★★★★★
Hype can be an intoxicating thing. But it can also be toxic. Take a look at the still-nascent career arc of Toronto R&B singer the Weeknd. In 2010, the artist (whose real name, we now know, is Abel Tesfaye) posted three songs on YouTube, which got immediate support from fellow Torontonian Drake, and effusive praise from New York Times critic Jon Caramanica by month's end. The following March, he released his debut mixtape House of Balloons, which promptly exploded...
- www.popmatters.com
2014-07-16
★★★★★
If anything, Jungle knows how to market itself. In 2013, the London-based collective whose founding two members mysteriously referred to themselves as "J and T," debuted with an expertly choreographed video for its single "Platoon." In it, then 6-year-old breakdancer B-girl Terra spins and dances to the smoky, future R&B; track...
- www.avclub.com
2014-07-15
★★★★★
In the summer of 2013, an anonymous UK production duo only known by the initials of J and T released a 7" under the name of Jungle. From this side of the Atlantic, there was a bit of an eye roll: anonymous Brits who are taken with the sound of pirate radio jungle rendered back when they were just weens...
- pitchfork.com
2014-07-15
★★★★★
Naming their outfit after an entirely unrelated genre was never going to optimise Jungle's search engine results. But this tactic fits with the electronic duo's initial reluctance to reveal themselves. Now we know they're two white guys from west London and that their debut album is as classy and accomplished a dose of aerated disco-funk as their early releases (Platoon, Busy Earnin') suggested...
- www.theguardian.com
2014-07-13
★★★★★
This British duo's debut full-length is an excellent set of retro-futuristic electro-funk with shimmering keyboards, funky guitar lines, rubbery beats, layered falsetto vocals and lyrics detailing the modern inner-city blues. 7/11/2014
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- kexp.org
2014-07-12
★★★★★
Jungle are that rare type of group that already possess the rock solid musical knowhow alongside the resourcefulness that usually comes from the exuberance of youth; maybe it's because the UK duo wear their influences so vibrantly on their sleeves. After the success of their first three singles ("The Heat," "Platoon" and "Busy Earnin'"), Jungle retain that unbridled mix of funk, post punk and techno on their self-titled debut LP...
- exclaim.ca
2014-07-12
★★★★★
Jungle emerged last year with a song called The Heat. It had a loose-limbed swagger, a mixture of funk and dance music, of the Rapture, Curtis Mayfield and Disclosure. It was also a little mysterious. It sounded like it was made in Manhattan but in fact it came from west London. It was euphoric, but also mannered. It was the sound of a large band, but the work of two members known only by their initials, J and T. This debut album sees those elements stretched across 12 songs...
- www.theguardian.com
2014-07-11
★★★★★
Shrouded in a shrinking degree of anonymity, Jungle - a collective of musicians centered on Josh Lloyd-Watson and Tom McFarland, two producers who until recently were known only as J and T -- managed to erupt in the United Kingdom on the basis of a few well-choreographed videos set to a string of catchy electro-funk singles...
- consequenceofsound.net
2014-07-15
★★★★★
The notion of revelling in mystique has enjoyed an increased prevalence in music of late: acts from Burial and How To Dress Well to The Weeknd and Blood Cultures have drummed up pandemonium from stockpiling dry ice, anonymously dropping songs on SoundCloud and various enigmatic multimedia projects. Yet, as Polonius found in , there are drawbacks to concealment: let us not forget WU LYF, who got many, many people very, very excited largely on the basis of their initial press-avoidance, but...
- www.drownedinsound.com
2014-07-09