Albums to watch

Know Better Learn Faster

Thao With The Get Down Stay Down

Know Better Learn Faster

Second indie pop / anti-folk collaboration between US singer-songwriter Thao Nguyen and The Get Down Stay Down

ADM rating[?]

6.6

Label
Kill Rock Stars
UK Release date
13/10/2009
  1. 8.0 |   The List

    The Vietnamese-American songwriter ... stops things from getting too tooth-rottingly sweet with a more mature view of the world this time around
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  2. 8.0 |   Independent on Sunday

    The Pitchfork-perfect quirky pop (think Bat for Lashes-lite) is never dampened by the subject matter
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  3. 8.0 |   The Skinny

    ...a break-up record which somehow evokes the kaleidoscopic exhilaration of falling in love
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  4. 8.0 |   Mojo

    Print edition only

  5. 7.8 |   Pitchfork

    A more mature record, slightly disillusioned with the world, but no less playful and with no less personality
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  6. 7.0 |   The Fly

    Plaintive and playful, this is an album of wonderful musical and emotional contradictions
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  7. 7.0 |   NME

    Print edition only

  8. 7.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    You might picture Feist’s wryly rhythmic way with a syllable, or Cat Power’s more pragmatic, perkily caffeinated younger sister
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  9. 6.0 |   The Independent

    Has its moments of undeniable charm ... there comes a point when her plaintive anti-folk deadpan slips over from appealingly quirky into irritatingly affected
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  10. 6.0 |   Clash

    Too often the songs’ emotion seems to be missing and the pithy lyrics are lost under the clatter of instruments and the blandness of Thao Nguyen’s voice
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  11. 6.0 |   Uncut

    Print edition only

  12. 6.0 |   Tiny Mix Tapes

    While Nguyen continues to write upbeat songs about passion gone awry and her band continues to do its part in complementing them, Know Better Learn Faster just doesn’t quite reach the bar she set for herself last time out. But this is only a slight side step
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  13. 3.0 |   The Irish Times

    Much of the album zings with a determined purpose and newfound spirit
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