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9.0
107918
9.0 |
Exclaim
Sweeping and intimate all at once, Aviary never settles for comforting platitudes or dour resignation. It's honest, it's hopeful, and it's surely among Holter's finest achievements
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9.0
107998
9.0 |
Tiny Mix Tapes
Together, its 15 tracks form an intimidating but coherent whole that serves as Holter’s most sophisticated and engaging release to date. For a composer of Holter’s rapidly increasing stature, that is high praise indeed
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9.0
108032
9.0 |
PopMatters
With her new record, Aviary, Julia Holter expands her scope to include elements of free improvisation, neo-classical leanings, and folk-induced hallucinations, thereby producing a substantial work of art
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9.0
108036
9.0 |
Sputnik Music (staff)
This is a complex, stunning, and challenging record that will undoubtedly alienate some. But if you’ve enjoyed Holter to this point, it is worth investing the necessary time. Aviary touches every corner of her sound, resulting in an enchanting, if slightly dizzying, fifth album
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8.6
108019
8.6 |
Resident Advisor
Cinematic avant-pop inspired by the din of modern life
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8.5
107997
8.5 |
The Line Of Best Fit
A veritable choral cacophony, Julia Holter’s fifth outing invites you in to get lost in a world that can seem chaotic on the surface, but once you delve beneath the waves, possesses a peaceful serenity
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8.5
107916
8.5 |
Under The Radar
While the world may appear to be on fire, it has always been so, and the everyday emergency in which we find ourselves is not the exception: it's the rule. And surrounded by all this noise, this eternal series of accidents, Holter the poet chooses to process it all and create something beautiful. She chooses to love. Because she must.
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8.3
107964
8.3 |
Consequence Of Sound
The ambitious songwriter delivers a series of shifting moods that coalesce into a rich tapestry
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8.2
108092
8.2 |
Pitchfork
The Los Angeles musician’s fifth studio album is the most joyous, daring realization of her experimental tendencies yet: a sprawling, 90-minute search for meaning in a dehumanizing age
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8.0
108112
8.0 |
Spectrum Culture
This isn’t an album to solve, it’s meant to get lost in
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8.0
107967
8.0 |
Earbuddy
Holter nearly breaks her winning streak by swinging for the fences. Aviary is a home-run that hits the foul pole
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8.0
107972
8.0 |
The Guardian
Sonic beauty and brains in a 90-minute epic
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8.0
107977
8.0 |
All Music
The multifaceted artist's sixth album responds to the chaos of 21st century life with some of her most challenging and beguiling music
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8.0
107991
8.0 |
Drowned In Sound
Aviary will be a challenging listen for many, but its message needs to be heard
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8.0
107956
8.0 |
Clash
Grand in scope, bold in execution, and replete with jagged edges
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8.0
107958
8.0 |
No Ripcord
Despite Holter's all-around meticulousness, Aviary never comes across as careful or rigorous. She engages in artful replication, seeking to understand those voices she successfully reconstructs with a feeling of apprehension and anticipation. And in the process, leaving her own imprint for others to also discover in centuries to come
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8.0
107963
8.0 |
The Skinny
A challenging but rewarding album, Aviary continually grasps towards communication, exulting in common humanity amid societal ruptures
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8.0
107919
8.0 |
The Music
Focusing less on conventional songs, 'Aviary' is a 90-minute journey through ornate aural labyrinths, majestically constructed with harps, pipes and Holter's cool, crystalline piano
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8.0
107931
8.0 |
Uncut
There are jarring moments but Holter's quest to channel the clatter of the universe produces transcendent beauty too. Print edition only
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8.0
107932
8.0 |
Q
It's not always easy, but it is frequently brilliant. Print edition only
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7.5
108018
7.5 |
The 405
To say listeners will be challenged by the sophistication and length of this album is an understatement. In spite of its demanding length and level of weirdness, Aviary is an incredibly immersive voyage and arguably her greatest achievement
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7.0
107934
7.0 |
musicOMH
Aviary is not a great album--it’s too much of an ordeal for that accolade, requiring multiple listens to even start to engage with meaningfully. But it is, in its own idiosyncratic way, a towering artistic accomplishment. Just be prepared for a hard slog scaling the summit
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7.0
108017
7.0 |
God Is In The TV
In the end this isn’t an album that’s been made to please fans or critics. She sings in the record’s best track, the crescendo avalanche ‘I Shall Love 2‘: “Who cares what people say?”
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6.0
107968
6.0 |
DIY
Just as you feel you’ve got the album figured out, it throws a curveball
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6.0
107933
6.0 |
Mojo
It's all so sad, and surrounded by 80-plus minutes of restless, questing uncertainty. Print edition only
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6.0
107917
6.0 |
Loud And Quiet
‘Aviary’ is a job well done, and in the present era of buttoned-up no-risk pop, too, it’s encouraging to encounter an album as sprawling and idiosyncratic as this. Whether its very existence is enough to justify its virtues beyond the bagpipe enthusiasts, however, is harder to discern
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6.0
108140
6.0 |
The FT
The album unfolds at a leisurely pace, revealing an engaged intelligence and a dreamlike sense of drift
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