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Apr 18, 2011The Defamation is one of those records that's just too easy to love; its best moments are simply undeniable.
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Apr 19, 2011If 2011 proves to be a year in which promising artists get their due respects, then The Defamation of Strickland Banks will provide Plan B with a breach for US success.
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Apr 18, 2011And whaddayaknow, this ugly duckling – out of a hoodie and into a tux – turns out to have a fine white soul voice and has followed a record you couldn't bear to hear more than once with a record you'll want to play over and over.
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Apr 18, 2011Though it's distressing to hear yet another artist hop about the retro-stylized British soul-pop bandwagon, rapper-turned-singer Ben Drew nonetheless comes up with an impressive and fairly unique album that transcends the usual comparisons to Amy Winehouse vocally and Mark Ronson musically.
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Apr 18, 2011The rapping hasn't been completely abandoned, but the emphasis here is on his sweet soul voice and a thumping Motown groove, an intriguing change of direction that's both passionate and populist.
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Mar 29, 2011The melodramatic tunes masterfully push up against the antihero's downward narrative spiral, making Defamation the rare contemporary album that insists on being heard in full, in sequence, until the story ends.
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A genuine great leap forward, Defamation is a cracker.
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The Defamation Of Strickland Banks is an unlikely, remarkably successful stab at launching the first major new male star of the decade.
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Q MagazineOn these songs and the anthemic "Hard Times," Drew achieves what's he's aiming for: a gritty urban update on '70s socio-political classics by Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye. [May 201, p.119]
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Apr 18, 2011The Defamation of Strickland Banks is most certainly a success.
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Even if there are occasional flirtations with bland daytime soul sludge, Mr. Strickland Banks is a welcome addition to Ben Drew's beguiling set of alter-egos.
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Apr 18, 2011An interesting diversion, but not much more.
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There are some interesting topics explored, such as Darkest Place's prayer to a God that he now longer believes in, but compared to Plan B's gritty early raps about teenage life, it pales somewhat in comparison.
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Not a bad record then, but one that's debased by the disappointment of one of the UK's bright hip-hop hopes selling soul rather than surprises.
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Despite its uncommercial subject matter, it's got Plan B into the charts: the preponderance of good tunes suggests it might well repeat the trick. But it fails in its loftier intent: to provide a "film for the blind."
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Apr 14, 2011You're advised to ignore the ridiculous plot particulars and concentrate on the album's modest pleasures: chiefly, Plan B's lovely, Smokey Robinson-style tenor and deft melodic touch.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 14 out of 17
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Mixed: 2 out of 17
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Negative: 1 out of 17
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Oct 9, 2013
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Oct 27, 2011