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Agora
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Agora Image
Metascore
81

Universal acclaim - based on 10 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 15 Ratings

  • Summary: The seventh full-length release for the Austrian experimental electronic artist was recorded in his bedroom when he lost his studio space.
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 10
  3. Negative: 0 out of 10
  1. The 405
    Apr 4, 2019
    85
    The album’s strengths aren’t limited to its bookends. ‘Rainfall’ would go down as the instrumental track of the year if not for the vocal contributions of Katharina Caecilia Fennesz, which blend so gracefully in the mix that you might not even realize they’re a human instrument.
  2. Pitchfork
    Apr 2, 2019
    85
    There’s something special about Agora in how it integrates the immediate pleasure of his pop influences with the patience of his extended works.
  3. Drowned In Sound
    Mar 27, 2019
    80
    This is an album that is full of glorious melodies, harsh noise and field recordings. Agora is the strongest, and most cohesive, album that Fennesz has released in over a decade, and that is no mean feat.
  4. AllMusic
    Mar 27, 2019
    80
    The unpolished feel of Agora is a bit striking for a Fennesz release, but it's clearly just as carefully considered as his other albums, and makes a welcome addition to his catalog.
  5. The Line of Best Fit
    Apr 5, 2019
    80
    Agora is hypnotic, transient and valuable and a rarity which although oppressive at times ultimately delivers on a promise as tangible as it is striking.
  6. Uncut
    Mar 27, 2019
    70
    Much of Agora recalls his 2001 breakthrough album Endless Summer: long, processed guitar drones engendering an atmosphere of extreme, if rather familiar, calm. [Apr 2019, p.29]
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  7. Sputnikmusic
    May 15, 2019
    50
    Agora is a lot of things, but one thing it is not is corny. But in the process he has sacrificed a whole lot of virtues. Where Fennesz once generated productive frisson in the mind-body continuum of his listeners, now his music stares blankly at them, as if hoping that their and not his affective dispositions will create the passion that sustains worthwhile musical practice.

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User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. PsyEx
    Apr 4, 2019
    6
    PsyEx
    Apr 2, 2019
    6 When I listened to albums like Leon Vynehall's, I loved it. Most people loving this kind of album are fond of its    PsyEx
    Apr 2, 2019
    6
    When I listened to albums like Leon Vynehall's, I loved it. Most people loving this kind of album are fond of its stories that tracks tell us. On the other hand, Each song has too many voices which configure individual plot. It's not a problem at all, but some people that make much of probability of temporal mood-flowing and a sticky musical bond between tracks. I don't mean to blame Vynehall's composition in his album. I just said, Why don't we focus on that. Sometimes we want to consistent-for-about-a-hour music, and Fennesz shows us.
    Finally, I can answer, Have I Idolized illusions. He says that Key is 'Doing structuralism enough'. The album like this can hardly avoid criticism of Tautology. I agree. Boring is Boring. Repetitive is Repetitive. It may stand for a long-term musical subject. Historically,
    Structural variation of form is the precautionary measure. But I don't feel Fennesz doing breathtakingly walk on a tightrope of configuration structure. And I think He didn't even try to break the frame of the genre, but just lean his back on the limit in an ultimately cozy and comfortable way. very comfortable way.
    I appreciate him displaying longing album. I finally can perceive its forms. Thanks.    … Expand

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Awards & Rankings

85
#85 Most Shared Album of 2019

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