Albums to watch

A Man Alive

Thao And The Get Down Stay Down

A Man Alive

Fourth album from the San Francisco alt-folk act, produced by tUnE-yArDs' Merrill Garbus

ADM rating[?]

7.4

Label
Ribbon Music
UK Release date
04/03/2016
US Release date
04/03/2016
  1. 9.4 |   Paste Magazine

    The mish-mash of Garbus and Thao’s sound, it can break you to pieces in the most powerful ways possible
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  2. 9.0 |   Exclaim

    An album that has the ability to shake its listeners from within
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  3. 8.0 |   The Guardian

    Man Alive often feels busy, it’s rarely overbearingly so, due to Nguyen’s ear for an off-kilter pop melody
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  4. 8.0 |   All Music

    Even at 12 tracks, the album will leave many wanting more
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  5. 8.0 |   Pitchfork

    If the sound of A Man Alive! is informed by Garbus' unmistakable presence, lyrically, Nguyen is grappling with absence—specifically, that of her father, who abandoned her family at a young age
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  6. 8.0 |   The Quietus

    As percussive as her previous offerings, A Man Alive is jaunty but perhaps less folky than normal, endowed significantly with the spirit of Tune-Yards' Merill Garbus, the queen of both loop and uke
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  7. 8.0 |   Spin

    It’s ironic that such a painful backstory has birthed this crop of relatively cheerful-sounding — not to mention industrious, and never dull — tracks,
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  8. 7.5 |   Consequence Of Sound

    Thao & the Get Down Stay Down reinvented themselves in the realm of noisy art rock and Nguyen couldn’t sound more thrilled
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  9. 7.0 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    The tired old indie rock template is torn up and all those melting harmonies and jangling melodies are twisted and morphed into something more jaunty and abstract
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  10. 7.0 |   PopMatters

    Hopefully potential new fans will give A Man Alive a thorough chance to win them over, because it’s worth the time
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  11. 7.0 |   Spectrum Culture

    An expertly crafted album filled with references to pain and loss
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  12. 7.0 |   Earbuddy

    Thao Nguyen changes her band's DNA with mixed...but mostly good results on A Man Alive
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  13. 4.0 |   Loud And Quiet

    But there is a difference between pleasingly raw, and lazily random, and at times this record feels like a demo, or even a recording of a rehearsal
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