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Middle of the Trail

2101¬Rootsy folkster Ray Lamontagne continues his career as a Radio 2 botherer with his new album. Critics see it as competent but hardly revolutionary, scores coming it at around 6 or 7.¬False¬

Towering achievement?

2098¬There's a very rare 10/10 from The Skinny for the rapper, pianist and producer's album, released to accompany a feature film also written and produced by the maverick Canadian. Such enthusiasm is not shared by the BBC or music OMH, who regard it as interesting but only partially successful.¬True¬

Well-liked

2103¬Mostly pretty favourable reviews so far for the LA all-girl quartet's 2nd album. In the 5 years since their debut, they've moved from alt.rock to garage pop - with the help of one Mark Ronson on production duties.¬True¬
Odd Blood

Yeasayer

Odd Blood

Second album from the Brooklyn experimental psychedelic pop band, now with added synths

Critics average rating

7.5

Label
Secretly Canadian
Release date
11/02/2010
  1. 9.0 |  music OMH

    Unlike fellow Brooklynites MGMT and Vampire Weekend, Yeasayer retain enough depth and weirdness to keep the most cynical hipsters twirling their moustaches in admiration
    Read Review

  2. 9.0 |  The Music Fix

    In one of those “Just when you think everything has been done before” moments this Brooklyn quartet turn everything on its head with an album that really sounds unlike anything else ever recorded
    Read Review

  3. 9.0 |  God Is In The TV

    The comparison to Animal Collective is a justifiable one, both are experimental alternative bands driven towards creating brand new sounding material, both are brilliant
    Read Review

  4. 8.0 |  Spin

    The biggest, boldest, and best moments ... nod flamboyantly to influences never before evident ... but somehow they're seamlessly integrated with trippier old jams
    Read Review

  5. 8.0 |  Mojo

    Print edition only

  6. 8.0 |  Q

    Print edition only

  7. 8.0 |  Observer Music Monthly

    The record revolves around that reverb-heavy, carnival-esque wall-of-sound that has dominated American indie in recent years
    Read Review

  8. 8.0 |  Uncut

    Print edition only

  9. 8.0 |  The List

    Yeasayer’s easy listening electro is nigh-on avant-garde
    Read Review

  10. 8.0 |  NME

    There’s so many layers here – samples, sound effects, coos, squawks, chirrups, chants, piano loops, percussive clicks, digital zips – but intertwined there remains those melodies, as old as time itself
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  11. 8.0 |  Eye Weekly

    A huge improvement over the obvious weirdness of All Hour Cymbals, Odd Blood is a near-perfect blend of art-damaged sugar pop
    Read Review

  12. 8.0 |  The Fly

    A record that’s hard to keep up with and even harder to ignore. A monumental return
    Read Review

  13. 8.0 |  The Guardian

    Odd Blood comparts styles and sounds of the world into an easy duty-free package, and, in doing so, absolutely throbs with vigour
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  14. 8.0 |  Evening Standard

    It's all supremely hummable with enough weirdness still going on in the margins to keep the beard-stroking hipsters on side.
    Read Review

  15. 8.0 |  The Times

    ...a rousing mix of Eighties influences, electro and wild experimentation
    Read Review

  16. 8.0 |  The Observer

    The off-kilter percussive clatter of yore comes allied to pulsing tunes
    Read Review

  17. 8.0 |  The Sunday Times

    ...one of the most innovative releases of the year so far
    Read Review

  18. 8.0 |  Independent on Sunday

    ...an idyllic hybrid of Cat Stevens, early Peter Gabriel, MGMT and Talk Talk as the Brooklyn trio slip through the gears
    Read Review

  19. 8.0 |  Rolling Stone

    Held together with thundering, radio-ready drums and choruses that wouldn't sound out of place in a Depeche Mode song
    Read Review

  20. 8.0 |  The Quietus

    There's simply too much to react to when listening for the first or even fifth time: regardless of this, you are convinced the five piece have a thorough understanding of their direction
    Read Review

  21. 7.0 |  Rave Magazine

    Odd Blood is a disjointed beast of an album with some great highlights; it won’t be enough to parlay Yeasayer’s current fame into long-term success, but it promises enough to make their next album an exciting prospect, too
    Read Review

  22. 7.0 |  Drowned In Sound

    So yeah, maaaaybe Odd Blood isn’t quite the hive of unfathomably exotic treats that a few of the tracks might have initially suggested
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  23. 7.0 |  Clash

    It’s an unabashed pop record that anyone should be proud to play at full volume
    Read Review

  24. 7.0 |  Pop Matters

    Laced with jungle-dense beats and rainbow synths, dipped in an overwhelmingly psychedelic veneer
    Read Review

  25. 7.0 |  Tiny Mix Tapes

    The pace of Yeasayer’s growth is admirable; but still, let’s not blow this out of proportion. Odd Blood is an album whose highs are higher than its lows are low; those valleys are
    Read Review

  26. 6.5 |  The Line Of Best Fit

    Like a New Year’s Eve party that starts with fireworks and make-out sessions but fails to even last until midnight
    Read Review

  27. 6.1 |  Pitchfork

    On the whole, the record alternates between a prog-rock version of 80s UK synth-pop (and those are the good songs) and dreadlocky alt-pop or yuppie-era world music imitations (aaaand... those are the bad ones)
    Read Review

  28. 6.0 |  The Skinny

    With Odd Blood, Yeasayer earn their stripes as indie-pop innovators, but they would surely benefit from exercising just a tad more control over their wild, conflicting urges
    Read Review

  29. 6.0 |  Daily Telegraph

    ...a touch too clever-clever in their structure and rhythms for the mainstream
    Read Review

  30. 6.0 |  The Scotsman

    ...on the tribal chant of Madder Red, their contribution to the global party is more Lion King than Graceland
    Read Review

  31. 6.0 |  The Independent

    The resulting eclectic confections threaten to spiral off into cosmic nonsense, but remain anchored in pop territory by the solid drumming of top session man Jerry Marotta
    Read Review

  32. 6.0 |  No Ripcord

    A well-informed but poorly executed homage to the ‘80s
    Read Review

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Track preview & download

Yeasayer: Odd Blood

  • Download full album for just £4.49
  • 1. The Children £1.29
  • 2. Ambling Alp £1.29
  • 3. Madder Red £1.29
  • 4. I Remember £1.29
  • 5. O.N.E £1.29
  • 6. Love Me Girl £1.29
  • 7. Rome £1.29
  • 8. Strange Reunions £1.29
  • 9. Mondegreen £1.29
  • 10. Grizelda £1.29
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Pain and pleasure

2105¬Can the third of the three Mancunian electro-ish bands which featured in the BBC's Sound of 2010 list emulate the success of their counterparts, Delphic and Everything Everything? The jury's still out so far. NME is a big fan of the duo's 80s-inspired synthpop anthems, but The Guardian is far from convinced, and others find the album stylish but unremarkable. ¬True¬

Dream team?

2070¬You would imagine that one revered master of popular music working with the material of another revered master of popular music would result in something quite special. However that doesn't appear to be the case, according to many critics. Some find the album partially successful, others are seriously underwhelmed, such as The Guardian, which describes it as "horrible". ¬True¬

Mixed reactions

2106¬Very mixed views around on the fourth album from New York's prime purveyors of post-punk gloom, now back at their old label, Matador. Most critics accept they've moved on from the danceable rhythms and singalong hooks that leavened their earlier work. The reaction to what remains is very varied: some, such as Uncut, regard it is refined and elegant; others such as Spin regard the new material as dull rather than hypnotic. ¬True¬

floor fillers

2096¬The latest torch-bearers of nu-disco would appear to be the Brooklyn/Vancouver collective led by Dandilion Wind Opaine and Szam Findlay. Fan Death's debut album is receiving some serious praise from critics who appreciate their particular melding of Italo house, synthpop, electro and early 80s gay disco.¬True¬