Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit

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Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit
Cournetbarnett.jpg
Studio album by Courtney Barnett
Released 15 March 2015 (2015-03-15)
Recorded April 2014 (2014-04) at Head Gap Studio in Preston, Victoria
Genre Indie rock
Length 43:29
Label Marathon Artists / House Anxiety / Milk! Records / Mom + Pop Music
Producer Courtney Barnett, Burke Reid and Dan Luscombe
Courtney Barnett chronology
The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas
(2013)String Module Error: Match not found2013		 Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
(2015)
Singles from Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
  1. "Pedestrian at Best"
    Released: 16 February 2015
  2. "Dead Fox"
    Released: 11 May 2015
  3. "Nobody Really Cares If You Don't Go to the Party"
    Released: 7 August 2015

Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit is the debut studio album by Australian indie rock musician Courtney Barnett, released on 20 March 2015 by Milk! Records (Australia and New Zealand), House Anxiety/Marathon Artists (UK, Europe) and Mom + Pop Music (US). The album received wide acclaim and was ranked as one of the best albums of 2015 by numerous publications.

Background and recording

After playing with various bands in Melbourne, Barnett used money that she had borrowed from her grandmother to start her own Milk Records label[1] and released her first EP, I've Got a Friend Called Emily Ferris (2012). Following the release of her first EP, Barnett signed to Marathon Artists (via its imprint House Anxiety). In August 2013, Marathon Artists released The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas, a combined package of Barnett's first EP and her second EP, How To Carve A Carrot into a Rose.[2] The Double EP brought Barnett international critical acclaim, with the lead single, "Avant Gardener", named 'Best New Track' by Pitchfork Media in 2013. How To Carve A Carrot was released on a limited run by Milk! Records as a standalone EP in October 2013. In 2014, Marathon Artists partnered with Mom + Pop Music for the US release of The Double EP.[3]

Barnett had spent a year writing songs for her album[4] but only showed them to her band a week before they were recorded in order to capture a "fresh" sound.[5] The song "Pedestrian at Best" was written "at the last minute" and the recorded version was the first time that Barnett had sung the words out loud.[5] The album was largely recorded across eight days[4] in Melbourne[6] during April 2014 but the release was delayed due to touring commitments.[7] Barnett unveiled the album at the 2015 South by Southwest festival and then embarked on a world tour that began in Paris.[3]

The title of the album was taken from a poster that hung in her grandma's bathroom.[8] It is also used as part of the lyrics of the hidden/bonus song "Stair Androids & Valley Um..." (see Track Listing section, below).

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 88/100[9]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 4.5/5 stars[10]
The A.V. Club A–[11]
Cuepoint A[12]
The Guardian 5/5 stars[13]
Los Angeles Times 3.5/4 stars[14]
NME 8/10[15]
Pitchfork Media 8.6/10[16]
Rolling Stone 4.5/5 stars[17]
Slant Magazine 4.5/5 stars[18]
Spin 9/10[19]

Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit received widespread acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 88, based on 34 reviews.[9] In a review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine called it "invigorating", saying that it provided a "convincing argument that rock & roll doesn't need reinvention in order to revive itself."[10] Mike Powell of Pitchfork awarded the album a 'Best New Music' accolade, saying that "Barnett has nothing to prove and she's proving it."[16] DIY magazine's Jamie Milton called the record "exceptional" and said "make no mistake - this is a debut like few others."[20] Eric R. Danton, reviewing the album for Paste magazine, said that Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit was "one of the most compulsively listenable albums to come out so far this year."[21] Everett True wrote in The Guardian that the album improves upon each listen because "it's been a while since western rock music – let alone Melbourne's fiercely insular and often too-precious indie scene – has thrown up a songwriter and lyricist as intriguing, compelling and down-to-earth, yet surreal and morbidly funny, as Barnett."[13] In Cuepoint, Robert Christgau said Barnett's music has a "drive and focus" it did not have before, complemented by her passionate singing and a lyrical style reminiscent of John Prine and Jens Lekman but still "herself": "Formally, her songs are confessional, only they describe her material life and conflicted feelings acutely rather than dreamily, so that the songs occur in and are inflected by a deftly rendered physical and social world."[12]

In a less enthusiastic review, Christopher Monk of musicOMH called Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit "a likeable, enjoyable album rather than a great one", writing that "the craft of Barnett's words dwarfs that of her music...there are too many compositions here that feel underwritten."[22]

Rolling Stone ranked "Pedestrian at Best" at number 4 on its annual year-end list to find the best songs of 2015.[23]

Accolades

Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit received eight nominations at the ARIA Music Awards of 2015, including for Album of the Year, Best Rock Album and Best Independent Release. On 7 October, Barnett won the ARIA Award for Best Cover Art, part of the artisan ARIA awards, for her self drawn cover. On 26 November, Barnett also won Best Female Artist, Breakthrough Artist and Best Independent Release. She lost to Tame Impala's Currents for Album of the Year and Best Rock Album. Barnett was nominated for Best New Artist at the 2016 Grammy Awards.[24][25]

Courtney Barnett was announced as the winner of the 2015 Australian Music Prize award which is given for the best Australian album release of the year.[26]

Publication Accolade Year Rank
The AV Club The 15 Best Albums of 2015 2015
9[27]
The Guardian The Best Albums of 2015 2015
7[28]
NME NME'S Albums of the Year 2015 2015
22[29]
Pitchfork The 50 Best Albums of 2015 2015
9[30]
Readers' Top 50 Albums 2015
7[31]
Rough Trade Albums of the Year 2015 2015
3[32]
Stereogum The 50 Best Albums of 2015 2015
6[33]

Track listing

All lyrics written by Courtney Barnett, all music composed by Courtney Barnett.

No. Title Length
1. "Elevator Operator"   3:14
2. "Pedestrian at Best"   3:50
3. "An Illustration of Loneliness (Sleepless in New York)"   3:10
4. "Small Poppies"   6:59
5. "Depreston"   4:52
6. "Aqua Profunda!"   1:59
7. "Dead Fox"   3:33
8. "Nobody Really Cares If You Don't Go to the Party"   2:46
9. "Debbie Downer"   3:17
10. "Kim's Caravan"   6:47
11. "Boxing Day Blues"   3:02
12. "Stair Androids & Valley Um..." (extra track on deluxe double vinyl, hidden track on Australian CD) 6:33

Personnel

Credits are adapted from liner notes of Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit.

Musicians
  • Courtney Barnett - vocals, guitar, production
  • Bones Sloane - bass, vocals
  • Dave Mudie - drums, percussion, vocals
  • Dan Luscombe - guitar, production, mixing
Production
  • Courtney Barnett - production, artwork
  • Dan Luscombe - production, mixing
  • Burke Reid - production, engineering, mixing
  • Tajette O'Halloran - photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2015) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[34] 4
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[35] 55
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[36] 80
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[37] 26
Irish Albums (IRMA)[38] 28
French Albums (SNEP)[39] 91
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[40] 73
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[41] 19
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[42] 66
UK Albums (OCC)[43] 16
US Billboard 200[44] 20
US Digital Albums (Billboard)[45] 11
US Folk Albums (Billboard)[46] 1
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[47] 1
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[48] 1
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[49] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (2015) Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[50] 39

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[51] Gold 35,000

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ http://www.grammy.com/nominees
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ http://www.noise11.com/news/courtney-barnett-wins-11th-australian-music-prize-20160309
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  35. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  36. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  37. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  38. ↑ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week {{{week}}}, {{{year}}}". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  39. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  40. ↑ "Officialcharts.de – Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  41. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  42. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  43. ↑ "Courtney Barnett | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  44. ↑ Illegal name entered Courtney Barnett/Courtney+Barnett/chart?f=305 "Courtney Barnett – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Courtney Barnett. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  45. ↑ "Illegal name entered Courtney Barnett/Courtney+Barnett/chart?f=400 Courtney Barnett – Chart history" Billboard Digital Albums for Courtney Barnett. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  46. ↑ "Illegal name entered Courtney Barnett/Courtney+Barnett/chart?f=1071 Courtney Barnett – Chart history" Billboard Folk Albums for Courtney Barnett. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  47. ↑ "Illegal name entered Courtney Barnett/Courtney+Barnett/chart?f=326 Courtney Barnett – Chart history" Billboard Independent Albums for Courtney Barnett. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  48. ↑ "Illegal name entered Courtney Barnett/Courtney+Barnett/chart?f=794 Courtney Barnett – Chart history" Billboard Top Alternative Albums for Courtney Barnett. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  49. ↑ "Illegal name entered Courtney Barnett/Courtney+Barnett/chart?f=408 Courtney Barnett – Chart history" Billboard Top Rock Albums for Courtney Barnett. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  50. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  51. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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