Music
All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best of 2009
Best of 2008
Best of 2007
Best of 2006
Best of 2005
Best of 2004
Best of 2003
Best of 2002
Best of 2001
Best of 2000
Best of the Decade
Upcoming &
Recent Releases
75
Alberta Cross
70
The Album Leaf
69
Alkaline Trio
66
Animal Collective
84
Animal Collective
50
Athlete
82
Beach House
81
The Besnard Lakes
65
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
64
Dan Black
75
Mary J. Blige
75
Blockhead
79
Blood Red Shoes
70
David Bowie
64
The Brian Jonestown Massacre
72
Broken Bells
65
V.V. Brown
72
The Brunettes
71
Basia Bulat
78
Carolina Chocolate Drops
79
Johnny Cash
79
Chew Lips
82
Chicago Underground Duo
79
The Chieftains Featuring Ry Cooder
76
Citay
66
Clem Snide
77
Clipd Beaks
78
Clogs
66
Cold War Kids
75
Easton Corbin
80
Crazy Heart
70
Jamie Cullum
66
Fyfe Dangerfield
72
Delphic
64
Dinowalrus
78
Drive-By Truckers
59
Editors
71
Eels
70
Efterklang
81
Eluvium
82
Erland And The Carnival
57
Everybody Was In The French Resistance...Now
63
Excepter
78
Field Music
76
First Aid Kit
68
Josephine Foster
82
Four Tet
71
Nils Frahm
74
Freeway & Jake One
75
Frightened Rabbit
82
Fucked Up
64
Peter Gabriel
79
Charlotte Gainsbourg
80
Galactic
67
The Gilded Palace Of Sin
73
Ernest Gonzales
59
Good Shoes
79
Gorillaz
70
Adam Green
79
Patty Griffin
76
Groove Armada
67
H.I.M.
43
Hadouken!
73
Harvey Milk
68
Juliana Hatfield
66
Jimi Hendrix
88
High On Fire
80
Hot Chip
66
The Hot Rats
88
Ray Wylie Hubbard
54
Hurricane Chris
76
Jaga Jazzist
76
Jaheim
70
jj
79
Freedy Johnston
54
Nick Jonas And The Administration
57
Ke$ha
66
Alicia Keys
74
The Knife In Collaboration With Mt. Sims And Planningtorock
63
Lady Antebellum
65
Dawn Landes
82
Lawrence Arabia
74
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists
82
Liars
72
Lightspeed Champion
37
Lil Wayne
82
Lindstrom & Christabelle
68
Little Boots
75
Local Natives
75
Los Campesinos!
67
Lostprophets
65
Ludacris
73
Magnetic Fields
74
Massive Attack
58
Katherine McPhee
66
Daniel Merriweather
76
Pat Metheny
72
Midlake
64
Holly Miranda
79
Allison Moorer
83
Motion City Soundtrack
53
Mudvayne
65
Mumford & Sons
55
Never Shout Never
85
Joanna Newsom
81
Scout Niblett
74
Nneka
75
Oh No Ono
70
OK Go
71
Omarion
77
Owen Pallett
84
Pantha du Prince
77
Past Lives
84
Pavement
78
Phantogram
65
Pit Er Pat
86
Polar Bear
64
Priestess
67
Quasi
77
Corinne Bailey Rae
71
The Red Krayola With Art & Language
81
Fionn Regan
77
Retribution Gospel Choir
57
Martin Rev
64
Rjd2
65
Rogue Wave
82
Jack Rose
76
The Ruby Suns
78
Sade
77
Gil Scott-Heron
77
Shearwater
69
Blake Shelton
84
Shining
68
Shout Out Louds
80
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band
73
The Soft Pack
80
Spoon
63
Ringo Starr
68
Story Of The Year
71
The Strange Boys
77
Strong Arm Steady
79
Surfer Blood
60
Tape Deck Mountain
82
These New Puritans
71
Robin Thicke
76
Tindersticks
81
Titus Andronicus
72
Toro Y Moi
63
Josh Turner
81
Vampire Weekend
79
Laura Veirs
79
Butch Walker And The Black Widows
63
The Watson Twins
69
We Are Wolves
66
Kanye West
64
Wetdog
51
The Whigs
67
White Hills
79
The White Stripes
72
The Whitefield Brothers
68
Wu-Tang Clan
75
Xiu Xiu
78
Yeasayer
73
You Say Party! We Say Die!
63
Young Money
61
Rob Zombie
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
One Bedroom
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 26 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 5 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Thrill Jockey
Release Date: 21 January 2003
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Summary
The Chicago-based post-rockers return with their sixth album, their once frenetic pace of releasing albums slowed over recent years due to numerous side projects (solo albums for vocalist Sam Prekop and guitarist Archer Prewitt, and work in Tortoise, among other things, for drummer John McEntire). Included here is the band's cover of David Bowie's "Sound and Vision."
Also By This Artist: Car Alarm Everybody Glass [EP] Oui
Also On Metacritic
MUSIC: Archer Prewitt: 3 Sam Prekop: Who's Your New Professor Tortoise: Standards
Also On The Web: Sea and Cake Site Thrill Jockey
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...
Amazon.com
A masterly exercise in restraint, subtle sophistication, and melodic playfulness.
Read Full Review >Junkmedia
In a time when consistency is rare, and integrity even rarer, the Sea and Cake have made an album that highlights where they've been.
Read Full Review >Uncut
It's very fine, glowing with an oblique, poppy sensibility that's theirs alone. [Jan 2003, p.127]
Mojo
One Bedroom finds the group in a more forthright mood -- just shifting up a gear makes a big difference. [Feb 2003, p.90]
The Wire
The production is so delicate and the arrangements so well crafted that you can't help being utterly seduced by this open-ended, non-narrative yet elegant and accessible pop music. [#227, p.71]
Neumu.net
One Bedroom does tend to lag in parts, perhaps lost in the legacy of the band that created it, but in the end it comes off as an unified organic being, both necessary and pleasant.
Read Full Review >Dusted Magazine
One Bedroom is the LP on which The Sea And Cake jettisons most of its jazzbo pretensions long enough to finish the pure, catchy, consistent pop-funk record it's always been capable of.
Read Full Review >Salon.com
It's the gurgling electronic underpinnings and distinctly cheerful '70s synth chimes that make the difference here, adding needed texture and distracting from overly rigid rhythmic structures.
Read Full Review >Billboard
A warm sonic cocoon with synthesizer veins, it possesses the rare quality of making the listener feel like an active ingredient of the music.
Read Full Review >Mixer
Minimalist yet incredibly expansive. [Jan 2003, p.74]
All Music Guide
While the accompaniment is always thoughtful and inventive, Prekop's vocal idiosyncrasies tend to be a double-edged sword, delightful on the good songs but only accentuating the dreariness of failed experiments like "Le Baron" or "Try Nothing."
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club)
Even when the group treads stylistic water, it gives off pretty ripples.
Read Full Review >Urb
It's just all so blissed-out and soothing you won't know what to do with yourself. [Dec 2002, p.92]
Splendid
While the disc's increased emphasis on electronic textures, balanced songwriting and non-linear production is a welcome breath of fresh air, it lends itself to a feeling of sameness that becomes increasingly apparent as the record progresses.
Read Full Review >Alternative Press
One bedroom is vaguely European, warmly mechanical and just off-kilter enough to be consistently interesting. [Feb 2003, p.74]
CultureDose.net
With The Sea and Cake, the question is never whether the album is good or bad, but whether the album is good or excellent. One Bedroom then is a good album.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
Although this will not stand out as a landmark in the quartet's cannon, it is a worthy addition to any fan's collection.
Read Full Review >Blender
A fizzling delight, jettisoning previous jazzy inclinations in favor of a gorgeous electronic pitter-patter that sets off Prekop's velvety, mourning vocals. [#14, p.143]
Rolling Stone
Like the best of the Sea and Cake's work, the sixth album from the Chicago indie outfit is a tempest of pastels: It's full of burbling electronic experimentation but still manages to always carry a tune.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
One Bedroom... signals a return to the half-on/half-off inconsistency that marred all Sea and Cake albums except Nassau and Oui, as a handful of misfires trip up the flow.
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
Their poppiest album to date. [Feb 2003, p.107]
Playlouder
'One Bedroom' is an infinitely pleasurable listen, and one that (very gently) blows away any post-rock preconceptions.
Read Full Review >E! Online
Singer Sam Prekop sounds as delightfully laid-back as ever and John McEntire's production remains inventive, however, the combined effect is more limp than limber.
Read Full Review >Stylus Magazine
A complacent, inoffensive set of songs that belie the talent and vision of their creators.
Read Full Review >Magnet
Predictable. [#57, p.105]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 7.6 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
David K M gave it a9:
A delight -- something fresh and original within all the same ole same ole sh*t that's being slagged out on the record buying public nowadays. Airy, propelling, Bowie-esque in spots (from his Low period). Awesome.
Jonathan H gave it a 5:
I wanted to like this cd but i couldn't, i just was bored with it.
