Slave Ambient
Encyclopedia
Slave Ambient is the second studio album
by the American indie rock
band The War on Drugs
, released on August 16, 2011, by Secretly Canadian
. Recording sessions for the album took place at Granduciel's home studio in Philly, Jeff Ziegler's Uniform Recording and Echo Mountain in Asheville, NC, during 2008–2011.
and Allmusic.
. At Metacritic
, which assigns a normalized
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average
of 81, based on 28 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim".
Stuart Berman of Pitchfork Media
gave the album a positive review, writing "The really amazing thing about the album is how anthemic and affirming it feels despite the near total absence of proper sing-along choruses." The album also received a "Best New Music" designation from the site. The A.V. Club
's Steven Hyden also gave the album a positive review, writing "With Adam Granduciel’s Dylan
-esque drawl and a small orchestra of shimmering, vaguely noodly guitars as the group’s sonic trademarks, The War On Drugs is an unabashed trad-rock outfit. But Slave Ambient doesn’t recall the past so much as a bright, unexpected future, where bands like this inexplicably are still dreaming in new, refreshingly outsized ways." BBC
's Lou Thomas called the songs on the album "memorable," concluding his review with "Slave Ambient as a whole may be more confused than your average reality show star at a Mensa
meeting, but it’s full of decent songs with a lot of heart."
In a more mixed review, Slant Magazine
's Matthew Cole wrote "Too often, ambient passages like 'The Animator' and 'City Reprise' sound too obviously like interludes intended to fill space between real songs, rather than finished compositions in their own right." However, Cole concluded his review with: "...War on Drugs is a well-studied rock crew with an honest experimental streak, unfazed by the fact that relatively few of their potential fans will count Nebraska
and Daydream Nation
among their favorite records. But with a little more time to perfect their style, the War on Drugs would be well-positioned to win converts for both camps, and also their own." In another mixed review, Now
's Richard Trapunski wrote: "It’s easy to get lost in the pleasant, euphoric drone, but at 47 minutes the album is more of a marathon than a sprint." Spin
gave the album a score of 7/10, writing, "Main man Adam Granduciel gets plenty of Dylan comparisons, but Slave Ambient feels like a more back-alley Byrds
filtered through a gauzier Spacemen 3
lens."
ranked Slave Ambient #37 on its list of the best 50 albums of 2011, writing "Even with the departure of Kurt Vile [...] their post-Vile songs have kept them steady, and, as proven by the almost defiantly solid Slave Ambient, they can be memorable and engaging all by themselves."
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by the American indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
band The War on Drugs
The War on Drugs (band)
-History:Band member Adam Granduciel moved from Oakland, California to Philadelphia in 2003, where he met Kurt Vile and began playing music with him. They began playing as The War on Drugs in 2005, and self-released a demo EP...
, released on August 16, 2011, by Secretly Canadian
Secretly Canadian
Secretly Canadian is an American independent record label based in Bloomington, Indiana. It was started in 1996 by Chris and Ben Swanson, Eric Weddle, and Jonathan Cargill. Their first release was a re-issue of an album by June Panic...
. Recording sessions for the album took place at Granduciel's home studio in Philly, Jeff Ziegler's Uniform Recording and Echo Mountain in Asheville, NC, during 2008–2011.
Track listing
Track listing was confirmed by Amazon.comAmazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
and Allmusic.
Reception
Upon release, Slave Ambient received general acclaim from music criticsMusic journalism
Music journalism is criticism and reportage about music. It began in the eighteenth century as comment on what is now thought of as 'classical music'. This aspect of music journalism, today often referred to as music criticism , comprises the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of...
. At Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a normalized
Standard score
In statistics, a standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation or datum is above or below the mean. It is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
of 81, based on 28 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim".
Stuart Berman of Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
gave the album a positive review, writing "The really amazing thing about the album is how anthemic and affirming it feels despite the near total absence of proper sing-along choruses." The album also received a "Best New Music" designation from the site. The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
's Steven Hyden also gave the album a positive review, writing "With Adam Granduciel’s Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
-esque drawl and a small orchestra of shimmering, vaguely noodly guitars as the group’s sonic trademarks, The War On Drugs is an unabashed trad-rock outfit. But Slave Ambient doesn’t recall the past so much as a bright, unexpected future, where bands like this inexplicably are still dreaming in new, refreshingly outsized ways." BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Lou Thomas called the songs on the album "memorable," concluding his review with "Slave Ambient as a whole may be more confused than your average reality show star at a Mensa
Mensa International
Mensa is the largest and oldest high-IQ society in the world. It is a non-profit organization open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardised, supervised IQ or other approved intelligence test...
meeting, but it’s full of decent songs with a lot of heart."
In a more mixed review, Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
's Matthew Cole wrote "Too often, ambient passages like 'The Animator' and 'City Reprise' sound too obviously like interludes intended to fill space between real songs, rather than finished compositions in their own right." However, Cole concluded his review with: "...War on Drugs is a well-studied rock crew with an honest experimental streak, unfazed by the fact that relatively few of their potential fans will count Nebraska
Nebraska (album)
-Themes:The album begins with "Nebraska", a first-person narrative based on the true story of 19-year-old spree killer Charles Starkweather and his 14-year-old girlfriend, Caril Ann Fugate, and ends with "Reason to Believe", a complex narrative that renders its title phrase into contemptuous sarcasm...
and Daydream Nation
Daydream Nation
Daydream Nation is the fifth studio album by the American alternative rock band Sonic Youth. It was released in October 1988 by Enigma Records in the United States, and by Blast First in the United Kingdom....
among their favorite records. But with a little more time to perfect their style, the War on Drugs would be well-positioned to win converts for both camps, and also their own." In another mixed review, Now
NOW (magazine)
Now is a free weekly newspaper in Toronto, Canada. It was first printed on September 10, 1981 by Michael Hollett and Alice Klein. Now is an alternative weekly mixing arts and entertainment news with political coverage....
's Richard Trapunski wrote: "It’s easy to get lost in the pleasant, euphoric drone, but at 47 minutes the album is more of a marathon than a sprint." Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
gave the album a score of 7/10, writing, "Main man Adam Granduciel gets plenty of Dylan comparisons, but Slave Ambient feels like a more back-alley Byrds
The Byrds
The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
filtered through a gauzier Spacemen 3
Spacemen 3
Spacemen 3 were an English alternative rock band, formed in 1982 in Rugby, Warwickshire by Peter Kember and Jason Pierce. Their music was "colorfully mind-altering, but not in the sense of the acid rock of the '60s; instead, the band developed its own minimalistic psychedelia"...
lens."
Accolades
PastePaste (magazine)
Paste is a monthly music and entertainment digital magazine published in the United States by Wolfgang's Vault. Its tagline is "Signs of Life in Music, Film and Culture."-History:...
ranked Slave Ambient #37 on its list of the best 50 albums of 2011, writing "Even with the departure of Kurt Vile [...] their post-Vile songs have kept them steady, and, as proven by the almost defiantly solid Slave Ambient, they can be memorable and engaging all by themselves."
The War on Drugs
- Robbie Bennett - Arp Omni, Guitar (Acoustic), Piano
- Adam Granduciel - Composer, Engineer, Photography, Producer
- Dave Hartley - Bass, Drums, Electric Autoharp, Engineer, Fender Stratocaster, Guitar (12 String Acoustic), Guitar (12 String), Guitar (Electric), Guitar (Nashville)
- Steven Urgo - Drums
Additional personnel
- John Ashley - Engineer
- John Congleton - Engineer
- Paul Gold - Mastering
- Michael Johnson - Drums, Engineer, Eventide, Modular Moog, Treatments
- Brian McTear - Mixing
- Daniel Murphy - Design
- Kim Roney - Piano
- Jeff Ryan - Drums
- Chad Stockslager - Bass (Upright)
- Jesse Trbovich - Saxophone
- Kurt VileKurt VileKurt Vile is a guitarist and singer born in 1980 from the Philadelphia suburb of Lansdowne, Pennsylvania. He was signed by Matador Records as a solo artist in May 2009....
- Guitar (Electric) - Mike Zanghi - Drums, Percussion
- Jeff Zeigler - Drum Programming, Engineer, Producer
Charts
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical... |
4 |
| US Independent Albums Independent Albums The Billboard Independent Albums is a chart of the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays in the United States, compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is used to list artists who are not signed to major labels... |
27 |
External links
- Secretly Canadian's page on Slave Ambient
- Progress Report: The War On Drugs. StereogumStereogumStereogum was one of the first MP3 blogs. It was created by Scott Lapatine in January 2002 with a focus on independent and alternative music news, downloads, videos, and gossip. Stereogum has received several awards and citations, including the 2008 Plug Award for best music blog, Blender's...
interview on the recording of Slave Ambient.