''IV'' is the fourth studio album from Canadian

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

instrumental hip hop band

BadBadNotGood BadBadNotGood (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian instrumental band and Hip hop production, production team from Toronto, Canada. The group was founded in 2010 by bassist Chester Hansen, keyboardist Matthew Tavares, and drummer Alexander Sowinsk ...

. It was released on July 8, 2016. It features collaborations with Future Islands frontman Sam Herring, saxophonist Colin Stetson, Haitian-Canadian musician Kaytranada, American hip hop artist Mick Jenkins, and Canadian singer-songwriter Charlotte Day Wilson. It is also the band's first album to feature longtime touring partner and collaborator Leland Whitty as a formal member of the band.

Background and recording

In an interview with Howl & Echoes, the band described ''IVs conception and recording process: With the album's cover art, Katie Hawthorne of '' The Skinny'' said: "Every single instrument used is listed with pride on the record's cover, and the andstand chests bare, towels around waists, bro-ing out."

Critical reception

''IV'' received favorable reviews from contemporary music critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

score of 77, based on 16 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Mackenzie Herd of ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

'' praised the album, stating, "Each song possesses rhythmic and melodically intricate properties that sound somehow both rehearsed and spontaneous. So, while ''IV'' is extraordinary for delivering fresh music that elaborates on their past work, it feels particularly exceptional because of its forward momentum." Paul Simpson of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

gave the album a favorable review, stating, "It's easy to see why BBNG are the type of jazz group that appeals to people who normally don't care for jazz. They're music lovers, first and foremost, and they're directly in tune with what's happening in the music world. They blend numerous influences and don't conform to any traditions. More than anything, their music is exuberant and immensely enjoyable." Carl Purvis of ''No Ripcord'' praised the vocals of Herring and Wilson, concluding that: "BBNG have always been fluent and sonically articulate, but enlisting the talents of suitable vocalists to thicken their smokescreen strengthens their suit." Jamie Milton of '' DIY'' was more critical of the album, stating, "There’s not a great deal tying these songs together, aside from BBNG’s pursuit of the new. Collaborations aren’t here to generate headlines or set pulses racing - each serves its own noble purpose. Taken on their own, each track solidifies the group’s wild imagination, but ''IV'' is tough to stomach as the free-flowing, full-bodied juggernaut that it is."

Accolades

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. ;BadBadNotGood * Matthew Tavares – piano (1, 4, 7, 11),

Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...

(2, 8, 9, 10), CS-60 (1, 9), crumar (3, 10), bass guitar (1),

drum machine A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...

(1), Polysix (2), auxiliary synthesizer (5), Juno-60 (6); engineer, mixing * Chester Hansen – bass guitar (1–8, 10, 11), CS-60 (4–6, 8), piano and crumar (2), Yamaha organ (5), acoustic bass (9) * Alexander Sowinski – drums, percussion (1, 4–6, 11),

vibraphone The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using Percussion mallet, mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone ...

(10) * Leland Whitty – electric guitar (3, 5, 8, 10), acoustic guitar (5, 10), tenor saxophone (1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 11), flute (1, 2, 6, 10, 11), bass clarinet (1, 6), soprano saxophone (1, 6), violin (10, 11), CS-60 (1), clarinet (1), vibraphone (1), alto saxophone (2) ;Additional contributors * Colin Stetson – bass saxophone (4), tenor saxophone (4) * Kaytranada – CS-60 (5), percussion (5) *Tom Moffat – trumpet and trombone (11) * Sam Herring – vocals (3) * Mick Jenkins – vocals (8) * Charlotte Day Wilson – vocals (10) *Stephen Koszler – mixing *João Carvalho – mastering

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2016 albums BadBadNotGood albums Innovative Leisure albums Electronic albums by Canadian artists Contemporary R&B albums by Canadian artists Lounge music albums