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9.1
45244
9.1 |
A.V. Club
Mature Themes is Pink’s best album to date, and sets an invigorating, expansive tone for his work to come
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9.0
45069
9.0 |
The Line Of Best Fit
Characteristically as confusing as it is comforting, Mature Themes is nonetheless a triumph. With its arrival, the argument about which is the best Ariel Pink album just got a little bit more interesting
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9.0
45158
9.0 |
The Fly
A perfectly-crafted album rich in just about everything
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8.5
45259
8.5 |
Pitchfork
Mature Themes is as vital as anything he's ever recorded
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8.5
46167
8.5 |
Tone Deaf
A stellar record
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8.0
45263
8.0 |
No Ripcord
In using a giddy spectrum of classic ingredients to carve out his distinctive niche, Ariel Pink has become the acceptable face of retro. Long may he continue to confound expectations
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8.0
45119
8.0 |
The Guardian
Poses questions of the listener: is this pop? Is this for real? Is he taking the mick? It will likely infuriate as many as it delights, but no one could dispute the singularity of Pink's vision
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8.0
45192
8.0 |
Under The Radar
Ariel Pink lays on the humor thick enough that his sheer songwriting ability is at times almost overshadowed
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8.0
45196
8.0 |
DIY
Even if at times the album can be quite esoteric despite its pop veneer, there is a purity of expression that is addictive. This is dream pop, as it was intended
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8.0
45230
8.0 |
All Music
With this album, he's mastered being more superficially accessible yet ultimately more cryptic
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8.0
45076
8.0 |
Drowned In Sound
Mature Themes is more detailed, more developed, more everything than its predecessor. It’s nauseating and beautiful, troubling and hilarious. Be warned
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8.0
44973
8.0 |
The Scotsman
Features his usual surfeit of sonic ideas lashed together like a fever dream with an extra dash of weird
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7.2
45303
7.2 |
Paste Magazine
Another satisfying step in Ariel Pink’s evolution—an album as melodically, hypnotically addictive and surprisingly danceable as it is arcane
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7.1
45194
7.1 |
Beats Per Minute
A schizophrenic and sporadic record, both lyrically and musically
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7.0
45154
7.0 |
NME
The work of a unique mind
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7.0
44997
7.0 |
Uncut
He's a loose cannon, but he sure brightens the place up
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7.0
45026
7.0 |
Clash
A bit of editing and self-control, and this could have been one of the albums of the year
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7.0
45105
7.0 |
PopMatters
A somewhat challenging record, one that makes every effort to repel and entrance listeners in equal measure
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7.0
45591
7.0 |
Consequence Of Sound
Unabashed weirdness
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7.0
45994
7.0 |
Rolling Stone
What he loses in stoner burble, he gains in high-def Sixties flashback triggers
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6.7
45233
6.7 |
Pretty Much Amazing
Ariel Pink may just never grow up and get serious. Given the worst of Mature Themes, that’s a pity. Given its best, that’s a relief
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6.0
45034
6.0 |
Mojo
LA psych-pop wonder cleans up his sound but not his mind. Print edition only
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6.0
44974
6.0 |
The Observer
For every beautifully realised moment there's something as tediously throwaway as Schnitzel Boogie. Ultimately it just makes for frustrating listening
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6.0
44993
6.0 |
Q
The mainstream looks a long way off again from here. Print edition only
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6.0
45395
6.0 |
Prefix
Despite the underground beginnings and cult following, it turns out the band is just a damn fine pop group, one with too many hooks to hide away
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6.0
45309
6.0 |
The Skinny
Indie success hasn't done anything to sway Ariel Rosenberg's unyielding dedication to kitschy, sex-obsessed synth-pop
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6.0
45345
6.0 |
State
With his taciturn, indie response to a modicum of success, Mature Themes could be considered as Ariel Pink’s escape hatch to oblivion
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5.0
45195
5.0 |
Bowlegs
Pink lets his maverick artistic temperament skew this new record to the point where it’s pretty hard to listen, let alone like
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4.0
45172
4.0 |
The Independent
His band make half-hearted stabs at an authentic psychrock swirl, but lack the gutsy conviction to create compelling garage-rock
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4.0
45189
4.0 |
Slant Magazine
Mature Themes might have been interesting as a first album. Instead, it's another tiring exercise from an artist who may never tire of releasing such proudly hideous messes
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4.0
45106
4.0 |
The Quietus
It's worth speculating as to what this record will sound like to those uninterested in the kinds of cultural theorising which have accompanied – or, more aptly, acted as the necessary complement to – previous releases
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2.0
45351
2.0 |
musicOMH
Mature Themes is simple self-indulgence and that's rarely worth listening to. 4AD needs to stick a quality control clause in his contract and fast
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