John Maus
Addendum
Release Date: May 18, 2018
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock, New Wave/Post-Punk Revival
Record label: Ribbon Music
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Album Review: Addendum by John Maus
Very Good, Based on 2 Critics
Based on rating 7.4/10
John Maus doesn't want you to mistake his smarts for being pretentious. Sure, the cultishly adored synth-pop performer holds a Ph.D. in political philosophy and he isn't afraid to expound on subjects like Freud, the Enlightenment, and Michel Foucault's Theatrum Philosophicum in interviews that often read like thesis excerpts. But he also loves cartoons, preaches his admiration for pop music in its most accessible forms, and once explained, unsatisfyingly, that he unwittingly participated in an alt-right Adult Swim program because its creators also hated TED Talks.
Based on rating 7/10
John Maus' second album since building his own custom set of modular synths, Addendum offers more of the murky post-punk revivalism and synthesizer experiments of 2017's Screen Memories. In fact, the title refers to its relationship as a companion album to Screen Memories; its 12 tracks were recorded during the same home-studio sessions. Addendum also rounded out a six-LP, career-spanning box set released in April 2018 (John Maus Boxset) before it was issued by itself on CD and digital formats a month later.
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