Dumb Flesh is the second studio album by the English experimental musician Blanck Mass, released on 11 May 2015.
| Dumb Flesh | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 11 May 2015 | |||
| Genre | Electronica, drone, noise | |||
| Length | 49:38 | |||
| Label | Sacred Bones Records | |||
| Blanck Mass chronology | ||||
| ||||
Critical reception
editThis section contains too many or overly lengthy quotations. (May 2017) |
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 77/100[1] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | [2] |
| Consequence of Sound | B[3] |
| Drowned in Sound | 7/10[4] |
| Exclaim! | 8/10[5] |
| Pitchfork | 7.6/10[6] |
| PopMatters | [7] |
| Resident Advisor | 3.6/5[8] |
| The New York Times | positive[9] |
| The Quietus | positive[10] |
| musicOMH | [11] |
Dumb Flesh was met with positive critical reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews and ratings from mainstream critics, the album has received a metascore of 77, based on 19 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[1]
AllMusic reviewer Heather Phares awarded the album four out of five stars and observed that:"loaded with undeniable hooks and beats, the album is "dumb" in the best way possible, and embraces the "flesh" part of its title by making bodies move."[2] Nina Corcoran, writing for Consequence of Sound:"The album is vivid between shadows, pulsing with the diseased blood of a body slowly losing its motivation to carry on."[3] Tristan Bath from Drowned in Sound opined that it was:"This is beautiful, disgusting, danceable, and nightmarish music."[4] Pitchfork critic Nathan Reese observed that:"... their music's pure momentum almost guaranteed its audience by force alone."[6] Ian King, writing for PopMatters, rated the album eight stars out of ten and described it as:"Powers puts the body at the forefront of his audience's mind is by suggesting that they move it."[7] Exclaim! reviewer Daniel Sylvester, who scored the album eight out of ten, opined that: "As one half of electronic psych drone purveyors Fuck Buttons, Power originally created Blanck Mass to explore beatless and formless ambient music. With the release of his follow-up, Dumb Flesh, Power abandons this singular musical mode, bringing with him myriad recording styles and techniques."[5]
Ben Ratliff from The New York Times commented that: "he's giving you something you might find familiar or even commercial by its basic outlines. But he's still got ways to make it uncanny: close, loud and abrupt."[9] The Quietus reviewer James Ubaghs observed that:"A reoccurring feature is the way that vocal samples frequently sound like synths, and synths sound almost like vocals, on the verge of attaining sentience."[10] Sam Shepherd, in his review for musicOMH commented:"There are some fine moments here, but all too often Dumb Flesh seems like a diluted version of Fuck Buttons."[11]
Track listing
editAll tracks are written by John Power
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Loam" | 4:06 |
| 2. | "Dead Format" | 6:15 |
| 3. | "No Lite" | 9:56 |
| 4. | "Atrophies" | 5:07 |
| 5. | "Cruel Sport" | 8:42 |
| 6. | "Double Cross" | 5:37 |
| 7. | "Lung" | 5:27 |
| 8. | "Detritus" | 8:13 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 9. | "Life Science (Ambient Suite)" | 17:02 |
References
edit- ^ a b "Critic Reviews for Dumb Flesh by Blanck Mass". Metacritic. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
- ^ a b Heather Phares. "Blanck Mass - Dumb Flesh". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
- ^ a b Nina Corcoran (5 May 2015). "Blanck Mass – Dumb Flesh". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
- ^ a b Tristan Bath (8 May 2015). "Blanck Mass - Dumb Flesh". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 29 November 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
- ^ a b Daniel Sylvester (8 May 2015). "Blanck Mass - Dumb Flesh". Exclaim!. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
- ^ a b Nathan Reese (13 May 2015). "Blanck Mass - Dumb Flesh". Pitchfork. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
- ^ a b Ian King (12 May 2015). "Blanck Mass - Dumb Flesh". PopMatters. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
- ^ Tony Naylor (21 May 2015). "Blanck Mass - Dumb Flesh". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
- ^ a b Ben Ratliff (11 May 2015). "Review: 'Dumb Flesh,' From Blanck Mass". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
- ^ a b James Ubaghs (21 May 2015). "Blanck Mass - DUMB FLESH". The Quietus. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
- ^ a b Sam Shepherd (11 May 2015). "Blanck Mass – Dumb Flesh". musicOMH. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
