Dumb Flesh is the second studio album by the English experimental musician Blanck Mass, released on 11 May 2015 (2015-05-11).

Dumb Flesh
Studio album by
Released11 May 2015 (2015-05-11)
GenreElectronica, drone, noise
Length49:38
LabelSacred Bones Records
Blanck Mass chronology
Blanck Mass
(2011)
Dumb Flesh
(2015)
World Eater
(2017)

Critical reception

edit
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic77/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [2]
Consequence of SoundB[3]
Drowned in Sound7/10[4]
Exclaim!8/10[5]
Pitchfork7.6/10[6]
PopMatters          [7]
Resident Advisor3.6/5[8]
The New York Timespositive[9]
The Quietuspositive[10]
musicOMH     [11]

Dumb Flesh was met with positive critical reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews and ratings from mainstream critics, the album has received a metascore of 77, based on 19 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[1]

AllMusic reviewer Heather Phares awarded the album four out of five stars and observed that:"loaded with undeniable hooks and beats, the album is "dumb" in the best way possible, and embraces the "flesh" part of its title by making bodies move."[2] Nina Corcoran, writing for Consequence of Sound:"The album is vivid between shadows, pulsing with the diseased blood of a body slowly losing its motivation to carry on."[3] Tristan Bath from Drowned in Sound opined that it was:"This is beautiful, disgusting, danceable, and nightmarish music."[4] Pitchfork critic Nathan Reese observed that:"... their music's pure momentum almost guaranteed its audience by force alone."[6] Ian King, writing for PopMatters, rated the album eight stars out of ten and described it as:"Powers puts the body at the forefront of his audience's mind is by suggesting that they move it."[7] Exclaim! reviewer Daniel Sylvester, who scored the album eight out of ten, opined that: "As one half of electronic psych drone purveyors Fuck Buttons, Power originally created Blanck Mass to explore beatless and formless ambient music. With the release of his follow-up, Dumb Flesh, Power abandons this singular musical mode, bringing with him myriad recording styles and techniques."[5]

Ben Ratliff from The New York Times commented that: "he's giving you something you might find familiar or even commercial by its basic outlines. But he's still got ways to make it uncanny: close, loud and abrupt."[9] The Quietus reviewer James Ubaghs observed that:"A reoccurring feature is the way that vocal samples frequently sound like synths, and synths sound almost like vocals, on the verge of attaining sentience."[10] Sam Shepherd, in his review for musicOMH commented:"There are some fine moments here, but all too often Dumb Flesh seems like a diluted version of Fuck Buttons."[11]

Track listing

edit

All tracks are written by John Power

No.TitleLength
1."Loam"4:06
2."Dead Format"6:15
3."No Lite"9:56
4."Atrophies"5:07
5."Cruel Sport"8:42
6."Double Cross"5:37
7."Lung"5:27
8."Detritus"8:13
Vinyl bonus track
No.TitleLength
9."Life Science (Ambient Suite)"17:02

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Critic Reviews for Dumb Flesh by Blanck Mass". Metacritic. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  2. ^ a b Heather Phares. "Blanck Mass - Dumb Flesh". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  3. ^ a b Nina Corcoran (5 May 2015). "Blanck Mass – Dumb Flesh". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  4. ^ a b Tristan Bath (8 May 2015). "Blanck Mass - Dumb Flesh". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 29 November 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  5. ^ a b Daniel Sylvester (8 May 2015). "Blanck Mass - Dumb Flesh". Exclaim!. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  6. ^ a b Nathan Reese (13 May 2015). "Blanck Mass - Dumb Flesh". Pitchfork. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  7. ^ a b Ian King (12 May 2015). "Blanck Mass - Dumb Flesh". PopMatters. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  8. ^ Tony Naylor (21 May 2015). "Blanck Mass - Dumb Flesh". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  9. ^ a b Ben Ratliff (11 May 2015). "Review: 'Dumb Flesh,' From Blanck Mass". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  10. ^ a b James Ubaghs (21 May 2015). "Blanck Mass - DUMB FLESH". The Quietus. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  11. ^ a b Sam Shepherd (11 May 2015). "Blanck Mass – Dumb Flesh". musicOMH. Retrieved 28 November 2016.