Minotaur - The Clientele
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73 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 11 Critics What's this?

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  • Summary: The Clientele’s 2009 album Bonfires on the Heath was one of the best, most hauntingly beautiful records of the band’s impressive career. So strong that it spawned an equally wonderful EP made up of songs recorded at the Bonfires sessions that were deemed suitable for the album itself. Haitself. Hard to believe that they couldn’t find room for the title track "Minotaur" as its fragile melody and sweetly swaying dynamics would have fit in perfectly. The same with the bouncing and sweet "Paul Verlaine"; it would have been one of the more memorable tracks there. That these songs were indeed left off only points out how good Bonfires was, and how easily the Clientele concoct note-perfect autumnal pop. Add in a moodily drifting cover of The West Coast Pop Art Experiment's creepy ballad from the late 60s,“As the World Rises and Falls,” a couple of tracks that hit the usual Clientele sweet spot between heartbreak and tender melancholy, and a long spoken word ramble from leader Alasdair MacLean, and you have a record that rises above stopgap or left-overs status. Minotaur is as essential as anything else the band has released and whether as part of Bonfires or on its own, the record stands as a welcome addition to their legacy as one of the great indie pop bands of their era. ~ Tim Sendra… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 11
  3. Negative: 0 out of 11
  1. cokemachineglow
    89
    They've proven themselves able to change drastically in the past--so, even though Minotaur is one of their lesser works, I can't help but hope that a band as consistently transcendent as the Clientele will continue on into the future.
  2. Dusted Magazine
    80
    Though a newcomer to The Clientele should not start here, it's strong throughout, with the exception of the aberrant (if mild) guitar freakout in "Jerry" and a creepy piano solo, "No. 33," which, if unobjectionable, seems unnecessary.
  3. Q Magazine
    80
    At 25 minutes, Minotaur is slight but still a fine distillation of the band's deceptive charms and retains the sense of something very unsettling lurking at its core. [Oct 2010, p.105]
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  4. Under The Radar
    Oct 26, 2010
    60
    Minotaur is a bit top heavy; the first few tracks do the heavy lifting, while later track such as "Paul Verlaine" aren't as strong, and others, including "No. 33," are simply filler. [Fall 2010, p.66]
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