Valende
by Jennifer Gentle
  • Record Label: Sub Pop
  • Release Date: Jan 25, 2005
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. Billboard
    60
    At times compelling in its eccentricities, this record emphasizes experimentation rather than tunefulness.
  2. Entertainment Weekly
    83
    Syd Barrett meets Fellini. [28 Jan 2005, p.85]
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  3. Pitchfork
    79
    It reveals a manic, uncommon glint in their inventive fires, the unmistakable fervid gleam which accompanies artists who know exactly what they're doing, even if the rest of us don't.
  5. Under The Radar
    50
    The wide-eyed soundtrack to an afternoon-stoner daydream. [#8, p.106]
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  6. Splendid
    70
    Effortlessly charming and strangely compelling, despite moments of complete and utter unlistenability.
  7. Tiny Mix Tapes
    80
    We find ourselves encountering songs that give themselves the time and space to breathe, build, incorporate shimmering choirs of backing singers and more layered overdubs than you can shake a stick at into the mix.
  8. Alternative Press
    80
    Most of Valende's songs have that creepy nursery-rhyme thing that people who read too much Lewis Carroll would call "whimsy." [Mar 2005, p.132]
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  9. cokemachineglow
    71
    Sweet Jesus, these guys sound like Syd Barrett.
  10. PopMatters
    70
    It's hard to hear some of these songs coming from the same country, let alone the same band, as some of the others, and this lack of stylistic (or any sort of) cohesion may prove Jennifer Gentle's undoing.
  11. Mojo
    70
    A kaleidoscopic funfair of angloid psychedelia, baroque folk-pop and open-minded sonic exploration. [Mar 2005, p.96]
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  12. Austin Chronicle
    67
    You're left wondering what you just ingested, and how you can score more.
  13. Stylus Magazine
    100
    Valende is really a more significant album than a lot of people seem to be giving it credit for being, and one hopes that it will be remembered as such.
  14. Lost At Sea
    70
    Its sagging middle aside, Valende may be one of the stronger psychedelic pop releases to come my way in the last couple of years.
  15. Dusted Magazine
    70
    JG manages to both make fun and have fun, their music more goofy than cynical.
  16. AllMusic
    80
    As familiar as the psychedelic reference points may be, Jennifer Gentle are able to distill them into something contemporary, or at least make listeners feel like contemporaries of a psychedelic era, both past and present.
  17. Magnet
    70
    Whimsical, immaculately realized music. [#67, p.98]
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  18. Paste Magazine
    70
    An esoteric, wonderfully eccentric psychedelic record. [#14, p.123]
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  19. Delusions of Adequacy
    90
    If you get one psych album this year, make it Valende.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.2

Universal acclaim- based on 9 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 9
  3. Negative: 1 out of 9
  1. AaronJ.
    Mar 19, 2005
    9
    Very strange voice! Very naive spychedelia!
  2. charlotter
    Feb 7, 2005
    9
    hypnotic, mysterious and...er...gentle psychedelic pop from italy's finest. "i do dream you" sounds like a lost '60's gem, but hypnotic, mysterious and...er...gentle psychedelic pop from italy's finest. "i do dream you" sounds like a lost '60's gem, but the real highlight is "circles of sorrow": almost seven minutes of sheer beauty. brilliant!… Full Review »
  3. JDBurton
    Feb 6, 2005
    9
    best album i bought in a while. warm, subtle acid folk from two Italian guys who took too much lsd.
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