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- Summary: Originally self-released in 2012, the concept album from Canadian experimental artists Max Turnbull was inspired by Vladmir Nabokov’s Lolita.
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- Record Label: DFA
- Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Indie Rock, Experimental Rock
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Score distribution:
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Positive: 7 out of 10
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Mixed: 2 out of 10
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Negative: 1 out of 10
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Dec 5, 2014A Hound at the Hem has the chance to gain the fervent cult following deserving of its hypnotizing layers of analog bass, fuzz bomb riffs, pensive organs, soaring strings, nostalgic harpsichords and a creepy lyrics.
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Q MagazineDec 8, 2014[An] immediately fascinating, a cluttered, three-records-playing-at-once orchestral fantasia that--icing on the art-pop cake--is inspired by Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita. [Jan 2015, p.131]
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Dec 5, 2014By the end of the album, the pastiche of various unlikely influences sounds more like Twig's own weird voice than a calculated amalgam, and the struggle between darkness and beauty in these songs becomes more of a focus than the many obscure musical reference points they contain.
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MojoDec 17, 2014Turnbull readily unleashes his inner thespian but he's got playful pop-song chops, making A Hound At The Helm something of a post-modern glam trip that's far too good to be neglected a second time. [Jan 2015, p.94]
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Dec 5, 2014Its hard-psych is ugly, alluring carnival music that warps and melts before us just as we begin to trust it. Through it all though, there’s an undercurrent of humor and fun; Turnbull’s active imagination stretches out for miles and he comes across as a twisted visionary on his most accomplished album yet.
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UncutDec 10, 2014Slim Twig's louche theatricality will probably repel as many listeners as it attracts, but life is a cabaret, old chum. [Jan 2015, p.92]
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Dec 5, 2014As it stands, this is something that should have stayed in the vaults, largely, and is pretty much only for anyone out there who is a Slim Twig completist.