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The WireDec 10, 2013Some of the lesser tracks are near indistinguishable from other over-hyped post Hypnagogic Pop projects.... But such fumbles are rare. [Sep 2013, p.52]
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Dec 4, 2013While Forest Swords isn’t going to be an easy listen for the average music fan, those that are already predisposed to this type of material will probably get a lot out of it.
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UncutSep 5, 2013A vision of some shadowy Arcadia, its minimal Timbaland beats and lurking Mezzanine-style bass presented with mud and moss under the nails. [Oct 2013, p.67]
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Sep 4, 2013It’s an enchanting odyssey that is steeped in the tantalizing mysticism of the unknown.
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Aug 30, 2013Where acts like Grouper or Lee Noble seem to be deconstructing song altogether, Barnes seems to be engaged in a more subtle exercise, assembling strands of song formats into elliptical constructions with absolute precision.
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Aug 27, 2013Engravings does find Barnes reaching new peaks, even if he’s not radically adding to his sound.
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Aug 27, 2013Engravings is the sound of a man walking out into the coastline with his headphones on, the epic, Saxon past showing through the fog and playing with the Anglo present’s love of electronic music.
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Aug 27, 2013The result is a set of remarkable electronic rituals with an endearing, mystical quality.
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Aug 27, 2013That they somehow manage to fit together to seemingly describe an entire world makes Engravings something of a minor (key) marvel.
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Aug 27, 2013Barnes’ work is less concerned with trends or scenes than experiences and memories that everyone has had, regardless of what music they’ve listened to before. On that count, Engravings is a broad success.
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Aug 27, 2013Engravings, his first full-length, evokes a grayness of place so completely that it is utter, that there is no there there because there is only there there.
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Aug 26, 2013Engravings sees the artist employing fractured choral voices, militant drums, swirling guitars and the occasional harpsichord (notably on album standout "The Weight of Gold") to create a tapestry of sounds both experimental and organic.
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Aug 26, 2013What Barnes has done here is give us a full tour of a hidden place he only let us peek at before, a place that's even more breathtaking than Dagger Paths made it out to be.
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Aug 26, 2013In short, it has the kind of beauty that sees you playing it, and only it, for the next three weeks.
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Aug 26, 2013The LP is merely the byproduct of Barnes steadily refining his intricate and very particular sound.
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Aug 23, 2013With references to house, dub, and instrumental rock all stitched together into a looping, building tapestry that manages to be both visually and emotionally evocative, this is certainly an album that will keep your interest long into the next fad.
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Aug 23, 2013It’s a sonic exploration that, not unlike graphic design, takes physical elements and visualises them in another manner. And it sounds incredible.
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Aug 22, 2013It’s an album that has facets from across the spectrum of experimental electronic music but, in the hands of the masterful sonic auteur Matthew Barnes, Forest Swords’ music sounds triumphantly singular. This is a very special album.
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Aug 22, 2013This is mood-manifesting music of exceptional quality, experimental electronic fare of substance and, crucially, heart.
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Aug 22, 2013If Dagger Paths was a revelation, Engravings is a refinement, long to arrive but worth the wait.
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Aug 22, 2013Forest Swords’ debut long-player is electronic mastery at its very finest, because Engravings manages to make electronic music feel tactile, organic, and alive.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 22 out of 26
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Mixed: 3 out of 26
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Negative: 1 out of 26
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Sep 17, 2013
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May 20, 2014
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Sep 26, 2013