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10.0
95048
10.0 |
A.V. Club
AZD marks a triumphant return for Actress
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8.4
95007
8.4 |
Resident Advisor
Most of its tracks could've been snuck onto one of Cunningham’s past albums. But it sounds like the producer has found inspiration again
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8.2
95183
8.2 |
Gig Soup
Nothing short of supremely unique, with the eerie radiance that the album gives off, allowing for the listener to become completely lost in Cunningham’s own world
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8.0
95665
8.0 |
Q
He'll never be an easy listen, but for now Actress has found a happier role. Print edition only
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8.0
95080
8.0 |
The Music
Yet another 100% future-proof record
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8.0
95020
8.0 |
Exclaim
It takes listeners through a dystopian dance-floor dream universe, with the shiny but comforting hand from its cover as our guide
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8.0
95025
8.0 |
The Quietus
Where Ghettoville perhaps saw Cunningham stretch his stimuli to near breaking point, travelling too far down an ever gloomy, disengaging path, AZD arrives like a jolt of energy, welcoming some much needed colour into his oeuvre, despite what the record’s somewhat oblique central theme might have you believe
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8.0
95032
8.0 |
The Guardian
The fifth album from one of electronic music’s most admired producers comes with a lot of high-concept baggage, but the music speaks for itself
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8.0
95034
8.0 |
Drowned In Sound
If you put in the effort this is one of the most rewarding albums of the year so far, but like pronouncing its title, don’t be surprised if you don’t get it first time
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8.0
95065
8.0 |
The FT
The London rapper employs hissing digital static and a simple scalar electronic pattern against hazy drones
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7.9
95005
7.9 |
Pitchfork
Reaches deep into both Darren Cunningham’s clubbiest and most avant-garde impulses, exploring language and Afrofuturism while maintaining a musicality that holds the listener close
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7.5
95090
7.5 |
Pretty Much Amazing
If house music is the digital rhythm of steel structures filling a skyline, Actress is the sound of those same buildings after centuries of abandonment, smoking filling the horizon and the dread of being alone
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7.5
95092
7.5 |
Spectrum Culture
Cunningham adds yet another impressive release to an impressive inquiry in the politics and philosophy that are implicit in music
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7.0
95121
7.0 |
Tiny Mix Tapes
Made of chrome, it shimmers, reflects, and amplifies. But at times, it distorts its figure refracting the light, sabotaging its own form
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7.0
95006
7.0 |
PopMatters
AZD is best when Cunningham provides the contours and shading necessary to make his tracks feel like more than indefinite conceptual loops, when the details of his worlds become tangible and clear
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7.0
95042
7.0 |
Loud And Quiet
To these ears, much of ‘AZD’ seems to be building up to its final third, and, for the most part, that’s no criticism – it just sounds like Actress isn’t quite finished with this phase yet
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6.0
95072
6.0 |
The Observer
Electronic maverick gets playfully deep
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6.0
95078
6.0 |
Sputnik Music (staff)
AZD steps away from the dancefloor, similar to the ambient constructions of R.I.P., and it isn’t until the album’s final third that we truly see the significance in this
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5.8
95044
5.8 |
Earbuddy
Is it hinting at a future where we’re helpless to the screams of a computer? More importantly; is this dance music? Only your heart can answer that question
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