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Jul 25, 201280Though the environment that birthed the appropriately titled Gossamer may be a bummer, the end product is winningly majestic as it is obviously spun by the most malevolent of spiders.
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Jul 25, 201260It's as scrappy, outsize, and infectious as anyone could hope for, and as shrill and cloying as anyone could expect.
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Jul 23, 201284Anyone can manufacture hope through a slogan, but there's an empathy and humanity that simply can't be faked as Angelakos tries to figure out how to stay atop his life. It's hard to think of a more noble goal for a pop album.
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Aug 2, 201240Gossamer's a pleasant listen, but since when has that been enough? [Aug 2012, p.108]
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Jul 19, 201280Luckily they are one of the few bands with stadium heft and the tunes to pull it off, rendering their big-heartedness euphorically justified. [Aug 2012, p.78]
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Jul 24, 201270Their second disc is roomier and more varied.
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Jul 24, 201291Despite the emphasis on struggle, Gossamer couldn't sound more assured.
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Aug 14, 201250You're being pulled close, but thoughtlessly, reflexively. And you only feel further away.
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Jul 24, 201280One quibble is that Gossamer never really comes down off its Haribo rush, which gets exhausting. That said, when they do ease up, as on the boudoir-funk 'Constant Conversations', it resembles the two-a-penny synthpop that clogs the blogosphere.
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Jul 26, 201280Passion Pit finds the perfect balance of being risky while still being lighthearted.
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Jul 27, 201275If you can get behind all the cheery falsetto and high-on-life lyrics, their shiny, Flaming Lips-y thing works. [3 Aug 2012, p.74]
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Jul 19, 201280While retaining this overactive production style, Angelakos manages to make Gossamer feel more effortlessly human, more like the self-realised artistic vision of an individual than Manners ever came close to being.
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Jul 26, 201280It is a modern pop record to be cherished.
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Jul 19, 201280A big moment is the ethereal R&B pastiche Constant Conversations, with Swedish a cappella trio Erato, but there are virtually no duds here.
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Jul 19, 201280Gossamer is still full of incredibly catchy choruses, dozens of layers of funky instrumental tracks, spazzy electronic flourishes and of course Michael Angelakos' sky-scraping falsetto. [Aug 2012, p.88]
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Jul 23, 201280At its best Gossamer is, like its namesake, delicate at first glance but possessed of incredible molecular strength.
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Jul 20, 201250Gossamer is true to its name: colorless and precariously thin, with precious few bright spots.
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Aug 9, 201280It's an extraordinarily consistent pop album.
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Jul 24, 201284Passion Pit is only getting better.
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Jul 19, 201260An impressive and varied second album, but one underpinned by noticeable troubles.
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Jul 25, 201278It is both heart-wrenchingly introspective and jubilant.
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Jul 23, 201270Gossamer's X-ray confessionals offer just enough intrigue to ignore its faults.
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Aug 8, 201280The music shines brighter than most of his pop contemporaries. In fact, the album is so successful on this level that I could choose any given song and laud it as one of the best tracks on the album.
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Jul 23, 201270"Gossamer" opens up the music and lets it breathe. For all the artificial splendor, there's clearly a very human, very troubled voice at the center of these songs.
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Jul 20, 201230This wet blanket is a sheer bore. [No.89, p.57]
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Jul 19, 201288The revelation in Gossamer is Angelakos's inner voice.
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Jul 20, 201280Gossamer is huge, bombastic, and all over the place, spraying synths and outsized choruses like confetti over some deranged future-pop festival.
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Jul 20, 201281It has clearly come from a very damaged part of Angelakos' psyche, but Gossamer is a step up in sophistication and songcraft, and one of the year's stronger pop albums.
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Jul 24, 201260Guaranteed to make you cry sugar-coated tears or vomit Care Bears depending on your tastes.
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Jul 23, 201280Gossamer is hard to fault, besides the fact that it's more of the same.
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Jul 24, 201285An album that required a painstaking process to complete but sounds infinitely effortless in its pop arrangements and flicked-off soul ruminations.
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Jul 26, 201280The end result is an infectious pop album every bit as bright and dreamy as Manners yet far more straight-up, dark, honest and vulnerable.
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Jul 23, 201270While this second album seems genuine, and at times very good, it just doesn't excite and satisfy in quite the same way as the spontaneous creativity of the debut. 'Gossamer' is one giant juxtaposition that can't quite sit comfortably.
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Jul 23, 201270Gossamer has enough going on musically to shift the focus away from the occasionally mawkish lyrics.
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Jul 23, 201288The onetime bedroom artist now makes first-rate pop anthems, gleaming rocketships of sound that wouldn't sound out of place on the radio next to Rihanna or Nicki Minaj. The tone might seem out of step with the lyrics, but it speaks to a certain resilience.
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Jul 20, 201240Grand and grizzling, 'Gossamer' begs for adoration, but too often leaves an uncomfortably bittersweet aftertaste.