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No Blues (Los Campesinos! album)

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No Blues
Studio album by
Los Campesinos!
Released29 October 2013
Recorded2013
StudioBryn Derwen, Bethesda
Genre
Length41:39
Label
  • Wichita
  • Turnstile Music
  • Heart Swells
Producer
Los Campesinos! chronology
Hello Sadness
(2011) 		No Blues
(2013) 		A Los Campesinos! Christmas
(2014)
Singles from No Blues
  1. "What Death Leaves Behind"
    Released: 29 August 2013
  2. "Avocado, Baby"
    Released: 8 October 2013

No Blues[a] is the fifth studio album by Welsh indie rock band Los Campesinos!. It was released on 29 October 2013 via Wichita, Turnstile and Heart Swells.[2] The album was produced by John Goodmanson and guitarist Tom Bromley, and is the first to not feature founding bassist Ellen Waddell, who amicably left the group in late 2012.

The first single, "What Death Leaves Behind", was released as a free download on the band's SoundCloud page on 29 August 2013.[3] The second single, "Avocado, Baby", was released on 8 October 2013.[4]

Composition

[edit]

Compared to the band's previous album, Hello Sadness (2011), No Blues is thematically a more hopeful and optimistic record and a "turning point" for Los Campesinos! according to frontman Gareth David.[5] Speaking with Adam Smith from Interview, David said No Blues was lyrically about as morbid as its precursor, but "a little bit cockier, a little bit cheekier [and] a little bit more confident."[6]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic79/100[7]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
The A.V. ClubB+[9]
Consequence of SoundB[10]
Drowned in Sound8/10[11]
MusicOMH[12]
The Line of Best Fit8.5/10[13]
Pitchfork8.0/10[14]
The Skinny[15]
This is Fake DIY[16]

Critical response was positive. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 79, based on 18 reviews.[7]

Writing for Pitchfork, Ian Cohen said No Blues "ends up sounding like the happiest [Los Campesinos!] record, or at least the most implicitly hopeful". He claimed the band "have never sounded so muscular or crafted melodies as instantly memorable".[14] Chris Tapley of The Line of Best Fit praised the album's production, in which the band "no longer assert themselves as the most important aspect of the tracks". He called "Selling Rope (Swan Dive to Estuary)" their best closing track and concluded: "No longer a band rough and ready jumping breathlessly between ideas, they are burying their chaos under smooth edges and verdant melodies and it sounds better than ever".[13]

Accolades

[edit]
Appearances on year-end lists
Publication Accolade Rank Ref.
The A.V. Club 23 Best Albums of 2013 18 [17]
Drowned in Sound Favourite Albums of 2013 14 [18]
MusicOMH Top 100 Albums of 2013 72 [19]
PopMatters 75 Best Albums of 2013 49 [20]
Best Indie Rock Albums of 2013 4 [21]

Track listing

[edit]

All lyrics written by Gareth Paisey, all music composed by Tom Bromley.

  1. "For Flotsam" – 3:43
  2. "What Death Leaves Behind" – 3:37
  3. "A Portrait of the Trequartista as a Young Man" – 3:01
  4. "Cemetery Gaits" – 4:52
  5. "Glue Me" – 5:04
  6. "As Lucerne/The Low" – 4:22
  7. "Avocado, Baby" – 4:36
  8. "Let It Spill" – 3:20
  9. "The Time Before the Last Time" – 2:47
  10. "Selling Rope (Swan Dive to Estuary)" – 6:17

Personnel

[edit]

Credits adapted from liner notes.

  • Los Campesinos! – arrangements and performing
    • Gareth David – writing
    • Tom Bromley – producer, brass and string arrangements
  • Phillip Peterson – strings
  • Michael Iles – trumpet
  • Craig Walker – trombone
  • Cardiff Cougar Allstars Cheerleaders – backing vocals ("Avocado, Baby")
  • John Goodmanson – producer, mixing
  • Mazen Murad – mastering

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Stylised in all caps.[1]

References

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  1. ^ "NO BLUES by Los Campesinos!". Bandcamp. 28 May 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  2. ^ Battan, Carrie (29 August 2013). "Los Campesinos! Announce New Album No Blues, Share Song "What Death Leaves Behind"". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  3. ^ Los Campesinos!. "What Death Leaves Behind by Los Campesinos! on SoundCloud - Hear the world's sounds". SoundCloud. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  4. ^ Martins, Chris (8 October 2013). "Los Campesinos! Celebrate the 'Avocado, Baby' on Upbeat Single". Spin. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  5. ^ Simon, Scott (26 October 2013). "Los Campesinos! Lighten Up With 'No Blues'". NPR. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  6. ^ Smith, Adam D (29 October 2013). "Los Campesinos!, On Pitch". Interview. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  7. ^ a b "Los Campesinos!:No Blues (2013):Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  8. ^ Sendra, Tim. "No Blues - Los Campesinos! : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic". Retrieved 27 October 2013.
  9. ^ Ryan, Kyle (29 October 2013). "Music Review: Los Campesinos! - No Blues". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  10. ^ Bosman, Chris (1 November 2013). "Album Review: Los Campesinos! - No Blues". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
  11. ^ Burrows, Marc. "Los Campesinos! - No Blues / Releases / Releases // Drowned in Sound". Archived from the original on 26 October 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
  12. ^ Meller, David (24 October 2013). "Los Campesinos! - No Blues". Retrieved 27 October 2013.
  13. ^ a b Tapley, Chris. "Los Campesinos! "No Blues"". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  14. ^ a b Cohen, Ian. "Album Review: Los Campesinos! - No Blues". Pitchfork. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  15. ^ Kaill, Gary (22 October 2013). "Album Review: Los Campesinos! - No Blues". Retrieved 27 October 2013.
  16. ^ Wright, Danny (28 October 2013). "Los Campesinos! – No Blues". DIY. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  17. ^ Ryan, Kyle (5 December 2013). "The 23 best albums of 2013". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  18. ^ Adams, Sean (9 December 2013). "Drowned in Sound's Favourite Albums of 2013: Top 20". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 12 October 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  19. ^ "musicOMH's Top 100 Albums Of 2013: Full List and Playlist | Lists". MusicOMH. 9 December 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  20. ^ "The 75 Best Albums of 2013". PopMatters. 3 January 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  21. ^ "PopMatters' Best Indie Rock Albums of 2013". PopMatters. 1 January 2014. Archived from the original on 27 September 2017. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
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