Up In Flames
by Caribou
  • Record Label: Domino
  • Release Date: Apr 8, 2003
Metascore
88

Universal acclaim - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 20
  3. Negative: 0 out of 20
  1. Alternative Press
    100
    There hasn't been a song-oriented psychedelic album that's had this sort of life-affirming, full-bodied roar since Mercury Rev's 1993 classic, Boces. [June 2003, p.110]
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  2. PopMatters
    100
    Some of the most euphoric, mind-blowingly beautiful music we have heard in years.
  3. Stylus Magazine
    99
    Up In Flames is a record in love with music made by a music lover, futurepsychenoisebeatpop that reaffirms how much fun music can and ought to be.
  5. ShakingThrough.net
    96
    With Up in Flames, the sound of post-electronica has arrived.
  6. Entertainment Weekly
    91
    These laptop-pop fractals... deliver spectacular hip-hop drum breaks and the sort of mile-deep multi-tracking that makes digital technology so much fun. [Listen 2 This supplement, Apr 2003, p.12]
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  7. Uncut
    90
    Both adventurous and accessible, a record in love with the obliterating power of sound. [Apr 2003, p.120]
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  8. AllMusic
    90
    His tracks are vibrant and imaginative, calling on fuzzed-out guitar solos and summer-day vocals that recall a raft of solid shoegazers.
  9. Flak Magazine
    90
    The fusion of rhythm with textural washes of sound is near perfect in its seamless euphoria.
  10. The Wire
    90
    Approaches the psychedelic grandeur of Spiritualized or Mercury Rev at their finest while still offering a wealth of carefully placed sonic detail. [#229, p.71]
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  11. Pitchfork
    86
    Because Up in Flames is so focused on big moments and aural candy, it's wise that Snaith decided to keep the record under 40 minutes. He blows you out and then packs it up.
  12. Almost Cool
    85
    Once again, Snaith has surprised just about everyone, and Up In Flames will likely go down as one of my favorite albums of the year.
  13. Dot Music
    80
    Though Manitoba's constructions are joyously slap-dash and defiantly experimental, he still manages to lure the listener in with woozy melodies and strangely beguiling textures.
  14. Mojo
    80
    A claustrophobic, mesmeric soundscape akin to My Bloody Valentine and Spacemen 3's early work. [Apr 2003, p.114]
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  15. Neumu.net
    80
    A dizzyingly crafted explosion.
  16. Urb
    80
    Laptop pop that shimmers, shakes and twists like the precocious child of Aphex Twin, Spiritualized and the Beatles. [Aug 2003, p.89]
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  17. Ink 19
    80
    Up in Flames isn't the next revolution of electro-pop, but it's a damn good try.
  18. Dusted Magazine
    80
    The result of this multi-layered synergy, and what helps separate it from its soulless similars, is a record that is all at once satisfyingly complex, but also invitingly warm.
  19. Playlouder
    70
    Manitoba is a lunatic and a fool, and his strange music, crafted from nature and machine and birdsong and the wind and the air and the seas and THE GODS... it is a fine, fine thing indeed.
  20. Under The Radar
    70
    Up In Flames begs repeated listens and rewards those listens with depth and artistry. [#5, p.110]
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Awards & Rankings

7
#7 Best Album of 2003

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.5

Universal acclaim- based on 27 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 27
  3. Negative: 1 out of 27
  1. criticalmega
    Feb 8, 2011
    10
    This album is absolutely phenomenal. Impossible to over rate. continues to be an explosive and inspiring force year after year after year. TheThis album is absolutely phenomenal. Impossible to over rate. continues to be an explosive and inspiring force year after year after year. The sequence of Bjioux-Twins-Kid You'll Move Mountains is a pinnacle of organic electronic music. Any honest music lover can appreciate and love this album. I also Highly recommend the EP Hendrix with KO and Andorra… Full Review »
  2. SimonG
    Jan 11, 2007
    10
    This is music that makes me feel 25 years younger. An ambient masterpiece, every time I listen to this I hear something new. Made by someone This is music that makes me feel 25 years younger. An ambient masterpiece, every time I listen to this I hear something new. Made by someone who loves making music, (especially the drummer who is a constant source of musical fun). Probably my best accidental find (of anything) ever. I'm obliged to vote to cancel out Ronnie C's vote of 3.… Full Review »
  3. Matt
    Apr 20, 2006
    10
    anyone who calls this overrated, horrible, etc, is surely a soulless golem sent to destroy us all. Rarely is music so utterly transcendant anyone who calls this overrated, horrible, etc, is surely a soulless golem sent to destroy us all. Rarely is music so utterly transcendant that it's no longer just sound waves coming through electronic devices into your ears, it's pure beauty and feeling that nourishes your soul. Or, get this album right now.… Full Review »
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