User ratings in Music are temporarily disabled. More info

Minotaur
by
  • Record Label:
  • Release Date:
Minotaur Image
Metascore
73

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

User Score
tbd

No user score yet- Awaiting 3 more ratings

  • 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.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. 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… Collapse
Buy Now
Buy on

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. The A.V. Club
    83
    Minotaur's back half is fairly trifling, but the EP's first five songs are as strong as any in The Clientele's catalogue.
  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]
    All this publication's reviews
  4. musicOMH.com
    70
    All considered, Minotaur is thoroughly pretty and easy to appreciate on a compositional level; the usual blend of modern-era indie pop with iconic '60s sensibilities. But it's like that particular horse has been beaten past recognition, rendering Minotaur a little too safe for its own good.
  5. BBC Music
    70
    Judged objectively, Minotaur is a good if somewhat slight record, with enough quality to comfortably surpass most music likely to be released this year. But when compared to The Clientele's previous work, this is one for the completists rather than an essential purchase.
  6. Pitchfork
    65
    So yes, on Minotaur they continue draw deeply from 60s soft-pop; if you've enjoyed the Clientele's last few albums, you're guaranteed to enjoy at least 6/8ths of this mini LP.
  7. PopMatters
    60
    Whether it is a last gasp from an unusually consistent band or merely a palate-clearing exercise pointing the way towards a perhaps more experimental direction to be found on a follow-up LP, Minotaur is buoyed by an excellent front half and a less stellar back end.

See all 11 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of
  2. Mixed: 0 out of
  3. Negative: 0 out of

Current Music Releases

Full List »
99 Band on the Run [50th Anniversary Edition] - Paul McCartney & Wings
95 If I don't make it, I love u - Still House Plants
95 The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow - Charles Lloyd
92 This Could Be Texas - English Teacher
92 COWBOY CARTER - Beyoncé
91 The Carnegie Hall Concert - Alice Coltrane
90 1989 (Taylor's Version) - Taylor Swift
90 Iechyd Da - Bill Ryder-Jones
89 I Got Heaven - Mannequin Pussy
89 Black Bayou - Robert Finley
89 Tigers Blood - Waxahatchee
88 Only God Was Above Us - Vampire Weekend
88 What Now - Brittany Howard
88 Hey Panda - The High Llamas
88 Orquídeas - Kali Uchis
88 The Past Is Still Alive - Hurray for the Riff Raff
87 Filthy Underneath - Nadine Shah
87 i/o - Peter Gabriel
87 Blue Lips - ScHoolboy Q
87 Bright Future - Adrianne Lenker
All Current Music »