Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 7 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 7
  2. Negative: 0 out of 7
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  1. Mojo
    Nov 15, 2023
    80
    Unlikely to soundtrack your next dinner party, but it's hard not to marvel at Matmos's cut-and-paste mastery. [Jan 2023, p.93]
  2. The Wire
    Nov 7, 2023
    80
    With Return To Archive, the balance is just right – this gets nearer to sound art. [Nov 2023, p.52]
  3. Nov 7, 2023
    80
    At times, Return to Archive rivals Ultimate Care II when it comes to the more challenging, cerebral side of Matmos' music, but its fascinating reflections on how we build on and reframe the past make for a hip, thoughtful celebration of Smithsonian Folkways' forward-thinking legacy.
  4. Nov 9, 2023
    74
    Return to Archive is the motley, riotous result, a suitably retrofuturistic collage incorporating over two dozen records ranging from Sounds of Animals to Sounds of Medicine, International Morse Code to End the Cigarette Habit Through Self Hypnosis.
  5. Uncut
    Nov 13, 2023
    70
    The pair's keen rhythmic sense makes even the unusual palatable. [Review of the Year 2023, p.30]
  6. Nov 7, 2023
    70
    Return to Archive is a funny and unsettling trip through the past, to a time before we felt like we’d heard everything. But its greatest power is in forcing us to question what we should archive, given that any noise can capture the world it came from.
  7. Nov 7, 2023
    60
    The results are compelling, though a few cuts are more sound collage than song.

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