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FUNKED UP

2117¬Montreal's foremost exponenents of Prince-inspired dirty funk are back with their new album. Critics so far are impressed, Rave Magazine seeing the album as an affirmation of the band's unique style.¬False¬

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¬
A Book of Songs for Anne Marie

Baby Dee

A Book of Songs for Anne Marie

Sixth studio album of chamber pop from Cleveland, Ohio performance artist

Critics average rating

7.3

Label
Tin Angel
Release date
22/03/2010
  1. 8.5 |  The Quietus

    Dee's reference points are wholly outside of rock and pop: at a push you might imagine Peggy Lee's very strange 1956 album Sea Shells, with the vocal commitment of a Peter Hammill or latterday Scott Walker, but that's as far as it goes.
    Read Review

  2. 8.0 |  Mojo

    Print edition only

  3. 8.0 |  Evening Standard

    Completely different and completely brilliant
    Read Review

  4. 8.0 |  The Sunday Times

    You could describe Baby Dee’s sound as midway between Joanna Newsom and Antony Hegarty — a harp is plucked, sonorous piano and keening violin gild the arrangements, her vocals tremble with histrionic vibrato
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  5. 8.0 |  Independent on Sunday

    A thing of quiet, beguiling beauty, blending Germanic lieder and Scottish folk with Dee's unplaceable third-sex warble
    Read Review

  6. 8.0 |  Blurt

    Dee allows love's humblest pleasures to trickle through eleven of the sweetest steadiest songs
    Read Review

  7. 7.9 |  Pitchfork

    The sort of record that should finally help Dee earn notice equal to that of her contemporaries
    Read Review

  8. 7.0 |  NME

    A Book Of Songs is a thing of simple beauty
    Read Review

  9. 6.0 |  The Skinny

    ...after a few listens it seductively slides beneath the skin, the odd beauty of her poetry making this wider release more than worthwhile
    Read Review

  10. 6.0 |  Q

    Print edition only

  11. 6.0 |  Uncut

    Print edition only

  12. 6.0 |  Drowned In Sound

    Each song is like a meticulously painted and deeply quaint rural scene, but the music is mostly decorative rather than driving the songs
    Read Review

Track preview & download

Baby Dee: A Book of Songs for Anne Marie

  • Download full album for just £7.99
  • 1. Overture £0.99
  • 2. Love's Small Song £0.99
  • 3. A Book of Songs for Anne Marie £0.99
  • 4. Lilacs £0.99
  • 5. Unheard of Hope £0.99
  • 6. Black But Comely £0.99
  • 7. And Anne Marie Does Love to Sing £0.99
  • 8. Endless Night £0.99
  • 9. Set Me As a Seal £0.99
  • 10. A Morning Holds a Star £0.99
  • 11. An Early Spring £0.99
  • 12. Morning Fire £0.99
  • Service provided by 7Digital

Back On Top?

2114¬The Manic Street Preachers have had something of a critical rebirth with their last two albums, and that trend looks set to continue with their latest offering. The Line of Best Fit call it a "wonderful album", while The Fly reckon they "are in the form of their life". With only a few reviews in so far, it seems we could have a contender for the higher echelons of our chart.¬True¬

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¬