Buy Now
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
-
The WireMar 28, 2014Hunn achieves an impressive balance between stylistic coherency and jazzy beat maximalism--it's never really as light or as heavy as it first seems--that other producers of his ilk struggle to pull off. [Mar 2014, p.65]
-
Mar 10, 2014It’s great to see one of my favorite labels furnishing a durable platform for today’s electronic music pioneers, and Illum Sphere is clearly one of them.
-
Feb 27, 2014Ghosts Of Then And Now is a rich and dynamic listen, threaded with a strong sense of purpose that's wonderfully engaging.
-
Feb 19, 2014Hunn is an adept mixer, and he plays the long game in a way that rewards close listening.
-
Feb 18, 2014It’s a supremely impressive and affecting album that is certain to propel him to an even greater echelon.
-
Feb 18, 2014By befriending you and almost playing good cop bad cop, the vibrant grace of ‘Ra_Light’ and the global peak of ‘Near The End’ open an organic sense of nostalgia with an alert funkiness.
-
Q MagazineFeb 14, 2014A lush, soulful and joyous debut that should haunt us for years to come. [Mar 2014, p.114]
-
MojoFeb 11, 2014Evoking cinematic cliches is almost unavoidable on a mutant, spirited debut whose diversity is its greatest asset. [Mar 2014, p.95]
-
UncutFeb 10, 2014Illum Sphere has been well-placed to see how dubstep fragmented into house, garage, minimalism and avant-garde gestures, and he reflects all of these in his debut LP. [Mar 2014, p.78]
-
Feb 10, 2014It’s at its best when it mixes Badu-style soul vocals and booming apocalypse bass ('The Road', 'At Night'), but there’s evidence of a lighter side in the sort of jazzy tribal stompers that Gilles Peterson would approve of (‘Ra_Light’, ‘Near The End’).
-
Feb 10, 2014Illum Sphere's debut LP may be an elegantly produced collection of noir beat vignettes, but his next one could be a whole lot more.
-
Feb 10, 2014Ghosts of Then and Now floats just out of time and is as versatile a record as they come--your interpretation will change with each setting and mood.
-
Feb 10, 2014With Ghosts of Then and Now, Illum Sphere strives to balance the ethereal with the earworm and, for the most part, succeeds.
-
Feb 10, 2014Unfortunately, dependable lounge ambience this ain’t; as the album progresses, any sense of cohesion or purpose is quickly lost to the sheer density and variety of ideas.
User score distribution:
-
Positive: 3 out of 3
-
Mixed: 0 out of 3
-
Negative: 0 out of 3
-
Feb 17, 2014
-
Nov 16, 2014