Albums to watch

Nine and a Half Psychedelic Meditations on British Wrestling of the 1970s and early '80

Luke Haines

Nine and a Half Psychedelic Meditations on British Wrestling of the 1970s and early '80

The former Auteurs and Black Box Recorder frontman releases this bizarrely named collection of psychedelic pop songs

ADM rating[?]

7.4

Label
Fantastic Plastic
UK Release date
10/10/2011
US Release date
15/10/2011
  1. 8.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    Haines is not mad. He is an artist in the truest sense, and for that he is to be applauded
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  2. 8.0 |   musicOMH

    His songwriting is still impeccable. His skill with a melody means that he effortlessly turns the oddest, bleakest subject matter into perfectly crafted ‘pop’ songs - of a sort
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  3. 8.0 |   Mojo

    Engrossing paean to wrestling's heyday. Print edition only

  4. 8.0 |   PopMatters

    Vocally, Haines’ delivery still feels like the aural equivalent of a pillow wrapped in barbed wire, but enough listening to the man makes one realize that there is no more appropriate method of singing
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  5. 8.0 |   The Quietus

    An album that does much to encourage the here and now as it does to paint an impression of a time long gone
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  6. 8.0 |   The Guardian

    You struggle to think of another songwriter who'd make a concept album about wrestlers, let alone one like this, as strange and beguiling as the lost world it describes
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  7. 8.0 |   Daily Telegraph

    Its low-budget weirdness will have you laughing into the new year
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  8. 8.0 |   BBC

    This is a perfect, 30-minute, 10-song album that demands to be treated as one long symphonic pop masterpiece
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  9. 8.0 |   The Irish Times

    Music that touches on trippy pop and ambient spoken word
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  10. 7.0 |   No Ripcord

    Even if it is a minor work, Haines is one of the most distinct singer songwriters working today and probably couldn't be boring if he tried
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  11. 7.0 |   Independent on Sunday

    Half George Harrison, half Keith West
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  12. 6.0 |   Uncut

    While the lyrics crackle, the music seems like an afterthought. Print edition only

  13. 6.0 |   NME

    In capturing the grim patina of 70s Britain, it's a prickly success. Print edition only


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