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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
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Sound-Dust
by Stereolab
This is the eighth full-length release for British art-pop ensemble. Not surprisingly, John McEntire and Jim O'Rourke co-produced the album, with additional contributions from Sean O'Hagan (The High Llamas).
| LABEL: |
Duphonic/Elektra/Asylum |
| RELEASE DATE: |
28 August 2001 |
| DISCS: |
1 disc |
| GENRE(S): |
Alternative, Rock, Pop |
NOTES: Also available in LP. There are also numbered limited edition versions of the CD and LP releases.
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
PopMatters
Has a playful, at times otherworldly style which brings to mind children's fairy tales.
80
Mojo
Tim Gane and Laetitia Sadier's prettiest songs since '95's Music For The Amorphous Body Study Center. [Oct 2001, p.116]
80
Resonance
Shifts moods so radically that a single song rockets through a half-century of recorded music. [#32, p.59]
80
CDNow
An optimistic-feeling, playful record that recalls the jazzy-edged sunshine and beat pop of the '60s.
80
The Onion (A.V. Club)
An ingratiating return to form that benefits from Sean O'Hagan's eclectic, elastic arrangements.
80
Dot Music
Laetitia Sadier's vocal melodies soar, so that even when you get two hints of classical minimalist Steve Reich in the first two tracks, there are still tunes to hum.
80
All Music Guide
The album is held back by their insistence on simple songs and simple vocals that keep the record earthbound and solely the province of the already converted.
80
Q Magazine
Their best yet. [Sep 2001, p.120]
75
E! Online
Is a welcoming entrance for new fans as much as it is another fine chapter for the diehards.
70
Launch.com
It all sounds nice, but little sticks.
70
Neumu.net
Continuing an audio development from Dots and Loops, Sound-Dust is littered with a giddy array of hand percussion instruments — marimba, vibraphone and glockenspiel stir up a polyrhythmic stew, its busyness and complexity sounding like the product of painstaking studio assemblage.
70
Alternative Press
A refreshing journey back to the plugged-in analog sound of early 'Lab albums. [Oct 2001, p.100]
70
The Wire
There's everything to like about this release, but nothing to grip or to enage the senses... Stereolab have now defined and refined themselves to a point where they are almost invisible. [#211, p.53]
70
Rolling Stone
Sound-Dust achieves a new peak in lush, lounge-friendliness for Stereolab.
70
Nude As The News
A major rebirth, relegating the chirpy melodies to expedients, relying less on Sadier's monotone singing, and reaching for new formats within the group's formidable compositional skills.
70
Splendid
Although Sound-Dust's revisionist zeal is mostly exhausted by the thirty minute mark, its spirit is alive and well in the album's streamlined production aesthetic. Rarely, if ever, are these songs muddied by an obvious surplus of musical ideas.
67
Entertainment Weekly
A disappointment compared with their action-packed output of the late '90s. [Fall 2001, p.136]
60
Blender
This collection seems less pointlessly abstract than 1999's similarly staffed Cobra and Phases. [Aug/Sep 2001, p.130]
60
Spin
These airy confections of analog-synth purrs and Chicago brass and Laetitia Sadier's obliquely humanist lyrics are distinguishable from one another by tone palette more than by hooks or style. [Oct 2001, p.126]
60
Urb
Listeners hoping for a radical departure from previous outings may be disappointed to find that the disc doesn't necessarily break new ground... [Sep 2001, p.152]
60
Playlouder
Offers the sound of Stereolab doing what they do best. Love it or hate it, it won't alter the world, it just is.
50
Armchair DJ
Much of the music's electronic undertow has receded, leaving Laetitia Sadier and Mary Hansen's airy melodies and counter-melodies stranded in gassy lounge-pop compositions that sound merely retro instead of retro-futuristic.
10
Magnet
I don't know which Stereolab album is more nauseating: Sound-Dust or the last one. [#51, p.118]
The average user rating for this album is 9.7 (out of 10) based on 13 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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