Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 36
 Don't Believe the Hype January 29, 2008
Conan the Reviewer (DC area)
6 out of 10 found this review helpful
Apparently there's something I'm not getting here <`shrug'>. I like dubstep--in fact, I like all sorts of dance music, from Detroit techno to Chicago house, from electro to ghetto tech, from drum `n bass to disco. And since Burial's sophomore album got even more hype than their self-titled release, I figured, how could I go wrong? How, indeed! What I expected from "Untrue" were some of the sounds that drew me to dubstep in the first place: deep warbling bass rolls, oblique synth modulations ricocheting through phased echo chambers, and tight shuffling drum patterns winding down vast expanses of empty space. What I got sounded more like a bunch of irritating r `n' b vocals slathered over second-rate glitch beats, pressed onto a record then dragged through the mud and rubbed over the erogenous zones of every record reviewer from here to the river Thames. This description is not merely intended to be clever or cruel. I like some glitch and, yes, even some r `n' b; however, this album manages to take the most annoying elements of both genres. The vocals consist mainly of those grating, emotionally-effusive moments of pop r `n' b filler tracks endlessly looping through goofy envelope filters without the slightest regard for pitch or melody. The beats all sound like those extraneous Clicks and Cuts tracks that somehow feel off-beat even though they were made with midi sequencers--those tracks that you automatically skip past because listening to them gives you the uneasy feeling of ogling a passerby whose walk is impaired by a severe physical disability. From there, the producer only adds insult to injury, throwing in some reverb-laden drones to make it sound deep, sprinkling on some gurgling static textures to make it seem experimental, and all the while the insipid r `n' b crooning never ceases!
From beginning to end, "Untrue" feels like trying on a pair of painfully skinny low-rise jeans under the buzz of flickering fluorescent lights in a dingy fitting room as two different radio stations blare from both sides in a nauseating cacophony of diva trills and rock riffs. I suppose my rather harsh opinion ultimately comes down to individual taste. I put my trust in a myriad of reviewers (on Amazon and in dozens of respectable music magazines) whose tastes evidently differ dramatically from my own. Clearly something about this album is deeply affecting people, and I don't want to take that away from anyone. But in my own humble opinion, this is one of the most overrated albums of the decade, and with the passage of time, I imagine it will be perceived as such alongside indie-rock artsy-fartsy noodlers, Animal Collective. Believe the hype if you like, but the album's title says it all.
Dull and Vacuous March 10, 2008
Nickolas Gucker (Seattle, WA United States)
6 out of 13 found this review helpful
This is one of the worst albums I've had the displeasure of hearing in some time. The entire albumn is like a tease or a extended prelude or intro to a song that never happens and goes nowhere. Every beat is almost exactly the same (with slight treatment variations) except for the song "rave" which is 4/4 beat - uninspired really. I do like some of the atmospheric sounds and noise, but its way subtle and does nothing to move any of the songs forward or beyond meandering. I've read all the reviews here and thought this was going to be somthing big, deep and dark but it felt like it hardly got outta' bed. It's dull and repetative. The stale sounding beats conflict with the low level atmospherics and the male/female voice stuff is pointless and laughable. Are there any actual lyrics? Nothing about this is dark or deep, more like the cover colors of the albumn, gray and dull.
I'm a huge fan of Portishead, DJ Shadow, DJ Spooky,Third Eye Foundation, Final, Aphex Twin, Massive Attack and Tricky. Does this compair to any or one of these mentioned? Not even close. One song by DJ Spooky contains more atmopherics than this whole albumn. The first track (all 5 sec. of it) was useless. The first time you hear the beat kick in, it's kinda interesting in it's sycopation, but the same or similar beat is used on almost every track. There is no bass or back bone to the track's and the meandering nature of music and voices (do the voices say anything beyond Ohh, Ahh, Hey and such?). Oh, did I mention that the Vocoder get's used too? Uhg, this effect was old when Cher used it, and Daft Punk over-uses it to annoyance. The voices are sparse and at times come across in an "Alvin and the Chipmunks" fashion that pulls you out of the "atmospherics" within the tracks. I get what this artist is going for, but much of this is so backround and forgettable that that I really am flumoxed over the praise that this is getting. Each track goes nowhere and leaves you with no impression. I'd rather listen to the actual evening sounds than this contrivance and ill representation of anything remotely trippy dub drool. I was fooled by the cover art as well, but maybe I should have paid attention better to the graphic of what looks like some fellah' in a hoodie falling alseep waiting for his coffee to cool down, because I certainly felt this way while listening to this. zzzzzzzz.
 IF you like THIS... April 3, 2008
R. MARK Plummer (From the Former USA)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Message to adventurous explorers of the music kingdom who enjoy the music on "Untrue" by Burial... let me point you on down the road a bit to something else you will probably enjoy when you are ready:
Burial is sampling here, building collages with those samples, making a lot of references to loss and betrayal and showing us some bleak, dimly lit urban landscapes.
If you have a taste for that, check out a CD titled Streamer by Nils Petter Molvaer. He creates big, dark, echoing expanses and decorates them with angular neon spikes and urban textures. Molvaer has several tasty CDs in this vein. Khmer is another favorite, though it is hard to choose from all the delicious music Molvaer has recorded.
Another artist from Europe doing a similar style (to Molvaer) is horn player Erik Truffaz. You won't find as much cut and paste sampling of vocal tracks but the spaces and textures are similar. Try Saloua for a good taste of his "urban spaces at twilight."
Finally, though not quite as dark (or you could maybe say a bit more optimistic) you might try "Melange Bleu" from Lars Danielsson. This is sliding over into jazz territory a little. The sonic spaces are still expansive, the bass still pumps, the urban vibe is still very present and periodically a mysterious voice calls out across dimly lit landscapes.
Enjoy... well if "enjoy" is the correct term for music that tends toward solitary dimly lit introspection. Shuffling around in the dark here, hmmm, think I dropped my keys somewhere.
 Great mood piece, but too repetitive April 23, 2008
musicfan (Somerville, MA USA)
6 out of 9 found this review helpful
This appears to be one of those albums which would appeal more to critics than to the general, album-buying public. I think it's a unique work, very evocative and moody, meticulously crafted and produced, nicely blending dubstep and R & B, simultaneously dirty and crystaline in structure. Yet each track sounds, to my ears, very much like the previous one. Of course there are differences and shifts, but their subtlety relegates this work as one for studied, rather than for casual, listening. It struck me very similar in temperament and tone to Plasticman's "Consumed" from 10 yrs back. Ultimately, after repeated listens, I found too little movement between or within the songs on this album for me to recommend it or place it in heavy rotation, and though I do appreciate the artist's contribution in forwarding/expanding the genre, I think Burial's "Untrue" is overrated by critics.
 Ghost in the Machine December 22, 2007
Sean Anders (Athens, Ohio)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I imagine this is what a vast intelligence hears when synthesizing data excavated from long abandoned hardware after a mass diaspora of Earth. This is what they pieced together.
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