The Man Who Died in His Boat
- Grouper
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Feb 5, 201380The Man Who Died in His Boat may be a smaller-scale album than either Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill or A I A, but it's no less lovely or moving because of that.
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Mar 14, 201370It’s enough for the compositions on The Man Who Died in His Boat to exist on their own terms, and it’s fascinating to see how exact a piece of music Dead Deer became in between takes.
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Feb 5, 201383When it really hits, as it often does here, the music of Grouper creates a feeling that can only be defined as awe, an uncanny mixture of wonder and dread that nobody does better.
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Feb 6, 201380[The album] is suitably haunted and becalmed. [Mar 2013, p.98]
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Feb 5, 201370It envelopes you softly, despite being wholly inscrutable.
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Feb 5, 201390This is music that challenges and provokes.
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Feb 21, 201380It is apparent from the start that the album is a valuable piece of work in its own right however and its reclaimed origins should not bring any negative preconceptions.
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Feb 8, 201390There are gestures in her music that are so touching, or so beautiful, they leave me dumbstruck.
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Feb 5, 201370On every LP, Harris creates an impression of something that is emerging but never quite there, and she’s done it again on The Man Who Died in His Boat.
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Feb 5, 201380Rather than be pulled into the darkness, Harris boldly searches for meaning in this gorgeously reproduced world.
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Feb 8, 201380The Man Who Died avoids the stigma of outtakes releases because it’s an ideal entry point into one of the most distinctive, fascinating musicians of our time.
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Feb 15, 201370From the bottom of a spring-reverb well, Harris strums mournful, incoherent songs like "Vital" and "being Her Shadow," but intersperses them with creepy textural mood pieces. [Feb 2013, p.50]
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Feb 5, 201385Even without the context of her back catalog, these songs are strong in their own right.
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Feb 5, 201380These compositions are haunting because Grouper gives them space to breathe.
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Feb 7, 201380The record may not be Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill, but pieces like "Living Room" are the essence of Harris's singular oeuvre.
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Feb 8, 201370The Man Who Died In His Boat is, to put it simply, more of the same--and whether that’s a worthy thing for an album to be is largely down to your view on this period of Grouper’s output. For what it’s worth, it’s absolutely fine by me.