- Record Label: Blue Note
- Release Date: Mar 23, 2010
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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It isn't revelatory, but it's a natural fit that makes up for its familiarity with listenability and pure fun--no irony necessary.
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Entertainment WeeklyIt's wink-free pop bliss. [26 Mar 2010,p.69]
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The Bird & the Bee manage to make these very familiar hits sound fresh without radically reinventing them. That in itself is a much trickier move than turning these all into slow acoustic dirges, but it's better still because these arrangements are true to both Hall & Oates and George & Kurstin.
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The Bird and the Bee don't so much recreate Hall & Oates as they modernize them, taking the strictly adhered-to hooks and coating them in shimmering synth lines.
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Although they polish these radio baubles to a mellow shine, the pair never lose their heads in fandom.
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Aside from arrangement updates and catchy synth touches, the Bird & the Bee play it straight as George fetchingly channels Hall's vocal groove.
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As the title suggests, it's a covers album, fond and focused.
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Under The RadarWhat's surprising is how few alterations are needed to elevate the material from its perceived uncool status to the near-classic Bird And teh Bee sound. [Spring 2010, p.68]
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The duo has never abandoned the cool reserve of music nerds, but their sound on this tribute has a different sort of ease and confidence; they've learned something from studying their pop music history books.
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MojoIt all slides down nicely--great bachelorette party music that sounds good on headphones. [Sep 2010, p.104]
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For now, the musicianship is there, and I can't fault them their enthusiasm in the Hall & Oates back catalogue. It's just that Sara's smile gets lost in the interpretation.
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No, Kurstin and George's tribute is not bad. It's not offensive. Nor, thankfully, is it kitschy. It's just a bit bland and pointless. Or, if it does have a point or two, they're incidental.
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They've delivered faithful, appreciative renditions, but the elephant-in-the-room question is why anyone would cop this disc instead of an H&O best-of.