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Far (album)

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Untitled

Far is the fifth studio album by American alternative singer-songwriter Regina Spektor, released in Europe through Sire Records on June 22, 2009 and North America on June 23, 2009[1] The album's first single, "Laughing With", was uploaded to Spektor's MySpace page[2] on May 8 and was released as a digital download on May 18 in the United States and parts of Europe, along with the b-side "Blue Lips". Two viral videos for "Dance Anthem of the 80s" and "Eet" were also released on Spektor's MySpace account.[3] The official music video for "Laughing With" was released on iTunes on May 26, 2009. A special edition of the album was released with two bonus tracks and a DVD, which included four music videos.

Track listing

No.TitleProducer(s)Length
1."The Calculation"Mike Elizondo3:11
2."Eet"Mike Elizondo3:52
3."Blue Lips"Jeff Lynne3:34
4."Folding Chair"Jeff Lynne3:35
5."Machine"Mike Elizondo3:55
6."Laughing With"Jacknife Lee3:17
7."Human of the Year"David Kahne4:07
8."Two Birds"Jacknife Lee3:18
9."Dance Anthem of the 80's"Jacknife Lee3:43
10."Genius Next Door"Jeff Lynne5:06
11."Wallet"Jeff Lynne2:28
12."One More Time with Feeling"David Kahne3:59
13."Man of a Thousand Faces"Mike Elizondo3:11
Deluxe Edition
No.TitleProducer(s)Length
14."Time Is All Around"Mike Elizondo3:06
15."The Sword & the Pen"Jeff Lynne3:48
iTunes bonus track version
No.TitleProducer(s)Length
14."Time Is All Around"Mike Elizondo3:06
15."The Sword & the Pen"Jeff Lynne3:48
16."Riot Gear" 2:06
17."The Flowers (Live, Begin to Hope Tour)[Pre-order only]"  

Chart performance

Far entered the official UK Albums Chart at number 30[4] It also sold 50,000 copies in its first week, entering the US Billboard 200 number three. In the Canadian Albums Chart, Far debuted at number 16. The album has spent nineteen weeks on the Billboard 200, and currently sits at #198.

Chart Peak
position
Australian ARIA Album Chart[5] 10
Austrian Album Chart[6] 41
Belgium Album Chart (Flanders)[7] 37
Canadian Albums Chart[8] 16
European Top 100[9] 82
French Album Chart[10] 99
Irish Album Chart[11] 24
New Zealand Album Chart[12] 38
Swedish Album Chart 8
Swiss Album Chart[13] 53
Billboard 200[14] 3
UK Albums Chart[15] 30

Reception

Bevan of 'Spin' writes that Spektor, in ‘The Calculation,’ '...purrs a scenario of love and hurt that plays out in the breakfast nook,...'[16] Powers of the 'LA Times' states of ‘Eet’ : 'It's not just cute.'[17] Maerz of 'EW' states of ‘Folding Chair’ that she 'literally sings like a dolphin...' and that ‘Wallet’ is the 'best song ever inspired by a Blockbuster card.'[18] Dolan of 'Rolling Stone' opines that ‘Laughing With’ is a song that '...ends collapsing in an existential freakout over a soft beat and weeping cello.'[19] MacKay of 'NME' believes that ‘Human Of The Year’ has 'a typically Spektorian conceit' and her 'remarkable, gutsy voice vaults to the rafters of heartbreak'.[20] Skinner of 'Insounds' calls ‘Genius Next Door’ 'the only song on here to exceed the five-minute mark,...' and a 'spiralling Gothic narrative that comes on with all the otherworldly beauty of a Haruki Murakami story...'. The album does not aim at 'at ideas above its station' nor does it 'flounder in search of unity.'[21] Regarding 'Man of a Thousand Faces', Neibaur of Frequency feels that the 'pathos of the lyrics is still strong enough to make the Incredible Hulk tear up a bit'.[22]

Blacklow of 'Access Hollywood' calls the album a 'wonderful soothing summer sound'.[23] Lewis of the 'Cord Weekly' writes that 'Spektor delivers gloomy tales of turmoil, complemented by slow, haunting piano notes that could just as easily accompany a horror film.'.[24] Overall, Snyder of the 'New Haven Advocate' considers that she's 'redirected some of that freaky stuff, tweaked and perfected it, to a new place where it fits better.' and that the songs are 'sometimes kind of serious.'[25] Niebaur of Frequency, states that 'Far pleases every auditory appetite.'[22] At the metacritical level, 'Far' has achieved a 74 quotient, which signifies 'generally favorable reviews'.[26]

According to Niebaur,'The stark contradictions of critics relating to Spektor exemplify a larger problem in modern music criticism—very few writers truly analyze music from an artistic perspective any longer.'[22] In a June 24, 2009 interview, Spektor remarked that: "I mean, in this book, it's music criticism from the 19th century, and they're ripping Tchaikovsky a new asshole, but the thing that really gets me is that it's written so beautifully. It's nasty reviews in beautiful language, and that's what I want," she says. "My dad will forward me some of the stuff people write about me, and I think it's all bullshit. It's all, 'Oh, this sucks, that sucks, blah.' I don't want that. I want you to write poetically about how bad I suck." [27]

Music videos

Thus far, four music videos have been released and can be viewed on her MySpace. These videos are also available on a bonus DVD included with the deluxe version of the album.

  • "Laughing With"[28]
  • "Eet"[29]
  • "Dance Anthem of the '80s"[30]
  • "Man of a Thousand Faces"[31]

References

  1. ^ "Regina Spektor Announces New Album, Far". April 13, 2009.
  2. ^ "Regina Spektor on MySpace". May 8, 2009.
  3. ^ "Dance Anthem of the 80s Video on MySpace". May 8, 2009.
  4. ^ . June 29, 2009 UK Album Chart http://uk.launch.yahoo.com/c/uk/album_charts.html, UK Album Chart. {{cite news}}: Check |url= value (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ^ "Australian Record Industry Assocation". Ariacharts.com.au. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
  6. ^ "oe3.ORF.at / Woche 27 / 2009". Charts.orf.at. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
  7. ^ "Ultratop Belgian Charts". ultratop.be. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
  8. ^ "CANOE - JAM! Music SoundScan Charts". Jam.canoe.ca. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
  9. ^ [1][dead link]
  10. ^ "Disque en France". Disque en France. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
  11. ^ ">> IRMA << Irish Charts - Singles, Albums & Compilations >>". Irma.ie. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
  12. ^ "RIANZ". RIANZ. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
  13. ^ Steffen Hung (2009-07-19). "Regina Spektor - Far". swisscharts.com. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
  14. ^ Kaufman, Gil (2009-07-01). "Black Eyed Peas Top Non-Jackson Album Sales On Billboard - News Story | Music, Celebrity, Artist News | MTV News". Mtv.com. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
  15. ^ "UK Music Charts | The Official UK Top 75 Albums: Week of Mon 05 Oct - Yahoo! Music UK". Uk.launch.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
  16. ^ Login or Register to post comments. "''Retrieved 18-07-2009''". Spin.com. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
  17. ^ June 22, 2009  (2009-06-22). "''Retrieved 18-11-2009''". Latimesblogs.latimes.com. Retrieved 2009-10-10. {{cite web}}: Text "  7:14 pm" ignored (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ Maerz, Melissa. "''Retrieved 18-11-2009''". Ew.com. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
  19. ^ (Posted: Jun 22, 2009) (2009-06-22). "''Retrieved 18-11-2009''". Rollingstone.com. Retrieved 2009-10-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  20. ^ "''Retrieved 18-07-2009''". Nme.com. 2009-06-23. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
  21. ^ Skinner, James (2009-06-23). "''Retrieved 18-11-2009''". Drownedinsound.com. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
  22. ^ a b c About the Author (2008-08-25). "''Retrieved 01-08-2009''". Frequencymagazine.net. Retrieved 2009-10-10. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  23. ^ Blacklow, Jeremy (2009-06-28). "''Retrieved 18-11-2009''". Accesshollywood.com. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
  24. ^ Retrieved 18-07-2009[dead link]
  25. ^ By Dan Barry09/24/2009 (2009-06-23). "''Retrieved 18-07-2009''". Newhavenadvocate.com. Retrieved 2009-10-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  26. ^ "''Retrieved 18-07-2009''". Metacritic.com. 2009-06-23. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
  27. ^ Montgomery, James (2009-06-24). "''Retrieved 18-11-2009''". Mtv.com. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
  28. ^ "Video Laughing With van regina spektor - MySpace Video". Vids.myspace.com. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
  29. ^ "Video Eet van regina spektor - MySpace Video". Vids.myspace.com. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
  30. ^ "Video Dance Anthem of the 80s van regina spektor - MySpace Video". Vids.myspace.com. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
  31. ^ "Video Man of a Thousand Faces van regina spektor - MySpace Video". Vids.myspace.com. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
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