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Central Market

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 15 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 1 vote
Read user comments
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Album Info
Label: Warp
Release Date: 15 September 2009
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Rock, Experimental
Summary
The Battles band member releases his latest solo album on the Warp label.
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Sputnikmusic
Instead of rhythmic exploration Braxton is working with a variety of harmonic and melodic developments and in doing so has made a refreshing and similar counterpoint to 'Mirrored'. Central Market may not be as calculated, but it is more fun and in general more easy to digest.
Read Full Review >The New York Times
On Central Market, Mr. Braxton’s first full album under his own name in seven years, he has moved forward with exponentially more complicated music. It’s exponentially more entertaining, too.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
Central Market is a big album for an age that has acquainted itself with thinking small about the album both as a vessel for sound and as a standard-bearer for new aesthetic vision.
Read Full Review >Observer Music Monthly
More Stravinsky than the Saturdays, this is still way more fun than the latter.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
While the pieces that put the orchestra at the fore are the most dazzling, Central Market is a tour de force that only grows more fascinating with repeated listens.
Read Full Review >Dusted Magazine
The combination of synth, loop techniques and no-joke instrumentalists playing wild and unconventional rhythms is totally over-the-top, but that’s exactly what makes this album so dazzling.
Read Full Review >Alternative Press
Central Market could prove to some that contemporary classical music can be more epic than post-rock, more dangerous than metal, and have more to say than the most verbose MC-even if most of his songs don't have any words.
Read Full Review >Drowned In Sound
It's Central Market, his second full solo release, that sees him coming of age in a manner that befits the familial myth.
Read Full Review >Tiny Mix Tapes
The strongest tracks here make a case for Braxton’s compositional skills; the rest feel like recycled tales from his nights out with Stanier and Williams, an unfortunate byproduct of placing them within this context.
Read Full Review >cokemachineglow
Which isn’t to say that the rest of the album isn’t impressive at certain points, though the law of diminishing returns weighs heavily here.
Read Full Review >Mojo
Braxton ventures far from the strictures of traditional rock. Indeed, he's cleared passport control and stepped into the realms of modern classical music. [Oct 2009, p.103]
Under The Radar
Alas, most of Market's tracks work more as sound experiements than actual songs. [Fall 2009, p.62]
Q Magazine
The resulting clash of classicial forms and electronics is a startling mix of chance and design. [Oct 2009, p.108]
Uncut
As a stand-alone album it's ultimately more laudable than loveable. [Oct 2009, p.92]
Spin
His third solo album is promoted as "new classical," but "J. City" sounds more like a grievous stab at alt-rock.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 1 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
