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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
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Andorra
by Caribou
Previously known as Manitoba, Daniel Snaith returns with his latest album.
| LABEL: |
Merge |
| RELEASE DATE: |
21 August 2007 |
| DISCS: |
1 disc |
| GENRE(S): |
Rock, Indie |
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...
91
Entertainment Weekly
The only problem with this symphonic daydream is that at just nine songs and 43 minutes, it's over far too soon. [24 Aug 2007, p.130]
91
Stylus Magazine
Snaith’s newest album, Andorra, merges "Milk’s" heady sense of immediacy with a clear and consumable swiftness.
91
The Onion (A.V. Club)
In its journey from form to formlessness, the record feels like Caribou reaching back toward a primordial pool of sound.
90
Tiny Mix Tapes
Andorra is a psychedelic and polyrhythmic trip to a place even less known than the actual country and a momentous addition to Caribou’s enviable discography.
90
Lost At Sea
The Dr. of Mathematics has one-upped it with Andorra, keeping all of the earlier album's core sonic qualities while adding layers of heartfelt atmospherics to craft what is not only one of the most mesmerizing and unique albums of the year, but also one of the best.
90
All Music Guide
Andorra may be a bedroom record, but it certainly doesn't sound like a bedroom record; it has the energy and intensity of group participation, and that makes it Snaith's best yet.
84
Filter
We still have a band trying to blow your mind with pure musicianship and experimentation, while having the balls to show restraint and even unabashed posie-sniffing beauty.
83
Pitchfork
Andorra will undoubtedly win Caribou a lot of new fans and rightfully so; it's a big, bold, tuneful collection that impresses with its ambition and meticulous arrangement.
80
Under The Radar
Andorra is an undeniably more coherent record than its predecessor. [Summer 2007, p.72]
80
Dot Music
Andorra feels free and fresh, comfortable exploring its own sonic identity.
80
New Musical Express
The fourth album from Caribou is the sound of the summer we're only just getting round to enjoying.
80
Sputnikmusic
Andorra strikes out further, reaching deeper into Snaith’s box of musical curiosities which are, at once, tasteful and fruitfully tawdry. Phantasmagoric and stunningly organic, another crowd pleaser for fans of Daniel Snaith’s aural hallucinogens.
80
Mojo
Andorra arrives in reverberant, sun-drenched spumes of falsetto vocals, crunching guitars, pulsating drums, jingling sleigh bells and fluttering flutes. [Sep 2007, p.109]
80
Billboard
Consumed in a busy lounge or with a pair of headphones, this set is a safe bet for any listener.
80
Dusted Magazine
Despite its music-geek-pleasing period references and psychedelic density, this is ultimately a frothy pop record full of hopeful love songs.
80
Prefix Magazine
Although such swaths of varied, nebulous beauty obscure Snaith's musical core--if there is one--the music is so joyful in its rag and bone cherry-picking of the best of Britpop's history that such concerns are rendered pointless.
80
Magnet
Andorra is, to use a phrase not heard much anymore, all killer, no filler.
80
Observer Music Monthly
This is the sort of album which is destined to be talked about in hushed tones by people who can remember exactly which improbably funky Manfred Mann tune it was that Kieran Hebden once put on a compilation. But it deserves a much wider audience than that.
70
PopMatters
Pop formatting can be a tightrope, but Snaith walks it gracefully. The only component missing are notable lyrics, the words here just another sound in the mix--but that's hardly unusual for Snaith's writing, or even for a lot of music from the era he is referencing.
70
Boston Globe
For every track that fails to coalesce, Andorra rolls out two more that hum with a peculiar sort of heart.
70
Almost Cool
It's pleasing, and sometimes outstanding, but it ultimately feels a bit too safe and soft.
60
Spin
Snaith now claims he's taking time to composae songs, rather than winging it out in the studio, and these sticky-pop confections are the result, full of lithe vocals, swooping keyboards, distant drums, and assorted benign flashbacks. [Sep 2007, p.124]
60
cokemachineglow
As a Caribou album, this is mediocre. Not bad, but it's not much of a Caribou album anyway.
60
Drowned In Sound
So slick is the production and so smooth is the transition from one moment to the next that Andorra suffers from an apparent reluctance to take us by the scruff of the neck and rattle us out of our mental Laconia.
60
Paste Magazine
Andorra belongs on a hip continuum but something about it still feels slightly cold--it's a druggy album that's too precise to be made with drugs, a lush album that’s too filigreed to be emotional.
40
NOW Magazine
Andorra feels downhearted, often recalling Elliott Smith; even on 'She's The One,' a collabo with Junior Boys's Jeremy Greenspan, it sounds like she's a real drag.
The average user rating for this album is 8.6 (out of 10) based on 31 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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