Logos is an admirably worn, carefully composed record detailing a kaleidoscope of sound.
For much of the album Cox manages the great alchemy of pairing inventiveness with a far-reaching pop sensibility and the result is richly rewarding. In short, when Logos hits its stride it’s nothing short of brilliant.
Logos is still a predominantly insular affair and all the better for it, with his aching melodies and ethereal arrangements pushing open the doors to a remarkably vivid inner world.
Logos feels familiar and assuring, another affecting dispatch from a corner of indie music that is increasingly starting to seem like one Cox pretty much owns.
Logos is the first time that an Atlas Sound project has cohered as something fully outside of Deerhunter.
As the rest of the album testifies, Cox doesn’t need a helping hand in crafting undeniable pop—he’s doing just fine on his own.
Cox may have tagged Atlas Sound as just another side-project, but ‘Logos’ is a clear indication that his solo creative output is just as richly rewarding as what came before.
Logos is a gorgeous, hallucinatory and somewhat sickly outing.
Only when he retreats to familiar gauzy gurgles does Logos lose focus. Hopefully, Cox will learn to love it here, outside his shell.
Logos, while just the second solo album from the frontman for a band of marginal fame, represents the latest and greatest chapter in Cox’s ride to indie stardom.
Logos is an interesting look at Bradford Cox’s personality this week, but with the way he releases music and keeps talking, who knows where he’ll be next week. Here’s to hoping it’ll be something as good as “Walkabout”.
Though it cedes little of the hazy delivery that made Let the Blind… so compelling, Logos brims with a wide-eyed energy all its own, conveying a palpable sense of optimism that’s all too rare in Cox’s oeuvre.
Logos doesn't displace Microcastle as Cox's masterwork to date. But it's an intriguing, often beautiful addition to a rapidly expanding body of work that has seemingly boundless potential.
On the sunbathed “Shelia,” Cox manages something truly rare for even the most dedicated students of bedroom psychedelia: a genuine pop chorus.
Though his long-running solo project has hitherto been a private sketchbook of laptop doodles, for this latest release Atlas Sound engages with the widerworld to great effect.
Cox has plenty of great ideas but is sometimes handicapped by his unending stream of output; in the past year alone, he has issued 11 releases between Deerhunter and Atlas Sound, including EPs. Compared to what Cox is really capable of, Logos just seems like practice.
In the best (and worst) ways, this album takes me back to 2009. I was hopelessly and utterly in love with my best friend at the time (it was unrequited afaik), I was top of my class at university (I was dumb as shit), I was loving living in the city (I just wanted my mum), and I was loving life in general (I tried to kill myself). Ah, well. I think it at least stops me from rating yet another album 100.
Wisdom is learnt.
Bradford Cox adapts his songwriting talents into an even more psychedelic sound palette. Influences could easily be traced to Animal Collective (Panda Bear himself appears as a guest vocalist), but "Logos" adds enough fresh sounds into the mix that the influence isn't worn too much on his sleeve and "Logos" is an oddball, fun and beautiful record overall.
Fav Tracks: Walkabout, Shelia, Criminals, Attic Lights, Kid Klimax, The Light That Failed, Quick Canal
Least Fav Track: ... read more
While there are a lot of cool production ideas on this project, a lot of it is washed out in reverb in a way that makes everything blend together in a washy amorphous mass of sound and its not all that enjoyable to listen to. There are small sparks of well executed ideas throughout this album, especially in the album opener, but for the most part its just pretty mediocre.
Best songs: The Light That Failed, Walkabout, Quick Canal, Washington School
Meh songs: An Orchid, Criminal, Attic Lights, ... read more
It’s very obviously inspired by animal collective and is still somehow better than anything animal collective has released since 2009. The features go crazy and so do most of these songs
1 | The Light That Failed 4:47 | 94 |
2 | An Orchid 3:05 | 92 |
3 | Walkabout 3:58 with Panda Bear | 98 |
4 | Criminals 2:55 | 96 |
5 | Attic Lights 3:44 | 85 |
6 | Shelia 3:32 | 96 |
7 | Quick Canal 8:38 with Lætitia Sadier | 97 |
8 | My Halo 3:16 | 86 |
9 | Kid Klimax 2:59 | 83 |
10 | Washington School 3:25 | 83 |
11 | Logos 3:28 | 96 |
#8 | / | Tiny Mix Tapes |
#10 | / | Treble |
#11 | / | The Line of Best Fit |
#18 | / | Pitchfork |
#19 | / | Stereogum |
#20 | / | Beats Per Minute |
#24 | / | FACT Magazine |
#29 | / | Drowned in Sound |
#31 | / | No Ripcord |
#48 | / | NME |