Kelley Stoltz - Circular Sounds

Reviews of Circular Sounds

Rating Summary
n/a by www.drownedinsound.com While Circular Sounds isnt quite the modern sound of the American west coast, it feels very much like the classic sound of California: a sound left blissfully alone by the stresses and rigours of a modernity forever on the move. Read more
n/a by www.dustedmagazine.com Circular Sounds takes the craft aspect to a higher level. Stoltzs early records were scrappy, guitar-centric home recordings, and his previous LP, Below the Branches, was a piano-dominated, primary colors affair, but this one is a study in how to blend signifiers and sonorities so that they enhance each other. Read more
n/a by www.uncut.co.uk Circular Sounds is a collection of snappy, mildly psychedelic, instantly memorable songs, delivered with an unfussy and becoming modesty. Read more
n/a by www.avclub.com Circular Sounds is brimming with unidentifiable gasps and skronks, and while it occasionally seems like Stoltz, a longtime advocate of home recording, spends a little too much time knee-deep in obscure noisemakers, his scrappiest tracks are also his best. Read more
n/a by Rolling Stone Sure, it might be nice if Stoltz could innovate more with his influences, like the Pet Sounds impressionism of Panda Bear's Person Pitch. But flashbacks this vivid are good enough for now. Read more
n/a by www.musicomh.com From beginning to end Circular Sounds feels familiar. And with only one track (just) over four minutes, Stoltz holds true to pop convention in length as well as arrangements. Read more
n/a by Pitchfork Media Circular Sounds can feel impersonal, especially in how Stoltz hopscotches from voice to voice, some far stronger than others. Read more
n/a by Popmatters Stoltz knows that sometimes the best way through anything, from hangovers to hopelessness, requires just good pop, a steady beat and the sound that everythings okay. Thats what he does very well. Read more
n/a by arts.guardian.co.uk In this bruised, romantic world, waking up with hangovers and noticing the empty side of the bed is the norm; for people experiencing or remembering similar situations, this is a nice aural comforter. Read more
n/a by www.austinchronicle.com It's very catchy, but the center doesn't hold. Read more
n/a by www.tinymixtapes.com Except for the admittedly awesome surf-rock instrumental 'Reflecting,' theres nothing done on Circular Sounds that you cant find done better on old vinyl, battered mixtapes, and (shudder) Counting Crows albums. Read more