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The Return To Form Black Majick Party
by Pop Levi

Pop Levi reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 80 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
8.2 out of 10
based on 17 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 13 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

A member of Ladytron's touring band as well as the trio Super Numeri, English multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Pop Levi (yes, Pop is indeed his middle name) makes his full-length solo debut with this eclectic disc.

LABEL: Counter
RELEASE DATE: 20 February 2007
DISCS: 1 disc
GENRE(S): Indie, Rock

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...

90
musicOMH.com
Pop Levi is an oddball, an eccentric in the finest English tradition and a man who evokes the effortless, timeless cool of many and varied heroes of modern music's life and times.
Read Full Review
90
Under The Radar
You will be hearing more about Pop Levi. For now I’d recommend you simply hear more of Pop Levi—this shit is fantastic.
85
Prefix Magazine
Nobody is putting out music like Pop Levi's right now.
Read Full Review
83
Stylus Magazine
[Levi] has an impeccable ear for a hook and packs his album full of them.
Read Full Review
80
Uncut
Imagine Bolan produced by Prince, then scrambled by Beck, and you're only halfway there. [Mar 2007, p.85]
80
NOW Magazine
Levi pulls off his flamboyant persona because he has the meticulously structured songs to carry it.
Read Full Review
80
Observer Music Monthly
Certainly Levi's mannered vocal style, with its brittle helium edge, requires a bit of commitment from the listener. Immerse yourself in Black Magick Party's world, though, and you will become hopelessly attached.
Read Full Review
80
Pitchfork
An admirably cocksure debut on which Levi makes like a 21st century T. Rex-- which, our current retro-obsessed rock culture notwithstanding, is not an easy thing to pull off.
Read Full Review
80
Mojo
No vintage-gear replicator, he's modern-sounding, fresh, fun--a genuine contender for 2007. [Mar 2007, p.105]
80
Dot Music
There's barely a dull moment on this album.
Read Full Review
80
BBC collective
The album’s dark title belies its artful balancing of psych pop’s sweetness with head-down, rock riffing and the emotional power of the blues.
Read Full Review
78
Austin Chronicle
The off-kilter, old-fi production, mixed by Thom Monahan... pays generational homage like Prince or Beck.
Read Full Review
70
Q Magazine
Such is the man's zest and pinballing musical imagination that it's hard not to be wildly entertained. [Mar 2007, p.115]
70
Playlouder
If Simple Kid is too simple for you, if you always liked Supergrass but never thought they pushed their material to its astral conclusion and felt their retro musings were a little too close to the original blueprint, then this baby, is for you.
Read Full Review
70
New Musical Express
The best Levi since 501s.
Read Full Review
60
Drowned In Sound
If Pop Levi’s intention was to create an ornate pop star persona, then he’s definitely succeeded. However, his songwriting skills leave a lot to be desired.
Read Full Review
60
The Guardian
He should recognise that his overlong songs could use a trim, but there is depth beyond the Willy Wonka weirdness.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now! The average user rating for this album is 8.2 (out of 10) based on 13 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Melissa K gave it a9:
I just saw Pop Levi's show last night @ the Double Door, Chicago IL. The man has such stage presence, its amazing!! Yea, his dancing might be odd to some...but to me its just another way he expresses himself through his amazing music! Plus what a guitarist!! Jeez! I could go on forever how great the show was!! Plus it was pretty awesome to hang w/him afterwards!

Conor B gave it an8:
A bubbly album that has the essence of the Scissor Sisters yet more consistent in the same style as opposed to change.

matt a gave it a6:
I was pretty underwhelmed by this album. Maybe I bought into the hype a little too much, but I expected more. Sounds like Of Montreal if they were a lot less interesting.

Tristram C gave it a6:
I've felt guilty at every stage of my relationship with this record. I felt guilty when I read the first review in Under The Radar. Not sure why. The disc sounded like fun but 'how much more ultra-cool retro homages to years past can we consume' is a question I ask when at the same time Ryan Adam sells way more copies of three different albums in a years time. I passed on the album several times. The cover was so shamelessly obvious as the Marc Bolan mock-up. T-Rex rules and its true Electric Warrior and The Slider have still not gotten old. This however serves to explain why this album was NOT necessary instead of the other way around. So then I 'pop' (get it) the disc in and its fricken great. Of course, its fricken great because if it sucked all I'd have to feel guilty about is that I dropped my fifteen buck but this way I get to be reminded that I'm a predictable unit shifter all year long. As a side, it is actually really impossible to pry "Pick Me Up...Uppercut" from your temporal lobe. So in short, I hate it and like it and dig sometimes when I'm alone and can rock out in the privacy of my own home but I'll drop dead before i ever tell the wor--- oh crap.

mike n gave it a10:
try getting hades lady out of your head. no offense to iraq's shiites, but cordless drills don't do the job. now where's that confouded spare batterie?

Michael B gave it a7:
Is has all the vibrancy of Marc Bolan, but then so does Marc Bolan. It has the freshness of Beck, but then so does Beck. Etc etc.

Dr. Stringz gave it a10:
A very fun record.

Read more user comments...

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