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Oct 15, 2012Dept. of Disappearance shows that far from vanishing, Lytle is making a claim to be one of the more interesting and consistent singer/songwriters around; willing to take sonic chances, but always delivering music that's as much about feel as it is about meaning.
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Oct 15, 2012On an album of depth and scale, Lytle is aiming to move mountains. It's big.
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Oct 30, 2012Jason Lytle's solo excursions express a bewildering mix of emotions. Dept. of Disappearance, his sophomore set, muddies the waters as much as before.
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Oct 19, 2012With Lytle still crafting his wonderfully tweaked tales of dour dystopia, Dept. of Disappearance makes a convincing argument that they [Grandaddy] never really left.
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Oct 15, 2012As ever, there's a sonic depth here that most artists could only dream of attaining, he works melodic light and shade beautifully; perhaps never more so than on 'Hangtown', which is a veritable swoonfest.
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Oct 23, 2012Dept. of Disappearance is a good album that makes for a pleasing listen, despite its lack of ambition.
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Oct 23, 2012This is probably as healthy as he'll ever sound.
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MojoOct 18, 2012Department of Disappearance won't surprise or disappoint anyone who loves its 2009 predecessor Yours, Truly, The Commuter. [Nov 2012, p.86]
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Oct 18, 2012Department of Disappearance does sound strangely complacent and monochromatic, offering no twists on the technorganic aesthetic he's been plying since Grandaddy were still a bedroom act.
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Oct 16, 2012On Disappearance, Lytle yet again hits that perfect balance of gentle storytelling and hard, dark emotion.
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Q MagazineOct 18, 2012Lytle's melodic warmth provides a protective layer against the heartbreak and horror. [Nov 2012, p.101]
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Oct 15, 2012It's difficult not to get swept away by, and even admire, the unrelenting sweetness of the songs [for much of the album's first half]. Eventually, though, it becomes equally hard not to gag on the twee preciousness.
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Oct 17, 2012It's pleasant, soothingly warm water, sure, but you probably won't want to soak for too long.
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Oct 16, 2012On the whole, however, the album is even-tempered where it should be adventurous, mild when there should be marvelous.
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Oct 15, 2012It's melodically sweeter, and warmer, than his acclaimed Yours Truly,The Commuter.
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Oct 22, 2012It's a gently moving meditation on the effects of solitude and nature on the soul, set to Lytle's characteristic blend of chugging guitar grooves aerated by bubbling synths and soothed by high harmonies.
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Oct 17, 2012I haven't heard, read, or seen anything that portrays or recalls the state [Montana] as beautifully as Dept. of Disappearance.
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UncutOct 15, 2012Inventively employing computer "tweakery," Lytle concocts synthesized symphonies and celestial chorales, with emotional charged results. [Nov 2012, p.77]
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Oct 19, 2012Dept. of Disappearance, Lytle's second proper solo album since the 2006 dissolution of Grandaddy, follows directly in the same vein of his earlier work, where the edges were rarely sharp around warm and welcoming melodic vehicles.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 6 out of 6
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Mixed: 0 out of 6
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Negative: 0 out of 6
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Oct 16, 2012
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Feb 10, 2013
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Oct 20, 2012