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10.0
56875
10.0 |
The Irish Times
Surely one of the records of the year
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9.1
57041
9.1 |
Pretty Much Amazing
This is not a happy album. And while not all listeners will find solace in its depressive tones, it is difficult to not appreciate its expansive sound palette and unflinching creativity
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9.0
56971
9.0 |
PopMatters
Make no mistake: its left-field heritage notwithstanding, Fuck Buttons’ latest is 2013’s most unexpectedly danceable long-player
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9.0
57095
9.0 |
Entertainment.ie
2013 has been a year of quality album releases, but you will not hear a more thrilling, exciting record than Slow Focus. Prepare to be blown away.
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9.0
56930
9.0 |
musicOMH
Slow Focus is unmistakably Fuck Buttons, the logical continuation of the music produced by a duo who never strive to do something expected
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8.8
57599
8.8 |
Beats Per Minute
Slow Focus immerses the listener in an aural landscape that offers so much to explore
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8.7
56932
8.7 |
Pitchfork
Power and Hung have made either the year's most introverted party album or the most expansive loner's album; either way, there are few albums this year that offer this much space to get lost in
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8.5
56737
8.5 |
The 405
Their latest opus is far from the triumphant feel of their previous work, but it sounds like a triumph in plenty of other ways
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8.5
57142
8.5 |
The Quietus
Underpinning the whole package are those drum patterns - big, beefy, room-shaking things that would mark Fuck Buttons as dance music producers to watch out for, if only their music weren’t quite so unfriendly
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8.3
56973
8.3 |
A.V. Club
Some of the primal charm of the band’s early days is gone, but replacing it with the slow-burning, masterfully orchestrated catharsis here leaves little room for complaint
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8.0
56979
8.0 |
Spin
As clever as Fuck Buttons are at cobbling together unlikely juxtapositions, they're master builders when it comes to tension and release
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8.0
56982
8.0 |
Loud And Quiet
The sound of Fuck Buttons hopping from one alien terrain to the next
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8.0
57045
8.0 |
Fact
A towering achievement
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8.0
57076
8.0 |
The Fly
A fearsome, mind-bending collection
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8.0
56943
8.0 |
Consequence Of Sound
All told, this is pretty epic stuff
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8.0
56945
8.0 |
DIY
There is crystalline beauty on offer here as well as thunking great passages of dirty, nasty noise and it is this rise and fall which makes it a) so compelling and b) best listened to in one go, all the way through, with no breaks
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8.0
56950
8.0 |
All Music
Slow Focus delivers some of their most masterful and seemingly effortless music yet
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8.0
57244
8.0 |
God Is In The TV
With barely a track under ten minutes, and not a vocal in earshot, Slow Focus maintains and embellishes Fuck Buttons’ integrity thoroughly, and with intent
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8.0
57403
8.0 |
No Ripcord
Their most brilliant event yet
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8.0
56738
8.0 |
Time Out
Something may have darkened their Olympic spirit, but that hasn’t stopped Fuck Buttons from making their best album yet
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8.0
56739
8.0 |
Clash
Technical elements might share similarities with previous work, but the sentiments expressed are of a distinctly darker design
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8.0
56740
8.0 |
Uncut
Its compact, often menacing strangeness has its own beauty. Print edition only
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8.0
56742
8.0 |
Q
Exemplifies electronic music at its best. Print edition only
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8.0
56808
8.0 |
NME
It is all-consuming and consistently impressive from the off
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8.0
56873
8.0 |
The Guardian
The only real response is to listen and gawp
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8.0
56736
8.0 |
The Skinny
Though it’s cut from a similar cloth to its predecessor, the electro-noise duo’s third album is somewhat rougher in texture and darker in tone
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8.0
56928
8.0 |
Drowned In Sound
Slow Focus isn’t alienating, it’s other, and it’s a pleasure to take a wander around its unfamiliar landscapes
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8.0
56915
8.0 |
Independent on Sunday
You can wait around in vain for something to happen, but it never does: there's no progression or narrative, it's immersive rather than engrossing. Slow Focus is an album to steep yourself in
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8.0
58120
8.0 |
Slant Magazine
Fuck Buttons continue to toy with notions of what an album should be, a natural progression for a band whose only defining quality is their refusal to settle on a definitive sound
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7.8
58048
7.8 |
AltSounds
Could be one of the albums of the year so far
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7.1
57008
7.1 |
Paste Magazine
Slow Focus has all the rousing fanfare, build-and-release, PLUR values of standard raves, except the tracks are five minutes longer and the amount of human touch is in question
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6.5
56939
6.5 |
Under The Radar
Exactly what you'd expect from a Fuck Buttons effort: it's brusque, overwhelming and complicated. But for a band so intent on pushing boundaries, this is a strange, almost faltering, sidestep
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6.0
57293
6.0 |
State
Slow Focus reveals itself to be a rewarding listen – one that treats epic as a starting point and can only hope to maintain its sense of wonder while maintaining scope with ease
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6.0
56925
6.0 |
The Observer
Their third album is denser, more heavyweight and grandiose than their previous offerings
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6.0
56895
6.0 |
Evening Standard
The hip hop feel of The Red Wing offers a rare lighter touch — otherwise it’s heavy going
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6.0
56935
6.0 |
The Line Of Best Fit
The same sensory overload, the blasts of noise juxtaposed with shifting dynamics, the sense that eventually elements would emerge, glistening and shimmering from their beds of sound that would make sense of everything. But then, well, those elements just don’t seem to arrive
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6.0
56793
6.0 |
The Arts Desk
This is a Hollywood apocalypse, and extremely enjoyable as such, but the tension between its thrill-ride structures and the darker, less human areas it reaches towards can be frustrating
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6.0
56741
6.0 |
Mojo
Slow Focus isn't without merit - Hidden XS is a screeching, twisting aural battering ram - but you yearn for more. Print edition only
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6.0
59549
6.0 |
Rolling Stone
The duo brings more art to blockbusters than most of rap and Hollywood
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