Ruins (Grouper album)

Ruins
Studio album by Grouper
Released October 31st, 2014
Recorded 2004 (track 8), 2011 (tracks 1-7)[1]
Genre Ambient, psychedelic folk
Length 39:41
Label Kranky
Producer Liz Harris
Grouper chronology
The Man Who Died in His Boat
(2013)		 Ruins
(2014)

Ruins is the 10th studio album by ambient musician Grouper, released in the U.S. on October 31, 2014, on Kranky Records.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic80/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Clash(9/10)[4]
Consequence of Sound(B)[5]
Drowned in Sound(8/10)[6]
The Line of Best Fit(9/10)[7]
musicOMH[8]
Pitchfork Media(8.8/10)[9]
Tiny Mix Tapes[10]

Upon its release, Ruins received mostly favorable reviews by music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album holds an average score of 80, indicating "generally favorable reviews", based on 19 reviews.[2] Philip Sherburne of Pitchfork Media gave the album 8.8/10, and awarded it the site's 'Best New Music' title.[9] The tracks "Call Across Rooms" and "Holding" were also awarded Pitchfork's 'Best New Track' status.[11][12] and named it the 5th best album of 2014.

Recording

While Liz Harris was staying in Portugal at Sérgio Hydalgo’s aunt's house, she was listening to records by Carlos Paredes, Nina Simone and Leonard Cohen.[13]

Harris described the recording of the album in a statement:

“ Ruins was made in Aljezur, Portugal in 2011 on a residency set up by Galeria Zé dos Bois. I recorded everything there except the last song, which I did at mother's house in 2004. Iʼm still surprised by what I wound up with. It was the first time Iʼd sat still for a few years; processed a lot of political anger and emotional garbage. Recorded pretty simply, with a portable 4-track, Sony stereo mic and an upright piano. When I wasnʼt recording songs I was hiking several miles to the beach. The path wound through the ruins of several old estates and a small village. The album is a document. A nod to that daily walk. Failed structures. Living in the remains of love. I left the songs the way they came (microwave beep from when power went out after a storm); I hope that the album bears some resemblance to the place that I was in.[14] ”

The "microwave beep" occurs at the end of "Labyrinth".

For "Call Across Rooms", Harris stated that "the song is on one level very plain and literal, about a letter I wrote for someone I loved and could not get along with. On a more subconscious, poetic level, it is a letter to myself, as aspiration to love better." [15]

Track listing

All music composed by Liz Harris.

No. Title Length
1. "Made of Metal"   1:39
2. "Clearing"   4:42
3. "Call Across Rooms"   2:59
4. "Labyrinth"   3:48
5. "Lighthouse"   5:44
6. "Holofernes"   1:33
7. "Holding"   7:57
8. "Made of Air"   11:24
Total length:
 39:41

References

  1. ↑ Gordon, Jeremy (14 August 2014). "Grouper Announces New Album Ruins". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Ruins - Grouper". Metacritic. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  3. ↑ Phares, Heather. "Grouper - Ruins". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  4. ↑ Diver, Mike. "Grouper - Ruins". Clash. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  5. ↑ Corcoran, Nina (28 October 2014). "Grouper – Ruins". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  6. ↑ Lewis, Sam. "Album Review: Grouper - Ruins". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  7. ↑ Nelson, Adam (28 October 2014). "Grouper - Ruins". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  8. ↑ Paton, Daniel. "Grouper - Ruins". musicOMH. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  9. 1 2 Sherburne, Philip (28 October 2014). "Grouper: Ruins". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  10. ↑ Beane, Pat. "Grouper - Ruins". Tiny Mix Tapes. Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  11. ↑ Geffen, Sasha (10 September 2014). "Grouper: "Call Across Rooms"". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  12. ↑ Minsker, Evan (24 October 2014). "Grouper: "Holding"". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  13. ↑ Finlayson, Angus. "“I felt incapable of finding love”: Grouper opens up about isolation and her stunning new album Ruins". FACT Magazine. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  14. ↑ Gordon, Jeremy (14 August 2014). "Grouper Announces New Album 'Ruins'". Pitchfork Media.
  15. ↑ Alex, Frank. "Listen to Grouper’s Lullaby of a New Song, "Call Across Rooms"". Vogue. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
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