Chutes Too Narrow

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Chutes Too Narrow
Studio album by The Shins
Released October 21, 2003
Recorded June–July 2003 in James' Basement and Avast! Studios
Genre Indie rock
Indie pop
Length 33:50
Label Sub Pop
Producer The Shins, Phil Ek
The Shins chronology
Oh, Inverted World
(2001)		 Chutes Too Narrow
(2003)		 Wincing the Night Away
(2007)

Chutes Too Narrow is The Shins' 2003 follow-up to their debut album, Oh, Inverted World. The album title comes from a lyric in the song "Young Pilgrims". The album was well received by critics, garnering an overall score of 88/100 on Metacritic. According to Nielsen SoundScan, they have sold over 393,000 copies to date.

Chutes Too Narrow features cleaner production standards than the "lo-fi" Oh, Inverted World. This is largely due to the album's being mixed by producer Phil Ek, who has also worked with Built to Spill and Modest Mouse. Chutes Too Narrow also departs from the band's keyboard-driven debut and shifts towards more emphasis on guitars.

The album also included violin parts on "Saint Simon", played by Annemarie Ruljancich, and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Recording Package. The cover art was designed by Jesse LeDoux. The songs "Gone for Good" and "Those To Come" were used in the 2004 film In Good Company. "Those to Come" was also used in the 2005 film Winter Passing.

Contents

Reception [edit]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 4/5 stars[1]
Blender 3/5 stars[2]
Drowned In Sound 9/10 stars[3]
The Guardian 3/5 stars[4]
Mojo 5/5 stars[5]
Pitchfork Media (8.9/10.0)[6]
PopMatters (favorable)[7]
Robert Christgau A−[8]
Rolling Stone 4/5 stars[9]
Sputnikmusic 4.5/5 stars[10]
Stylus A[11]
Uncut 4/5 stars[12]

Chutes Too Narrow placed on Slant Magazine's list of best albums of the 2000s at number 91[13] and Pitchfork Media's at 46.[14]

Track listing [edit]

All songs written and composed by James Mercer. 

No. Title Length
1. "Kissing the Lipless"   3:19
2. "Mine's Not a High Horse"   3:20
3. "So Says I"   2:48
4. "Young Pilgrims"   2:47
5. "Saint Simon"   4:25
6. "Fighting in a Sack"   2:26
7. "Pink Bullets"   3:53
8. "Turn a Square"   3:11
9. "Gone for Good"   3:13
10. "Those to Come"   4:24

Personnel [edit]

The Shins

  • Marty Crandall - keyboards
  • Dave Hernandez - bass, guitars
  • James Mercer - vocals, guitars, harmonica
  • Jesse Sandoval - drums

Additional Musicians

  • Annemarie Ruljancich - violin on "Saint Simon"
  • Kevin Suggs - pedal steel on "Gone For Good"

References [edit]

  1. ^ Allmusic review
  2. ^ Blender review[dead link]
  3. ^ Robertson, Neil (2004-01-21). "Drowned In Sound review". Drownedinsound.com. Retrieved 2011-12-16. 
  4. ^ Dave Simpson (2004-03-12). "The Guardian review". London: Guardian. Retrieved 2011-12-16. 
  5. ^ "Mojo review". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2011-12-16. 
  6. ^ By Matt LeMay; October 20, 2003 (2003-10-20). "Pitchfork Media review". Pitchfork.com. Retrieved 2011-12-16. 
  7. ^ Begrand, Adrien. "PopMatters review". Popmatters.com. Retrieved 2011-12-16. 
  8. ^ "Robert Christgau review". Robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 2011-12-16. 
  9. ^ "Rolling Stone review". Rollingstone.com. Retrieved 2011-12-16. 
  10. ^ "Sputnikmusic review". Sputnikmusic.com. 2005-01-15. Retrieved 2011-12-16. 
  11. ^ "Stylus review". Stylusmagazine.com. Retrieved 2011-12-16. 
  12. ^ "Uncut review". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2011-12-16. 
  13. ^ "Best of the Aughts: Albums". Slant Magazine. Retrieved February 10, 2010. 
  14. ^ "The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s: 50-21". Pitchfork Media. 

External links [edit]

The Shins
Studio albums
EPs
Singles
Former members
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