about everything you say. You've built up credibility over the years due to the kind of authenticity and honesty that you show in this review. That being said, 12/10 Porter sweep AotY.

[@789tundra]

LOVE ME SOME PORTER ROBINSON

[@brendan6555]

Seeing Mark actually smile in a thumbnail is bizarrely cute

[@duke86fan]

*compares porter robinson to the 1975* i hate how this is right but I still felt attacked by it

[@mediocremedio]

I think the writing is very confessional and descriptive, perhaps that’s what conveys the impression that it’s “doing nothing with its themes”? You get a keen sense that it’s neither Porter nor the fans that Porter is singing about but Porter-in-the-eyes-of-fans and fans-in-the-eyes-of-Porter. The “distance” is not to avoid being cringey in my opinion, just a necessary one when you consider how these images of one another are ultimately imperfect replicas and not authentic representations. As for the sound of this thing I quite enjoy the crushed-up caffeinated stuff you mentioned. I think while it’s nowhere as creative as Nurture, it’s quirky enough to sustain repeated listens.

[@SpectrumPulse]

Okay, I actually agree with your second paragraph in that it's playing up exaggerated veneers of what fans might see / imagine... but to then juxtapose it with 'more confessional and descriptive' stuff - or imply they're both the same or there's overlap - that's where my issues occur. It's wanting it both ways, it glazes over both with a veneer, and that undercuts both any actual critique of fandom and any confessional honesty. And when you pair it with songs where he tries to say 'oh, I can't say what I REALLY feel, i'm putting on a mask', it has the vibe of pulling punches, and thus what he does allow to slide through is all the more ugly.

[@mediocremedio]

@@SpectrumPulse I can see why singing about “impossible impasses” in understanding self and fame might come off as trying too hard or wilfully ignorant of one’s privilege - I wasn’t aware of the context of the sample in Year of the Cup so I actually agree there’s something quite ironic about Porter’s pointing out of something that he’s totally complicit/unaware of. However, I think what makes the record resonate with fans anyway is not how it transcends the conflict by either offering a solution or a perspective that isn’t biased and ironic, but how it embraces it in songs like Russian Roulette (living as a substitute to reacting in a world where you either live or die based on your output) and Everything to Me (where the melodrama is almost as endearing as it is “pathetic”?). Ultimately it’s an imperfect artist trying to describe experiences that I think exhibit a lot of the structures of the listeners’ own experiences. Does that mean some of it could come off as tasteless and bad? Possibly. I just think to argue that Porter is trying to be “on the other side of cringe” doesn’t quite do justice to his clearly and necessarily blundered attempt to be real and authentic

[@Lancelot30]

AOTY

[@iBolt07]

very balanced review. sonically this is my least favorite album of his because it's, like you said, caffeinated and bit crushed to hell. I like over half the songs on it. Yes this is an extremely conflicted post. but that's exactly how I feel about this album. It's very complicated

[@shoey6123]

That's honestly why I like the album so much; it has that 'ADHD and anxiety' combo vibe that I pretty much live .

[@freddysamjacob363]

kinda the appeal of the album imo, the sugary harsh sounds are amazing to me. but I can see why it can turn off a lot of the people.

[@ElliYeetYT]

What’s kinda funny about the Pitchfork jab (even as flawed as it is) is that when Pitchfork themselves noticed it in their review of the album, they said it “takes a tongue-in-cheek swipe at an infamous joke review from Pitchfork’s early years”, so it seems they’re aware, in a sense of an “Ok, You Got Us” reaction that ‘joke’ review was a pisstake from them. You get it? Pisstake, Becau- Ok I’ll stop.

[@jacksonthompson8600]

😁😁😁 Love the review Mark

[@cowmark67]

I very much enjoyed the album. To me Nurture is a perfect album and one of my favorite albums and this just isn't. That being said, based on the teasers (I didn't listen to a full prerelease track) I thought I wasn't going to like it with the pivot in sound from what was done on Nurture, but it turned out to be an enjoyable album on first listen. We'll see how it holds up on repeated listens.

[@doggobunni]

I feel the need to say he's not trying to make some grand statement with this album or Nurture. That was mostly about his struggle to make new music and this album is mostly about his own experience with his own fandom, and i think its pretty obvious which lyrics are supposed to be taken seriously, and which are intended to make people "cringe" (as he has put it). And i dont think it follows that both sides of this album should be taken equally as seriously just because they are presented together. Obviously whether you vibe with this approach is one thing, and i understand if you prefer a more consistent theme with all of one or the other instead of a mix. I also think maybe critics and obsessive music listeners and explorers (like myself) can fall into the trap of assuming albums like this need to be up to the standard of a master's thesis or something to be effective, just because it explores a complex subject outside of the artist themself. Not to say it can't be done, and apparently that deep exploration has been done before - i haven't heard any examples so i guess i would have to look up info about that myself - but just because those thorough albums exist shouldn't make you assume another album is trying (and thus failing) to do the dame thing just because they share a topic. I say that because i think the majority of artists make music with their own feelings and experiences in mind, compared to the few that attempt to take discussion to the next level

[@GDItsFils]

I personally liked Smile quite a bit, but I understand your point of view in your less optimistic review of the album. Actually, I agree a lot with you about Is There Really no Happiness and the fact most songs don't have as much groove as his older projects. Some songs still go hard af, of course, but not all. I didn't really know the context of the Lil Wayne clip, so I'd say Year of the Cup is a bit more bitter-tasting now (already was the weakest song in the album tbh)

[@traviscrawford6516]

Russian roulette in worst tracks is a hilariously wild take

[@metallama8988]

It’s odd, the first half of the song sounds off to me, I don’t like the chorus, but the last half works so well for me.

[@iBolt07]

@@traviscrawford6516 Russian Roulette has a really bad outro tbh

[@i8bmwcar800]

Can you please review NKOTBs albums.

[@anamelessyoutuber1462]

Is this album any good for someone who's never listened to anything by Porter Robinson before?

[@iBolt07]

probably not a good jumping on point. I'd recommend Worlds first

[@gayassReal]

year of the cup is NOT about not being able to show your uglier human side, nor is he whining about not being allowed to yell it his audience. the song is about why alcohol specifically was not good for him and how he regrets how he acted on it, (especially to his fans) but also is conflicted because it gave him confidence and led to him and his now wife getting together.

[@gramlar3506]

Fair, but this was a pretty badly written review

[@aceguy1234]

Yea I think you got this one. The triple, double, quadruple ironic/sarcastic lyrics + cliche music ride this very dumb line that I don't think works well. Big disappointment to go from Nurture to this album, feels a bit like going from To Pimp a Butterfly to Damn in some ways although Damn pulls everything it sets out to do much better. I'm not sure if "reacting to fan perception" has ever been a formula for good music, a friend pointed out the lyrics feel solipsistic and I agree in that way. Way too much projection.

[@doggobunni]

I'm not sure why you'd say this album is a result of 'reacting to fan perception", and I can't even remotely see how you could view this album as being selfish?? Unless you just don't like that he made the music he wanted to make instead of appealing to what A, B, or C fans wanted just for the sake of it. Either that or you take every single lyric at face value and assume they must be just as genuine as the more obviously sentimental lyrics. He airs out mistakes he's made and even has a song about struggling to love himself (though personally I originally interpreted it as a song about wanting his fans to be able to love themselves as much as they adore him as an artist). This album is mostly about his feelings and experiences in relation to his own fans, both negative and positive (because humans are complex) and by the last song he makes it clear that he's ultimately grateful for his fans. After Nurture, the joke/boastful lyrics came from wanting to make a fun and purposefully insincere album, but also partly because Porter wanted to shatter this image of himself he accidentally created within his fans of this perfect ultra-sweet guy that has all the answers. He doesn't want them to take him so seriously, because he's just another person and he doesn't have it all figured out, unlike how it seemed to some folks on the surface from the lyrical journey in Nurture.

[@aceguy1234]

@@doggobunni I wrote a long ass reply to this which got deleted so to keep it short- your last sentence basically explains how it's solipsistic (not selfish). And most of what you wrote is explaining how the lyrics are about his perception/relationship with fans, but you question how I think he's reacting to fans. I'll let you make your own conclusions.

[@countyfactswailuigi]

Fantano and Mark having exact opposite reactions once again.

[@fangirlonfire]

…well at least he liked Cheerleader 🥲 (srsly as someone who adores Nurture, i honestly agree with ur thoughts on his latest album, that there was something that felt iffy as i was listening to it. he’s in his “up in his own ass” era, when it doesnt work, it doesnt, but when it does, it does. Still like his production style and the hooks save the weird execution of the themes)

[@brandonkey181]

You sound like a political talk show host in every single review you've ever done

[@MusicOrLoseItTV]

Just learned he’s a defender of artificial intelligence “art” so no thanks.

[@ailamusic6135]

???

[@OVTRA]

'defender' is oversimplifying his opinion on it and at worst misunderstanding it (yikes)

[@clearlyblurry508]

learn again.