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"Black Gold" is a fine, fine record and undoubtedly the greatest thing he's ever done.
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[A] vital, dolorous treasure.
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Like the Betas' Heroes to Zeros, Black Gold isn't a flashy record.... But unlike Heroes to Zeros, Black Gold sounds agreeably homespun.
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The songs... are as wonderful, as creative, as exquisitely saddening as ever.
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This belated debut album defies you not to join the canonical dots that start, perhaps, with George Harrison's lesser-known Revolver songs, proceed to Pink Floyd's pastoral Scarecrow (on Rising Son), take the scenic route round Can, Kraftwerk (Metal Biscuit) and Augustus Pablo's wistful melodica, swerve off to Gerry Rafferty's Baker Street (Paperhead), then hit the home straight through Talking Heads and Brian Eno to arrive next door to strumming melancholics Elliott Smith and Eric Matthews.
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UncutRather than a departure from the zig-zag folktronica of The Beta Band, [it is] more an incremental shift in oddness. [Jun 2006, p.105]
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New Musical Express (NME)Mason falls a touch short of the mark. [27 May 2006, p.33]
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Q MagazineIt's good to have his unique groove back. [Jun 2006, p.116]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 4 out of 5
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Mixed: 0 out of 5
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Negative: 1 out of 5
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garylJun 3, 2006Why is this brilliance not in the mainstream? As with the beta band, if you don't get it, you're not really listening.
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alicJun 3, 2006Fantastic Beta Band-esque fun and weirdness. Almost as if they never left us.