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20 April 2024

Here's how it works: The Recent Releases chart brings together critical reaction to new albums from more than 50 sources worldwide. It's updated daily. Albums qualify with 5 reviews, and drop out after 6 weeks into the longer timespan charts.

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New

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"A terrific reminder of the intense, personal connection Swift can conjure in song" (10/10 - The Independent). "Surprisingly flat and, at times, cringeworthy" (6/10 - NME)

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"Revels in Laurel Canyon folk and psychedelic pop on her fantastic sixth album" (10/10 - The Independent). "Ring it up as another jewel in the crown" (8/10 - The Irish Times)

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"This is too much fun to be a one-off" (Mojo). "The half-inched tunes come and go rather forgettably but they’re charged with an electric vigour" (The Independent). OR "An excruciating exercise in bluster and swagger" (The Irish Times)

IdlesTangk

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Sum/One

bEEdEEgEE

Sum/One

First solo outing from Brian DeGraw of Gang Gang Dance, dealing in electronica and featuring GGD's Lizzi Bougatsos, CSS' Lovefoxxx and Hot Chip's Alexis Taylor

ADM rating[?]: 6.5
Label: 4AD
UK Release date: 02/12/2013
US Release date: 29/11/2013

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Sort by most recent review

8.7 61412
8.7 | Paste Magazine

bEEdEEgEE makes it apparent that Brian Degraw has a future with or without Gang Gang Dance, as this solo album can rival any of his previously released heights
Read Review
8.0 61268
8.0 | The Line Of Best Fit

By being both coherent and pleasingly unhinged, bEEdEEgEE more than fills the role of cosmic dance music vacated by Gang Gang Dance
Read Review
8.0 61257
8.0 | All Music

DeGraw's unique production mastery finds some of its most vivid articulation on Sum/One, and sinks its hooks in effortlessly despite the fearless weirdness that comes through on every track
Read Review
8.0 61259
8.0 | The Arts Desk

As an intense, intriguing personal statement it's powerful
Read Review
8.0 61314
8.0 | Under The Radar

Brian DeGraw as bEEdEEgEE sounds at best like a DJ tuning to the catharsis frequency of the cosmos and at worst like Gang Gang Dance rough drafts. Which is to say: still pretty good
Read Review
8.0 61506
8.0 | The Fly

A dizzying, disorienting reminder that DeGraw’s attention-to-detail rivals Nicolas Jaar’s in the contest for the most forward-thinking composer in dance music
Read Review
7.0 61260
7.0 | Uncut

An album that is pleasantly quirky rather than revealing. Print edition only
7.0 61427
7.0 | Clash

At its best when DeGraw’s chaotic textures give way to more structured declarations of despair
Read Review
6.8 61327
6.8 | Pitchfork

It's an intermittently thoughtful album, but one that doesn't stray far from offering process-laid-bare insight into the beautiful pile-up that is Gang Gang Dance
Read Review
6.0 61264
6.0 | Q

Snapshots of melodies filter through these electronic constructs, rarely staying long before skipping off again. Print edition only
6.0 61265
6.0 | NME

It's smartly done but strangely rootless
Read Review
6.0 61453
6.0 | Consequence Of Sound

For those up to the challenge, SUM/ONE is a unifying electronic endeavor
Read Review
6.0 61486
6.0 | The Irish Times

There’s something quietly triumphant about DeGraw’s sense of abandon
Read Review
6.0 61277
6.0 | DIY

It isn't quite as defined or as consistent as his work with Gang Gang Dance, but through persistence it certainly comes close
Read Review
6.0 61255
6.0 | Time Out

An album that threatens to reshuffle at least a few of the ‘best of the year’ lists. Hopefully bEEdEEgEE is more than just a fleeting side-project
Read Review
6.0 61610
6.0 | PopMatters

A bit of streamlining and editing would help DeGraw on future releases, but with songs like “Empty Vases” DeGraw proves that he’s a solo artist to watch
Read Review
6.0 61406
6.0 | The Observer

While there is nothing on here as life-altering as GGD's 2011 single MindKilla, tracks such as Overlook remain restless and inventive
Read Review
5.0 61354
5.0 | Fact

Despite DeGraw’s earnestness and the many good ideas that are in there, SUM/ONE‘s sense of free rein results in something garishly over the top
Read Review
5.0 61330
5.0 | Slant Magazine

Amid all the clutter, it helps to remember that there's beauty to be found in simplicity too
Read Review
3.0 61335
3.0 | Loud And Quiet

An incoherent mess with neither substance nor wit
Read Review
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bEEdEEgEE: Sum/One

Download full album for just £8.01
1. Helium Anchor £0.89
2. Like Rain Man £0.89
3. Empty Vases £0.89
4. Overlook £0.89
5. (F.U.T.D.) Time of Waste £0.89
6. Bricks £0.89
7. Flowers £0.89
8. (intellectual property) £0.89
9. Quantum Poet Riddim £0.89

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