''Sextet'' is the third album by English band
A Certain Ratio
A Certain Ratio (abbreviated as ACR) are an English post-punk band formed in 1977 in Flixton, Greater Manchester by Peter Terrell (guitar, electronics) and Simon Topping (vocals, trumpet), with additional members Jez Kerr (bass, vocals), Martin ...
, released in 1982 by record label
Factory
A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. ...
. It is the first album by the band not to be produced by
Martin Hannett
James Martin Hannett (31 May 1948 – 18 April 1991), initially credited as Martin Zero, was an English record producer, musician and an original partner/director at Tony Wilson's Factory Records. Hannett produced music by artists including Joy ...
.
The album spent eleven weeks in the
UK Independent Chart
The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rele ...
, peaking at number 1.
[Lazell, Barry (1997) ''Indie Hits 1980–1989'', Cherry Red Books, , p. 1]
Critical reception
The album generally received critical acclaim. Writing in ''
Smash Hits'' on the album's release in January 1982, Dave Rimmer noted that the album featured "dense and gloomy pieces", suitable for "the bleak mid-winter". He gave the album an overall 6 out of 10.
The Quietus
''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics.
Content
''The Quietu ...
called it "a visionary musical statement" and "arguably their greatest moment
..Not since
PIL's dominant
'''
Metal Box
''Metal Box'' is the second studio album by Public Image Ltd, released by Virgin Records on 23 November 1979. The album takes its name from the round metal canister which contained the initial pressings of the record. It was later reissued in ...
''
' had a band so seamlessly traversed such an unexpectedly broad musical landscape."
called the album "a masterpiece
..a mesmerizing blend of ethnic rhythms and ghostly production that really sounds like nothing else."
Douglas Wolk of
Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...
thought that the album "still sounds like no other record: either that era's creepiest, boggiest dance album or its funkiest smear of brittle art-noise."
''
Uncut
Uncut may refer to:
* ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship
* ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997
* '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...
'' magazine praised the record for its "taut, abrasive swagger," as well as its blend of
funk and
world music influences.
''
Exclaim!'' critic Kevin Hainey described it as "a strong ACR album from start to finish", and wrote that Tilson's vocals "give the band a somewhat airier, more soulful feel, and the added attention to African rhythms only slightly relieves their trademark tension."
Nevertheless, ''
Trouser Press
''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...
'' gave an unfavourable review to the album, writing: "There's no real focus to the discoid beats and wailing female vocals (Martha Tilson); ACR don't seem especially motivated by the music they're making."
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
critic Keith Farley thought that the record "upped the energy of A Certain Ratio's dour minimalist dance." Farley also stated "the electronics and rhythms are still curiously apart from song structure for the most part, making for an oddly distanced record."
Track listing
All tracks composed by A Certain Ratio
# "Lucinda" – 3:56
# "Crystal" – 2:55
# "Gum" – 2:59
# "Knife Slits Water" – 7:34
# "Skipscada" – 2:10
# "Day One" – 6:12
# "Rub Down" – 3:43
# "Rialto" – 3:45
# "Below the Canal" – 3:59
Personnel
Album personnel as adapted from album liner notes.
;Musicians
* Donald Johnson
* Jeremy Kerr
* Martha Tilson
* Martin Moscrop
* Peter Terrell
* Simon Topping
;Other personnel
* A Certain Ratio – production
* Phil Ault –
engineering
Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...
* EG –
mastering
* Steve McGarry – artwork
* Denis Ryan – artwork painting
Chart positions
;Album
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
1982 albums
A Certain Ratio albums
Factory Records albums
New wave albums by English artists
Funk albums by English artists
Dance music albums by English artists