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Let's Fly a Kite
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Let's Fly a Kite Image
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 5 Critic Reviews What's this?

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  • Summary: The ninth release for the Los Angeles singer-songwriter was produced by Neil Brockbank.
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  • Record Label: Yep Roc
  • Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Contemporary Singer/Songwriter, Alternative Pop/Rock
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 5
  3. Negative: 0 out of 5
  1. Uncut
    Feb 3, 2014
    80
    {The album] bears many of the assured and lyrically deft hallmarks of Basher's own work. [Mar 2014, p.79]
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  2. American Songwriter
    Feb 3, 2014
    80
    It’s an immaculately produced gem and there’s nothing currently out there like it.
  3. AllMusic
    Feb 3, 2014
    80
    There is an overall sense of it being the right album at the right time for Mandell which is something that doesn't happen very often in an artist's career.
  4. Blurt Magazine
    Feb 3, 2014
    60
    It captures an aura of domestic bliss through songs that are unfailingly effervescent and jazz infused to the max.
  5. Q Magazine
    Apr 23, 2014
    60
    If there's a touch too much retrospective pastiche, there's also wit and mellifluousness. [May 2014, p.115]
    All this publication's reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. Custom_Concerns
    Feb 7, 2014
    7
    Let's Fly a Kite is bright, happy jazzy-influenced folk pop straight outta 50+ years ago. There are stumbles in consistency of theLet's Fly a Kite is bright, happy jazzy-influenced folk pop straight outta 50+ years ago. There are stumbles in consistency of the songwriting, but the energetic, varied musical performances and Mandell's romantic vocals and lyrics make this an album that, for me, never gets stale or boring. The production here is spot on as well - its Joe Chiccareli (The Strokes, The White Stripes) and he proves himself great at producing that endearing, minimally affected sound I've grown fond of in a time when producers seem to think that a song isn't good if it doesn't have enough reverb or haze. I'm going to give this album a 75/100 because of the drop in quality near the middle and because, while I enjoy it greatly, most of the songwriting is nothing you haven't heard before. Not exactly original, but very refreshing.

    75/100

    Track Picks: Put My Baby to Bed, Little Joy, Cool Water    … Expand

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