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Repo isn’t a great progression from previous Black Dice records. But their willfully amateurish approach, and a continued fascination with the coarse and the crude, make this another welcome addition to their woozy, dog-eared oeuvre.
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Repo is initially frustrating, but a good time for those who can embrace its imperfections.
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On their sunnily deranged new album, Repo, Black Dice somehow manage to do away with context entirely, constructing music comprised solely of sound effects designed and recorded themselves.
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Repo is still abstract in a similar and smeary way, but it sounds like Black Dice have gotten a better handle on their gear.
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Repo is likeable for all the right reasons. That the band hasn’t challenged themselves or their audience to find new ones is the album’s chief drawback.
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The only negative here is a lack of structure between songs, which makes Repo feel like something dropped in a pile at your feet.
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Black Dice are the perpetually esoteric older Crumb brother Charles: inscrutable, agoraphobic, undeniably brilliant but just as undeniably demented. All descriptions apply to their fifth album, with each track bursting at the seams with warped sounds.
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It’s by turns engrossing, boring, and terrifying. Just let it wash over you and try not to think too much about it. You’ll be glad you did.
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While at first some of Repo will undoubtedly seem oriented towards those with an attention deficit, it is in every sense of the word a “grower.”
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Under The RadarRepo improves upon past work and manages to cram more songs with more interesting ideas into the same space as previous releases, while simultaneously becoming a little easier to aproach. [Spring 2009, p.64]
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While Repo jump-starts smooth enough with the skuzzed samples bleating through 'Nite Creme,' the infectiously funky warp of 'Glazin' gives way to an industrial stomp and grind that begins to unravel into darker territory.
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Fans will welcome the grotesquely titled 'Ultra Vomit Craze' and 'Gag Shack,' reveling in subtle mood shifts found amid the ferocious racket. Skeptics and nay-sayers will remain unconvinced of the genre's ability to move beyond bratty outbursts.
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Perhaps there will come a moment when Repo suddenly clicks as a beautifully connected opus, but that seems doubtful; for the time being it’s just a frustrating listen, held back by its unnecessarily unconventional explorations.
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Black Dice continues to produce highly interesting music, no doubt, but be warned that it’s not for the faint of heart or imagination.
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MojoRepo is a brightly coloured series of aural non sequiturs, its lard-legged beat science peaking with distorted synth-funk jam 'Ultra Vomit Craze.' [May 2009, p.109]
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UncutIt resembles The Boredoms in its sense of sonic bravery, although the suspicion lingers that more focus is required before they can produce another record of the calibre of 2002's "Beaches And Canyons." [May 2009, p.79]
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Alternative PressTeetering between genius and madness, Repo is a few hooks shjort of a successful fishing trip for experiemental music, left mostly with "experiemental" and not much in the way of traditionally defined "music." [Jun 2009, p.102]
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Repo isn't a bad record, but it's certainly the least fresh and consistent one I can remember Black Dice releasing and both of those traits are a big deal with 'difficult' music like this.
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Repo runs out of ideas so quickly it starts to appropriate its own ideas.