Robert Christgau: Dean of American Rock Critics

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Keren Ann

  • Nolita [Metro Blue, 2005] B
  • Keren Ann [Metro Blue, 2007] *

Consumer Guide Reviews:

Nolita [Metro Blue, 2005]
I know melancholy is as universal as joy, and considerably more common to boot, but that's no reason to celebrate it. After all, the same can be said of sloth and will. And while this Javanese-Dutch-Russian-Israeli French succès d'estime obviously isn't lazy--you think pinpoint arrangements come naturally?--the languor she encourages in her quiet cult is the kind of privilege that feels like an accomplishment to Nick Drake and Sylvia Plath fans. I say it's static; I say it gets a person nowhere. At least Norah Jones swings. A little. B

Keren Ann [Metro Blue, 2007]
Music to pretend you're having sophisticated casual sex to, only remember--you're not actually that sophisticated ("Lay Your Head Down," "It Ain't No Crime"). *

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