The Greatest Albums of 2006

#7 - Owen's At Home With Owen

Delicate finger-picking, soft strums, and wispy vocals that can crescendo into off-key crooning. His soft, low-key music will throw the listener off-guard when noting the sometimes brash lyrics. The first track, Bad News, starts the album off:
you're a has-been
that never was
I know it's mean to say
but it's something I've been meaning to say to you
for a while
So is the style of Mike Kinsella, formerly of emo-punk darlings Cap'n Jazz, and sorely missed American Football.
His previous albums differ only slightly in musicality from each other. On his fourth album, however, he adds a splash of strings and piano. It's a nice touch, but he ultimately sticks to his original formula. That's a plus for me. There's no sense in changing a good thing.
A standout on the album is his cover of Lou Reed's "Femme Fatale." For one, I believe it's his first cover. Secondly, he makes this rendetion all his own. Overall, another good effort from Owen. -Gabe

The more I listen to this album, the less it feels like an album. Instead, Owen’s “At Home” comes across as a subtle afterthought. That may sound like the king of all backhanded complements, but in not grandstanding, not making tremendous footprints in the musical landscape, Mike Kinsella has found his primary virtue: remaining a source of musical beauty.
This album is beautiful.
Each and every track is utterly mesmerizing, a work better devoted to long afternoons spent above a snowy landscape with the one you love. Or, conversely, it will be used as the bitter cry of one who has nothing to love, save for the melodies being picked at herein. Whatever the case, Owen has unleashed the perfect album for an overcast day. Some albums are good enough that they can transcend season, time and remain relevant for whatever period one’s life is in. That is not the case with this album. “At Home” feels as if its power will fade the moment winter passes away. Maybe that’s not the case; maybe it is in fact exactly what the alone need, from hot summer days in empty corridors, to cold winter days at a bus stop. And it just may be short enough to keep such ones from slipping into self-parody.
Sure, you could ask yourself “do we really need another one of ‘those’ albums”? And the answer is probably, “no”. But this album gains some notoriety through the fact that it exists in such short breath. In the blink of an eye, it comes and it goes. It is simple enough and strong enough to stand on its own, and yet it leaves so much unsaid, unexplored. And I’d like to think for good reason: it isn’t about what you show, about what you sing, but rather about what you don’t. At Home With Owen is about 8 tracks of remorse, regret, longing and hope. These days, such a record ought to be banished for speaking about such things in the same breath as the plucking of an acoustic guitar. As it is, the album seems short, sweet, and right at home. -Brock

MP3: Owen - Bad News