Q Magazine's Scores
- Music
For 8,545 reviews, this publication has graded:
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42% higher than the average critic
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3% same as the average critic
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55% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 5.8 points lower than other critics.
(0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 67
| Highest review score: | A Hero's Death | |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest review score: | Gemstones |
Score distribution:
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Positive: 4,112 out of 8545
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Mixed: 4,355 out of 8545
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Negative: 78 out of 8545
8545
music
reviews
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- Critic Score
Live On Ten Legs is career-spanning, expertly played, surprisingly spirited resume, with the curveballs of Joe Strummer And The Mescaleros' Arms Aloft and a slightly tweaked version of Public Image Limited's Public Image that misses the point by such a distance it borders on skewed genius. [Mar 2011, p.115]- Q Magazine
Posted Mar 9, 2011 -
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It is only after about the fifth listen that the true wonder of Some Cities slowly starts revealing itself. [Mar 2005, p.97]- Q Magazine
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As he switches from the blues shuffle of Repo Man to pedal steel laments, country rock, and even lovelorn soul, you can't help but marvel at the knack Ray LaMontagne has for really inhabiting his songs. [Oct 2020, p.111]- Q Magazine
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What was once the musical equivalent of a blokes' night out has morphed into a proper gang. [Sep 2006, p.108]- Q Magazine
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Night On My Side is undeniably flawed... but there's enough here to suggest a future that's far from bedroom-bound. [June 2002, p.116]- Q Magazine
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Slideling ditches the Bunnymen's arch neo-psychedelia in favour of four-square indie-rock. [May 2003, p.110]- Q Magazine
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It doesn't all work, but there are euphoric peaks... that rival the far-out grooves of David Axelrod and The Flaming Lips. [Aug 2004, p.106]- Q Magazine
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Recommended to any rap fan suffering from bling fatigue. [May 2004, p.110]- Q Magazine
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At times the sound of Peter Hook eating himself, at its best - the epic, Hook-sung It's A Boy - Monaco display a powerful combination of emotionalism and bombast all their own.- Q Magazine
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New Order have made better records than this, but not many with such an emotional charge and the expansive noise to carry it off.... Get Ready is the sound of a great band breaking free of their past before your ears. Who’d have thought it?- Q Magazine
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Amid all the bitching and moaning are some of the finest songs of Weezer's career. [May 2002, p.118]- Q Magazine
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Stuff with hooks, freakishly frisky and using everything in the producer's cupboard... Up! contains 19 new tunes that play shamelessly to the gallery. [Feb 2003, p.109]- Q Magazine
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There's such a huge feelgood swagger it's impossible not to be swept along in its wake. [Jun 2004, p.96]- Q Magazine
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For all the wit, layered invention and easy-on-the-ear harmonies Deakin and Franglen bring to '64-'95, there's a corresponding lack of intrigue. [Feb 2005, p.94]- Q Magazine
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This unassuming record certainly deserves as much attention as [his] former big noise. [Sep 2005, p.116]- Q Magazine
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It's not going to challenge anyone, but it would bring a welcome touch of class to the charts. [Oct 2008, p.139]- Q Magazine
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If you like Sufjan Steven's lushly orchestrated reveries, you'll love this canadian eight-piece, who come across on their ambitious second album like an indie-folk Arcade Fire. [Mar 2009, p.105]- Q Magazine
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The addition of Southern-fried sludge makes this album almost the complete New Wave Of American Heavy Metal package. [Aug 2009, p.101]- Q Magazine
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Freakonomics proves they still pack a punch, though. [Aug 2009, p.101]- Q Magazine
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Focused and fighting fit, My way is proof that at 46 Ian brown is nevertheless prepared to go all 15 rounds. [Nov 2009, p.108]- Q Magazine
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They do what they do with admirable panache, ripping thorugh 13 buzzy little items in a shade over half an hour as though lives, or at least wallets, depended on it. [Mar 2010, p.105]- Q Magazine
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A roaring cosmic-rock romp, equal parts Muse-esque space station stomps and jitterbug Krautrock rhythmics. [Dec. 2011 p. 137]- Q Magazine
Posted Dec 15, 2011 -
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Her debut LP is a Story Book Forest of weird instruments and enticing sounds. [Feb 2012, p. 108]- Q Magazine
Posted Jan 30, 2012 -
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It bristles with roaring guitars and the whiskey-guzzling howl of Ben Ward. [Mar 2012, p.105]- Q Magazine
Posted Mar 13, 2012 -
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More cultured chill-out from the East London alchemists. [Feb 2012, p.110]- Q Magazine
Posted Mar 28, 2012 -
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Mountain Echo isn't original, but Marie's voice oozes control vulnerability. [Apr 2012, p.98]- Q Magazine
Posted Apr 2, 2012 -
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[Lead singer, Corrina] Repp's spectral omnipresence enhances A Monument's addictive, dark-clouded atmosphere, especially when things get as chilly as later-day Radiohead and as pallid as Portishead. [Jun 2012, p.114]- Q Magazine
Posted Jun 22, 2012 -
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On this third album the four-piece are now an accomplished if spiky group at home whether playing rough-edged guitars or glockenspiels. [Aug 2012, p.100]- Q Magazine
Posted Jul 26, 2012 -
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Posted Sep 7, 2012 -
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The array of styles that are spliced together--space rock, electronica, trip-hop, orchestral flourishes--fail to add up to a cohesive whole. [Sep 2012, p.97]- Q Magazine
Posted Oct 2, 2012 -
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The sense of the singer reclaiming a little of himself with these meditative jams is unmistakable. [Jul 2012, p.109]- Q Magazine
Posted Oct 12, 2012 -
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The songs here are a familiar mix of wry life observations and clever covers. [Nov 2012, p.96]- Q Magazine
Posted Oct 23, 2012 -
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Posted Oct 23, 2012 -
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An occasional over-eagerness for approval, though, can allow attention to wander. [Jan 2013, p.111]- Q Magazine
Posted Dec 12, 2012 -
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It's an odd concoction that manages to shift between Boards Of Canada-gone-baroque and unsettling white noise. [Dec 2013, p.99]- Q Magazine
Posted Jan 29, 2013 -
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Posted Feb 14, 2013 -
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This is a beautiful album that counterpoints Banhart's boundless and surreal imagination against a newly-discovered depth and sincerity. [Apr 2013, p.105]- Q Magazine
Posted Mar 11, 2013 -
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There's stark simplicity to Tonra's lyrics that's evocative enough to consistently land emotional haymakers. `[Apr 2013, p.99]- Q Magazine
Posted Mar 12, 2013 -
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Although this is a little more concise than their usual output, everything else about their blues-rock bruisers is business as usual. [Apr 2013, p.100]- Q Magazine
Posted Mar 19, 2013 -
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Far from a mid-life indulgence or quirky side project, this is a brave and beautiful album. [May 2013, p.102]- Q Magazine
Posted Apr 19, 2013 -
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Chastising them for not reinventing the wheel seems churlish when they sound like they're having so much fun spinning the old one. [Apr 2013, p.111]- Q Magazine
Posted Jun 7, 2013 -
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Posted Jul 10, 2013 -
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His ambitions, and trademark gruff delivery, are here assisted by a new generation of drum'n'bass producers. [Aug 2013, p.96]- Q Magazine
Posted Jul 11, 2013 -
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LGC seem set to bring a winning edginess to drive time. [Sep 2013, p.106]- Q Magazine
Posted Aug 20, 2013 -
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Posted Nov 25, 2013 -
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Ambitious and beautifully wrought, Dear River should mark Barker's entry into the big leagues. [Sep 2013, p.98]- Q Magazine
Posted Dec 17, 2013 -
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If the flavor is international, the beef is still all hers, her skyscraper of a voice dominating all around it. [Mar 2014, p.114]- Q Magazine
Posted Feb 14, 2014 -
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Warm acoustic folk is the dish of the day, with Reader occasionally dipping into chanson and Celtic tunes, never delivered in anything less than immaculate taste. [Mar 2014, p.119]- Q Magazine
Posted Feb 14, 2014 -
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Sonic Bloom is about inch-perfect accuracy. In other words, re-enactment. Period. [Apr 2014, p.115]- Q Magazine
Posted Mar 27, 2014 -
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Their technical reach may not yet match their imagination, but that'll come in time. [Jul 2014, p.102]- Q Magazine
Posted Jun 17, 2014 -
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Posted Jul 2, 2014 -
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At times--as on Providence or Interface--the music takes a serious tinge. [Sep 2014, p.117]- Q Magazine
Posted Aug 28, 2014 -
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An irresistibly fun-packed career high. [Sep 2014, p.114]- Q Magazine
Posted Sep 10, 2014 -
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Posted Nov 21, 2014 -
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Posted Nov 21, 2014 -
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Natural Selection is a triumph of style and content. [Jan 2015, p.120]- Q Magazine
Posted Dec 8, 2014 -
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Presenting a sound closer to the black-hearted blues of their Brummie idols more than ever before. [Apr 2015, p.97]- Q Magazine
Posted Mar 6, 2015 -
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If there's an unstable, degraded wobble under their music, it's icily controlled, a deliberate reaction to an uncertain world. [Apr 2015, p.99]- Q Magazine
Posted Mar 17, 2015 -
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Hemming's voice has an authentic catch, but for all the lyrical loneliness, his lavish arrangements are packed with ideas. [May 2015, p.107]- Q Magazine
Posted Apr 16, 2015 -
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It's still unclear, for all the charm and enthusiasm, exactly what might mark them out, make them a cause, a rally call. For now, though, Young Chasers is just enough to keep them out in front. [Apr 2015, p.103]- Q Magazine
Posted May 22, 2015 -
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Throughout, there's a warmth to the songwriting that seems at odds with an album released in January. A genuine joy. [Feb 2016, p.116]- Q Magazine
Posted Jan 19, 2016 -
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Wrong Crowd may still be driven by piano but it charts a new path for Odell. [#361, p.106]- Q Magazine
Posted Jun 13, 2016 -
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If there's an issue, it's that Rhys's voice doesn't appear often enough, although the instrumental interludes--Chop Sop, Dylan's Demons--are typically quirky and inventive. [Nov 2016, p.113]- Q Magazine
Posted Oct 6, 2016 -
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Keane fans will be happily familiar with the piano-heavy pop-rock, but those who wanted a little more grit will fine it in spades on The Wave. [Dec 2016, p.105]- Q Magazine
Posted Oct 19, 2016 -
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It's actually the album's introspective second half which proves most affecting. [Dec 2016, p.110]- Q Magazine
Posted Oct 19, 2016 -
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An enjoyable conflation of nose-rock influences, mostly tracking back to the post-hardcore scene of the late '80s. [Mar 2017, p.112]- Q Magazine
Posted Jan 23, 2017 -
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Imagine the anarcho-grime of Fat White Family coalescing with a tripped-out Thee Oh Sees--then peel slowly and see. [Apr 2017, p.112]- Q Magazine
Posted Feb 14, 2017 -
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What results is almost a straight collection of intimate folk and pop. Like constant rainfall, though, his continued use of audio interference is the sonic frame that gives the songs their otherworldly depth and scope. [Aug 2017, p.103]- Q Magazine
Posted Jun 9, 2017 -
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The familiarity of the material is offset by the uniqueness of the approach. [Aug 2017, p.104]- Q Magazine
Posted Jun 9, 2017 -
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Combined with massive hooks, flashes of Robyn and Rihanna, and drops that will give you chills, heartache has never been so much fun. [Jul 2017, p.109]- Q Magazine
Posted Jun 26, 2017 -
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This polished set plays to his strengths--Oil And Water is an emotive half-ballad with Rag'n'Bone ambitions while the surging Fuel To The Fire channels Emeli Sande. It's a relief, though, when he lightens up a bit. [Nov 2017, p.112]- Q Magazine
Posted Oct 12, 2017 -
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The results okays to their strengths. ... There's a lightness of touch here lost since An End Has A Start a decade ago. [May 2018, p.108]- Q Magazine
Posted Mar 13, 2018 -
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The Deconstruction doesn't deviate wildly from his trusty blueprint, being a mix of rattling '60s-ish pop songs and lovely, aching ballads. ... As ever, these sweeten the sadness and hard truths of the lyrics. [May 2018, p.108]- Q Magazine
Posted Mar 29, 2018 -
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It's not the most direct communicator, but Panic Blooms still transmits its unease very effectively. [Jun 2018, p.106]- Q Magazine
Posted May 3, 2018 -
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The latest outing re-establishes them as sculptors of heavy-but-humourous CD-length aural odysseys. [Summer 2018, p.113]- Q Magazine
Posted Jun 21, 2018 -
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The first 40 seconds of Spring King's second album are without doubt its most diverting. ... The rest of A Better Life is a uniformly bog-standard collection of Kasabian-like indie rock. [Sep 2018, p.118]- Q Magazine
Posted Aug 31, 2018 -
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His music could still use an injection of personality. [Oct 2018, p.119]- Q Magazine
Posted Jan 17, 2019 -
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It makes for a meditative, transportive listening experience, exemplified best on the elegiac piano and swelling strings of opener Haar. [Jul 2019, p.109]- Q Magazine
Posted May 28, 2019 -
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A record that lurks around the same eerie corners as Dead Can dance, or White Chalk-era PJ Harvey. [Summer 2019, p.112]- Q Magazine
Posted Jun 20, 2019 -
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Posted Sep 25, 2019 -
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If this isn't Quite her own trip, she leaves intriguing tracks to follow. [Dec 2019, p.110]- Q Magazine
Posted Oct 31, 2019 -
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It's during the quieter moments that Fearless discovers real depth. [Mar 2020, p.117]- Q Magazine
Posted Feb 3, 2020 -
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There's not much room for nuance, but who needs subtlety when you've got pounding riffs and heroic guitar solos like this. [May 2020, p.112]- Q Magazine
Posted Mar 18, 2020 -
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The business can feel overwhelming at times - more straightforwardly enjoyable are the pared-back tunes that leave enough room for Moore's slightly husky and hugely characterful voice to shine. [Aug 2020, p.109]- Q Magazine
Posted Jul 6, 2020 -
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Even when Energy takes a ruminative turn towards the end, there's not an ounce of fat. [Sep 2020, p.108]- Q Magazine
Posted Aug 27, 2020 -
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While it might have been kinder to leave Bury, Bury, Bury Another and Runnin' Around unreleased, much of the rest offers hints at just what a thrilling band they were becoming. [Jun 2013, p.113]- Q Magazine
Posted May 13, 2013 -
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It's a finely textured, quietly hypnotic collection showcasing her guitar chops inside mellifluous, complex songs. [Aug 2008, p.139]- Q Magazine
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Much in between sounds like Adams on autopilot. Godd, but never great. [Dec 2008, p.122]- Q Magazine
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It might not herald a return to the glory days but it does mean his recent creative slump has been definitively arrested. [Jan 2019, p.114]- Q Magazine
Posted Nov 20, 2018 -
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There are traces of Bjork and in the childlike voice exploring its surroundings, Yoko Ono, but the fantastical world Xeno creates is entirely her own. [Feb 2018, p.116]- Q Magazine
Posted Dec 20, 2017 -
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Where once Of Montreal sparkled, they're now mired in a plodding, asexual beige. [Nov 2013, p.113]- Q Magazine
Posted Oct 11, 2013 -
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Posted Jan 10, 2012 -
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Auerbach and Carney don't tear up their blueprint, but tripping out their sound suits them. [Jun 2014, p.102]- Q Magazine
Posted May 20, 2014 -
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Posted Apr 23, 2014 -
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Everything I sNew is an inspired volte-face that gives second albums a good name. [Jul 2009, p.128]- Q Magazine
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The four-piece, fronted by Valerie Trebeljahr, rarely ever risk bereaking a sweat on Our Inventions. Theirs is a world where icy electro clicks and surges in sublime slow-mo. [May 2010, p.122]- Q Magazine