Unpatterns
Studio album by
Simian Mobile Disco
Released14 May 2012 (2012-05-14)
GenreElectronic, tech house
Length51:29
LabelWichita
ProducerJames Ford, Jas Shaw
Simian Mobile Disco chronology
Delicacies
(2010)		 Unpatterns
(2012)		 A Form of Change EP
(2012)

Unpatterns is the third studio album by English electronic music duo Simian Mobile Disco, released on 14 May 2012 by Wichita Recordings.

Cover

The deluxe edition of the CD was released with a back to front CD case. The reason for this is that the "rear" cover, which is screen printed with a set of wavy lines, together with the reverse-packed printed CD, form a moiré pattern which can be manipulated by rotating the CD in its case.[1]

Release

The album was released on 14 May 2012 in the UK. The entire album was also released for free online through SoundCloud on the same day.[2] In February, as a taster before the release, they posted the two-minute track "Fourteenth Principles" on their SoundCloud account.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic69/100[3]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[4]
Clash6/10[5]
Drowned in Sound8/10[6]
The Guardian[7]
The Independentfavourable[8]
Pitchfork Media6.2/10[9]
Resident Advisor4/5[10]

Unpatterns received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 69, based on 22 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[3] Lauren Strain of Drowned in Sound described the general sound of the album as "gigantic, open-armed, open-air pop, and femur-fracturing analogue techno". She commented on the "dark, uneasy undercurrent that gives everything, even the more straightforward party tracks, an edge of the ominous", stating that "this tightly controlled sense of threat, syringed out in timed doses, has always been SMD's strength"; opining overall that "Unpatterns is not without fault – the closing trio of tracks is forgettable – but it contains perhaps some of the pair's best work, and anyone who loved the nastier side of Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release but balked at Delicacies' measured gore should get back on board".[6]

Phelan Laurence of The Independent called the tracks on the album are "solid, polished [and] dancefloor-friendly", through did find that "it's only on 'Put Your Hands Together' that we're reminded of their nifty way with a vocal hook".[8] The Guardian's Paul MacInnes felt that "a lot of time has been spent on this record, and it shows: every tone has the clarity of applied refinement", stating that "this lends the album a degree of beauty, one reinforced by the delicacy of the songs' composition". He did, however, find that the album was "one step removed from club music", stating that barring a couple of tracks, "the rest is music in which to lose your thoughts, rather than your T-shirt".[7] Joe Rivers of Clash found that while the album did contain "The hallmarks of Simian Mobile Disco", in that the beats and loops utilised felt the same, he felt the lack of vocals on the album was a problem, stating that "many of the tracks just feel like they're missing a vital component"; concluding "the individual components sound fantastic, but high audio quality does not a good record make".[5]

Track listing

All tracks are written by James Ford and Jas Shaw, except where noted

No.TitleLength
1."I Waited for You"4:30
2."Cerulean"6:48
3."Seraphim"3:49
4."A Species Out of Control"5:18
5."Interference"6:39
6."Put Your Hands Together" (Ford, Shaw, Jamie Lidell)7:20
7."The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife"5:00
8."Your Love Ain't Fair"5:10
9."Pareidolia"6:55
iTunes bonus track[11]
No.TitleLength
10."Everyday"5:34

Notes: • The CD release of Unpatterns the track “put your hands together” is misspelled as “PUT YOUR HANNDS TOGETHER”

Charts

Chart (2012) Peak
position
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[12] 100
Irish Indie Albums Chart[13] 20
UK Albums Chart[14] 74
UK Dance Albums Chart[15] 7
UK Indie Albums Chart[16] 12

References

  1. ↑ "Unpatterns (Deluxe CD Edition) by Simian Mobile Disco - CD". Boomkat. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  2. ↑ Murray, Robin (14 May 2012). "Stream: Simian Mobile Disco - Unpatterns". Clash Music. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  3. 1 2 "Unpatterns – Simian Mobile Disco". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  4. ↑ Kellman, Andy. "Unpatterns – Simian Mobile Disco". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  5. 1 2 Rivers, Joe (14 May 2012). "Simian Mobile Disco – Unpatterns". Clash. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  6. 1 2 Strain, Lauren (11 May 2012). "Simian Mobile Disco – Unpatterns". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 14 May 2012. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  7. 1 2 MacInnes, Paul (10 May 2012). "Simian Mobile Disco: Unpatterns – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  8. 1 2 Phelan, Laurence (13 May 2012). "Album: Simian Mobile Disco, Unpatterns (Wichita)". The Independent. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  9. ↑ Harvell, Jess (22 May 2012). "Pitchfork review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  10. ↑ Worthy, Stephen (8 June 2012). "Simian Mobile Disco - Unpatterns". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  11. ↑ "Unpatterns by Simian Mobile Disco". iTunes Store UK. Apple Inc. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
  12. ↑ "Simian Mobile Disco – Unpatterns" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  13. ↑ "Top 20 Indie Individual Artist Albums". Irish Recorded Music Association. 17 May 2012. Archived from the original on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
  14. ↑ "Official UK Albums Top 100". Official Charts Company. 26 May 2012. Archived from the original on 14 May 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  15. ↑ "2012 Top 40 Dance Albums Archive". Official Charts Company. 26 May 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  16. ↑ "2012 Top 40 Independent Albums Archive". Official Charts Company. 26 May 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
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