Oh, Inverted World

Oh, Inverted World
Studio album by The Shins
Released	June 19, 2001
Recorded	2000–2001
Genre	Indie rock, indie pop, psychedelic pop
Length	33:31
Label	Sub Pop
Producer	James Mercer, The Shins
The Shins chronology
When You Land Here, It's Time to Return as Flake Music (1997) Oh, Inverted World (2001) Chutes Too Narrow (2003)

Oh, Inverted World is the debut studio album by American indie rock band The Shins, released on June 19, 2001 to critical acclaim. Omnibus Records put out an initial run of vinyl distributed by Darla. Sub Pop Records reprinted the vinyl, but the Sub Pop logo only appears on later pressings.

The album contains the songs "Caring Is Creepy" and "New Slang," both of which appeared in the 2004 film Garden State.^[1]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The Austin Chronicle	[3]
The Boston Phoenix	[4]
Drowned in Sound	9/10[5]
The Guardian	[6]
NME	8/10[7]
Pitchfork Media	8.0/10[8]
Q	[9]
Rolling Stone	[10]
Under the Radar	9/10[11]

Oh, Inverted World placed at number 35 on the Pazz & Jop critics' poll for best album of 2001. Online music magazine Pitchfork Media placed Oh, Inverted World at number 115 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000s.^[12]

Track listing

All tracks written by James Mercer. 

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Caring Is Creepy"	3:19
2.	"One by One All Day"	4:08
3.	"Weird Divide"	1:57
4.	"Know Your Onion!"	2:28
5.	"Girl Inform Me"	2:19
6.	"New Slang"	3:49
7.	"The Celibate Life"	1:49
8.	"Girl on the Wing"	2:48
9.	"Your Algebra"	2:22
10.	"Pressed in a Book"	2:54
11.	"The Past and Pending"	5:21

Japanese Bonus Track
No.	Title	Length
12.	"Sphagnum Esplanade"	4:20

Personnel

The Shins

• James Mercer - vocals, guitars, keyboards, xylophone, autoharp, programming, harmonium, percussion, harmonica
• Marty Crandall - keyboards
• Neil Langford - bass
• Jesse Sandoval - drums, percussion

Additional Musicians

• Dave Hernandez - bass line design and performance on "New Slang"
• Melanie Crandall - cello on "Your Algebra"
• Neils Galloway - French horn on "The Past and the Pending"

Legacy

"Oh, Inverted World" was also the name of a web series created by Terence Krey.^[13] Released in November 2010, it was largely inspired by The Shins music as well as other indie artists such as Arcade Fire and The Decemberists. The 13-part sci-fi web series was a story of four twenty somethings returning home from college to find that the Moon is falling into the Earth. The web series was called by the New York Times a "mumblecore Night of the Living Dead."^[14]

References

1. Garden State (2004) - Soundtracks IMDb - Garden State
2. Phares, Heather. "Oh, Inverted World – The Shins". AllMusic. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
3. McCord, Jeff (August 3, 2001). "The Shins: Oh, Inverted World (Sub Pop)". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
4. Wood, Mikael (January 24–31, 2002). "The Shins: Oh, Inverted World (Sub Pop)". The Boston Phoenix. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
5. Butler, Chris (July 31, 2001). "Album Review: The Shins – Oh, Inverted World". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
6. "Quakes and scorchers". The Guardian. May 24, 2002. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
7. "The Shins: Oh, Inverted World". NME: 35. May 18, 2002.
8. Kearney, Ryan (June 30, 2001). "The Shins: Oh, Inverted World". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
9. "The Shins: Oh, Inverted World". Q (190): 119–21. May 2002.
10. Eliscu, Jenny (July 24, 2001). "Oh, Inverted World". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
11. "The Shins: Oh, Inverted World". Under the Radar. Archived from the original on August 4, 2007. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
12. Pitchfork staff (September 28, 2009). "The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s: 200-151". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved October 1, 2009.
13. "Oh, Inverted World - The Web Series". Official Site.
14. Hale, Mike (January 14, 2011). "Mishaps in Politicking, Single-Parenthood and Finding a Partner". New York Times.