Last Summer
- Eleanor Friedberger
- Band Name: Eleanor Friedberger
- Record Label: Merge
- Release Date: Jul 12, 2011
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Jul 11, 2011100It straddles that difficult line between accessible and adventurous, making for a fine stopgap between Fiery Furnaces records and an excellent summer album regardless of the year.
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Jul 12, 201183On Last Summer, Friedberger shows that her compositional voice is equally compelling when she's freed from her brother's watchful eye.
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Jul 12, 201182Perhaps the biggest hurdle for Friedberger's solo endeavor will rest in separating herself from the past nine LPs she's released with her brother, but Last Summer succeeds on its own, casting a softer light on the singer's chaotic image.
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Jan 10, 201280Wonky, wordy, connective - a Tapestry for the Williamsburg set.[Dec. 2011, p.93]
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Jan 3, 201280As a singer she remains as wayward as ever, her velvety voice, so urgent and melancholy in its expression, rendering even the most nakedly autobiographical lyrics here impenetrably opaque.
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Dec 5, 201180While Last Summer has enough ties to her work with the Fiery Furnaces to please fans, it gives Friedberger the time in the spotlight she deserves.
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Nov 15, 201180Last Summer pulls off the impressive feat of being luxuriantly listenable while retaining Friedberger's avant-garde roots.
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Aug 8, 201180Last Summer is a difficult album to describe because it's made up entirely of these kinds of small moments, gliding gracefully from memory to memory, place to place, like an inside joke stretched into a one-act play.
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Aug 3, 201180The most conspicuous element of Last Summer is the simplicity of the music.
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Jul 28, 201180That old adage about the quiet ones hold true for Elanor, whose debut capitalizes on I'm Going Away's fleeting ease. [Aug 2011, p.87]
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Jul 13, 201180There's not much screaming on Last Summer. Like I'm Going Away, it's a basic, modest studio-rock record, the kind common in the '70s, with flavorful detours reminiscent of that era.
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Jul 11, 201180It's still wordier than a second-hand bookshop and the screwy mental tics remain. But it's also one of the most heart-lassoing '70s radio-pop records since the death of flares, its psychedelic oddness leavened with big gnarly hooks, the emotional thwack of a shattered heart and intimate and bloodied narratives.
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Jul 11, 201180It's like Fiery Furnaces with more heart and less irony...and that's not a bad thing at all.
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Jul 11, 201180With Last Summer, she more than makes good on that promise and provides this summer with one of its most satisfying releases.
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Jul 8, 201180There are expected blips of Fiery playfulness -- pinballing "bop bop" vocals, backward-masked beats -- but this is as straightforwardly evocative as abstract pop gets, with the hazy beauty and fractured narratives of a vintage Polaroid slide show.
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Jul 8, 201180Friedberger has a way of nearly speaking her vocals. With Last Summer, this works to her advantage.
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Jul 8, 201180Frustrated longtime followers will love that the XX-chromosome half of the brother-sister duo plays it mostly straightforward on her totally charming, engagingly breezy solo debut. [Aug 2011, p.114]
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Jul 8, 201180It sounds at once old-fashioned and contemporary, undemanding but clever – a joy.
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Jul 12, 201179From an artist whose mind and appetites have always ranged so freely, such a cohesive, uncluttered document is doubly revealing.
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Jul 15, 201175Summer could use more hooks, but who else is writing about Owl's Head park? [22 Jul 2011, p.73]
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Jul 12, 201175For all her internal chaos, Friedberger's debut is a concise, considerate effort.
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Nov 21, 201170Its incoherence might prove a bit frustrating, but Eleanor has proved that she can do perfectly well away from her sibling.
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Nov 17, 201170Thanks to her breezy bohemian charms, even its knottier moments start to unravel with repeated listens.
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Jul 26, 201170For fans clamoring for fresh Fiery Furnaces material, they could do a lot worse than Last Summer, an appealing seasonal affair that's as inviting as a cool breeze.
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Jul 18, 201170I remember how the Fiery Furnaces are always willing to take chances with their music; I wish Eleanor Friedberger had done the same on Last Summer. Instead, she plays it safe, weaving interesting tales to the tune of surprisingly average music. That's fine, but playing it safe rarely makes for a good story.
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Jul 15, 201170Last Summer sees Friedberger stretching her limbs as a three-dimensional indie darling.
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Jul 14, 201170Last Summer sounds good; next summer could be even better.
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Jul 12, 201170It's casual and compelling, the work of a musician who simply wanted to record some songs on her own terms.
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Jul 11, 201170Friedberger's debut may not be as brilliant, but it goes about depicting summer in New York in a similarly organic fashion, casting a city full of mysterious old men and rambunctious kids on the F train.
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Dec 22, 201140The highlights are outweighed by tracks such as Glitter Gold Year, a half-formed sketch of jabbing bass and meandering riffs. [Jan. 2012 p. 120]
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