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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
OK Cowboy
Universal acclaim
Based on 15 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 31 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Uncivilized World / Pias
Release Date: 21 February 2006
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Electronic
Summary
This is the full-length debut for French techno artist and DJ Pascal Arbez-Nicolas, best known for his 2001 single "La Rock 01" (which is included here).
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site
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...
Stylus Magazine
What makes OK Cowboy worthwhile is not a greater emphasis on the chilly tones that made Vitalic’s initial singles so impressive and characterized some of his savage DJ sets, but the demonstration of a surprising degree of variety and even humanity within those seemingly narrow colonnades of rising and whiplash synths over soulless, mechanical drums.
Read Full Review >Dot Music
Beyond the grooves etched in this record, what is most exciting is the ease with which Arbez brushes aside the canon of 90s giants.
Read Full Review >New Musical Express
This is an album that leaves you in absolutely no doubt that, at the very least, Pascal Arbez-Nicolas is the best thing to come out of France since Daft Punk. [30 Apr 2005, p.63]
Playlouder
A tour de force of infectious acid techno and head-rush-inducing electroclash and, as likely as not, this year's essential dance purchase.
Read Full Review >Spin
While Vitalic may add little to electronic music or its various subgenres, he interweaves effortlessly their prevailing styles into complex arrangements that are neither kinked-up innovation nor neutered homage.
Read Full Review >Village Voice
Listening to it from start to finish is so bracing it's overwhelming; it sounds like what it would feel like to drink six cups of black coffee chased down with a bucket of ice water.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
OK Cowboy is a full-fledged album, with a satisfying ebb and flow that shows that Arbez's sound has several sides to it.
Read Full Review >The Guardian
This debut album took three years to make and could almost be his greatest-hits collection. It's a cracker, too; all clean, punchy metal beats and blistering, drunken synth lines in the finest italo-disco style.
Read Full Review >Uncut
Arbez not only shatters the risible notion that dance music is currently unwell, he also presents thrilling new ways of approaching pop, folk and rock'n'roll. [May 2005, p.100]
Urb
You could buy this album just for "Poney Part 1," and really, it'd be worth it. [Jun 2005, p.81]
Entertainment Weekly
A wicked, old-school set of club-ready, throw-your-hands-up electronica. [10 Mar 2006, p.69]
cokemachineglow
Turns out that OK Cowboy is a good deal like the better house sets you’ll hear at a take-your-pick hot-house European club: pretty exhilarating, though once you’re licking the dry salt off your partner’s cheek you realize that only parts of it are truly inspiring, though all of it was pretty hottt.
Read Full Review >The Wire
A sound thrumming with bold analogue synthesizers and beefy rock drums. [#254, p.67]
Q Magazine
Sound[s] like out-takes from [Daft Punk's] Discovery. [Jun 2005, p.118]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.8 (out of 10) based on 31 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Cramer C gave it a10:
so deeply high!
Phil J gave it a0:
Seriously overrated. Uninspired, boring and annoyingly cheesy. Astonished at how much attention this has received. Matmos and Isolee’s albums are far superior.
[Anonymous] gave it a9:
I don't really get the Daft Punk comparisons people are making. This sounds nothing like Daft Punk (who I also adore). Vitalic's sound is much more visceral. I have a new favorite track everytime i listen. One of the standout house albums of last year (er, this year for those who didn't import).
[Anonymous] gave it a9:
I don't really get the Daft Punk comparisons people are making. This sounds nothing like Daft Punk (who I also adore). Vitalic's sound is much more visceral. I have a new favorite track everytime i listen. One of the standout house albums of last year (er, this year for those who didn't import).
rasta h gave it a9:
Very artisticly expressed techno sound. Really something alternative in the eletronic scene. It even gets better with every listening session.
vinny gave it a9:
pretty impressed this one! saw him live in osaka last year, one of my bests gig ever!!! album is spun out. lovin repair machines and poney part 2!
Brett N gave it an8:
My Friend Dario and Newman good tunes
