Coin Coin Chapter Three: River Run Thee

Matana Roberts - Coin Coin Chapter Three: River Run Thee
Critic Score
Based on 9 reviews
2015 Ratings: #242 / 1021
User Score
Based on 104 ratings
2015 Rank: #483
Liked by 6 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
Tiny Mix Tapes

COIN COIN Chapter Three: river run thee is infinite and indispensable in its cultural worth and true-ly timeless and comprehensive in its scope. A masterwork of human history, still in progress.

82
Pitchfork

river run thee, the third installment, is a seamless solo improvisation for a panoply of electronics, a multitude of multi-tracked voices, and a small coterie of saxophones.

80
AllMusic

River Run Thee ups the ante in Roberts' project. It is initially elliptical, but its self-determination, unflinching courage, and intense focus and openness create an indefinable but living, breathing art.

75
Consequence of Sound

river run thee is the most challenging entry in her massive undertaking, but a truth like this shouldn’t be easy.

60
No Ripcord

Coin Coin Chapter Three successfully operates on so many intellectual and conceptual levels, but lacks visceral impact; inducing the listener into a “call for action,” but only from the distant, second-hand viewpoint of scattered diaspora.

60
Exclaim!
There is a macro sense of the theme(s), but the music barely executes the momentum of trance and the words rarely offer up a clear narrative.
GARRRR64
75

On its own, 'Coin Coin Chapter Three: River Run Thee' doesn't stand very tall, but it's an admirable jump to an entirely new sound for the Coin Coin series as a whole and works when listening to them in succession. If there's one thing you can count on Matana Roberts for, it's that she'll never let you guess her next move.

EMR
56

Matana continues her narrative in the Coin Coin series. After the excelent first part, she opted for structuring the work as a unique suite divided in the tracklisting as many small pieces, and the same construction appears on River Run Thee: a big musical piece divided into twelve separate items. This time around, though, Matana and her band drive the music towards a drone path, with many noise elements eventually popping in the mix and the often use of spoken-word. Even though there are some ... read more

Domk77
50

Some good, some bad.
Favorite Song: Dreamer of Dreams

GARRRR64
75

On its own, 'Coin Coin Chapter Three: River Run Thee' doesn't stand very tall, but it's an admirable jump to an entirely new sound for the Coin Coin series as a whole and works when listening to them in succession. If there's one thing you can count on Matana Roberts for, it's that she'll never let you guess her next move.

Domk77
50

Some good, some bad.
Favorite Song: Dreamer of Dreams

Phoenix
NR

‘River Run Thee' is the weakest chapter in the Coin Coin series because of its very unclear direction and lack of vividness.

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Contributions By
patton, thisisabtlgrnd, andymac, erik


Added on: December 31, 2014