Chemistry Lessons: Volume One is a studio album by British electronic musician Chris Carter. It was released on 30 March 2018, by Mute Records.[8]
| Chemistry Lessons: Volume One | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 30, 2018 | |||
| Genre | Electronic[1] | |||
| Length | 66:01 | |||
| Label | Mute | |||
| Chris Carter chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 81/100[2] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [1] |
| Exclaim! | 8/10[3] |
| Loud and Quiet | 8/10[4] |
| Pitchfork | 8/10[5] |
| PopMatters | 7/10[6] |
| Resident Advisor | 3.6/5[7] |
Release
editOn 9 January 2018, Carter announced the release of his first album in seventeen years, along with the first single "Blissters".[9] Speaking on the release, Carter explained:
"If there’s an influence on the album, it’s definitely ‘60s radiophonic. Over the last few years I’ve also been listening to old English folk music, almost like a guilty pleasure, and so some tracks on the album hark back to an almost ingrained DNA we have for those kinds of melodies. They’re not dissimilar to nursery rhymes in some ways."
Critical reception
editChemistry Lessons: Volume One was met with "universal acclaim" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 81 based on 11 reviews.[2] Aggregator Album of the Year gave the release a 77 out of 100 based on a critical consensus of 5 reviews.[10]
Paul Simpson of AllMusic explained the album was "created using a fusion of modular synthesizers, digital signal processing, drum machines, field recordings, and vocal manipulation." He also went on to say "the vocals on this album are androgynous, amorphous, and alien, and it's hard to tell if they're manipulated human voices or entirely synthetic."[1] Kevin Press from Exclaim! gave the release an 8 out of 10, noting "the 67-minute album features 25 remarkably accessible tracks. Carter has also incorporated treated vocals he's field-recorded from a variety of sources. It adds real dimension to the album."[3]
Accolades
edit| Publication | Accolade | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Bleep | Bleep's Top 10 Albums of 2018 | 5[11]
|
| Louder Than War | Louder Than War's Top 25 Albums of 2018 | 58[12]
|
| Mojo | Mojo's Top 75 Albums of 2018 | 43[13]
|
| The Quietus | The Quietus' Top 100 Albums of 2018 | 17[14]
|
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Blissters" | 2:49 |
| 2. | "Tangerines" | 2:00 |
| 3. | "Nineteen 7" | 2:06 |
| 4. | "Cernubicua" | 3:31 |
| 5. | "Pillars of Wah" | 2:19 |
| 6. | "Modularity" | 4:48 |
| 7. | "Field Depth" | 2:39 |
| 8. | "Moon Two" | 2:36 |
| 9. | "Durlin" | 2:57 |
| 10. | "Corvus" | 3:51 |
| 11. | "Tones Map" | 2:14 |
| 12. | "Dust & Spiders" | 1:40 |
| 13. | "Gradients" | 1:46 |
| 14. | "Lab Test" | 3:13 |
| 15. | "Shildreke" | 3:04 |
| 16. | "Uysring" | 2:02 |
| 17. | "Ghosting" | 2:52 |
| 18. | "Noise Floor" | 2:44 |
| 19. | "Post Industrial" | 3:18 |
| 20. | "Rehndim" | 2:20 |
| 21. | "Roane" | 2:01 |
| 22. | "Time Curious Glows" | 2:10 |
| 23. | "Ars Vetus" | 2:58 |
| 24. | "Hobbs End" | 2:05 |
| 25. | "Inkstain" | 1:58 |
Charts
edit| Chart (2018) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Scottish Albums (OCC)[15] | 75 |
| UK Independent Albums (OCC)[16] | 16 |
References
edit- ^ a b c Simpson, Paul. "AllMusic Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
- ^ a b "Metacritic Review". Metacritic. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
- ^ a b Press, Kevin (28 March 2018). "Exclaim! Review". Exclaim!. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
- ^ Cartledge, Luke (26 March 2018). "Loud and Quiet Review". Loud and Quiet. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
- ^ Dorris, Jesse (5 April 2018). "Pitchfork Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
- ^ Stasis, Spyros (19 March 2018). "Chris Carter Creates an Overarching Etude on Experimental Electronic Music with 'Chemistry Lessons Volume 1'". PopMatters. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
- ^ Sawers, Claire (8 May 2018). "Resident Advisor Review". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
- ^ Philp, Ray (10 January 2018). "Chris Carter announces first solo album in 17 years". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
- ^ Napier, Jack (9 January 2018). "New Chris Carter". The Quietus. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
- ^ "Album of the Year Review". Album of the Year. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
- ^ "Bleep's Top 10 Albums of 2018". Bleep.com. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
- ^ Babey, Ged (9 December 2018). "Albums of the Year". Louder Than War. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
- ^ "Mojo Magazine's Top 75 Albums of 2018". Mojo. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
- ^ Turner, Luke (25 December 2018). "The Quietus' Top 100 Albums of 2018". The Quietus. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
- ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
- ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 October 2020.