Metascore
58

Mixed or average reviews - based on 13 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 13
  2. Negative: 1 out of 13
  1. New Musical Express (NME)
    60
    Everything you hear is supposedly conjured from Yoav's guitar. It's a cute trick but as the album storms ahead it becomes a distracting and frustrating gimmick that sells the songs short. [15 Mar 2008, p.50]
  2. He performs everything (from drum'n'bass to hip hop beats) on his guitar, leading him to be dubbed a 'one-man Timbaland band'. A true percussive original.
  3. Charmed and Strange, however, is a collection of interesting guitar playing with a few lyrics thrown in for pop legitimacy.
  4. Q Magazine
    60
    The sparse sound that he produces means it's more entertaining to watch his trickery than to listen to it. [Apr 2008, p.117]
  5. Mojo
    60
    At their best, as in 'Sometimes,' they drag you into their circling obsessiveness and measured rhetoric. But, too often, Yoav's cleverness feels calculating--unless it's the reverse that, over-tasked. [May 2008]
  6. While this is a forward-thinking and cerebral affair, as Yoav has a love of dance music, he often works with funky grooves and rhyming lyrics that should appeal to fans with a club-oriented aesthetic.
  7. Yoav’s whole shtick is that he only plays the acoustic guitar, but he runs it through a looping pedal to make drum and keyboard sounds. Conceptually, it’s an okay idea, and Yoav pulls it off, but it gets boring fast.
  8. Boasting imaginative craft, his dedication to his technique’s style is apparent, but in every other facet the album takes a downward spiral.
User Score
8.4

Universal acclaim- based on 8 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 8
  2. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. BirdBoy
    Apr 3, 2008
    10
    A very unusual and most welcome record.
  2. ScottA.
    Apr 3, 2008
    7
    The album's best cut ("Adore Adore") is featured first. It's a pleasant, hook-filled number all about the devil. The rest of the The album's best cut ("Adore Adore") is featured first. It's a pleasant, hook-filled number all about the devil. The rest of the songs unwind with a sameness that lessens the overall effect. Full Review »
  3. ChristopherC.
    Apr 3, 2008
    9
    Club Thing is my favourite track of the year.