The Singles Jukebox

Rat-a-tat-tat…

[Video][Myspace]
[6.11]

Martin Kavka: The full 17:37 version of this rave-sunrise anthem is better, but even this edit makes me cry when the mandolin drops in. Besides the xx and Maxwell, no act has had a better command of mood this year.
[10]

Martin Skidmore: I really like this. Restrained house music around acoustic guitar, with a gentle, relaxed feel. It’s gorgeous, and the most moving instrumental I can remember for ages.
[9]

Matt Cibula: Entirely pleasant, if a bit pointless as this kind of hoedown has been being done for more than a decade.
[5]

Alex Macpherson: Funny; having made the slightly leftfield comparison of Subeena’s “Boksd” to Border Community’s output, here comes something which actually does sound like something released on that imprint in 2004. Its pretty pastoral guitar line and drifting electronic haze bring back some good memories, but where “Boksd” pushes the game forward substantially, “America” merely sounds rather dated.
[6]

Mallory O’Donnell: Adult contemporary electronica that makes recent records by Underworld and New Order sound faintly dangerous. Readymade for insertion in an advert for a hybrid SUV or some portable media device you silence your children with while driving said SUV across those expansive vistas found mainly in the smug, self-congratulatory western portion of this country.
[3]

Ian Mathers: The first time I played this, I quite liked the intro music but was bracing for some fatuous singer to come in and sing lyrics as grandiose and silly as the song’s title. When that never happened (I was half expecting Bono) I was inclined to look fondly on Dusty Kid, and there are some nice touches such as the way the rustic guitar breakdown in the middle kind of reminds me of Jim O’Rourke’s Bad Timing. But once I got over my shock that “America (The Director’s Cut)” isn’t nearly as bad as the title suggests it ought to be, I noticed that much of the track is still pretty cheesy.
[5]

Rodney J. Greene: An subtly constructed Balearic slow ride that stays just out of mind’s reach and body’s threshhold. The disjunct between its beauty and functionality is flustering.
[7]

Michaelangelo Matos: Every few years there’s a track like this: muted enough not to seem too pop for dance fans, overtly melodic enough for pop fans who don’t really dance. It’ll probably end up in an ad if it hasn’t already, and good: it deserves to prick up some real-world ears.
[7]

Anthony Easton: Such a thin line between atmospheric and boring.
[3]