Jump to content

Actor (album): Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
Chartbot (talk | contribs)
Repairing broken Billboard URLs. Contact Kww if there are problems. 500 edit limit for this run. Made 2 replacements
Addbot (talk | contribs)
m Bot: Migrating 1 interwiki links, now provided by Wikidata on d:q4677715
Line 176: Line 176:
[[Category:Albums produced by John Congleton]]
[[Category:Albums produced by John Congleton]]
[[Category:Baroque pop albums]]
[[Category:Baroque pop albums]]

[[sv:Actor]]

Revision as of 07:44, 20 March 2013

Untitled

Actor is the second album by musician St. Vincent, released by 4AD on May 4, 2009, in the United Kingdom and a day later in the United States. The first single released was "Actor Out of Work" that April.[1] St. Vincent wrote the album using the computer music application GarageBand.[2]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic link
The AV ClubA− link
Blender link
Drowned in Sound8/10 link
Entertainment WeeklyA link
Paste77% link
Pitchfork Media8.5/10 link
PopMatters7/10 link
Robert Christgau(1-star Honorable Mention)[3]
Rolling Stone link
Spin link
Tiny Mix Tapes link

The album received wide critical acclaim.[4] Pitchfork Media gave the album an 8.5/10 rating and a "Best New Music" tag, praising the concept and describing the sound as "melodic and controlled, conjuring abrasive textures that nevertheless have a clean, meticulous quality that complements her immaculate arrangements."

The AV Club's review called the album a departure from St. Vincent's debut, noting an absence of "the coy, conventional pop winks of Marry Me; even Actor’s lovelier moments come tinged with down-the-rabbit-hole danger." Clark has "found her own voice—and it's one you wouldn't want reading your kids any bedtime stories."

Other reviewers, such as Entertainment Weekly and AllMusic, praised the album's contrast of melodic pop and distorted guitars with dark lyrics.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Annie Clark

CD
No.TitleLength
1."The Strangers"4:05
2."Save Me from What I Want"3:35
3."The Neighbors"3:31
4."Actor Out of Work"2:15
5."Black Rainbow"4:11
6."Laughing With a Mouth of Blood"3:02
7."Marrow"3:24
8."The Bed"3:43
9."The Party"4:05
10."Just The Same But Brand New"5:24
11."The Sequel"1:54
iTunes bonus track
No.TitleLength
12."Oh My God"4:29
Amazon bonus track
No.TitleLength
12."Bicycle"3:19

 

Side A
No.TitleLength
1."The Strangers"4:05
2."Save Me from What I Want"3:35
3."The Neighbor"3:31
4."Actor Out of Work"2:15
5."Black Rainbow"4:11
6."The Sequel"1:54
Side B
No.TitleLength
1."Laughing With a Mouth of Blood"3:02
2."Marrow"3:24
3."The Bed"3:43
4."The Party"4:05
5."Just The Same But Brand New"5:24

Personnel

Singles

  • "Actor Out of Work" (April 20, 2009)
    1. "Actor Out of Work"
    2. "Bicycle"
  • "Marrow" (November 2, 2009)
    1. "Marrow"
    2. "Oh My God"

Sales chart performance

Chart (2009) Peak
position
UK Albums Chart[5] 161
U.S. Billboard 200[6] 90
U.S. Alternative Albums[6] 20
U.S. Independent Albums[6] 9
U.S. Rock Albums[7] 48

References

  1. ^ "St. Vincent Announces New Album: Actor". Pitchfork Media. Archived from the original on 8 April 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-21. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ "Annie Clark Acts Out for Second". Billboard.com. On "Actor," Clark's writing process was esoteric. She used Apple's GarageBand software to orchestrate the elaborate, whimsical arrangements, then worked backward to create pop melodies and lyrics. "I didn't write it on guitar, I didn't write it on piano. It was really, really weird," she says.
  3. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Actor". Robert Christgau.
  4. ^ Actor reviews at Metacritic.com. Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
  5. ^ Chart Log UK – Chart Coverage and Record Sales 2009 and Special Single-File Version. Zobbel.de. Retrieved on 2010-11-30.
  6. ^ a b c St. Vincent, Billboards.com, May 23, 2009
  7. ^ St. Vincent, Billboards.com, May 23, 2009

Actor at MusicBrainz (list of releases)