- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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Beyond the grooves etched in this record, what is most exciting is the ease with which Arbez brushes aside the canon of 90s giants.
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New Musical Express (NME)This is an album that leaves you in absolutely no doubt that, at the very least, Pascal Arbez-Nicolas is the best thing to come out of France since Daft Punk. [30 Apr 2005, p.63]
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A record that's in the same league as Homework or Discovery.
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A tour de force of infectious acid techno and head-rush-inducing electroclash and, as likely as not, this year's essential dance purchase.
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Q MagazineSound[s] like out-takes from [Daft Punk's] Discovery. [Jun 2005, p.118]
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What makes OK Cowboy worthwhile is not a greater emphasis on the chilly tones that made Vitalic’s initial singles so impressive and characterized some of his savage DJ sets, but the demonstration of a surprising degree of variety and even humanity within those seemingly narrow colonnades of rising and whiplash synths over soulless, mechanical drums.
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This debut album took three years to make and could almost be his greatest-hits collection. It's a cracker, too; all clean, punchy metal beats and blistering, drunken synth lines in the finest italo-disco style.
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The WireA sound thrumming with bold analogue synthesizers and beefy rock drums. [#254, p.67]
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UncutArbez not only shatters the risible notion that dance music is currently unwell, he also presents thrilling new ways of approaching pop, folk and rock'n'roll. [May 2005, p.100]
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UrbYou could buy this album just for "Poney Part 1," and really, it'd be worth it. [Jun 2005, p.81]
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Turns out that OK Cowboy is a good deal like the better house sets you’ll hear at a take-your-pick hot-house European club: pretty exhilarating, though once you’re licking the dry salt off your partner’s cheek you realize that only parts of it are truly inspiring, though all of it was pretty hottt.
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Listening to it from start to finish is so bracing it's overwhelming; it sounds like what it would feel like to drink six cups of black coffee chased down with a bucket of ice water.
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OK Cowboy is a full-fledged album, with a satisfying ebb and flow that shows that Arbez's sound has several sides to it.
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Entertainment WeeklyA wicked, old-school set of club-ready, throw-your-hands-up electronica. [10 Mar 2006, p.69]
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While Vitalic may add little to electronic music or its various subgenres, he interweaves effortlessly their prevailing styles into complex arrangements that are neither kinked-up innovation nor neutered homage.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 35 out of 38
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Mixed: 2 out of 38
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Negative: 1 out of 38
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CramerCJul 28, 2006so deeply high!
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Mar 18, 2021
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Jan 28, 2013