- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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Espers II is both wondrous and troubling.
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Alternative PressThough parts of the album veer a bit too close to the synthetic hippie pabulum you hear upon entering the Nature Store, there's enough dark charm on Espers II to make it essential listeing for those of us who prefer our CDs caked with actual resin. [Jul 2006, p.208]
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"II" conjures a creepy but very real neo-psychedelia that is alternately paranoid, somber and reflective.
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BlenderArtfully arranged songs about planets and beasts and bittersweet harmonies recall British folk-rock combos like Fairport Convention and Pentangle without coming off as retro or twee. [Jun 2006, p.137]
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II is a lovely little record, but many of its charms are scripted; even charming people get old when you are forced to spend too much time with them.
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It’s the core songwriting beneath the band’s rich sonic layering that needs the greatest sharpening.
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MojoA bewitching record. [Aug 2006, p.96]
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New Musical Express (NME)A series of back-to-the-futurescapes that are both lush and subtly unnerving. [29 Jul 2006, p.29]
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The main attraction is still Baird's and Weeks's haunting voices, which turn a risky experiment into a genre-defining classic.
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Paste MagazineIt's part Fairport Convention and part Led Zeppelin at the band's most druidic. [Jun/Jul 2006, p.121]
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II is a perfectly balanced record, and its arrangements are so exact and delicate that it almost feels like one buzz of a doorbell or ring of a telephone could send the whole thing toppling over, splattering into useless bits.
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This is woeful, otherworldly - and wonderful.
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Q MagazineMusic that sounds completely out of time, made by an often incredible string band. [Sep 2006, p.108]
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It’s an album that leaves you both soothed and disturbed, lulled and shaken by the group’s masterful blend of the comforting and the uncanny, slightly dazed as if returning from time travel or a knock on the head.
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It all meanders a little, but getting lost in these songs proves to be an unexpected adventure.
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The New York TimesIt's a handsome downer of a record. [15 May 2006]
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UncutThis is a terrific, sustained album. [Aug 2006, p.93]
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Under The RadarA dense and intense descent into moodiness with absolutely stunning engineering and clarity. [Summer 2006, p.100]
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 11 out of 13
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Mixed: 1 out of 13
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Negative: 1 out of 13
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TonyFJul 13, 2006
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SteveL.Jun 15, 2006
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BenHJun 6, 2006