Noir (Blue Sky Black Death album)
From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia
| Noir | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | April 26, 2011[1] | |||
| Genre | Instrumental hip hop | |||
| Length | 62:48 | |||
| Label | Fake Four Inc. | |||
| Producer | Blue Sky Black Death | |||
| Blue Sky Black Death chronology | ||||
| ||||
Noir (stylized as NOIR) is a studio album by American hip hop production duo Blue Sky Black Death. It was released on Fake Four Inc. in 2011.[1]
Release
[edit]Noir was originally released on Fake Four Inc. on April 26, 2011.[1] Screwed versions of several of the tracks were released on Blue Sky Black Death's Bandcamp, as Noir + Violet.[2] Later, the group also released a deluxe digital reissue of the album, titled Noir Dlxe, which includes the screwed versions, four alternate tracks from the original Noir release, and three more tracks, for a total of 29 tracks at a length of more than 2 hours.[3]
In 2013, a limited-run two-disc vinyl pressing was done, featuring the original track listing, two alternates, as well as a previously unreleased track, "Thirteen", which does not appear on the deluxe digital release. It also features a new album cover. It was followed by a later re-pressing in 2014. A 10-year vinyl reissue was announced in March 2021.[4]
Critical reception
[edit]| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Alarm | favorable[5] |
| Beats Per Minute | 81/100[6] |
| Pitchfork | 7.5/10[7] |
| URB |   [8] |
Brett Uddenberg of URB gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "a brilliant culmination of reverb-coated keys and lush string arrangements".[8] Marc Hogan of Pitchfork gave the album a 7.5 out of 10, writing: "Using an impressively nuanced deployment of strings, piano, and guitar as well as drum loops and hazy synths, the album has a patient, steady beauty, ranging from glowing panoramas evoking M83 to the classical-informed abstraction of Anticon acts like Dosh and Son Lux."[7] Tom Harrison of Alarm described it as "an album of hazy instrumental beats that skirt the boundary between hip hop and electronica."[5] Will Ryan of Beats Per Minute said, "they set out on another scratchy, emotionally momentous odyssey of gigantic synth melodies with a deluge of shape-shifting samples ranging from mournful vocal washes to chirping orchestral arrangements backed by stomping mid-tempo drum programming."[6]
Track listing
[edit]| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Our Hearts of Ruin" | 5:32 |
| 2. | "Sleeping Children Are Still Flying" | 6:00 |
| 3. | "And Stars, Ringed" | 5:10 |
| 4. | "To the Ends of the Earth" | 3:54 |
| 5. | "Farewell to the Former World" | 5:34 |
| 6. | "Falling Short" | 1:46 |
| 7. | "Gold In Gold Out" | 5:20 |
| 8. | "Where Do We Go" | 4:37 |
| 9. | "In the Quiet Absence of God" | 2:05 |
| 10. | "Where the Sun Beats" | 4:45 |
| 11. | "Starry" | 4:39 |
| 12. | "Fire for Light" | 3:53 |
| 13. | "Swords from Driftwood" | 2:46 |
| 14. | "Sky with Hand" | 6:40 |
| Total length: | 62:48 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Our Hearts of Ruin (Screwed Up)" | 6:59 |
| 2. | "Sleeping Children Are Still Flying (Screwed Up)" | 7:35 |
| 3. | "And Stars, Ringed (Screwed Up)" | 6:32 |
| 4. | "Farewell to the Former World (Screwed Up)" | 7:01 |
| 5. | "Gold In, Gold Out (Screwed Up)" | 6:44 |
| 6. | "Where the Sun Beats (Screwed Up)" | 6:00 |
| 7. | "Swords from Driftwood (Screwed Up)" | 3:30 |
| 8. | "Sky with Hand (Screwed Up)" | 8:25 |
| Total length: | 52:46 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Our Hearts of Ruin" | 5:32 |
| 2. | "Sleeping Children Are Still Flying" | 6:00 |
| 3. | "And Stars, Ringed" | 5:10 |
| 4. | "To the Ends of the Earth" | 3:54 |
| 5. | "Farewell to the Former World" | 5:34 |
| 6. | "Falling Short" | 1:46 |
| 7. | "Gold In Gold Out" | 5:20 |
| 8. | "Where Do We Go" | 4:37 |
| 9. | "In the Quiet Absence of God" | 2:05 |
| 10. | "Where the Sun Beats" | 4:45 |
| 11. | "Starry" | 4:39 |
| 12. | "Fire for Light" | 3:53 |
| 13. | "Swords from Driftwood" | 2:46 |
| 14. | "Sky with Hand" | 6:40 |
| 15. | "Sleeping Children Are Still Flying (Alternate)" | 3:50 |
| 16. | "Gold In Gold Out (Alternate)" | 5:17 |
| 17. | "Our Hearts of Ruin (Alternate)" | 4:00 |
| 18. | "And Stars, Ringed (Alternate)" | 1:16 |
| 19. | "Our Hearts of Ruin (Screwed Up)" | 6:59 |
| 20. | "Sleeping Children Are Still Flying (Screwed Up)" | 7:35 |
| 21. | "And Stars, Ringed (Screwed Up)" | 6:32 |
| 22. | "Farewell to the Former World (Screwed Up)" | 7:01 |
| 23. | "Gold In, Gold Out (Screwed Up)" | 6:44 |
| 24. | "Where the Sun Beats (Screwed Up)" | 6:00 |
| 25. | "Swords from Driftwood (Screwed Up)" | 3:30 |
| 26. | "Sky with Hand (Screwed Up)" | 8:25 |
| 27. | "Small Moment" | 3:59 |
| 28. | "To Hold and Hope" | 3:58 |
| 29. | "Waters Clear as Heave" | 2:17 |
| Total length: | 140:11 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Our Hearts of Ruin" | 5:32 |
| 2. | "Sleeping Children Are Still Flying" | 6:00 |
| 3. | "And Stars, Ringed" | 5:10 |
| 4. | "To the Ends of the Earth" | 3:54 |
| 5. | "Farewell to the Former World" | 5:34 |
| 6. | "Falling Short" | 1:46 |
| 7. | "Gold In Gold Out" | 5:20 |
| 8. | "Where Do We Go" | 4:37 |
| 9. | "In the Quiet Absence of God" | 2:05 |
| 10. | "Where the Sun Beats" | 4:45 |
| 11. | "Starry" | 4:39 |
| 12. | "Fire for Light" | 3:53 |
| 13. | "Swords from Driftwood" | 2:46 |
| 14. | "Sky with Hand" | 6:40 |
| 15. | "Thirteen" | 13:00 |
| 16. | "To Hold and Hope" | 3:58 |
| 17. | "Sleeping Children Are Still Flying (Alternate)" | 3:50 |
| 18. | "Gold In Gold Out (Alternate)" | 5:17 |
| Total length: | 88:53 | |
Personnel
[edit]Credits adapted from liner notes.
- Blue Sky Black Death – instrumentation, arrangement, recording, mixing
- Raised by Wolves – additional musical contributions (1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13 14)
- Rob Harris – vocals (3, 4, 8)
- Shaprece Renee – vocals (7, 12)
- Alexander Chen – viola (9, 11, 12), vocals (12)
- Tim Green – artwork, layout
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Noir | Blue Sky Black Death". Bandcamp. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ "Noir + Violet | Blue Sky Black Death". Bandcamp. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
- ^ "Noir Dlxe | Blue Sky Black Death". Bandcamp. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
- ^ @0younggod0 (11 March 2021). "Register" (Tweet). Retrieved 23 March 2021 – via Twitter.
- ^ a b Harrison, Tom (16 May 2011). "Beats & Rhymes: Blue Sky Black Death's Noir". Alarm. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ a b Ryan, Will (8 June 2011). "Blue Sky Black Death – Noir". Beats Per Minute. Archived from the original on 27 May 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ a b Hogan, Marc (24 May 2011). "Blue Sky Black Death: Noir". Pitchfork. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ a b Uddenberg, Brett (9 May 2011). "Blue Sky Black Death – NOIR". URB. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
