Backstroke

Matthew Dear | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 13, 2004)
• Original Release Date: 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Spectral Sound
• ASIN: B0002C2PSG
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #248,173 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Minimalist avenue please, no stops, September 10, 2004

By 

Ian Fleming (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Backstroke (Audio CD)

A great continuation where "Leave luck to heaven" left off. I've collected and followed alot of the artists on Ghostly for the past few years and I've never been dissapointed. Taking over where the mentor Richie Hawtin left off "Backstroke" is solid minimalist techno with interesting lyrics making for a really enjoyable experience weather your just chilling at home or itching to get up dance -- it's all there for you to make it your own.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Worthy Album., February 11, 2008

By 

Gary Peterson (San Diego, California USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Backstroke (Audio CD)

I've been listening to techo/electronica music for over a decade and I enjoy it very much. I'm not sure why. It just appeals to me where I'm at the present time. As such, I buy up a lot of CDs that I have no knowledge of whatsoever. I enjoy some very much and others I store away never to be played again. I purchased Matthew Dear's "Leave Luck to Heaven" in this way after reading a short review in Rolling Stone. I was blown away by the recording and became a Dear fan from the first playing. "Heaven," in fact, was so good that it prompted my first Amazon review. Naturally, I purchased "Backstroke" as soon as it became available.

"Backstroke" was a disappointment. It's not that it was a bad recording. In fact, it's rather good. The only sin of "Backstroke" was that it didn't live up to my glowing expectations derived from Dear's first CD. As such, I put off reviewing "Backstroke," I got tied up with a bunch of other more pressing matters, and several years drifted by. Then I purchased and reviewed the "Audion (Suckfish)," "Asa Breed" and "False 2007" CDs. I just love listening to this stuff! Except, I now recognize that I greatly prefer Dear's "instrumental" pieces, and I don't particularly care for Dear's vocals. Well, that's just a personal preference and others may feel quite differently. In any case, the time has come to go back to Dear's "Backstroke" and give it another listen.

"Backstroke" is a good CD. Well done. Pleasant listening. If I weren't familiar with Dear's other recordings, I'd give it five stars. It certainly ranks well above most of the other electronica I listen to. However, this CD doesn't live up to Dear's recordings, specifically, "Heaven," Suckfish" and False 2007," in my opinion. I'd say that "Hide" and "Takes on You" are the best tracks. I burn out quickly on "And In the Night." All but two tracks feature Dear vocals, and I find his vocals distracting from listening to the very interesting electronic progressions he lays down. It's a good album, very worthy, probably better than the four stars I'm giving it.

Gary Peterson

4.0 out of 5 stars Matthew Dear - Backstroke, February 28, 2011

By 

scoundrel - See all my reviews

This review is from: Backstroke (Audio CD)

BACKSTROKE is another album of bizarro-house from Matthew Dear, one of the few who can make bizarro-house work. So even after a minute and a half of noise at the beginning of "Another," we get the track that we'd been waiting for, a digital bit of clickery that doesn't entirely give up the noise. His vocals come the fore in "Tide," but the deep bass hits of "Takes On You" that take you into the horn-like blasts of sound are more distinctive. The wooziness of "Grut Wall" and the dizziness of "Huggy's Parade" help both of those stand out as well. But on some levels, this album isn't as focused as LEAVE LUCK TO HEAVEN. But when you get a track as sleazily disco as "And in the Night," why nitpick?