- Record Label: 859
- Release Date: Aug 8, 2006
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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As a whole, Winter Women/Holy Ghost Language School is a lot to process at once, but untangling the mysteries of Friedberger's music feels like more fun than it has in a while.
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BlenderMatt's solo joints continue to advance his kooky, obscurantist aesthetic, though they miss the distracted smolder of his comely foil. [Sep 2006, p.140]
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This is as fully realized an example of the Friedberger vision that exists, which is why it’s so frustrating that Winter Women never really gets off the ground, or that Holy Ghost wallows in its creator’s own pique.
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Entertainment WeeklyThe chaos that ensues is catchier than you might expect. [11 Aug 2006, p.67]
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Bizarre lyrics, wooze-inducing dissonance and overly elaborate embellishments maintain Friedberger's genius-of-pretension title.
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Paste MagazineThey're both excellent, similarly imaginative, fully realized efforts. [Sep 2006, p.75]
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One might suppose that solo album(s) from the chief Furnaces songwriter Matthew Friedberger would magnify his flaws/assets, and in the case of Winter Women and Holy Ghost Language School, one would be correct.
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As charming as Friedberger can be, he’s at least as often a little too precocious for his own good, and it makes the overall listening experience simultaneously cloying and fascinating.
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Here, Friedberger has once again proven his capabilities. At times they impress, but too often they confound, and it's beginning to seem as if he's too comfortable in his distance.
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Rolling StoneBoth albums could have been trimmed... but there's enough good stuff to recommend to Furnaces fans. [24 Aug 2006, p.95]
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A bracing, willfully odd delight that rewards the patient and frustrates the short-fused.
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SpinHoly Ghost is something of a wash... Winter Women, though, boasts some of [his] best material. [Sep 2006, p.111]
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Give Friedberger credit for diversity, craftsmanship, and the unprecedented ability to release a double album that actually feels composed of two separate entities. The rest of it? Too much, too fast.
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Holy Ghost Language School is something of an endurance test... Winter Women is more rewarding by design; it only suffers from excessive length and Friedberger's continued insistence on slathering songs with random waves of noise and self-conscious dissonance.
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No matter how you want to face it, the secret is out: pop isn't Friedberger's bag.
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Under The RadarAll in all, the two albums prove that even Friedberger’s secondary musical thoughts are worthy of attention. [Summer 2006]
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UrbIt's clear that we have a gifted songwriter on our hands. [Jul/Aug 2006, p.117]
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Without Sis, Matthew still does just fine, but let's be honest: You know the style by now.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 6 out of 7
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Mixed: 0 out of 7
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Negative: 1 out of 7
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spencerm.Feb 4, 2008
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muckraker11Apr 3, 2007
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CarlMSep 19, 2006Winter Women is the better half.