(2021) The Shins - Oh, Inverted World [20Th Anniversary Remastered]


Review:
Oh, Inverted World, the earth-shattering, indie-rock-redefining 2001 debut album by The Shins, is presented here in its finest form, dressed up all nice for its 20th birthday. The classic tunes get new life by way of a full remastering job under band leader James Mercer’s watchful eye, the art is given a little extra zest via a die-cut jacket and a classy inner sleeve, and the package is rounded off with a big ol’ booklet with vintage photos, handwritten lyrics, and more. The music, of course, is obviously essential. Aside from a friendly reminder that this is the album with the smash hit “New Slang,” as heard in the hit movie Garden State, we just need to note that the remastering job truly makes this the album James Mercer always wanted it to be. Never quite satisfied with the sonics of the original, Mercer took the 20th anniversary of the album as his opportunity to finally set the (literal!) record straight. And the results sound stellar: great for new fans, and well worth the attention of those already on board! For old times’ sake, here’s what we had to say about this record back when it came out: Hailing from Albuquerque, NM, The Shins sprung from the ashes of Flake/Flake Music in 1997 (though those previous incarnations date back nearly a decade) – same members, different instruments, different approach. Counterpoint guitars have given way to a single guitar pitted against calculated keyboard passages; swarming indie rock machinations led to pop-based melodic endeavors (who knew?).





Track Listing:
1.Caring Is Creepy (2021 Remaster) 03:19
2.One by One All Day (2021 Remaster) 04:08
3.Weird Divide (2021 Remaster) 01:58
4.Know Your Onion! (2021 Remaster) 02:29
5.Girl Inform Me (2021 Remaster) 02:20
6.New Slang (2021 Remaster) 03:50
7.The Celibate Life (2021 Remaster) 01:50
8.Girl on the Wing (2021 Remaster) 02:50
9.Your Algebra (2021 Remaster) 02:23
10.Pressed in a Book (2021 Remaster) 02:54
11.The Past and Pending (2021 Remaster) 05:25

Media Report:
Genre: indie-rock
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits