• Record Label: Warp
  • Release Date: Jan 24, 2012
Metascore
69

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 23
  2. Negative: 0 out of 23
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  1. Jan 26, 2012
    80
    MU.ZZ.LE finds the idiosyncratic artist more focused than ever.
  2. 80
    In general it pays to avoid electronic producers with dreadlocks, but let Sumach 'Gonjasufi' Ecks be your exception.
  3. Jan 20, 2012
    80
    The results of these bursts of levity are as stark as Quran verses scrawled on Vegas brothel walls and recall why Sumach Ecks remains a rare, unsettling voice.
  4. Jan 20, 2012
    80
    Notably shorter than its predecessor, MU.ZZ.LE is just as rich and arresting, cataloguing Sumach's echoes, mumbles and stumbles through an album of lethargic trip hop and uneasy paranoia.
  5. Jan 20, 2012
    80
    It's Gonjasufi's voice that hypnotises.
  6. Jan 25, 2012
    78
    MU.ZZ.LE might be a transitional point on Gonjasufi's path and it shows just one face of an eclectic, multifaceted performer. But it's also that rare album that feels meditative and cathartic all at once.
  7. Jan 24, 2012
    75
    The only strikes against the moody and soulful MU.ZZ.LE are its length, a curt 24 minutes, and the fact that outside of headphones, the LP's emanations tend to get lost in a room.
  8. Feb 10, 2012
    70
    If he'd shown us a little more, MU.ZZ.LE would be altogether more satisfying, but that's just not Gonjasufi's style.
  9. Feb 6, 2012
    70
    His darkest and most oppressive work to date.
  10. Feb 2, 2012
    70
    An enticing, at times uncomfortable and intoxicating record.
  11. Feb 2, 2012
    70
    Valentine... seems to be going exclusively for chills. The beats simmer and creak along with a Freddie Kreuger-like persistence.
  12. Jan 27, 2012
    70
    While MU.ZZ.LE isn't thrilling, in the suspense film sense, it manages to strike a rewarding middle ground between comfort and pain, simplicity and difficulty.
  13. Under The Radar
    Jan 23, 2012
    70
    It might be hard to swallow, but there's no denying how effectively Gonjasufi can warp his world and get under our skin. [#39, p. 74]
  14. Occasionally the listener is carried away on the soulful cusp of Gonjasufi's scraggly voice, but more often than not they are simply overwhelmed.
  15. Jan 20, 2012
    70
    However, dark and compelling though MU.ZZ.LE undoubtedly is, there is the niggling sense that this greater focus and narrow tempo range doesn't really suit Gonjasufi.

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