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- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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Jul 25, 2012In terms of popularity, the album is not likely to rival Attack Decay Sustain Release. It's not as novel, either, but it's exceptionally crafted.
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MojoJul 18, 2012This is SMD's deepest, moodiest record to date. [Jun 2012, p.85]
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Q MagazineJun 22, 2012Unpatterns continues the left-wards drift [toward minimalism] with no vocals except the ghostly sampled ones and a musical palate of textured house and electric funk. [Jun 2012, p.112]
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Jun 8, 2012Unpatterns is very now, yet by employing key electronic music touchstones it sounds classic as well.
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Jun 1, 2012SMD's latest is an exploration not just in sound, but in concept; it feels like a defining statement, not just for them but for dance music in general.
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MagnetMay 30, 2012Unpatterns is indeed mostly patterns, in fact - moody, bloopy instrumentals that don't really fit into one subgenre box because they barely muster the strength to be defined by a category. [No.87 p.59]
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May 29, 2012Absolutely sterling work, very possibly the most consistent album yet from the duo, and not a star guest in sight.
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May 24, 2012Once you get over the lack of choruses, you'll find a very solid, satisfying melodic techno album.
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May 22, 2012They've finally happened on a formula that goes down smoothly for the length of a whole album, [yet] you may still find yourself missing the slick tricks and rough edges, all that dance-as-rock oomph and crap rapping, that once made them so endearing.
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May 21, 2012As a follow-up to 2010's sinister compilation Delicacies, Unpatterns stands decidedly in a shadow.
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May 17, 2012For the most part, Unpatterns is slightly sinister, stretched out, anxious, fidgety house.
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May 16, 2012Unpatterns is long on proficiency, but short on pathos, and not particularly innovative, either.
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May 16, 2012SMD sounds like it's found a handle on its sound.
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May 15, 2012Unpatterns straight-up works.
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May 15, 2012It's blissful, soulful proof that although SMD might have stopped chasing the hit parade, they haven't stopped making hits.
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May 14, 2012The hallmarks of Simian Mobile Disco are present - huge beats and house loops take centre-stage - but many of the tracks just feel like they're missing a vital component.
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May 14, 2012[Unpatterns] contains some of the most mature, atmospheric music we've heard from sirs Ford and Shaw - and, periodically, some monstrous grooves pierce through the ambient haze.
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May 14, 2012Solid, polished, dancefloor-friendly, and other damningly faint adjectives.
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May 14, 2012What they discovered lies beyond DJ mixes and radio rotations; it's their magnum opus.
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Alternative PressMay 11, 2012Unpatterns is actually more engaging and accessible than Simian Mobile Disco's past work, perhaps because no gimmicks or distractions cloud the band's analog alchemy. [Jun 2012, p.84]
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UncutMay 11, 2012Like all luxury goods, there is a hint of the predictable. [Jun 2012, p.83]
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May 11, 2012SMD lovers will have to content themselves with a deep, well-crafted dance manifesto by two talented producers.
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May 11, 2012Unpatterns feels like less of a discrete instalment in a collection and more an accomplished blend of the two things James Ford and Jas Shaw do best--gigantic, open-armed, open-air pop, and femur-fracturing analogue techno.
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May 11, 2012As a collection in the SMD back catalogue, Unpatterns is certainly their best work since Attack Decay Sustain Release, but it still falls a little short of those admittedly towering heights.
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May 11, 2012The most danceable tracks are the simplest--Interference and Your Love Ain't Fair--but the rest is music in which to lose your thoughts, rather than your T-shirt.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 10 out of 12
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Mixed: 2 out of 12
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Negative: 0 out of 12
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Jun 29, 2012
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Oct 22, 2014
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Aug 8, 2012