Blanck Mass is the eponymous debut studio album by British musician Benjamin John Power, under his musical project Blanck Mass. It was released on 21 June 2011 by Rock Action Records. The album was re-issued as a deluxe version through Sacred Bones Records in 2020.[15]
| Blanck Mass | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 21 June 2011 | |||
| Recorded | 2010[1] | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 62:23 | |||
| Label | Rock Action | |||
| Producer | Blanck Mas | |||
| Blanck Mass chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 6.8/10[4] |
| Metacritic | 71/100[5] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Beats Per Minute | 66%[6] |
| Consequence of Sound | B[7] |
| Drowned in Sound | 8/10[8] |
| MusicOMH |   [9] |
| NME | [10] |
| No Ripcord | 4/10[11] |
| Pitchfork | 7.7/10[3] |
| Prefix | 7/10[12] |
| Tiny Mix Tapes |  [13] |
| XLR8R | 7.5/10[14] |
Background edit
Blanck Mass was written, recorded and produced in Power's apartment in London over the course of 2010.[1]
Release edit
On 28 April 2011, Power announced he was releasing his debut eponymous album through Mogwai's Rock Action Records.[1]
Singles edit
The first single "Land Disasters" was released on April 28, 2011.[16]
Music videos edit
On 16 June 2011, the music video for "Icke's Struggle" was released.[17]
Reissue edit
On 7 March 2020, it was announced at a Record Store Day event that Blanck Mass was re-issuing Blanck Mass as a double deluxe-LP by Sacred Bones Records on 18 April 2020 in the UK, and 24 April 2020 worldwide.[15][18]
Critical reception edit
Blanck Mass was met with "generally favorable" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 71 based on 14 reviews.[5] Aggregate website AnyDecentMusic? gave the release a 6.8 out of 10 based on a critical consensus of 19 reviews.[4]
In a review for Consequence of Sound, critic reviewer Adam Kivel wrote: "While it may not be as primal as Street Horrrsing, or as concise as Tarot Sport, Blanck Mass’s self-titled debut packs the same sort of punch, and that punch is one that goes directly to the gut."[7] At Beats Per Minute, the album was described as "an exhibition of some of the best sonic control and sound shaping around."[6] Chris White of MusicOMH explained: "Blanck Mass sees Power going it alone for the first time and the end result is a self-titled debut album that’s both similar and different to Tarot Sport. The cinematic, epic scale and effective use of sound manipulations such as echo and distortion that made such an important contribution to the latter record are still very much in place on Blanck Mass.[9] Laura Snapes of NME gave Blanck Mass two stars out of five.[10]
Accolades edit
| Critic/Publication | List | Rank | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fact | Fact's Top 50 Albums of 2011 | 45 | [19] |
Track listing edit
All tracks are written by Blanck Mass
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Sifted Gold" | 3:39 |
| 2. | "Sundowner" | 7:59 |
| 3. | "Chernobyl" | 4:24 |
| 4. | "Raw Deal" | 9:54 |
| 5. | "Sub Serious" | 6:47 |
| 6. | "Land Disasters" | 7:16 |
| 7. | "Icke's Struggle" | 3:11 |
| 8. | "Fuckers" | 2:16 |
| 9. | "What You Know" | 13:35 |
| 10. | "Weakling Flier" | 3:22 |
References edit
- ^ a b c Breihan, Tom (28 April 2011). "Fuck Buttons' Power Goes Solo as Blanck Mass". Pitchfork. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ "Resident Advisor Review". Resident Advisor. 5 September 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ a b Neyland, Nick (27 June 2011). "Pitchfork Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ a b "AnyDecentMusic? Review". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ a b "Metacritic Review". Metacritic. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ a b "Beats Per Minute Review". Beats Per Minute. 18 June 2011. Archived from the original on 12 September 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ a b Kivel, Adam (31 May 2011). "Consequence of Sound Review". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ Brody, Gideon (20 June 2011). "Drowned in Sound Review". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ a b White, Chris (20 June 2011). "MusicOMH Review". MusicOMH. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ a b Snapes, Laura (14 June 2011). "NME Review". NME. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ Davison, Mark (21 June 2011). "No Ripcord Review". No Ripcord. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ Ziedses des Plantes, Erik (22 June 2011). "Prefix Magazine Review". Prefix Magazine. Archived from the original on 17 March 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
- ^ Latta, Ian. "Tiny Mix Tapes Review". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ Fallon, Patric (20 June 2011). "XLR8R Review". XLR8R. Archived from the original on 23 June 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ a b Carr, Cameron (7 March 2020). "Blanck Mass To Reissue Debut Album For Record Store Day". New Noise Magazine. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ Stosuy, Brandon (28 April 2011). "Blanck Mass - Land Disasters". Stereogum. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ Bevan, David (16 June 2011). "Blanck Mass: "Icke's Struggle"". Pitchfork. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ "Reissue Released". Facebook. 26 June 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ "The 50 Best Albums of 2011". Fact. 30 November 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
External links edit
- Blanck Mass at Discogs (list of releases)
- Blanck Mass at MusicBrainz (list of releases)