Shrines is the fourth studio album by American hip hop group Armand Hammer.[1] It was released via Backwoodz Studioz in 2020.[2] The album's cover is a photograph of a NYPD police officer about to tranquilize and capture the tiger Ming of Harlem.[3]
| Shrines | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | June 5, 2020 | |||
| Genre | Underground hip hop | |||
| Length | 43:13 | |||
| Label | Backwoodz Studioz | |||
| Producer |
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| Armand Hammer chronology | ||||
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Background
editBilly Woods and Elucid toured Europe as Armand Hammer in 2019.[4] While in Edinburgh, they started writing a song titled "Bitter Cassava" and made demos.[5] They recorded the song after they got back to New York City.[5] Once a few things were figured out, they started work on Shrines.[5]
Critical reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Pitchfork | 8.0/10[6] |
| The Quietus | favorable[7] |
| Stereogum | favorable[8] |
Eden Tizard of The Quietus stated that "Shrines sees a new kind of clarity takes shape, a departure from 2018's monolithic Paraffin."[7] He added: "Where production there was thick and volatile like boiled tar, Shrines is comparatively spacious, the density of the bars even more pronounced."[7] Tom Breihan of Stereogum described Shrines as "an album about people trying to build utopias on perilous and unstable piles of garbage."[8] He stated that "Armand Hammer take in the poison-cloud existential joke of a world around them, and they answer that joke with images as poetic as the tiger at the window."[8]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Bitter Cassava" (featuring Pink Siifu) | Earl Sweatshirt | 2:56 |
| 2. | "Solarium" | Navy Blue | 1:32 |
| 3. | "Charms" (featuring Keiyaa) | Child Actor | 2:37 |
| 4. | "Pommelhorse" (featuring Curly Castro) | August Fanon | 3:33 |
| 5. | "Leopards" (featuring Nosaj) | Fat Albert Einstein | 3:02 |
| 6. | "King Tubby" | Nicholas Craven | 3:25 |
| 7. | "Frida" (featuring Quelle Chris and Fielded) | Andrew Broder | 4:11 |
| 8. | "Slewfoot" |
| 3:19 |
| 9. | "War Stories" | Messiah Musik | 3:06 |
| 10. | "Flavor Flav" | Steel Tipped Dove | 2:45 |
| 11. | "Dead Cars" (featuring R.A.P. Ferreira) | Kenny Segal | 3:32 |
| 12. | "Parables" (featuring Akai Solo) | Navy Blue | 3:18 |
| 13. | "Ramses II" (featuring Moor Mother, Earl Sweatshirt, and Fielded) |
| 4:11 |
| 14. | "The Eucharist" | Messiah Musik | 1:46 |
| Total length: | 43:13 | ||
References
edit- ^ Terry, Josh (June 18, 2020). "Bandcamp Friday Is Back Supporting Artists and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund". Vice. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
- ^ "Pre-Order Armand Hammer's Shrines". Backwoodz Studioz. Archived from the original on September 1, 2020. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
- ^ Roberts-Grmela, Julian (July 22, 2020). "An Original Strain: Armand Hammer Interviewed". Clash. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
- ^ Groovement, Jamie (August 29, 2019). "On Tour: billy woods and Elucid Hit Europe as Armand Hammer". Bonafide Magazine. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
- ^ a b c Chesman, Donna-Claire (June 16, 2020). ""Fire Represents Power": Armand Hammer Are the Foundational Myth". DJBooth. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
- ^ Thompson, Paul A. (June 10, 2020). "Armand Hammer: Shrines". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
- ^ a b c Tizard, Eden (July 27, 2020). "Armand Hammer". The Quietus. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
- ^ a b c Breihan, Tom (June 10, 2020). "Armand Hammer Build A Utopia". Stereogum. Retrieved September 1, 2020.