Howl is the third studio album by British electronic musician Ryan Lee West, performed under his stage name Rival Consoles. It was released on 16 October 2015, by Erased Tapes Records.[13]
| Howl | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 16 October 2015 | |||
| Genre | Electronic[1] | |||
| Length | 41:37 | |||
| Label | Erased Tapes | |||
| Producer | Ryan Lee West | |||
| Rival Consoles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 7.3/10[2] |
| Metacritic | 80/100[3] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| The 405 | 8/10[4] |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Crack Magazine | 7/10[5] |
| Exclaim! | 9/10[6] |
| Loud and Quiet | 8/10[7] |
| MusicOMH | [8] |
| Pitchfork | 7.7/10[9] |
| PopMatters | 8/10[10] |
| The Skinny | [11] |
| Resident Advisor | [12] |
Critical reception
editHowl was met with "generally favorable" 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 80 based on 9 reviews.[3] Aggregator Album of the Year gave the release a 75 out of 100 based on a critical consensus of 12 reviews.[14]
Daryl Keating of Exclaim! wrote: "Howl is a well-crafted structure, built on the foundation laid by its predecessors. It's certainly the pinnacle of West's career so far, and up there for electronic album highlight of year." He also explained: "Every note, beat and chord progression is chosen carefully and played with purpose in order to draw genuine feeling out of these cold electronics. The result is a vast, thoughtful record that leaves a deep impression in its wake[6] Reef Younis of Loud and Quiet explained: "Textural and tempered, it's a third album that has more in common with Jon Hopkins and James Holden's droning electronica but there's still plenty in play for 'Howl' to stand in the exalted ambient company of Erased Tapes labelmates like Nils Frahm and Ólafur Arnalds."[7]
Accolades
edit| Publication | Accolade | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Exclaim! | Top 10 Electronic Albums of 2015 | 10[15]
|
| Loud and Quiet | Top 40 Albums of 2015 | 25[16]
|
| XLR8R | Best of 2018 | 15[17]
|
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Howl" | Ryan Lee West | 6:02 |
| 2. | "Ghosting" | Ryan Lee West | 4:29 |
| 3. | "Afterglow" | Ryan Lee West | 3:38 |
| 4. | "Pre" | Ryan Lee West | 5:14 |
| 5. | "Walls" | Ryan Lee West | 4:18 |
| 6. | "Low" | Ryan Lee West | 4:20 |
| 7. | "3 Laments" | Ryan Lee West | 2:05 |
| 8. | "Morning Vox" | Ryan Lee West | 5:06 |
| 9. | "Looming" | Ryan Lee West | 6:25 |
Personnel
edit|
Musicians
|
Production
|
References
edit- ^ a b Simpson, Paul. "AllMusic Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- ^ "AnyDecentMusic? Review". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- ^ a b "Metacritic Review". Metacritic. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- ^ Moss, William (5 October 2015). "The 405 Review". The 405. Archived from the original on 28 November 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- ^ "Crack Magazine Review". Crack Magazine. 19 October 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- ^ a b Keating, Daryl (14 October 2015). "Exclaim! Review". Exclaim!. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- ^ a b Younis, Reef (October 2015). "Loud and Quiet Review". Loud and Quiet. Archived from the original on 2 November 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- ^ Johnson, Steven (22 October 2015). "MusicOMH Review". MusicOMH. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- ^ Bromwich, Jonah (22 October 2015). "Pitchfork Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- ^ Chandler, Simon (18 October 2015). "PopMatters Review". PopMatters. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- ^ Harman, Duncan (6 October 2015). "The Skinny Review". The Skinny. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- ^ Fallon, Patric (15 November 2015). "Resident Advisor Review". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- ^ Unicomb, Matt (25 August 2015). "Erased Tapes lines up album from Rival Consoles". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- ^ "Album of the Year Review". Album of the Year. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- ^ "Exclaim!'s Top 10 Electronic Albums of 2018". Exclaim!. 9 December 2015. Archived from the original on 11 December 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- ^ Stubbs, Stuart (December 2015). "Top 40 Albums of 2015". Loud and Quiet. Archived from the original on 13 December 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- ^ "XLR8R's Best of 2015". XLR8R. Retrieved 2 December 2020.