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9.0
97562
9.0 |
Loud And Quiet
Contain some of Butler and Maraire’s outright catchiest work
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8.5
97731
8.5 |
Paste Magazine
A rich fabric of gorgeous, reverb-laden sound
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8.5
98233
8.5 |
The Line Of Best Fit
Two releases that cement their legendary position on the outer fringes of avant-garde hip hop
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8.3
97728
8.3 |
Gig Soup
Easier to connect with than its sister album, at least at first
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8.3
97803
8.3 |
A.V. Club
Zeroes in on Butler’s abstract state-of-hip-hop lyrics, epitomized by the booming, beautiful “Shine A Light.” Still, these delineations aren’t exact
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8.0
97831
8.0 |
Prefix
A curious new entry for the group. It expands the space-age palate of Lese Majesty, but slips in the unique tunefulness of Black Up. And yet it doesn’t quite sound like either, and — maybe unsurprisingly, at this point — it doesn’t sound like any other record you’ll hear this year
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8.0
97752
8.0 |
Crack
Introduces our protagonist within a brutal backdrop of bigotry and disorder
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8.0
97673
8.0 |
The Guardian
Echo-drenched orchestral samples and beautiful vocals leave Born on a Gangster Star’s Shine a Light sounding like a psychedelicised take on opulent 70s soft soul
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8.0
97563
8.0 |
The Skinny
It sounds like muddled fragments on first listen, but laced with stirring melodies, turns-of-phrase and production tricks, it lures you back
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8.0
97565
8.0 |
Slant Magazine
The music itself provides the surface glitz, unspooling in sumptuous tapestries
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8.0
97567
8.0 |
Q
Set Quazarz to stunning. Print edition only
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8.0
97570
8.0 |
Mojo
A thrilling excursion, possessing an otherworldly ambience and substance you'll spend months decoding, every spin yielding something new. Print edition only
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8.0
97571
8.0 |
Uncut
A light, trippy confection, reinventing R&B with rippling electronics and slippery, Prince-like funk
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8.0
97614
8.0 |
Drowned In Sound
The intentionally more disorientating of the two records
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8.0
97640
8.0 |
The Independent
The arrangements have a weird, woozy character, with the abstract beats and trickly, liquid synth parts punctuated by unusual instruments
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7.6
97643
7.6 |
Pitchfork
Reads like Butler’s version of a memoir: his experience as an extraterrestrial being deposited on a hostile planet
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7.0
97655
7.0 |
Spectrum Culture
The album drifts along the cosmos with the character, lyrics gradually fading in importance in favor of instrumental explorations
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7.0
97665
7.0 |
All Music
There's a little more life and alertness to this set than there is in the dread-laced first volume. Instead of coming from a distanced observer or some being in a zombie-like state, this is more energized and direct, sometimes scathing
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7.0
97764
7.0 |
Under The Radar
For the casual listener who just wants to get the gist, Quazarz: Born on a Gangster Star will suffice
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7.0
98125
7.0 |
Tiny Mix Tapes
The first Shabazz release that seems to witness Butler employing and embracing a popularly-oriented, uninhibited voice
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6.5
98242
6.5 |
Earbuddy
It’s the best Shabazz Palaces album of 2017, if not the second-best album they’ve ever done
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6.0
97707
6.0 |
DIY
Sometimes it feels like the quest for a particular vibe has sometimes been prioritised over the underlying message
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6.0
97713
6.0 |
The Observer
Magnificently eccentric
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6.0
97890
6.0 |
The FT
The two albums have enough inventive passages of far-out beat-making to keep true flab at bay
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6.0
97611
6.0 |
The Irish Times
You could argue that you’ve the makings of an excellent single album between both releases but we should perhaps welcome such cosmic excess for once
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5.0
98097
5.0 |
PopMatters
Maraire is the real star of the show across both of the records. His beats hit with a sense of space and organization that feels architectural
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