Cerebral Hemispheres is a studio album by American musician Larry Heard, released under his Mr. Fingers moniker. It was released on Alleviated Records on April 13, 2018,[1] and is his first studio album as Mr. Fingers since Back to Love in 1994.[2]
| Cerebral Hemispheres | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | April 13, 2018 | |||
| Genre | Electronic | |||
| Length | 100:06 | |||
| Label | Alleviated | |||
| Producer | Larry Heard | |||
| Mr. Fingers chronology | ||||
| ||||
Critical reception
edit| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 80/100[3] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| NPR | favorable[4] |
| The Observer |   [5] |
| Resident Advisor | 3.3/5[6] |
| Spectrum Culture | 3.25/5[7] |
| Spin | favorable[8] |
At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 80, based on 5 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[3]
Matt McDermott of Resident Advisor wrote, "Though it's billed as the return of Mr. Fingers, Cerebral Hemispheres feels like a culmination of all the music he's made as Larry Heard."[6] James Rettig of Stereogum described it as "an ambitious and sprawling album that crawls up to the two-hour mark, filled with lush and layered instrumentals that pull from soul and jazz and much more."[9] Paul Mardles of The Observer stated that the album "combines the two dominant strands of his oeuvre – ambient soundscapes that reach for the stars, and refined, jazz-flecked songs that possess a mournful quality."[5] He added, "while Cerebral Hemispheres won't win him new fans, it makes clear that, at 57, house's great survivor still has much to give."[5]
Pitchfork included the album on the "Best Electronic Music of 2018" list.[10]
Track listing
editAll tracks are written by Larry Heard, except where noted
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Full Moon" | 6:44 |
| 2. | "City Streets" | 6:30 |
| 3. | "Urbane Sunset" | 6:17 |
| 4. | "Sands of Aruba" | 4:39 |
| 5. | "Tiger Lounge" | 4:23 |
| 6. | "A Day in Portugal" | 5:28 |
| 7. | "Sao Paulo" | 4:56 |
| 8. | "Crying Over You" | 5:41 |
| 9. | "Cerebral Hemispheres" | 5:40 |
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Electron" | 6:09 | ||
| 2. | "Outer Acid" | 5:47 | ||
| 3. | "Inner Acid" | 5:30 | ||
| 4. | "Spy" | 4:51 | ||
| 5. | "Stratusfly" | Paul St. Hilaire | Larry Heard | 5:07 |
| 6. | "Nodyahed" | 5:56 | ||
| 7. | "Qwazars" | 5:41 | ||
| 8. | "Aether" | 6:14 | ||
| 9. | "Praise to the Vibes" | Nicole Wray | Larry Heard | 4:42 |
Personnel
editCredits adapted from liner notes.
- Larry Heard – vocals, electric bass, melodica, keyboards, sequence programming, drum programming, engineering, executive production
- Zachary McElwain – tenor saxophone ("Full Moon", "Urbane Sunset", "Sands of Aruba")
- Christopher Charles Jones – electric guitar ("City Streets"), acoustic guitar ("City Streets")
- Ed Finney – electric guitar ("Urbane Sunset")
- Tiffany D. Curry – vocals ("Sands of Aruba", "A Day in Portugal", "Crying Over You")
- Paul St. Hilaire – vocals ("Stratusfly")
- Rich Reigel – electric guitar ("Stratusfly")
- Nicole Wray – vocals ("Praise to the Vibes")
- Rene Gelston – executive production
- Jeremy Nealis – cover artwork
- Cristina Hernández Capetillo – graphic design
References
edit- ^ Rishty, David (February 13, 2018). "Veteran House Producer Larry Heard to Release First Studio Album as Mr. Fingers in Almost 25 Years". Billboard. Archived from the original on March 2, 2018. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
- ^ Monroe, Jazz; Yoo, Noah (February 13, 2018). "Larry Heard Announces First New Mr. Fingers Album in 24 Years". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on February 16, 2018. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
- ^ a b "Cerebral Hemispheres by Mr. Fingers". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on July 11, 2018. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
- ^ Orlov, Piotr (April 5, 2018). "Larry Heard Remains Boundless As He Returns As Mr. Fingers". NPR. Archived from the original on April 3, 2020. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
- ^ a b c Mardles, Paul (April 15, 2018). "Mr Fingers: Cerebral Hemispheres review – house survivor still going strong". The Observer. Archived from the original on April 27, 2018. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
- ^ a b McDermott, Matt (April 16, 2018). "Mr. Fingers - Cerebral Hemispheres". Resident Advisor. Archived from the original on May 2, 2019. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
- ^ Miyauchi, Ryo (April 22, 2018). "Mr. Fingers: Cerebral Hemispheres". Spectrum Culture. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
- ^ Beta, Andy (April 16, 2018). "Mr. Fingers Can Still Make the Dancefloor Quake". Spin. Archived from the original on February 1, 2020. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
- ^ Rettig, James (April 5, 2018). "Stream The First New Mr. Fingers Album In 24 Years". Stereogum. Archived from the original on June 16, 2018. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
- ^ "The Best Electronic Music of 2018". Pitchfork. December 13, 2018. Archived from the original on June 18, 2020. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
External links
edit- Cerebral Hemispheres at Discogs (list of releases)