Noir (Blue Sky Black Death album)

Noir
Studio album by
Blue Sky Black Death
ReleasedApril 26, 2011 (2011-04-26)[1]
GenreInstrumental hip hop
Length62:48
LabelFake Four Inc.
ProducerBlue Sky Black Death
Blue Sky Black Death chronology
Third Party
(2010) 		Noir
(2011) 		Glaciers
(2013)

Noir (stylized as NOIR) is a studio album by American hip hop production duo Blue Sky Black Death. It was released on Fake Four Inc. in 2011.[1]

Release

Noir was originally released on Fake Four Inc. on April 26, 2011.[1] Screwed versions of several of the tracks were released on Blue Sky Black Death's Bandcamp, as Noir + Violet.[2] Later, the group also released a deluxe digital reissue of the album, titled Noir Dlxe, which includes the screwed versions, four alternate tracks from the original Noir release, and three more tracks, for a total of 29 tracks at a length of more than 2 hours.[3]

In 2013, a limited-run two-disc vinyl pressing was done, featuring the original track listing, two alternates, as well as a previously unreleased track, "Thirteen", which does not appear on the deluxe digital release. It also features a new album cover. It was followed by a later re-pressing in 2014. A 10-year vinyl reissue was announced in March 2021.[4]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Alarmfavorable[5]
Beats Per Minute81/100[6]
Pitchfork7.5/10[7]
URB[8]

Brett Uddenberg of URB gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "a brilliant culmination of reverb-coated keys and lush string arrangements".[8] Marc Hogan of Pitchfork gave the album a 7.5 out of 10, writing: "Using an impressively nuanced deployment of strings, piano, and guitar as well as drum loops and hazy synths, the album has a patient, steady beauty, ranging from glowing panoramas evoking M83 to the classical-informed abstraction of Anticon acts like Dosh and Son Lux."[7] Tom Harrison of Alarm described it as "an album of hazy instrumental beats that skirt the boundary between hip hop and electronica."[5] Will Ryan of Beats Per Minute said, "they set out on another scratchy, emotionally momentous odyssey of gigantic synth melodies with a deluge of shape-shifting samples ranging from mournful vocal washes to chirping orchestral arrangements backed by stomping mid-tempo drum programming."[6]

Track listing

Noir (original edition)
No.TitleLength
1."Our Hearts of Ruin"5:32
2."Sleeping Children Are Still Flying"6:00
3."And Stars, Ringed"5:10
4."To the Ends of the Earth"3:54
5."Farewell to the Former World"5:34
6."Falling Short"1:46
7."Gold In Gold Out"5:20
8."Where Do We Go"4:37
9."In the Quiet Absence of God"2:05
10."Where the Sun Beats"4:45
11."Starry"4:39
12."Fire for Light"3:53
13."Swords from Driftwood"2:46
14."Sky with Hand"6:40
Total length:62:48
Noir + Violet (digital edition)
No.TitleLength
1."Our Hearts of Ruin (Screwed Up)"6:59
2."Sleeping Children Are Still Flying (Screwed Up)"7:35
3."And Stars, Ringed (Screwed Up)"6:32
4."Farewell to the Former World (Screwed Up)"7:01
5."Gold In, Gold Out (Screwed Up)"6:44
6."Where the Sun Beats (Screwed Up)"6:00
7."Swords from Driftwood (Screwed Up)"3:30
8."Sky with Hand (Screwed Up)"8:25
Total length:52:46
Noir Dlxe (digital edition)
No.TitleLength
1."Our Hearts of Ruin"5:32
2."Sleeping Children Are Still Flying"6:00
3."And Stars, Ringed"5:10
4."To the Ends of the Earth"3:54
5."Farewell to the Former World"5:34
6."Falling Short"1:46
7."Gold In Gold Out"5:20
8."Where Do We Go"4:37
9."In the Quiet Absence of God"2:05
10."Where the Sun Beats"4:45
11."Starry"4:39
12."Fire for Light"3:53
13."Swords from Driftwood"2:46
14."Sky with Hand"6:40
15."Sleeping Children Are Still Flying (Alternate)"3:50
16."Gold In Gold Out (Alternate)"5:17
17."Our Hearts of Ruin (Alternate)"4:00
18."And Stars, Ringed (Alternate)"1:16
19."Our Hearts of Ruin (Screwed Up)"6:59
20."Sleeping Children Are Still Flying (Screwed Up)"7:35
21."And Stars, Ringed (Screwed Up)"6:32
22."Farewell to the Former World (Screwed Up)"7:01
23."Gold In, Gold Out (Screwed Up)"6:44
24."Where the Sun Beats (Screwed Up)"6:00
25."Swords from Driftwood (Screwed Up)"3:30
26."Sky with Hand (Screwed Up)"8:25
27."Small Moment"3:59
28."To Hold and Hope"3:58
29."Waters Clear as Heave"2:17
Total length:140:11
Noir (vinyl reissue edition)
No.TitleLength
1."Our Hearts of Ruin"5:32
2."Sleeping Children Are Still Flying"6:00
3."And Stars, Ringed"5:10
4."To the Ends of the Earth"3:54
5."Farewell to the Former World"5:34
6."Falling Short"1:46
7."Gold In Gold Out"5:20
8."Where Do We Go"4:37
9."In the Quiet Absence of God"2:05
10."Where the Sun Beats"4:45
11."Starry"4:39
12."Fire for Light"3:53
13."Swords from Driftwood"2:46
14."Sky with Hand"6:40
15."Thirteen"13:00
16."To Hold and Hope"3:58
17."Sleeping Children Are Still Flying (Alternate)"3:50
18."Gold In Gold Out (Alternate)"5:17
Total length:88:53

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.

  • Blue Sky Black Death – instrumentation, arrangement, recording, mixing
  • Raised by Wolves – additional musical contributions (1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13 14)
  • Rob Harris – vocals (3, 4, 8)
  • Shaprece Renee – vocals (7, 12)
  • Alexander Chen – viola (9, 11, 12), vocals (12)
  • Tim Green – artwork, layout

References

  1. ^ a b c "Noir | Blue Sky Black Death". Bandcamp. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  2. ^ "Noir + Violet | Blue Sky Black Death". Bandcamp. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  3. ^ "Noir Dlxe | Blue Sky Black Death". Bandcamp. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  4. ^ @0younggod0 (11 March 2021). "Register" (Tweet). Retrieved 23 March 2021 – via Twitter.
  5. ^ a b Harrison, Tom (16 May 2011). "Beats & Rhymes: Blue Sky Black Death's Noir". Alarm. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  6. ^ a b Ryan, Will (8 June 2011). "Blue Sky Black Death – Noir". Beats Per Minute. Archived from the original on 27 May 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  7. ^ a b Hogan, Marc (24 May 2011). "Blue Sky Black Death: Noir". Pitchfork. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  8. ^ a b Uddenberg, Brett (9 May 2011). "Blue Sky Black Death – NOIR". URB. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
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