Big Red Machine

Big Red Machine - Big Red Machine
Critic Score
Based on 12 reviews
2018 Ratings: #563 / 890
User Score
Based on 249 ratings
2018 Rank: #493
Liked by 8 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

88
Paste

The themes running through Big Red Machine are rarely uplifting, but there’s unmistakable joy in the music here, a deep care and love for what they were creating and how they got to create it.

80
The Guardian

Any sense that this is minor work, just a bit of tooling about with your mates before a proper album, quickly evaporates.

75
A.V. Club

Big Red Machine is a testament to their individual interests in glitchy improv and emotive delivery.

70
Pitchfork

The debut collaboration of Justin Vernon and Aaron Dessner is gorgeous and ponderous, a document of a creative process that feels a bit like watching someone get purposefully lost.

70
AllMusic

More a headphones-type album than a radio-friendly one, what emerges are still songs before compositions or productions, though they may appeal to the more explorative indie rockers.

70
Slant Magazine

Big Red Machine is still best appreciated not as part of the general progression of either artist's catalog, but as a document of casual creativity.

64
Sputnikmusic

Songs begin on an idea and vamp on it long past the point of no return, stretching an EP's worth of brilliant moments into an album.

60
Rolling Stone

Shorn of backstory, Big Red Machine sounds like Bon Iver and The National freestyling with friends, drinks and vape pens.

50
Consequence of Sound

There are moments when it feels admirable in its scope and ambition, but ultimately, the pure intentions get lost in the noise.

prets
52

Here and elsewhere, Dessner will create a near-Afrobeat rhythm on a drum machine, topped by jazzy fills from live drummer JT Bates. This funky approach is best realised on the truly excellent Lyla, a polyrhythmic shuffle anchored once again by Vernon’s sure-footed melody and his calm take on James Brown’s “Uh!” picking out the on-beat. Hymnostic and I Won’t Run From It, meanwhile, are best-of classics of Vernon’s more traditional songwriting style. The ... read more

KingIsCole10
72

There are some tracks I revisit quite a bit. These are Gratitude, Lyla, Forest Green and I Won't Run From It. Not great but these tracks are pretty good.

Slush_Puppy
83

Fantastic folktronica.

The majority of the tracks on here are based around filtered out electronic drum loops and the production builds upon this loop with guitar, synths and additional percussion, very similarly to 10 d E A T h b R E a s T ⚄ ⚄ from 22, A Million. This album is nowhere near the same level of experimental nature as 22, A Million but is still a great listen.

KierforaReview
76

Justin Vernon & Aaron Desner team up for a lush & overblown debut.

Deep Green - 80
Gratitude - 75
Lyla - 80
Air Stryp - 60
Hymnostic - 80
Forest Green - 85
OMBD - 70
People Lullaby - 75
I Won't Run From It - 85
Melt - 65

85

This feels like a continuation of what Bon Iver started with 22, A Million, and though perhaps disjointed at times I'm all here for that. This album is best for its standout tracks (Deep Green, Gratitude, Lyla, Forest Green, OMDB, and I Won't Run From It) as opposed to its entirety as an album but still good.

dimsefox
67

a decent and even sometimes fun listen, but ulitmately fails to stand out to me personally.

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Track List

1Deep Green
3:59
73
2Gratitude
5:56
76
3Lyla
5:10
78
4Air Stryp
2:03
69
5Hymnostic
3:02
81
6Forest Green
5:49
79
7OMDB
7:42
74
8People Lullaby
5:23
78
9I Won't Run From It
3:38
85
10Melt
4:05
66
Total Length: 46 minutes

Year End Lists

#22/Paste
#45/Far Out Magazine
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Added on: July 12, 2018